JP2011242164A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device capable of suppressing an increase of processing load and improving visibility of a guide route on a multistory road.SOLUTION: A control circuit 17 controls a display 15 to display a cross-sectional image 31 when the guide route in a predetermined range from a current position includes a multistory road (including when traveling on the multistory road). The cross-sectional image 31 is an image that simulates a cross section of the multistory road cut in the vertical direction. The cross-sectional image 31 is displayed. Thus, the cross-sectional image 31 enables a user to easily understand which road to follow, so that the visibility of the guide route on the multistory road can be improved.

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that displays its current position on a map displayed on a screen of a display unit and also displays a guide route to a destination.

  The map display in the navigation device includes a bird's-eye view that displays the plane directly above the sky, a bird's-eye view that displays several hundred meters diagonally forward from the vehicle position, and an SA (service area) ahead of the route while driving on the expressway. ) And PA (parking area) only, highway display, intersection enlarged display for branch guidance during route guidance, and 3D map display that displays map display area in 3D to obtain more detailed map information There are various display methods, and switching is possible according to the usage application of the driver (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-108458 A

  In an enlarged view of an intersection where an intersection to be branched and guided during route guidance is enlarged, adjacent roads are displayed so that the intersection can be reliably determined. If the intersection enlarged view is a bird's-eye view that displays the plane directly below from the sky, if the intersection is a three-dimensional intersection or an elevated road with another road under it, the roads overlap. Therefore, contrary to the original intention, the intersection is difficult to understand.

  In order to solve such a problem, when there is a three-dimensional road at an intersection, there is also a method of displaying a route in an easy-to-understand manner by displaying an enlarged view of the intersection on the three-dimensional road as a three-dimensional map display. However, when a three-dimensional map is displayed, the calculation for the three-dimensional display in the navigation device is complicated, and there is a problem that the processing load increases. In addition, when the three-dimensional structure of the three-dimensional road is complicated, the visibility of the guide route may be deteriorated simply by displaying the three-dimensional map.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a navigation device capable of improving the visibility of a guide route on a three-dimensional road while suppressing an increase in processing load. Objective.

  The present invention employs the following technical means in order to achieve the aforementioned object.

The invention according to claim 1 is a navigation device that displays a guide route from a current position to a destination on a map so as to be superimposed on a map,
Position detection means for detecting the current position;
Map storage means for storing a map;
Route search means for searching for a guide route from the current position to the destination;
Display control means for controlling an image displayed on the display unit,
The display control means
The guide route searched by the route search means is displayed on the map stored in the map storage means,
When there is a three-dimensional road that is a road where multiple roads intersect or run parallel to each other on the guide route within a predetermined range from the current position, a cross-sectional image simulating a cross section of the three-dimensional road cut in the vertical direction It is a navigation device characterized by displaying.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the display control unit displays the guide route searched by the route search unit on the display unit so as to overlap the map stored in the map storage unit. Accordingly, the user can arrive at the destination by proceeding along the guide route displayed on the map. The display control unit controls the display unit to display a cross-sectional image when there is a three-dimensional road on a guide route within a predetermined range from the current position. Here, the three-dimensional road is a road in which a plurality of roads intersect or run side by side in the vertical direction. As the three-dimensional road, for example, there are a general road and an elevated road that is provided above the general road and runs along with the general road. The cross-sectional image is an image simulating a cross section obtained by cutting a three-dimensional road in the vertical direction.

  When there is a three-dimensional road on the guide route, it is difficult to determine which road to travel among three-dimensional roads composed of multiple roads only with a flat map with the guide route superimposed on the map There is. On the other hand, in the present invention, since a cross-sectional image is displayed, it is possible to easily interpret which road should be followed by the cross-sectional image. Therefore, the visibility of the guide route on the three-dimensional road can be improved. Further, since the cross-sectional image is a planar image, the processing load for forming the image is smaller than that of the three-dimensional image. Therefore, it is possible to improve the visibility of the guide route at a three-dimensional intersection while suppressing an increase in processing load.

  Further, in the invention described in claim 2, the display control means displays a cross-sectional image when the guide route within a predetermined range from the current position has a branch road for connecting a plurality of roads. And

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cross-sectional image is displayed when the guide route within the predetermined range from the current position has a branch road. When there is no branch road in the guide route, the user proceeds along the road where the road extends even though the road is a three-dimensional road, so there is no possibility of making a mistake in the guide route. In such a case, the display area of the display unit can be used to display other necessary information without displaying the cross-sectional image. On the other hand, when the guide route has a branch road, the cross-sectional image is displayed so that whether or not to proceed on the branch road can be determined by the guide route in the cross-sectional image. Sex can be secured.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the cross-sectional image is an image simulating a cross section obtained by cutting a three-dimensional road along a guide route.

  According to invention of Claim 3, a cross-sectional image is an image which simulated the cross section cut | disconnected along the guide route. As a result, the user can easily interpret which of the plurality of three-dimensional roads is the road of the guide route according to the position of the guide route. As a result, it is possible to suppress a mistake in the road (guide route) to be traveled on the three-dimensional road.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4, when displaying the cross-sectional image on the display unit, the display control means displays the guide image in which the guide route is superimposed on the map together with the cross-sectional image separately from the cross-sectional image. Features.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when a cross-sectional image is displayed, a guide image obtained by superimposing a guide route on a map is displayed separately from the cross-sectional image. Accordingly, since both the guide image and the cross-sectional image are displayed, the user can check the guide route while viewing the two images. Thereby, the legibility of the guide route can be further improved.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 5, the display control means includes the guide image and the cross-sectional image such that the display mode of the road of the guide route and the other road that is not the guide route are different from each other in the three-dimensional road. A cross-sectional image is displayed.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the guide image and the cross-sectional image, the guide image and the cross-sectional image are displayed so that the display modes of the road of the guide route and the other road that is not the guide route are different from each other. Is done. The display mode is, for example, color, shading, and blinking. Thereby, the visibility of the road of the guide route in the three-dimensional road can be further improved.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 6, when the plurality of roads constituting the three-dimensional road are roads that are separated from each other and run side by side in the guide image, the display control means The road below the road is characterized in that the road width is displayed virtually wider.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of roads constituting the three-dimensional road are three-dimensional roads that are separated from each other and run side by side, the two roads that are adjacent to each other in the upper and lower directions are lower than the upper road. The road width is displayed virtually wider. When the display is not controlled at all, when a road adjacent to the upper and lower sides is viewed in plan, only the road located above is displayed and the road located below cannot be visually recognized, but the road on the virtually lower road By increasing the width, it is possible to display both roads adjacent to each other in the vertical direction. As a result, both the roads adjacent to each other in the vertical direction can be visually recognized. Moreover, the visibility of the road of a guidance route can further be improved by using together with a cross-sectional image.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 7, the traveling direction of the guide image is upward.
The cross-sectional image is characterized in that the traveling direction is obliquely above and intersects obliquely with the upward direction.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the guide image has an advancing direction upward, and the cross-sectional image has an obliquely upper direction in which the advancing direction obliquely intersects with the upper direction. As a result, the cross-sectional image is virtually displayed in three dimensions, so that the visibility between the guide image and the cross-sectional image can be further improved.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the display control means changes the angle formed by the traveling direction of the cross-sectional image and the upper direction according to the current moving speed.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, it is possible to sensuously grasp the degree of change in the movement speed by changing the angle formed by the traveling direction of the cross-sectional image and the upper direction according to the current movement speed. it can. Therefore, the user can interpret the guide route while intuitively grasping the moving speed.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 9, the display control means controls the display unit to further display a route cross-sectional image simulating a cross-section obtained by cutting the solid road in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the guide route extends. Features.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, a route cross-sectional image simulating a cross section cut in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the guide route extends is further displayed. Since the route cross-sectional image is an image similar to the road that the user actually sees, the current position on the three-dimensional road can be intuitively grasped by the route cross-sectional image.

It is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of navigation device 10 of a 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows route guidance processing. It is a flowchart which shows a part of route guidance process. It is a flowchart which shows a hierarchy determination process. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display device 15. It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the indicator 15 of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the indicator 15 of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the indicator 15 of 4th Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In some embodiments, portions corresponding to the matters described in the preceding embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions may be omitted. In addition, when a part of the configuration is described in each embodiment, the other parts of the configuration are the same as those of the embodiment described in advance. In addition to the combination of parts specifically described in each embodiment, the embodiments may be partially combined as long as the combination does not hinder the combination.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment. The navigation device 10 is a route guidance device that guides a route to a destination set by a vehicle occupant (user). The navigation device 10 executes, for example, route search processing for searching for a route to the destination, route guidance processing for guiding the route to the destination, and the like when the vehicle occupant operates the in-vehicle navigation device 10. The navigation device 10 includes a position detector 11, a map data input device 12, an operation switch group 13, an external memory 14, a display device 15, an external information input / output device 16 and a control circuit 17.

  The control circuit 17 is a control means for controlling each part of the navigation device 10, and is a central processing unit (abbreviated as CPU), ROM (Read-Only Memory: abbreviated ROM), and ram (Random Access Memory: abbreviated name). RAM) and a microcomputer having an input / output (abbreviated I / O) port, and an electrically erasable programmable ROM (abbreviated as EEPROM) for storing predetermined data in a rewritable manner ) And the like. The ROM stores an execution program for executing various processes, setting information for executing each execution program, and the like. The control circuit 17 is electrically connected to the position detector 11, the map data input device 12, the operation switch group 13, the external memory 14, the display device 15, and the external information input / output device 16. The control circuit 17 executes various functions when the CPU executes the execution program written in the ROM.

  The position detector 11 is position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle. The position detector 11 is based on a geomagnetic sensor 20 for detecting the absolute azimuth of the vehicle, a gyroscope 21 for detecting the relative azimuth of the vehicle, a distance sensor 22 for detecting the travel distance of the vehicle, and radio waves from the satellite. And a GPS receiver 23 for a global positioning system (abbreviated as GPS) for measuring the position of the vehicle. The control circuit 17 executes a current point detection process that sequentially determines the current position of the vehicle based on, for example, a signal from the position detector 11. The gyroscope 21 is also provided in the vehicle pitch direction and detects an angular velocity in the pitch direction. As a result, the control circuit 17 can calculate the road gradient based on the angular velocity in the pitch direction.

  The map data input device 12 is a device for inputting map data including road data, background data, and character data. The road data includes, for example, road inclination information indicating the road inclination and road height information indicating the road height. As a storage medium for storing the map data, for example, a hard disk, a flash memory, an optical disk (DVD-ROM or the like) can be used.

  The map data can also be acquired from an external server by communication and stored in the external memory 14 or the like. In this case, using the map data stored in the external memory 14, various navigation functions such as displaying a map around the vehicle, changing the scale of the displayed map, and route guidance can be implemented. These functions are executed mainly by performing various arithmetic processes by the control circuit 17.

  The operation switch group 13 includes, for example, a touch switch or a mechanical switch integrated with the display unit 15 and is used for various inputs. For example, the position of the destination can be input using the operation switch group 13. In addition, the user can perform an operation of changing the scale of the map displayed on the display 15 and an operation of displaying a travel locus using the operation switch group 13.

  The external memory 14 is composed of a storage medium such as a memory card or a hard disk. The external memory 14 stores various data such as text data, image data, audio data, and travel locus data stored by the user. Furthermore, when the navigation apparatus 10 acquires map data from an external server, the map data acquired from the server is stored.

  The display 15 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various types of information on the screen. The display 15 displays a road map around the vehicle generated by the map data input by the map data input unit 12 and the own vehicle mark that displays the traveling direction while corresponding to the current location of the vehicle. Can do. Furthermore, when a destination is set, a guidance route from the current point to the destination can be displayed on the road map in an overlapping manner.

  The external information input / output device 16 receives information distributed from an information communication center that transmits road traffic information such as traffic congestion and traffic regulations in real time via beacons laid on the road and FM broadcast stations in various places. It is a device that transmits information from the vehicle side to the outside as needed. The received information is processed by the control circuit 17. For example, traffic jam information, regulation information, and the like are displayed on the road map displayed on the display unit 15.

  Next, processing of the control circuit 17 will be described. The control circuit 17 executes, for example, a current location detection process, a route search process, a route guidance process, and a display control process by executing a program written in the ROM while the CPU uses the temporary storage function of the RAM. Therefore, the control circuit 17 also has functions as route search means and display control means.

  The current position detection process is a process for sequentially determining the current position of the vehicle based on a signal input from the position detector 11. The geomagnetic sensor 20, the gyroscope 21, the distance sensor 22 and the GPS receiver 23 constituting the position detector 11 have errors of different properties, so that the current point is determined while complementing the signals from each. Detect sequentially. That is, the current position (coordinates) of the vehicle is determined by hybrid navigation that combines radio wave navigation using GPS and self-contained navigation using the geomagnetic sensor 20, the gyroscope 21, and the distance sensor 22. Depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detector 11 may be constituted by a part of the above-described sensors, and a steering rotation sensor (not shown), a vehicle speed sensor for each rolling wheel, or the like may be used. In the current location detection process, the traveling direction (traveling direction) is determined in addition to the current location.

  The route search process is a process executed when the user inputs a destination position using the operation switch group 13. The control circuit 17 automatically selects the optimum route from the current point to the destination, forms a guide route, and displays it on the display 15. As such a method for automatically setting an optimum guide route, for example, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known.

  The route guidance process is performed after the route search process and guides the route to the destination to the user. In the route guidance process, when approaching an intersection that turns right or left, a process of enlarging and displaying the intersection is performed, and a process of guiding the user to the right or left turn by voice is executed.

  The display control process is a process for controlling an image displayed on the display unit 15. The display control process is, for example, a process that shows the current location detected by the current location detection process on the display 15 and a process that shows the guidance route searched by the route search process on the map on the display 15.

  Next, route guidance processing on a three-dimensional road will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing route guidance processing. The flow shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed in a short time by the control circuit 17 when the route guidance process is being executed.

  In step 11, a current point detection process for detecting the current position is executed, and the process proceeds to step 12. Thereby, the current position of the vehicle is detected. In step 12, a map around the current position is read from the map data input device 12, and the process proceeds to step 13. In step 13, the guide image 32 in which the guide route is superimposed is displayed on the read map, and the process proceeds to step 14. In step 14, it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling on a three-dimensional road. If the vehicle is traveling on a three-dimensional road, the process proceeds to step 15. If the vehicle is not traveling on a three-dimensional road, the process proceeds to step 16. In step 15, since the vehicle is traveling on a three-dimensional road, a cross-sectional image 31 is displayed, and this flow is terminated. In step 16, since the vehicle is not traveling on the three-dimensional road, the cross-sectional image 31 is not displayed, and this flow is terminated.

  As described above, during the route guidance process, the cross-sectional image 31 is displayed when the vehicle is traveling on the three-dimensional road, and the cross-sectional image 31 is not displayed when the vehicle is not traveling on the three-dimensional road.

  Next, the process of displaying the cross-sectional image 31 in step 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing display processing of the cross-sectional image 31. The flow shown in FIG. 3 is executed by the control circuit 17 when moving to step 15 in FIG.

  In step 21, the hierarchy in the three-dimensional road is specified, and the process proceeds to step 23. A three-dimensional road is a road in which a plurality of roads intersect or run side by side in the vertical direction. As the three-dimensional road, there are, for example, a general road and an elevated road that is provided above the general road and intersects or runs along with the general road. A road where a plurality of roads intersect three-dimensionally, such as so-called junctions and interchanges, is also an example of a three-dimensional road. The hierarchy in such a three-dimensional road is synonymous with the meaning which shows one road among the three-dimensional road comprised from several roads.

  In step 22, the display 15 is controlled to display the cross-sectional image 31 and the guide image 32 so as to highlight the identified hierarchy, and this flow is finished. Here, the cross-sectional image 31 is an image simulating a cross section cut in a vertical direction on a three-dimensional road. The guide image 32 is an image in which the guide route is superimposed on a map (road top view).

  Thus, according to the flow shown in FIG. 3, when the vehicle is traveling on a three-dimensional road, the hierarchy is highlighted. Therefore, the hierarchy (road) on which the user is traveling can be easily determined by the information displayed on the display 15. Can be read.

  Next, the hierarchy determination process in step 21 in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the hierarchy determination process. The flow shown in FIG. 4 is executed by the control circuit 17 when proceeding to step 21 in FIG.

  In step 31, the history information of the inclination angle of the own vehicle is acquired, and the process proceeds to step 32. The inclination angle of the own vehicle is given to the control circuit 17 by the gyroscope 21 as needed. In step 32, it is determined whether or not the road inclination information of the road data included in the map data and the history information of the inclination angle detected by the gyroscope 21 match. If they match, the process proceeds to step 33. If they do not match, the process returns to step 31, and the processes of step 31 and step 32 are repeated. The history information of the inclination angle is information in which the passing point and the inclination angle at the point are associated with each other. Based on the inclination angle history information, it is possible to determine which level of the three-dimensional road has been climbed (declined) based on the inclination angle at the branch point of the three-dimensional road. In step 32, since the inclination angles coincide with each other, it is determined that the road (hierarchy) corresponding to the coincident road data is traveling, and this flow ends. Thus, according to the flow shown in FIG. 4, the hierarchy can be specified when traveling on a three-dimensional road. In addition, the map data may be stored with information on the tilt angle and the level, and the level during traveling may be determined.

  The processing in step 32 is not limited to the processing based on the road inclination information as described above. For example, the height is determined from the gyroscope 21 and the GPS based on the road height information included in the map data, and the traveling is performed. You may judge the hierarchy of the inside road by height. When the gyroscope 21 is used for height determination, the road height can be obtained from a value obtained by integrating the inclination angle of the vehicle. Further, for example, in the map data, information such as hierarchy information and hierarchy, direction name and exit link is added to the road data in advance, and the hierarchy in which the vehicle is traveling is determined from the guide route determined by the route search process and the current position. You may judge.

  Next, an image displayed on the display 15 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on the display 15. The guide image 32 is arranged in the upper part of FIG. 5, and the cross-sectional image 31 is arranged in the lower part of FIG. The guide image 32 is a road top view, and the traveling direction of the vehicle is to the left of FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the guide route is straight in the guide image 32 and other roads and buildings are omitted for easy understanding. is doing. As shown in the cross-sectional image 31, the three-dimensional road is a four-layer solid road. In FIG. 5, the guide route is indicated by a thick line in the cross-sectional image 31, and other roads are indicated by thin lines that are thinner than the guide route. As a result, the guide route is highlighted by the cross-sectional image 31. As shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional image 31 of this example is an image simulating a cross-section cut along a virtual plane including the guide route and the vertical direction.

  In addition, the host vehicle 41 is indicated by a rectangle on the right side of the guide image 32. In the example shown in FIG. 5, there are three branch points. The branching point to be branched is a position for moving from a currently traveling road among three-dimensional roads to another layer of roads adjacent in the vertical direction in order to arrive at the destination. A road for connecting a plurality of roads constituting a three-dimensional road and moving from a running road to another road is a branch road.

  Moreover, in the cross-sectional image 31, there is a portion where the road is cut off in the middle, but this is a vertical cross-section as described above, so that the road is curved, indicating that it is out of the cross-section. Yes.

  In the guidance image 32, the three-dimensional road on which the host vehicle 41 should travel is highlighted. For example, since there is no other branch up to the first branch point 51 that is the closest branch point from the vehicle, the first region 61 from the vehicle to the first branch point 51 is highlighted. As an example of highlighting, for example, the color of the first region 61 is different from that of other regions. The shading may be changed. When changing the shade, for example, the color of the same level as the vehicle position is darkened, and the color of the other levels is lightened.

  Next, after passing through the first branch point 51, while traveling to the second branch point 52 that is the next branch point of the first branch point 51, the first branch point 51 to the second branch point The second area 62 up to 52 is highlighted. Similarly, after passing through the second branch point 52, while traveling to the third branch point 53, which is the next branch point of the second branch point 52, the second branch point 52 to the third branch point. The third area 63 up to 53 is highlighted. Similarly, after passing through the third branch point 53, the fourth region 64 from the third branch point 53 is highlighted. Thus, the user can easily interpret to which point of the three-dimensional road to travel on the road of the current hierarchy.

  Further, the legibility can be further improved by displaying so that the display forms in each layer are different from each other. For example, the colors in each layer are made different. As a result, it is possible to clarify the correspondence between the cross-sectional image 31 and the guide image 32 in each layer.

  Further, at each branch point, an arrow 71 indicating the vertical direction is displayed adjacent to each other so that it can be understood in which direction the vehicle travels. For example, a downward arrow 71 is displayed when guiding downward, and an upward arrow 71 is displayed when guiding upward.

  As described above, the control circuit 17 of the present embodiment superimposes the guide route searched by the route search process on the map stored in the map data input device 12 that is the map storage means, and the display 15 that is the display unit. To display. Accordingly, the user can arrive at the destination by proceeding along the guide route displayed on the map. Further, the control circuit 17 controls the display unit 15 to display the cross-sectional image 31 when there is a three-dimensional road on a guide route within a predetermined range from the current position (including a case where the three-dimensional road is traveling). The cross-sectional image 31 is an image simulating a cross section of a three-dimensional road cut in the vertical direction. Cutting in the vertical direction means cutting along a virtual plane including the vertical direction.

  When there is a three-dimensional road on the guide route, it is difficult to determine which road to travel among three-dimensional roads composed of multiple roads only with a flat map with the guide route superimposed on the map There is. On the other hand, in the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment, since the cross-sectional image 31 is displayed, it can be easily read from the cross-sectional image 31 which road should be traveled. Can be improved. Further, since the cross-sectional image 31 is a planar image, the processing load for forming the image is smaller than that of the three-dimensional image. Therefore, it is possible to improve the visibility of the guide route on a three-dimensional road (three-dimensional intersection) while suppressing an increase in processing load.

  In the present embodiment, the cross-sectional image 31 is an image simulating a cut cross-section along the guide route. As a result, the user can easily interpret which of the plurality of three-dimensional roads is the road of the guide route according to the position of the guide route. As a result, it is possible to suppress the mistaken road to be traveled on the three-dimensional road.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the cross-sectional image 31 is displayed, a guide image 32 in which the guide route is superimposed on the map together with the cross-sectional image 31 is displayed separately from the cross-sectional image 31. Accordingly, since both the guide image 32 and the cross-sectional image 31 are displayed, the user can check the guide route while viewing the two images. Thereby, the legibility of the guide route can be further improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in the guide image 32 and the cross-sectional image 31, the guide image 32 and the cross-sectional image 31 are displayed so that the display modes of the three-dimensional road are different from each other on the guide route and other roads that are not the guide route. The form is controlled by the control circuit 17. The display mode is, for example, color, shading, and blinking. Thereby, the visibility of the road of the guide route in the three-dimensional road can be further improved.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on the display 15 of the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, the guide image 32A is different from the first embodiment described above.

  The guide image (top view) 32A is arranged in the upper part of FIG. 6, and the cross-sectional image 31 is arranged in the lower part of FIG. In the guide image 32A, the traveling direction of the vehicle is to the left of FIG. 6, and in FIG. 6, for ease of understanding, the guide route is a straight line in the guide image 32A, and other roads and buildings are omitted. As shown in the cross-sectional image 31, the three-dimensional road is a four-layer solid road. In FIG. 6, the guide route is indicated by a thick line in the cross-sectional image 31, and other roads are indicated by thin lines that are thinner than the guide route. As a result, the guide route is highlighted by the cross-sectional image 31. As shown in FIG. 6, the cross-sectional image 31 of this example is an image simulating a cross-section cut along the guide route. In addition, the host vehicle 41 is indicated by a rectangle on the right side of the guide image 32A. In the guide image 32A, there are four branch points in the example shown in FIG.

  Further, in the guide image 32A, when a plurality of roads constituting a three-dimensional road are roads that are separated from each other and run side by side, the road width below the upper road in the two roads adjacent to each other in the vertical direction has a road width. It is displayed with a virtual wide. Since the road is a four-layered road, the road of the first layer 81 located at the top is the narrowest, and the second layer 82, the third layer 83, and the fourth layer are sequentially arranged in the downward direction. 84, the road is wide. Further, an image of each road (each layer) is formed so that the center lines of the roads overlap each other when viewed in the vertical direction. Therefore, the road located below can be visually recognized outside the road width direction.

  In the guidance image 32A, the three-dimensional road on which the host vehicle 41 should travel is highlighted. For example, since there is no other branch up to the first branch point 51 that is the closest branch point from the vehicle, the first region 61 from the vehicle to the first branch point 51 is highlighted. Next, after passing through the first branch point 51, the second layer 82 and the third layer 83 pass through the second branch point 52 and the third branch point 53 to reach the fourth layer 84. The second layer 82 and the third layer 83 are not highlighted in the guide image 32A. When the fourth layer 84 is reached, the fourth layer 84 is highlighted while traveling to the fourth branch point 54. Thus, the user can easily interpret to which point of the three-dimensional road to travel on the road of the current hierarchy.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when a plurality of roads constituting a three-dimensional road are three-dimensional roads that are separated from each other and run side by side, the two roads that are adjacent to each other in the vertical direction are lower than the upper road. The map is displayed with the guide image 32A with the road width virtually widened. When the display is not controlled at all, when a road adjacent to the upper and lower sides is viewed in plan, only the road located above is displayed and the road located below cannot be visually recognized, but the road on the virtually lower road By increasing the width, it is possible to display both roads adjacent to each other in the vertical direction. As a result, both the roads adjacent to each other in the vertical direction can be visually recognized. By using this together with the cross-sectional image 31, the road visibility of the guide route can be further improved.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on the display 15 of the third embodiment. In the present embodiment, the positional relationship between the guide image 32B and the cross-sectional image 31B is different from that in the first embodiment.

  The guide image 32B is disposed on the left side of FIG. 7, and the cross-sectional image 31B is disposed on the upper right side of FIG. In the guide image 32B, the traveling direction of the vehicle is in the upper part of FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, for easy understanding, the guide route is a straight line in the guide image 32B, and other roads and buildings are omitted. As shown in the cross-sectional image 31B, the three-dimensional road is a four-layered road. In FIG. 7, the guide route is indicated by a thick line in the cross-sectional image 31 </ b> B, and other roads are indicated by thin lines that are thinner than the guide route. As a result, the guide route is highlighted by the cross-sectional image 31B. As shown in FIG. 7, the cross-sectional image 31 </ b> B of the present example is an image simulating a cross-section obtained by cutting a three-dimensional road along a guide route.

  In the cross-sectional image 31B, the traveling direction is diagonally above the upper side in FIG. 7 (the traveling direction of the guide image 32B). Specifically, the traveling direction in the cross-sectional image 31B is diagonally upward to the left. In the guidance image 32B, the three-dimensional road on which the host vehicle 41 should travel is highlighted.

  Further, the control circuit 17 controls the angle θ1 formed by the traveling direction of the cross-sectional image 31B and the traveling direction (upward) of the guide image 32B so as to change according to the current moving speed. The display position of the guide image 32B is fixed to the display 15, and the display position of the cross-sectional image 31B is variable. For example, the angle θ1 is increased as the vehicle speed increases. This makes it possible to consider visibility and safety when the speed is high. Conversely, as the vehicle speed decreases, the angle θ1 is decreased. Accordingly, when the speed is low, it is difficult to visually recognize the angle θ1, but since the speed is low, the user can visually recognize the display unit 15 with a margin.

  When the angle θ1 is further changed, the center of the angular displacement is a point where the traveling direction of the cross-sectional image 31B intersects the traveling direction of the guide image 32B. As a result, the position of the branch point in the guide image 32B and the position of the branch point in the cross-sectional image 31B are constant from the center of the angular displacement, so that even if the angle θ1 changes without changing the correspondence, It can suppress that the legibility of a branch point falls.

  Further, such a change of the angle θ1 may be set according to the user's preference. Therefore, for example, the angle θ1 may be decreased as the vehicle speed decreases, and the angle θ1 may be increased as the vehicle speed increases.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the guide image 32B has an upward traveling direction, and the cross-sectional image 31B has an obliquely upward crossing with the traveling direction upward. As a result, the cross-sectional image 31B is virtually displayed in three dimensions, so that the visibility of the guide image 32B and the cross-sectional image 31B can be further improved.

  Further, by making the angle θ1 formed by the traveling direction and the upper direction of the cross-sectional image 31B proportional or inversely proportional to the current moving speed, the degree of change in the moving speed can be grasped sensuously. Therefore, the user can interpret the guide route while intuitively grasping the moving speed.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on the display 15 of the fourth embodiment. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment described above in that the cross-sectional image 31B is not displayed and the path cross-sectional image 33 is displayed.

  The guide image 32 is arranged on the left side of FIG. 8, and the route cross-sectional image 33 is arranged on the right side of FIG. As shown in the route cross-sectional image 33, the three-dimensional road is a four-layered three-dimensional road. As shown in FIG. 8, the route cross-sectional image 33 of this example is an image simulating a cross-section obtained by cutting a three-dimensional road in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the guide route extends. In other words, it is an image simulating a cross-section in a state where the road is cut in the traveling direction. In the route cross-sectional image 33, an image layer indicating the host vehicle 41 is displayed on the currently traveling layer. In FIG. 8, since the vehicle is traveling on the second layer 82, an image of the host vehicle 41 is displayed at the position of the second layer 82. For example, when the vehicle is traveling on the fourth layer 84, an image of the host vehicle 41 is displayed on the fourth layer 84 as indicated by a broken line.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the route cross-sectional image 33 simulating the cross-section cut in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the guide route extends is further displayed. Since the route cross-sectional image 33 is an image similar to the road that the user actually sees, the current position on the three-dimensional road can be intuitively grasped by the route cross-sectional image 33.

(Other embodiments)
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment described above, the navigation device 10 is mounted on a four-wheel vehicle. However, the navigation device 10 is not limited to a four-wheel vehicle, and the navigation device 10 may be mounted on a two-wheel vehicle (bike). .

  The cross-sectional image 31 is an image simulating a cross section, but the method of simulating is not limited to the cross-sectional image 31 shown in the first embodiment, and may be an image simulating the cross section by another method. For example, the road may have a thickness, may be displayed to express the texture of the road, or a road sign or a guardrail may be displayed.

  Further, in the first embodiment described above, control is performed so that the cross-sectional image 31 is displayed when traveling on a three-dimensional road. Even when there is a three-dimensional road, the cross-sectional image 31 may be controlled to be displayed. As a result, among the roads constituting the three-dimensional road, the road of the guide route can be easily read. Within the predetermined range may be the same as, for example, the timing for enlarged display of an intersection (such as within 500 m to a three-dimensional road). In addition, when the vehicle is traveling on a three-dimensional road, the cross-sectional image 31 is not always displayed. Also good. When there is no branch road in the guide route, the user proceeds along the road where the road extends even though the road is a three-dimensional road, so there is no possibility of making a mistake in the guide route. In such a case, the display area of the display 15 can be used to display other necessary information without displaying the cross-sectional image. On the other hand, in the case where the guide route has a branching path, by displaying the cross-sectional image 31, whether or not to proceed on the branching path can be determined by the guide route in the cross-sectional image 31. Can be ensured.

  In the first embodiment described above, the cross-sectional image 31 and the guide image 32 are always displayed. However, only the cross-sectional image 31 may be displayed by the user's operation, and the vehicle is running on a three-dimensional road. However, it may be controlled not to display the cross-sectional image 31 according to user settings.

  In the above-described fourth embodiment, the guide image 32 and the route cross-sectional image 33 are displayed. However, the cross-sectional image 31 of the first embodiment may be further displayed to display three images. . Thus, the images of the first to fourth embodiments may be displayed in combination.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Navigation apparatus 11 ... Position detector 12 ... Map data input device 13 ... Operation switch group 14 ... External memory 15 ... Display device 16 ... External information input / output device 17 ... Control circuit 31 ... Cross-sectional image 32 ... Guide image 33 ... Route Cross-sectional image

Claims (9)

A navigation device that displays a guide route from a current position to a destination on a map, superimposed on a map,
Position detecting means for detecting the current position;
Map storage means for storing the map;
Route search means for searching the guide route from the current position to the destination;
Display control means for controlling an image displayed on the display unit,
The display control means includes
The guide route searched by the route search means is displayed on the map stored in the map storage means,
When there is a three-dimensional road that is a road where a plurality of roads intersect or run side by side in the vertical direction in the guide route within a predetermined range from the current position, a cross section obtained by cutting the three-dimensional road in the vertical direction A navigation apparatus characterized by displaying a simulated cross-sectional image.   The display control means displays the cross-sectional image when the guide route within a predetermined range from the current position has a branch road for connecting the plurality of roads. The navigation device described in 1.   The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional image is an image simulating a cross-section obtained by cutting the solid road along the guide route.   When displaying the cross-sectional image on the display unit, the display control means displays a guide image in which the guide route is superimposed on the map together with the cross-sectional image separately from the cross-sectional image. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   In the guide image and the cross-sectional image, the display control unit is configured to display the guide image and the cross-sectional image so that display modes of the road on the guide route and other roads that are not the guide route are different from each other. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the navigation device is displayed.   When the plurality of roads constituting the three-dimensional road are parallel to each other and run side by side, the display control means has a lower road than an upper road in the two adjacent roads in the guide image. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the road width is displayed virtually wider. The guide image has a traveling direction upward,
The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the cross-sectional image is obliquely upward in which the traveling direction obliquely intersects the upper direction.   The navigation device according to claim 7, wherein the display control unit changes an angle formed by the traveling direction of the cross-sectional image and the upper direction according to a current moving speed.   The display control unit controls the display unit to further display a route cross-sectional image simulating a cross-section obtained by cutting the solid road in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the guide route extends. 9. The navigation device according to any one of 8.

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