JP2008180574A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device capable of displaying a mark corresponding to a guide point on a map, even at a location that has no building that can serve as a mark. <P>SOLUTION: It is determined which of a country or a city a place having a guide point belongs to (step S30). When it is determined that the place having the guide point belongs to a country, a mark of the guide point is selected from among inside the first mark group, including buildings, such as a gas station or a convenience store, and the second mark group including on-road installation objects such as a bus stop or a traffic sign (step S40, S60). Meanwhile, when determined that the place having the guide point belongs to a city, the mark of the guide point is selected from inside the first mark group (step S100). The mark selected in this way is displayed on the map (step S80). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device mounted on a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a navigation device that displays a moving direction of a vehicle and a building that serves as a landmark on a map when the vehicle approaches a guidance point of the route (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-74043

  In a conventional navigation device as disclosed in Patent Document 1, in a place where there is no building as a landmark, the landmark for the guidance point cannot be displayed on the map.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation device for displaying a mark for a guidance point of a route on a map, a judging means for judging whether a place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside or the city, When a place is determined to belong to the countryside, if a placemark is selected from the predetermined first or second placemark group, and the place where the guidance point is located is determined to belong to the city And a selection means for selecting a mark from the first mark group, and a display control means for displaying the mark selected by the selection means on the map.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, when the determination unit determines that the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside, the selection unit selects the mark from the first mark group When it is not possible, the mark is selected from the second mark group.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first or second aspect, the determining means determines whether the place where the guidance point is located is in the countryside or in the city based on at least one of intersection density, link density, and facility density It is to determine which one belongs.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the first mark group includes a building, and the second mark group includes a road installation.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the fourth aspect, the road installation includes at least one of a bus stop, a traffic sign, a post box, a monument, a jizo, or a vending machine.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to display a mark for a guidance point on a map even in a place where there is no building that serves as a mark.

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

  The control circuit 11 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and performs various processes and controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. Based on the map data recorded on the DVD-ROM 19, the control circuit 11 performs various processes such as setting a destination and searching for a recommended route to the set destination.

  The current location detection device 14 detects the position of the host vehicle. The current location detection device 14 includes, for example, a vibration gyro sensor 14a for detecting the traveling direction of the host vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor 14b for detecting the vehicle speed, and a GPS sensor 14c for receiving GPS signals from GPS satellites. The navigation device 1 can determine the starting point for starting the route search or the position of the vehicle position mark displayed on the map based on the current location detected by the current location detection device 14. .

  The image memory 15 temporarily stores image data output from the control circuit 11. Various image displays are performed on the display monitor 16 based on the image data stored in the image memory 15. The display monitor 16 is combined with a touch panel 16a for detecting a user's touch panel operation. When the user touches any position on the display monitor 16 with a finger or the like, the touch panel operation is detected by the touch panel 16 a and information on the touch position is output to the control circuit 11. Based on the touch position information from the touch panel 16a, the control circuit 11 determines which part of the image displayed on the display monitor 16 is touched, and executes processing according to the determination result. Thereby, various operations are executed in the navigation device 1.

  The input device 17 has various input switches and is realized by an operation panel, a remote controller, or the like. The user searches for the corresponding place from the map data by inputting the address, telephone number, facility name, etc. of the place desired as the destination by operating the input device 17 or the touch panel operation as described above. Can be set to Alternatively, the destination can be set by designating a specific point on the map screen or selecting one of registered locations registered in advance.

  The disk drive 18 reads map data from the loaded DVD-ROM 19. This map data includes route calculation data, route guidance data, road data, and background data. The route calculation data is used for route search to the destination. The route guidance data is used to guide the host vehicle to a destination according to a set route, and represents an intersection name, a road name, and the like. The road data represents the shape of the road. The background data represents map shapes other than roads such as rivers, railways, and various buildings. In the road data, the minimum unit representing a road section is called a link, and each road is composed of a plurality of links. A point connecting the links is called a node, and each node has position information (coordinate information). The link shape, that is, the shape of the road is determined based on the position information of the node.

  Although an example using a DVD-ROM is described here, the map data may be read from a recording medium other than the DVD-ROM, such as a CD-ROM, a hard disk, or a memory card. Or it is good also as receiving the map data transmitted via a mobile telephone line etc. from the outside, and using the map data. That is, any method may be used for acquiring map data.

  When the destination is set for the user as described above, the navigation device 1 performs a predetermined algorithm operation based on the above-described route calculation data, with the current location detected by the current location detection device 14 as the departure location. To search for a route from the departure point to the destination. Among the routes obtained by this route search, the optimum route is set as the recommended route. When the recommended route is set from the departure point to the destination in this way, the recommended route is displayed on the map separately from other roads by a method such as using a color different from that of other roads. Thereby, the user can easily recognize the recommended route on the map screen displayed on the display monitor 16. In addition, the navigation device 1 guides the host vehicle by instructing the traveling direction by an image or voice to the user so that the host vehicle can travel according to the recommended route. In this way, route guidance to the destination is performed.

  When the vehicle approaches the next guidance point during route guidance to the destination as described above, the map screen is divided into two screens on the display monitor 16, and the guidance map for the next guidance point ( Hereinafter, the guidance point guide map) is displayed. The guidance point guide map is displayed by enlarging and displaying a map near the guidance point and displaying a mark for the guidance point on the map. The guidance point is a point where the host vehicle should bend on the set recommended route, and corresponds to an intersection or a branch point where the direction of the recommended route changes. At this guidance point, as described above, the navigation apparatus 1 gives a direction of travel direction to the user from the navigation device 1, so that the host vehicle is guided in the travel direction.

  FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of processing when the guidance point guide map is displayed as described above. This flowchart is executed by the control circuit 11 when a recommended route to the destination is set in the navigation device 1. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the next guidance point through which the host vehicle should pass is equal to or less than a predetermined value on the set recommended route. When it is determined that the distance to the next guidance point is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to the next step S20. By this determination, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has approached the next guidance point. If the vehicle has approached the next guidance point, the processing from step S20 is executed to display the guidance point guide map for that guidance point. Is done.

  In step S20, the map near the guidance point is enlarged and displayed on the display monitor 16 for the next guidance point determined in step S10 that the distance from the current position of the host vehicle is equal to or less than the predetermined value. At this time, the map screen of the display monitor 16 is divided into two, and the map near the guidance point is enlarged and displayed on one of the two divided map screens. Further, at this time, an arrow indicating the traveling direction of the host vehicle may be displayed as necessary.

  In step S30, it is determined whether the place where the guidance point whose map is enlarged and displayed in step S20 belongs to the countryside or the city. In this determination, if it is determined that the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside, the process proceeds to step S40. On the other hand, if it is determined to belong to the city, the process proceeds to step S100.

  Note that the determination in step S30 can be performed as follows. For example, the intersection density around the guidance point, that is, the number of intersections existing within a predetermined distance range from the guidance point is obtained based on the map data. If this intersection density is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it is determined as a city, and if it is lower than a predetermined value, it is determined as a countryside. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside or the city based on the intersection density.

  Alternatively, instead of the intersection density, the link density, that is, the number of roads existing within a predetermined distance range from the guidance point, or the facility density, that is, a facility (POI: Point Of) existing within the predetermined distance range from the guidance point. Similarly, based on the number of (Interest), it can be determined in step S30 whether the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside or the city. Furthermore, you may make it perform determination of step S30 combining any one of said intersection density, link density, and facility density. Since the facility, that is, the POI may be displayed as an icon on the map, the icon density may be used instead of the facility density.

  When the process proceeds from step S30 to step S40, in step S40, a predetermined first mark group that is adjacent to the guide point is selected as a mark of the guide point. The first landmark group here corresponds to a characteristic fixed matter on the road that is noticeable when viewed from the host vehicle. For example, buildings such as gas stations, convenience stores, banks, post offices, hospitals, police boxes, and famous buildings are included in the first landmark group.

  In step S50, it is determined whether or not the guide point mark has been selected from the first mark group as described above in step S40. Since some of the first landmark groups exist adjacent to the guidance point, if it can be selected as the landmark of the guidance point, steps S60 and S70 described below are skipped, and the step Proceed to S80. On the other hand, if none of the first mark group exists adjacent to the guidance point, the mark of the guidance point cannot be selected, the process proceeds to step S60.

  In step S60, a predetermined second mark group different from the first mark group described above is selected as a mark for the guide point, which is adjacent to the guide point. The second landmark group here is not as prominent as the first landmark group, so it is buried between buildings in the city and does not become a landmark, but it is a landmark in the countryside where there are few buildings. This applies to fixed objects on the road. For example, on-street installations such as bus stops, traffic signs, postboxes, monuments, Jizo, and vending machines are included in the second landmark group. The data of the first mark group and the second mark group is recorded on the DVD-ROM 19 as a part of the map data.

  In step S70, it is determined whether or not the guide point mark has been selected from the second mark group in step S60. If the second mark group adjacent to the guide point can be selected as the guide point mark, the process proceeds to the next step S80.

  In step S80, the mark selected in either step S40 or step S60 is displayed on the map in the vicinity of the guidance point that is divided into two parts and displayed on one screen in step S20. As a result, a guidance map showing a guide for the guidance point on the map near the guidance point is displayed on the display monitor 16. When step S80 is executed in this way, the process proceeds to step S90.

  On the other hand, in step S70, none of the second mark group exists adjacent to the guidance point. As a result, if the mark of the guidance point cannot be selected, step S80 is not executed. Then, the process proceeds to step S90. In this case, a guide map without a mark is displayed on the display monitor 16 simply by enlarging the map near the guide point.

  In step S90, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has passed the guidance point displaying the guidance point guide map by the processing in steps S10 to S80 described above. Until the host vehicle passes the guidance point, the vehicle stays at step S90, and when the vehicle passes the guidance point, the process returns to step S10. When returning to step S10, the above-described processing is repeated for the next guidance point. In this way, the guidance point guide map is displayed every time the own vehicle approaches the next guidance point until the own vehicle arrives at the destination.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S30 that the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the city and the process proceeds to step S100, in step S100, as in step S40 described above, the guidance point is selected from the first landmark group. Those adjacent to each other are selected as landmarks of the guidance points.

  In step S110, as in step S50, it is determined whether or not the guide point mark has been selected from the first mark group in step S100. When the first mark group adjacent to the guide point can be selected as the guide point mark, the process proceeds to step S80. In this case, as already described, by executing step S80, the mark selected in step S100 is displayed on the map near the guidance point enlarged and displayed in step S20. As a result, a guidance map showing a guide for the guidance point on the map near the guidance point is displayed on the display monitor 16.

  On the other hand, if the mark adjacent to the guidance point cannot be selected from the first mark group in step S110, the process proceeds to step S90 without executing step S80. In this case, as in the case where the process proceeds from step S70 to step S90 described above, a guide point guide map without a mark is displayed on the display monitor 16 simply by enlarging the map near the guide point.

  As described above, when it is determined in step S30 that the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside, a mark is selected from the first mark group or the second mark group in step S40 or step S60. . At this time, when the mark cannot be selected from the first mark group in step S40, the mark is selected from the second mark group in step S60. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S30 that the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the city, a landmark is selected from the first landmark group in step S100. Therefore, when the host vehicle approaches the next guidance point, an appropriate mark for the guidance point can be displayed on the guidance point guide map according to the situation at that time.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the guidance point guide diagram displayed by executing the flowchart of FIG. 2 described above. FIG. 3A is an example of a guidance point guide map when the guidance point is in the city. In this guide point guide map, a gas station (GS) 21 is displayed as a guide point mark. On the other hand, FIG.3 (b) is an example of a guidance point guide map in case a guidance point exists in the countryside. In this guidance point guide map, the bus stop 22 is displayed as a guide point guide point. Note that the example given here is an example, and guidance map information with various contents is actually displayed according to the shape of the guidance point, the type of landmark, the traveling direction, and the like.

According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) It is determined whether the place with the guide point belongs to the countryside or the city (step S30), and if it is determined that the place with the guide point belongs to the countryside, the first mark group or the second mark A landmark is selected from the group (steps S40 and S60). On the other hand, when it is determined that the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the city, a landmark is selected from the first landmark group (step S100). The mark thus selected is displayed on the map (step S80). Since it did in this way, the mark with respect to a guidance point can be displayed on a map even if it is a place where there is no building which becomes a mark.

(2) If it is determined in step S30 that the place with the guidance point belongs to the countryside, it is determined in step S40 whether or not the landmark has been selected from the first landmark group (step S50). When the mark cannot be selected from the mark group, the mark is selected from the second mark group in step S60. Since it did in this way, when there exists a building which becomes a mark even in the countryside, the building can be displayed as a mark for the guidance point.

(3) In step S30, based on at least one of the intersection density, the link density, and the facility density, it can be determined whether the place where the guidance point is located belongs to the countryside or the city. In this way, accurate determination can be made with simple processing.

(4) The first landmark group includes a building, and the second landmark group includes a road installation. Furthermore, the road installation includes at least one of a bus stop, a traffic sign, a post box, a monument, a jizo or a vending machine. Since it did in this way, the fixed matter on the characteristic road which is conspicuous when it sees from the own vehicle can be made into the 1st mark group. Furthermore, a fixed matter on the road which is buried in a building or the like in the city and does not become a landmark but becomes a landmark in a country with few buildings can be used as the second landmark group.

  The embodiments and modifications described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of a process when displaying a guidance point guide map. It is a figure which shows the example of a guidance point guidance map, (a) shows the example when a guidance point exists in a city, (b) shows the example when a guidance point exists in the country, respectively.

Explanation of symbols

1: Navigation device 11: Control circuit 12: ROM 13: RAM
14: Current location detection device 15: Image memory 16: Display monitor 17: Input device 18: Disk drive 19: DVD-ROM

Claims (5)

In a navigation device that displays a mark for a route guide point on a map,
Determining means for determining whether the place where the guide point is located belongs to the countryside or the city;
When it is determined by the determining means that the place where the guide point is located belongs to the countryside, the mark is selected from a predetermined first mark group or a second mark group, and the determination means selects the guide point. When it is determined that a place belongs to a city, a selection means for selecting the landmark from the first landmark group;
A navigation apparatus comprising: display control means for displaying the mark selected by the selection means on the map. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
When it is determined by the determining means that the place where the guide point is located belongs to the countryside, the selecting means cannot select the mark from the first mark group, and if the mark cannot be selected from the first mark group, The navigation apparatus, wherein the mark is selected from the navigation device. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the place where the guidance point is located belongs to a countryside or a city based on at least one of an intersection density, a link density, and a facility density. In the navigation apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3,
The first landmark group includes a building,
The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second mark group includes a road installation. The navigation device according to claim 4, wherein
The road installation includes at least one of a bus stop, a traffic sign, a post box, a monument, a jizo, or a vending machine.

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