JP2008128930A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation apparatus capable of reliably reaching a destination set by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The user sets a cursor at a location 21 by scrolling a map 20 for setting a destination at the location 21 on a map 20. When an input device is operated to set the destination, some city hall, a known facility in the vicinity of the location 21, is searched for. A destination mark 31 is displayed at the location 21, and a temporary destination mark 32 is displayed at the location of the city hall. A recommended route 33 to the city hall is searched for and displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device.

If the route to the original destination is a narrow street, set it as a temporary destination on a route searchable road that is connected to the narrow street, and use the temporary destination as the destination for route search. A navigation device for searching is known as a conventional technique (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-97715 A

  In the conventional navigation device as described in Patent Document 1, when the original destination is an inconspicuous facility such as a private house, it may be difficult to reach the original destination. In addition, the temporary destination is only set at a position on the road that is connected to the narrow street so that the route can be searched.

(1) The navigation device according to the first aspect of the present invention provides facility data storage means for storing information relating to known facilities, destination setting means for setting destinations, and known facilities around the destination based on information relating to known facilities. It comprises a facility searching means for searching, a searching means for searching for a recommended route to the searched known facility, and a route guiding means for guiding a route to the known facility according to the recommended route.
(2) The navigation device of the invention of claim 2 is a facility data storage means for storing information relating to known facilities, a destination setting means for setting destinations, and a plurality of well-known information around the destination based on information relating to known facilities. A facility search means for searching for a facility, a search means for searching for a recommended route to a predetermined position within a range surrounded by a plurality of searched known facilities, and a route guide means for guiding a route to a known facility according to the recommended route It is characterized by.
(3) The invention of claim 3 is the navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the search means searches for a recommended route from the current location of the known facility or vehicle to the destination, and route guidance means. Is characterized in that when the vehicle reaches or approaches a well-known facility, the route is guided to the destination according to the recommended route to the destination.

  According to the present invention, a recommended route to a known facility around the destination is searched, and the route guidance is performed toward the known facility. Therefore, the destination can be reliably reached with the well-known facility as a landmark.

  FIG. 1 shows a navigation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 1 includes a control circuit 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, current location detection device 14, image memory 15, display monitor 16, speaker 17, input device 18, and disk drive 19. The disc drive 19 is loaded with a DVD-ROM 110 in which map data is stored.

  The control circuit 11 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and performs various controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. The control circuit 11 performs a predetermined route search process based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 110. Then, the processing result is displayed on the display monitor 16 as a recommended route.

  The current location detection device 14 is a device that detects the current location of the vehicle. The current location detection device 14 includes a vibration gyro 14a, a vehicle speed sensor 14b, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 14c, and the like. The vibration gyro 14a detects the traveling direction of the vehicle, the vehicle speed sensor 14b detects the vehicle speed, and the GPS sensor 14c detects a GPS signal from a GPS satellite. The navigation device 1 determines a display range of the map, a route search start point, and the like based on the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14, and displays the current location as a vehicle position mark on the map.

  The image memory 15 stores image data to be displayed on the display monitor 16. The image data includes road map drawing data and various graphic data, which are appropriately generated by the control circuit 11 based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 110.

  The disk drive 19 reads map data from the DVD-ROM 110. The map data includes map display data, route search data, and the like. The map display data and the route search data include road link information and node information stored in the map data. The map display data has map data of a plurality of scales from wide areas to details, and the scale of the display map can be changed according to a user request. The map data may be read from a recording medium other than the DVD-ROM 110, such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk. The map data further includes known facility data (known facility data) displayed on the map. Here, the well-known facility is a generally known facility and is a facility that serves as a landmark of the destination. For example, it refers to a facility where a guide sign is displayed such as a public facility, or a prominent facility such as a gas station. The well-known facility data includes detailed information such as the position, name and type of the well-known facility, as well as an address and business hours.

  The display monitor 16 provides the user with various information such as a map near the vehicle position as a screen display based on various information such as map data. The speaker 17 outputs sound for instructing the user to perform various input operations and for guiding the route. The input device 18 has operation keys for the user to set various commands, and is realized by a button switch on the operation panel, a hard switch around the panel, or the like. The user sets the destination by operating the input device 18 in accordance with an instruction on the display screen of the display monitor 16 or a voice instruction from the speaker 17.

  When the destination input by the user is a point having route search data, the input destination is set as a route search end point. On the other hand, if the input destination is a point that does not have route search data such as a narrow street, a known facility around the destination is searched, and the closest known facility is set as the route search end point. Then, the route calculation to the search end point set with the current location detected by the current location detection device 14 as the departure location is performed based on a predetermined algorithm. The route thus obtained (hereinafter referred to as a recommended route) is displayed on the screen in a manner different from other roads by changing the display form, for example, the display color. Thereby, the user can recognize the recommended route on the map on the screen. In addition, the navigation device 1 instructs the user in the direction of travel using a screen or voice so that the vehicle can travel according to the recommended route, thereby guiding the route of the vehicle.

  Next, route search for a recommended route according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The user is going to set the point 21 of the map 20 as the destination, and the point 21 is a narrow street, and it is assumed that there is a well-known facility XX city hall 22 in the vicinity thereof.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the user scrolls the map 20 and moves the cursor 23 to the point 21 in order to set a destination at the point 21 on the map 20. When the destination is set by operating the input device 18, a destination mark 31 is displayed at the point 21 and a temporary destination mark 32 is displayed at the position of the city hall 22 as shown in FIG. 3. . Then, the recommended route 33 to the XX city hall 22 is searched and displayed.

  When the route guidance is started, the display screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display monitor 16. On the display screen, a map 40 around the vehicle position and a vehicle position mark 41 are displayed. Then, a landmark display column 42 indicating that the city hall 22 is the landmark of the destination is displayed together with the recommended route 33 to the city hall 22.

  Since the XX city hall 22 is a well-known facility, the user sees a signboard that guides the XX city hall 22 while driving. Therefore, in addition to route guidance by the navigation device 1, the user can receive guidance to the XX city hall 22 by a guidance signboard or the like, and can surely go to the XX city hall 22. Then, after reaching or approaching the XX city hall 22, the user can reliably reach the point 21 that is the original destination with the XX city hall 22 as a landmark. That is, the user can easily grasp that he can reach the point 21 by turning left at the intersection 24 in front of the XX city hall 22 and then turning left at the crossroad 25.

  Next, route search processing for a recommended route according to the embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing of FIG. 5 is executed in the control circuit 11 by a program that starts when the user operates the input device 18 to input a destination.

  In step S501, it is determined whether or not the input destination is a point having search data. If it is determined that it is a point with search data, the process proceeds to step S502, where the input point is set as a true destination, and a true destination mark is displayed at that point. If it is determined that there is no search data, step S501 is denied and the process proceeds to step S503. In step S503, a known facility around the input destination is searched from the known facility data stored in the DVD-ROM 110. In step S504, a known facility closest to the destination is extracted from the retrieved known facilities. In step S505, the destination mark is displayed at the destination, and the temporary destination mark is displayed at the extracted location of the known facility. In step S506, a true destination or a temporary destination is set as a search end point, and a route search for a recommended route to the search end point is performed. In step S507, the recommended route is displayed overlaid on the map.

The navigation device 1 according to the above embodiment has the following operational effects.
If the input destination is on a narrow street and the route cannot be guided to that point, a route search is performed using the known facility 22 around the input true destination 21 as a search end point (temporary destination). Route guidance to your destination. Therefore, it is possible to reliably reach the original destination 21 using the known facility 22 as a mark.

The navigation apparatus 1 of the above embodiment can be modified as follows.
(1) The number of provisional destinations that serve as landmarks of true destinations, that is, known facilities, is not limited to one, and a plurality of destinations may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the three nearest known facilities 22, 61, 62 may be extracted from among the known facilities around the destination 21. In this case, a temporary destination 63 is set at a predetermined position within a range surrounded by the positions of the three well-known facilities 22, 61, 62, for example, the position of the center of gravity, and a recommended route 64 to the temporary destination 63 is searched. . While driving, the user will see a sign that guides one of the three well-known facilities 22, 61, 62. Therefore, there are more opportunities to see the signboards of the known facilities 22, 61, 62 than in the above embodiment, and the point 21 which is the original destination can be surely reached.

(2) The case where the input destination is on a narrow street has been described above. However, even when a destination is input on a road having route search data, a route search may be performed using a known well-known facility as a temporary destination instead of the input true destination. In this case, it is only necessary to switch between a mode for searching for a route from a departure point using a known facility as a temporary destination and a mode for searching for a route from the departure point to a true destination.

(3) In order to reach the destination 21 more reliably, the route guidance to the original destination 21 may be started after the user reaches or approaches the known facility 22. In this case, the recommended route is searched using the known facility 22 or the current location of the vehicle as the departure point and the original destination 21 as the destination, and route guidance is performed. When a point on a narrow street having no search data is input, the road data used for the search is not route search data but map display data.

  The above description is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

The correspondence between the elements of the claims and the embodiments will be described.
The facility data storage means of the present invention corresponds to the DVD-ROM 110, and the destination setting means corresponds to the control circuit 11 and the input device 18. The facility searching means corresponds to the control circuit 11, the disk drive 19 and the DVD-ROM 110, and the route guiding means corresponds to the control circuit 11, the display monitor 16 and the speaker 17. In addition, the above description is an example to the last, and when interpreting invention, it is not limited to the correspondence of the component of said embodiment and the component of this invention at all.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation which sets the destination to a map. It is a figure for demonstrating the searched recommended route and the destination of a recommended route. It is a figure for demonstrating the display screen of a display monitor when receiving route guidance. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the route search process of the recommended route of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the destination of a recommended route at the time of extracting three well-known facilities as a mark of a destination, and a recommended route.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 11 Control circuit 16 Display monitor 18 Input apparatus 22 Destination 22,61,62 Well-known facility 23 Cursor 31 Destination mark 32,63 Temporary destination mark 33,64 Recommended route

Claims (3)

Facility data storage means for storing information about known facilities;
Destination setting means for setting the destination;
Facility search means for searching for known facilities around the destination from information on the known facilities;
Search means for searching for a recommended route to the well-known facility searched for;
A navigation device comprising route guidance means for guiding the route to the known facility according to the recommended route. Facility data storage means for storing information about known facilities;
Destination setting means for setting the destination;
Facility search means for searching a plurality of well-known facilities around the destination from information on the well-known facility;
Search means for searching for a recommended route to a predetermined position in a range surrounded by the plurality of well-known facilities searched for,
A navigation device comprising route guidance means for guiding the route to the known facility according to the recommended route. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2,
The search means starts from the current location of the known facility or vehicle, searches for a recommended route to the destination,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein when the vehicle reaches or approaches the well-known facility, the route guidance unit guides the route to the destination according to a recommended route to the destination.

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