JP2018044932A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device capable of preventing reduction of an amount of information useful for traveling by performing changeover into enlarged image displaying with approach of a vehicle to a narrow road.SOLUTION: A navigation device 100 includes: a vehicle position detection section 4 for detecting a position of an own vehicle; a vehicle position calculation section 20; a narrow road approach determination section 40 for performing changeover from current map displaying into enlarged map displaying when the position of an own vehicle approaches a narrow road satisfying reference of changeover into enlarged map displaying; an enlarged map plotting section 42; a map displaying changeover section 44; and a changeover stop determination section 46 for determining whether predetermined changeover stop reference is satisfied and indicating the map displaying changeover section 44 to stop changeover into enlarged map displaying when the reference is satisfied.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus that switches to a map image display with an enlarged scale when traveling on a narrow road such as an urban area.

  Conventionally, when a traveling vehicle enters a narrow road (narrow street), the travel route to the destination is re-searched with the approach position as a new departure point, and the screen of the display device is divided into two, Based on the result of the re-search and road data related to the narrow street, the guide route is displayed on one of the divided screens, and the narrow street is displayed on the other divided screen in a display mode enlarged from the display image of one of the divided screens. Such a vehicle-mounted navigation device is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). As a result, even when entering a narrow street, information for reliably guiding to the destination is provided so that the user can travel with peace of mind.

JP 2002-333336 A

  By the way, in the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the vehicle enters a thin road, the display is switched to the two-divided display, and the enlarged map image is displayed on one divided screen. Such an enlarged image (narrow street display) generally assumes an urban area, but even when a vehicle enters a narrow road other than the urban area, the enlarged image display is the same as the narrow street display. Is done. For this reason, for example, even when a vehicle enters a narrow road such as a mountainous area, an enlarged image will be displayed, but there is no useful information other than the forest around the vehicle, A detailed portion of the road such as a certain curve shape is out of the range of the enlarged image, and there is a problem that the amount of information useful for traveling is reduced by switching to the enlarged image display. In order to avoid such a situation, it is necessary to manually cancel this display form when a vehicle enters a narrow road and an enlarged image is displayed, which is troublesome.

  The present invention was created in view of the above points, and its purpose is to prevent a reduction in the amount of information useful for traveling by switching to an enlarged image display as the vehicle enters a narrow road. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device that can be used.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a navigation device according to the present invention includes a vehicle position detection unit that detects the position of the host vehicle, and a reference for switching to an enlarged map display based on the position of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle position detection unit. When entering a narrow road that satisfies the conditions, the map display switching means for switching from the previous map display to the enlarged map display, and whether or not a predetermined switching cancellation criterion is satisfied. Switching cancellation determining means for instructing to cancel switching to the enlarged map display.

  Specifically, it is desirable that the narrow road to be switched by the map display switching means described above is a narrow street. In addition, when the switching cancellation criteria described above are satisfied, switching to the enlarged map display includes a case where the amount of information provided to the user does not increase and a case where the amount of information provided to the user decreases. Is desirable.

  When a vehicle enters a narrow road (specifically, a narrow street) and switches to an enlarged map display, if the switching cancellation criteria are met, the switching is stopped, so the driving that occurs by switching to the enlarged map display The amount of useful information can be prevented from decreasing.

  In addition, when the above-mentioned switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, when there is no city map corresponding to the periphery of the host vehicle, when there are not a plurality of branches on the travel route ahead of the host vehicle position, the vehicle travels ahead of the host vehicle position. When a specific curve exists on the route, it is desirable that two or more of the three conditions are satisfied. The case where two or more of these three conditions are met is a case where it is certain that an increase in useful information cannot be expected by switching to the enlarged map display. In such a case, switching to the enlarged map display is possible. By canceling, it is possible to reliably prevent a reduction in the amount of information useful for traveling.

  In addition, when the above-mentioned switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, when there is no city map corresponding to the periphery of the host vehicle, when there are not a plurality of branches on the travel route ahead of the host vehicle position, the vehicle travels ahead of the host vehicle position. When a specific curve exists on the route, it is desirable that any of the three conditions is satisfied. Each of these three conditions cannot be expected to increase the amount of useful information by switching to the enlarged map display. In such a case, the amount of information useful for driving can be reduced by stopping the switching to the enlarged map display. Can be prevented.

  Further, the map display storing means for storing the city map is further provided, and the map display switching means is an enlarged map display when the city map along the narrow road where the host vehicle has entered is stored in the city map storage means. It is desirable to display a city map along a narrow road where the vehicle has entered. Thereby, when the city map around the own vehicle does not exist, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the amount of information useful for traveling by stopping switching to the enlarged map display.

  In addition, when a vehicle traveling along a travel route to a preset destination deviates from the travel route and enters a narrow road, a new travel route that reaches the destination through the thin road It is desirable to further include route search means that is calculated by route search processing, and route guidance means that guides the travel of the vehicle along the new travel route calculated by the route search means. As a result, when a vehicle traveling along the travel route deviates from the travel route and enters a narrow road, the vehicle can travel toward the destination along the new travel route that passes through the narrow road. In this case, it is possible to switch to the enlarged map display as necessary, and in some cases, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the amount of information useful for traveling by stopping the switching to the enlarged map display. .

  Moreover, it is preferable that the map display switching means described above divides the display screen and performs an enlarged map display using one of the divided screens. By canceling the divided display of the enlarged map when useful information cannot be obtained, the map display before switching can be continued using the entire screen.

It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the navigation apparatus of one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure when the own vehicle approachs a narrow street during route guidance operation | movement. It is a figure which shows an example in the case of canceling display switching.

  Hereinafter, a navigation device according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a navigation device 100 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 100 includes a navigation controller 1, a map data storage device 2, an operation unit 3, a vehicle position detection unit 4, a display device 5, and an audio unit 6. This navigation device 100 is mounted on a vehicle. .

  The navigation controller 1 executes a predetermined operation program using a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, thereby performing a map image display operation around the vehicle position and a route search process for setting a travel route connecting the departure point and the destination. In addition, various functions such as a route guidance operation for guiding the traveling of the vehicle along the travel route and an operation for specifying a point (corresponding point) corresponding to position information input from the outside are realized. The detailed configuration of the navigation controller 1 will be described later.

  The map data storage device 2 is a storage medium storing map data and a reading device thereof. This map data includes normal map data used when performing map display and route search for roads that are wider than narrow streets (binary roads, narrow roads), and narrow streets. Narrow street map data used when performing map display or route search is included. In addition, a city map showing details of the city area may be prepared for the city area such as an urban area, and the narrow street map data includes data for drawing the city map.

  The map data storage device 2 stores map data in units of rectangular figure leaves divided into appropriate sizes by longitude and latitude. The map data of each leaf can be specified and read by designating the leaf number. The map data storage device 2 is realized by a hard disk device or a semiconductor memory, or by a DVD and its reading device. Further, the map data storage device 2 may be replaced with a communication device to acquire map data from an external map distribution server (not shown).

  The operation unit 3 is for receiving user instructions (operations), and includes various operation buttons and operation knobs. In addition, the operation unit 3 includes a touch panel attached to the screen of the display device 5, and an operation instruction can be performed when a user directly points a part on the screen with a finger or the like. Yes. The vehicle position detection unit 4 includes, for example, a GPS receiver, an orientation sensor, a distance sensor, and the like, detects the vehicle position (longitude, latitude) at a predetermined timing, and outputs the detection result.

  The display device 5 is configured by, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display device), and displays a map image around the vehicle position based on the video signal output from the navigation controller 1. The audio unit 6 outputs a guidance voice or the like generated based on the voice signal input from the navigation controller 1 into the vehicle interior.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the navigation controller 1 will be described. The navigation controller 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a map buffer 10, a map readout control unit 12, a map drawing unit 14, a vehicle position calculation unit 20, a route search processing unit 30, a route guidance processing unit 32, a destination setting unit 34, a narrow street. It includes an entry determination unit 40, an enlarged map drawing unit 42, a map display switching unit 44, a switching stop determination unit 46, an input processing unit 60, and a display processing unit 70.

  The map buffer 10 temporarily stores map data (normal map data, city map data) read from the map data storage device 2. This map data includes at least data necessary for drawing a map image and data necessary for route search and route guidance. The map reading control unit 12 sends a map data reading request within a predetermined range in accordance with the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculating unit 20 or the position designated by the user by operating the operation unit 3. Output to. Based on the normal map data stored in the map buffer 10, the map drawing unit 14 performs normal drawing processing for displaying a map image (normal map) on the display device 5 to create normal map drawing data.

  The vehicle position calculation unit 20 calculates the vehicle position based on the detection data output from the vehicle position detection unit 4, and if the calculated vehicle position is not on the road of the map data, the vehicle position calculation unit 20 calculates the vehicle position. Perform map matching processing to correct.

  The route search processing unit 30 calculates a travel route (guidance route) having a minimum cost from the departure point to the destination by route search processing using a predetermined search condition. In the present embodiment, first, a route search process is performed using normal map data so as to pass a road having a width wider than that of a narrow street, and a travel route (normal travel route) is set. In addition, when the vehicle enters the narrow street while traveling on this normal travel route, a route search process is performed so as to pass through the road including the narrow street from this entry position as the departure point ( Alternatively, a travel route (narrow street travel route) until returning to the normal travel route is set.

  The route guidance processing unit 32 displays the normal travel route obtained by the search processing by the route search processing unit 30 so as to be superimposed on the map, or creates guidance route drawing data for displaying a guide map of the intersection at the right or left turn. At the same time, an audio signal such as intersection guidance necessary for guiding the vehicle to travel along the normal travel route is generated (route guidance operation). The destination setting unit 34 sets a destination used for the route search processing performed by the route search processing unit 30.

  The narrow street approach determination unit 40 is a narrow road (for example, Building Standard Act No. 1) that satisfies the criteria for switching the enlarged map display based on the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 20 during the route guidance operation. It is determined whether or not the vehicle has entered a road (a narrow street, a second road, a narrow road) that is regarded as a “road under the Building Standards Act” in accordance with the provisions of Article 42, paragraph 2.

  When the narrow street entry determination unit 40 determines that the host vehicle has entered a narrow road, the enlarged map drawing unit 42 has a display scale smaller than the map display (ordinary map display) displayed so far. Draw a large enlarged map. For example, in the normal map display, the display scale can be changed according to a user instruction, and the largest display scale is set to 1/5000. On the other hand, the enlarged map has a fixed display scale and is set to 1/2500. The enlarged map drawing unit 42 draws an enlarged map using the city map data when a city map corresponding to the vicinity of the vehicle position is prepared. On the other hand, when a city map is not prepared, the enlarged map drawing unit 42 draws an enlarged map by, for example, a method of enlarging normal map data having the largest display scale. Further, the enlarged map to be displayed on the enlarged map includes a narrow street travel route.

  When the narrow street entry determining unit 40 determines that the host vehicle has entered a thin road, the map display switching unit 44 switches from the normal map display until then to the enlarged map display. This switching may replace the normal map display that has been performed using the entire display screen until now with an enlarged map display. However, the display screen is divided into two parts on the left and right, and one of the divided screens is used. The normal map display may be maintained, and the enlarged map display may be performed using the other divided screen.

  The switching cancellation determination unit 46 instructs the map display switching unit 44 to cancel switching to the enlarged map display when a predetermined switching cancellation criterion is satisfied.

  For example, when the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, switching to the enlarged map display does not increase (A) the amount of information provided to the user, or (B) decreases the amount of information provided to the user. Cases that fall under any of the above are included.

Specifically, when two or more of the following three conditions (1) to (3) are satisfied, it is determined that the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied.
(1) When a city map is not included in the vicinity of the vehicle (for example, 1 km square). In addition, even when the city map is included, it may be included in the “case where the city map is not included” in the case of only along the road.
(2) A case where a plurality of branches do not exist on the travel route (for example, between 500 m and 1 km ahead of the host vehicle). Even if there is a branch, if the end of the branched road is a dead end, this branch may not be included in the “plurality of branches”.
(3) A specific curve exists on the travel route (for example, between 500 m and 1 km ahead of the host vehicle). The specific curve is a hairpin curve or a small curve, and does not include a gentle curve (for example, a radius of 50 m or more) that does not require the driver to be alerted.

  When the conditions (1) and (2) described above are satisfied, it can be said that the amount of information provided to the user does not increase even when switching to the enlarged map display. When the condition (3) is met, it can be said that the amount of information provided to the user is reduced by switching to the enlarged map display.

  The input processing unit 60 outputs commands for performing operations corresponding to various operation instructions input from the operation unit 3 toward each unit in the navigation controller 1.

  The display processing unit 70 receives normal map drawing data created by the map drawing unit 14 and displays a normal map in a predetermined range on the screen of the display device 5 based on the drawing data. When the guidance route drawing data indicating the normal travel route set by the route search processing unit 30 is input, the display processing unit 70 superimposes the normal travel route corresponding to the drawing data on the normal map and displays it. 5 is displayed on the screen. Further, when the enlarged map is drawn by the enlarged map drawing unit 42 and enlarged map drawing data is input, the display processing unit 70 displays on the screen of the display device 5 instead of the normal map so far, The map and the enlarged map are displayed side by side on the left and right divided screens of the display device 5.

  The vehicle position detection unit 4 and the vehicle position calculation unit 20 described above serve as vehicle position detection means, the narrow street entry determination unit 40, the enlarged map drawing unit 42, and the map display switching unit 44 serve as map display switching unit, and a switching stop determination unit 46. The map data storage device 2 and the map buffer 10 correspond to the city map storage means, the route search processing unit 30 corresponds to the route search means, and the route guidance processing unit 32 corresponds to the route guidance means.

  The navigation apparatus 100 of this embodiment has such a configuration, and next, the operation thereof will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure when the host vehicle enters a narrow street during the route guidance operation.

  When the normal travel route is set by the route search process using the normal map data and the route guidance operation is started, the map drawing unit 14 draws a map image (normal map) around the vehicle position, and the route guidance processing unit 32 draws the guidance route (normal travel route) in a display form (for example, using a color different from the road in the map image) that can be distinguished from the road in the map image (step 100). The display processing unit 70 displays the normal travel route on the screen of the display device 5 so as to overlap the normal map (step 102).

  Next, the route guidance processing unit 32 determines whether or not the host vehicle has arrived at the destination (step 104). When arriving at the destination, a series of route guidance operations are completed. If the destination has not arrived, a negative determination is made in the determination in step 104.

  Next, the narrow street entry determination unit 40 determines whether or not the own vehicle has entered a narrow road (narrow street) that satisfies the criteria for switching the enlarged map display (step 106). If the vehicle has not entered, a negative determination is made, and the process returns to step 100 and the operations after the drawing operation of the normal map and the normal travel route are repeated.

  If the host vehicle enters the narrow street, an affirmative determination is made in step 106. Next, the route search processing unit 30 uses both the normal map data and the narrow street map data to perform a route search process so as to pass through the road including the narrow street from the entry position to the narrow street as the departure point. A travel route (narrow street travel route) to the destination (or until returning to the normal travel route) is set (step 108). Further, the enlarged map drawing unit 42 draws an enlarged map having a display scale larger than the map display (normal map display) displayed until the host vehicle enters the narrow street (step 110). This enlarged map also includes the narrow street travel route set by the route search processing unit 30 in step 108, and in a display mode in which the narrow street travel route can be distinguished from other narrow streets (for example, color and Draw with different linetypes.

  Next, the switching cancellation determination unit 46 satisfies whether or not a predetermined switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, and specifically corresponds to two or more of the three conditions (1) to (3) as the switching cancellation criterion. Whether or not (step 112). If two or more are true, an affirmative determination is made, and the switching cancellation determination unit 46 instructs the map display switching unit 44 to cancel switching (step 114). In this case, switching from the normal map display to the enlarged map display by the map display switching unit 44 is not performed, and the normal map display until then is maintained.

  In addition, when two or more of the three conditions as the switching cancellation criteria are not met (when none of the conditions is met or when only one condition is met), a negative determination is made in the determination of step 112. In other words, the switching cancellation determination unit 46 does not instruct the map display switching unit 44 to cancel switching. In this case, the map display switching unit 44 sends an instruction to the display processing unit 70 to switch from the normal map display to the enlarged map display (for example, the two-part display of the normal map and the enlarged map) (step 116). Thereafter, returning to step 100, the operations after the drawing operation of the normal map and the normal travel route are repeated.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which display switching is stopped. The normal travel route R shown in FIG. 3 is a mountain road, where there is no branch on the travel route, and there is a hairpin curve on the travel route, and the condition (2 ) And condition (3). In such a case, even when the host vehicle enters the narrow street, switching from the normal map display to the divided display of the normal map and the enlarged map is not performed.

  As described above, in the navigation device 100 of the present embodiment, when the vehicle enters a narrow road (specifically, a narrow street) and switches to the enlarged map display, the switching is canceled if the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the amount of information useful for traveling, which is caused by switching to the enlarged map display.

  In addition, when the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, when there is no city map corresponding to the periphery of the host vehicle, when there are not a plurality of branches on the driving route ahead of the host vehicle position, on the driving route ahead of the host vehicle position. When there is a specific curve in the case, two or more of the three conditions are met. When two or more of these three conditions are met, it is useful to switch to the enlarged map display. This is a case where it is certain that an increase in the amount of information cannot be expected. In such a case, by stopping switching to the enlarged map display, a decrease in the amount of information useful for traveling can be surely prevented. In particular, when there is no city map around the host vehicle, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the amount of information useful for traveling by stopping switching to the enlarged map display.

  In addition, when a vehicle that is traveling along a travel route deviates from the travel route and enters a narrow road, a new travel route that passes through the narrow road is set, and the new travel route is set along the new travel route. It is possible to drive toward the destination, and at that time it is possible to switch to the enlarged map display if necessary, and in some cases it is useful for driving by stopping the switch to the enlarged map display A reduction in the amount of information can be prevented.

  In addition, when switching from normal map display to normal map and enlarged map split display, the map display before switching is displayed by canceling the split map split display when useful information is not available. You can continue with the whole.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible within the range of the summary of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the switching to the enlarged map display is canceled when two or more of the three conditions as the switching cancellation criterion are met. Any one of these three conditions (one or more) The switching to the enlarged map display may be stopped when it corresponds to. Each of these three conditions cannot be expected to increase the amount of useful information by switching to the enlarged map display. In such a case, the amount of information useful for driving can be reduced by stopping the switching to the enlarged map display. Can be prevented.

  In addition, if switching to the enlarged map display can be stopped when either (A) the amount of information provided to the user does not increase or (B) the amount of information provided to the user decreases, For this reason, the above-described three conditions (1) to (3) as the switching cancellation criteria may be appropriately increased or decreased or the contents of the conditions may be changed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation controller 2 Map data storage device 4 Vehicle position detection part 5 Display apparatus 9 Communication apparatus 10 Map buffer 12 Map read-out control part 14 Map drawing part 20 Vehicle position calculation part 30 Route search process part 32 Route guidance process part 34 Destination setting Unit 40 narrow street approach determination unit 42 enlarged map drawing unit 44 map display switching unit 46 switching stop determination unit 70 display processing unit 100 navigation device

Claims (8)

Vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the host vehicle;
Map display switching means for switching from the previous map display to the enlarged map display when the position of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle position detection means enters a narrow road that satisfies the switching criteria for the enlarged map display;
It is determined whether or not a predetermined switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, and when satisfied, a switching cancellation determination unit that instructs the map display switching unit to cancel switching to the enlarged map display,
A navigation device comprising:   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the narrow road to be switched by the map display switching means is a narrow street.   When the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, switching to the enlarged map display includes a case where the amount of information provided to the user does not increase and a case where the amount of information provided to the user decreases. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2.   When the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, when there is no city map corresponding to the periphery of the own vehicle, when there are no multiple branches on the traveling route ahead of the own vehicle position, on the traveling route ahead of the own vehicle position. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when a specific curve exists, the case corresponds to two or more of the three conditions.   When the switching cancellation criterion is satisfied, when there is no city map corresponding to the periphery of the own vehicle, when there are no multiple branches on the traveling route ahead of the own vehicle position, on the traveling route ahead of the own vehicle position. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the specific curve exists, the vehicle satisfies one of the three conditions. A city map storage means for storing the city map;
The map display switching means, when a city map along the narrow road into which the host vehicle has entered is stored in the city map storage means, as the enlarged map display, along the narrow road into which the host vehicle has entered. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the city map is displayed. When a vehicle traveling along a travel route to a preset destination deviates from the travel route and enters the narrow road, a new travel route that reaches the destination through the thin road Route search means for calculating by route search processing;
Route guidance means for guiding the travel of the vehicle along the new travel route calculated by the route search means;
The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising:   The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the map display switching unit divides a display screen and performs the enlarged map display using one of the divided screens.

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