JP2746169B2 - Route guidance device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a route guidance device mounted on a vehicle and, more particularly, to an intersection having a plurality of branch roads which is displayed by using a branch road display portion extending in a predetermined direction. The present invention relates to a route guidance device for guiding a recommended route on which a vehicle should travel from a forked road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a navigation device, which is a route guidance device, has been mounted on a vehicle to assist the vehicle in traveling on unfamiliar land. In this conventional navigation device, a control unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) detects the current position of the vehicle based on the traveling distance and traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the distance sensor and the direction sensor, respectively. The current position of the vehicle is displayed on a display device such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display device together with a road map around the vehicle. The above road map data is generally stored in a road map memory.

Further, in accordance with the setting of the destination by the driver, road calculation road map data of a range including the departure point (current position) and the destination is read from the road map memory, and the read path calculation road is read. A recommended route from the departure point to the destination is calculated based on the map data. When the road map is displayed on the display device, the calculated recommended route is displayed on the road by, for example, a dotted line.

Further, in a conventional navigation device,
It is not desirable for the driver to look at the arrow indicating a small vehicle on the screen or a fine optimal route display while driving, especially when approaching an intersection when driving in a city area, which is not preferable for traffic safety. When the intersection approaches, the driver is notified by voice of the direction to proceed, or a schematic diagram corresponding to the intersection shape is displayed, and an arrow or the like indicating the traveling direction is displayed on the schematic diagram. In this case, the driver can acquire information while keeping his gaze on the front or at a glance of the screen, so that the driver can concentrate on driving the vehicle and improve safety. Can be.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional navigation device, in order to display an intersection having a plurality of branch roads in detail, for example, when a schematic diagram of the intersection is displayed in 16 directions, a road sign or the like is used. A schematic diagram of the intersection is displayed in a state deviating from the feeling received by the user, and it may be difficult for the driver to recognize which of the branch roads of the recommended route is the branch road of the intersection.

Hereinafter, the above problem will be specifically described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of an intersection used in a conventional navigation device. Referring to FIG. 7, when an intersection is displayed in 16 directions, a schematic diagram including 16 branch road display units D1 to D16 is used, and a branch road display unit for each branch road included in the intersection is selected. The selected branch road display section is displayed on the display device. For example, when there is an intersection as shown in FIG. 8, when the driver runs on the approach road I1 and approaches the intersection, the two branch roads O
The nearest branch road display section corresponding to each of 1 and O2 is selected, and the schematic diagram of the intersection shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. That is, the fork road display section D1 is displayed as the approach road, the fork road display section D9 is displayed as the fork road O1, and the fork road O
As 2, the fork road display section D12 is displayed. Also, when the branch road O2 is selected as the recommended route, an arrow is displayed in the direction from the branch road display unit D1 to the branch road display unit D12,
The recommended route is displayed.

On the other hand, as a road sign at an intersection as shown in FIG. 8, a road sign as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed.
That is, the branch road O1 is displayed as a straight road,
Fork O2 is highlighted and displayed as a road that turns right.
Normally, the arrow indicating the direction and the arrow indicating the B direction are displayed in a state of being orthogonal to each other. Therefore, when the schematic diagram of the intersection shown in FIG. 9 is displayed, the driver may recognize that an intersection different from the road sign shown in FIG. 10 is displayed, and which branch road should be advanced. You may be puzzled. Therefore, as described above, even if the schematic diagram of the intersection corresponding to the actual azimuth on the map is displayed, it is different from the schematic diagram of the intersection indicated by the road sign. There was a problem that it was hard to understand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide a route guidance apparatus capable of displaying an intersection in a shape suitable for a driver's sense by a road sign or the like.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route guidance apparatus which displays an intersection having a plurality of branch roads using a plurality of branch road display portions extending in a predetermined direction. A route guidance device that guides a recommended route along which a vehicle should travel, from among a plurality of branch road display units, a first display unit that displays an intersection using a first number of branch road display units,
A second display means for displaying the intersection by using a second number of the branch road display units smaller than the first number of the plurality of branch road display units; and a second display means for displaying the intersection according to an angle of the branch road at the intersection. First, the intersection is preferentially displayed in the order of the display means.
And control means for controlling the second display means.

[0010] The route guidance apparatus according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
In addition to the configuration of the route guidance device described above, the control unit includes a first detection unit that detects that there is a branch road within a predetermined angle of the branch road display unit, and a control unit that detects that a plurality of branch roads do not exist within the predetermined angle. And a second detecting means for detecting, wherein the predetermined angle is set to a predetermined angle for each of the first and second display means, and the control means detects that only one branch path exists within the predetermined angle. The first and second display means are controlled so as to display the intersection when all the branch roads of the intersection are associated with the respective branch road display sections.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route guidance apparatus.
Alternatively, in addition to the configuration of the route guidance device described in 2, the second number is half of the first number.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the angle of the branch road at the intersection, the display means having the smaller number of branch road display sections, that is, the second display means, and the first display means in this order. Since the first and second display means are controlled so as to display the intersection preferentially, the intersection can be displayed preferentially in a simplified state,
Intersections having more than one fork can be displayed using the fork display sections corresponding to the number of forks, and the intersections can be displayed in a shape suitable for the driver's sense due to a road sign or the like. It becomes possible.

[0013] In the route guidance apparatus according to the second aspect,
In addition to the operation of the route guidance device according to claim 1, each display means is provided only when there is only one branch road within a predetermined angle and all the branch roads at the intersection are associated with each branch road display unit. Is used to display an intersection, so that two or more branch roads are not redundantly displayed on one branch road display section, and erroneous display of an intersection can be prevented.

[0014] In the route guidance device according to the third aspect,
In addition to the operation of the route guidance device according to claim 1 or 2, the second display means can display the intersection by using a half of the first display means. Of these, a predetermined branch road display section can be shared by the first and second display means, and the cost of a display device that displays the branch road display section can be reduced.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a navigation device as a route guidance device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the navigation device comprises:
Distance sensor 1, direction sensor 2, geomagnetic sensor 3, position detection device 4, display device 5, controller 6, road map memory 7, memory drive 8, beacon receiver 9, GPS receiver 10, input device 11, voice output device 12 inclusive. Further, the controller 6 includes an audio data memory 13.

The navigation device shown in FIG. 1 is used by being mounted on a vehicle, and has a distance sensor 1 for detecting a traveling distance of the vehicle, a direction sensor 2 for detecting a traveling direction of the vehicle, and a geomagnetic field for detecting an earth magnetic field. Based on each output of the sensor 3, the current position of the vehicle is detected by the position detection device 4, and the detected current position is displayed on a display device 5 including a CRT, a liquid crystal display device, and the like, together with a road map of the surrounding area. That is, when the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting device 4 is given to the controller 6, the controller 6 outputs a predetermined value near the current position from the road map memory 7 constituted by a CD-ROM via the memory drive 8. The road map data of the range is read, and the current position is superimposed on the read road map and displayed on the display device 5.

The detection of the current position in the position detecting device 4 is basically performed by the so-called self-contained navigation based on the outputs of the distance sensor 1 and the direction sensor 2. That is, the position detection device 4 integrates the output of the distance sensor 1 over a predetermined time, and also integrates the output of the direction sensor 2 during the predetermined time. As a result, the distance sensor 1
The travel distance of the vehicle in the above-mentioned predetermined time is obtained from the integrated value of, and the traveling direction is obtained from the integrated value of the direction sensor 2.
Therefore, for example, by inputting the exact position of the vehicle before starting the vehicle, the transition of the position of the vehicle thereafter can be detected.

The position detection device 4 may detect the current position by using a so-called map mapping method using the road map data for position detection stored in the road map memory 7. In other words, the current position is corrected to a position on the road in the vicinity of the vehicle by using the fact that the position of the vehicle is basically restricted on the road. As a result, accumulation of errors in the current position detected based on the outputs of the distance sensor 1, the direction sensor 2, and the like can be prevented, and the accuracy of position detection can be improved.

Further, a beacon receiver 9 is connected to the position detecting device 4. The beacon receiver 9 is provided with position information and road information (intersection name, destination guidance, traffic congestion information, etc.) radiated from a beacon antenna installed on the road side of a road or the like.
This is for receiving data such as accident information). The road information received by the beacon receiver 9 is transmitted to the controller 6
And finally displayed on the display device 5.

A GPS receiver 10 is connected to the position detecting device 4. The GPS receiver 10 receives radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites traveling in orbit around the earth. The position detection device 4 directly detects the current position of the vehicle based on the propagation delay time of the received radio wave. As described above, the position detection device 4 uses the current position obtained by the self-contained navigation, the current position obtained based on the position information received by the beacon receiver 9, or the radio wave received by the GPS receiver 10. One of the current positions obtained based on the selected position is selectively adopted according to a predetermined standard.

The road map memory 7 stores road map data for display, road map data for position detection, and road map data for route calculation.

The controller 6 is connected to an input device 11 for selecting various functions and a voice output device 12 for outputting voice during route guidance. Further, the controller 6 includes an audio data memory 13 composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which audio data to be output at the time of route guidance is stored as an audio data table.

Further, the controller 6 is provided with a route guidance processing section which functions as a center of the operation of the controller 6. The route guidance processing unit is provided with the current position data of the vehicle from the position detection device 4.
The display road map data around the current position given to the internal road map memory control unit is read from the road map memory 7 via the memory drive 8. The read display road map data and the current position data that have been read are provided to the display control unit in the controller 6, processed into display data, and then provided to the display device 5. As a result, the display device 5 displays the current position of the vehicle on the road map in a superimposed manner.

An input device 11 is connected to the route guidance processing section via an input control section inside the controller 6.
When the route calculation request signal and the destination data are given from the input device 11 via the input control unit, the route guidance processing unit causes the road map memory control unit to read the route calculation road map data from the road map memory 7, The read route calculation road map data, destination data, and current location data are provided to a route calculation processing unit in the controller 6. In the route calculation processing unit, the given route calculation road map data,
Based on the destination data and the current position data, a recommended route to the destination is calculated by, for example, the Dijkstra method. Here, the Dijkstra method is a tree of links from the start point to the end point, with the node or link closest to the destination (or the current location) as the starting point, the node or link closest to the current location (or the destination) as the end point. In this method, all the link costs (the running time and the running distance of the links) constituting the tree are sequentially added, and only the route with the lowest link cost to reach the end point is selected.

When the recommended route is calculated, the route guidance processing unit supplies the calculated recommended route to the display control unit in the controller 6 and creates a guidance table indicating the calculated recommended route. The created guidance table is stored in the RAM inside the controller 6.

In the display control section, the given recommended route is processed into display data, and the processed display data is provided to the display device 5. As a result, the recommended route is displayed on the display device 5 by, for example, a dotted line. Further, the voice control unit in the controller 6 reads out the voice content to be output at the time of the route guidance processing from the voice data memory 13, and gives the read voice content to the voice output device 12. Further, in the navigation device of the present embodiment, a schematic view of the intersection is displayed in a window in, for example, 16 directions in order to facilitate guidance of the recommended route at the intersection.

Next, an intersection display process for displaying a schematic diagram of an intersection in the navigation device shown in FIG. 1 on the display device 5 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the intersection display processing of the navigation device shown in FIG. In the following description, the display device 5
A case where the intersection display units D1 to D16 of 16 directions shown in FIG. 7 are used as the intersection display unit displayed above will be described.

First, in step S1, an intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle is displayed as a quadrant display, that is, a branch road display section D.
1, D5, D9, and D13 determine whether display is possible. If the display is possible, the process proceeds to step S5, and the display is divided into four, that is, the branch road display sections D1, D5, D9, and D13.
Is used to display a schematic diagram of the intersection. On the other hand, if the four-split display cannot be performed, the process proceeds to step S2.

Next, in step S2, an eight-segment display, ie, branch road display sections D1, D3, D5, D7, D9,
It is determined whether or not the branch road at the intersection can be displayed using D11, D13, and D15. If eight-segment display is possible, the process proceeds to step S4, and eight-segment display, that is, branch road display sections D1, D3, D5, D7, D9, D11, D13, D
15 is used to display a schematic diagram of the intersection on the display device 5. On the other hand, if the eight-split display is not possible, step S3
To 16-split display, that is, branch road display sections D1 to D
16 is used to display a schematic diagram of the intersection on the display device 5.

According to the above-described processing, when four-split display is possible, first, four-split display is performed. Next, when eight-split display is possible, eight-split display is performed. Done. Accordingly, when the number of branch roads at an intersection is small, the shape of the intersection is displayed in the simplest schematic diagram of four-division display, and when the number of branch roads is large, eight are displayed in order.
The division and the 16-division display are performed, and the intersection can be sequentially displayed in a shape that makes it easier for the driver to recognize the shape of the intersection.

Next, steps S1 and S2 shown in FIG.
A more specific description will be given of the split display determination process used in the above. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the split display determination process used in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the quadrant display determination process, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining eight-segment display determination processing. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the branch road display section is indicated by a solid line for ease of explanation.

First, referring to FIG. 3, in step S11, it is determined whether or not each branch road at the intersection exists within a predetermined angle of the corresponding branch road display section. Where 4
In the case of the split display, the predetermined angle is a range of α shown in FIG. 4, for example, a range of 45 degrees is used. In the case of eight-segment display, β shown in FIG. 5 is used as the predetermined angle, and a value larger than 22.5 degrees and smaller than α is used as β. If the branch road is not within the predetermined angle, the process proceeds to step S14, it is determined that the divided display is not possible, and if the branch road is within the predetermined angle, the process proceeds to step S12.

Next, in step S12, it is determined whether there is another branch road within a predetermined angle. That is, it is determined whether or not only one branch road exists within a predetermined angle of each branch road display unit. When there is another branch road within a predetermined angle, a plurality of branch roads will be represented by one branch road display unit, and an intersection is erroneously displayed.
The process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined that the divided display is not possible. On the other hand, when there is no other branch road within the predetermined angle, the process proceeds to step S13, and it is determined that the divided display is possible.

The above processing is executed in steps S1 and S2 shown in FIG. 2 respectively. At the same time, the judgment is made for all the branch roads at the intersection, and when it is judged that all the branch roads can be divided and displayed, the processing is repeated. It is determined that the divided display is possible, and if it is determined that the divided display cannot be performed even on one branch road, it is determined that the divided display cannot be performed. According to the above processing, one branch road display unit always corresponds to one branch road, and it is possible to simplify and display the shape of the intersection.

Next, an example of displaying an intersection when the intersection display processing is performed according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of an intersection by the intersection display processing shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The display example shown in FIG. 6 is an example when the intersection shown in FIG. 8 described in the conventional example is displayed.

First, the approach road I1 shown in FIG. 8 is displayed as a branch road display section D1, and the branch road O1 is displayed as a branch road display section D9.
Will be displayed as Further, the branch road O2 is determined to be capable of being divided into four in step S1 shown in FIG. 2, and is displayed by the branch road display unit D13. Therefore, as a schematic diagram of the intersection, as shown in FIG.
A branch road display section D13 orthogonal to 9 is displayed, and the branch road is displayed in a state orthogonal to the road sign shown in FIG. Therefore, when the recommended route is the branch road display section D13, an arrow is displayed from D1 to D13 as shown in FIG. 6, and the driver visually recognizes a schematic diagram of an intersection similar to a road sign, so that the driver can easily see the branch road. It can be seen that the vehicle should be driven in the direction of the display unit D13, that is, in the direction of the branch road O2 shown in FIG. As a result, the intersection can be displayed in a shape suitable for the user's sense of the road sign or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the case of three divided displays of 4 divisions, 8 divisions, and 16 divisions has been described. However, a schematic diagram of an intersection may be shown by another division display such as 12 divisions, 6 divisions, or the like. Also, the display stage is not limited to three stages and may be divided into two stages or four or more stages.

[0039]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the intersections can be preferentially displayed in ascending order of the number of the branch road display portions in accordance with the angle of the branch road at the intersection. When the number of roads is small, the intersection can be displayed in a simplified state, and when the number of branch roads at the intersection is large, a detailed schematic diagram of the intersection can be displayed. Therefore, it is possible to display the intersection in a shape suitable for the feeling received by the driver by a road sign or the like.

In the route guidance apparatus according to the second aspect,
In addition to the effect of the route guidance device according to claim 1, only one branch road exists within a predetermined angle, and only when all the branch roads at the intersection are associated with the respective branch road display sections, the display means displays the information. Since the intersection is displayed, erroneous display of the intersection is eliminated, and more accurate route guidance can be performed.

In the route guidance device according to the third aspect,
In addition to the effects of the route guidance device according to claim 1 or 2, the second display means displays the intersection using a half of the first display means. The number of branch road display sections can be shared by the first and second display means, so that the cost of a display device for displaying the branch road display can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an intersection display process of the navigation device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a divided display determination process used in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a four-divided display determination process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an 8-split display determination process.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of an intersection by the intersection display processing shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of an intersection used in a conventional navigation device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a problem of a conventional navigation device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of an intersection of a conventional navigation device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a road sign.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 distance sensor 2 direction sensor 3 geomagnetic sensor 4 position detecting device 5 display device 6 controller 7 road map memory 8 memory drive 9 beacon receiver 10 GPS receiver 11 input device 12 audio output device 13 audio data memory

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A route for displaying an intersection having a plurality of branch roads using a plurality of branch road display portions extending in a predetermined direction, and guiding a recommended route to be driven by a vehicle from among the plurality of branch roads. A guidance device, wherein: first display means for displaying the intersection using a first number of branch road display units of the plurality of branch road display units; and the first number of the plurality of branch road display units. A second display unit that displays the intersection using a smaller number of second branch road display units; and, in accordance with the angle of the branch road at the intersection, the second display unit and the first display unit in that order. And a control means for controlling the first and second display means so as to display the intersection. 2. The control unit includes: a first detection unit configured to detect that the branch road exists within a predetermined angle of the branch road display unit; and a control unit configured to detect that a plurality of branch roads do not exist within the predetermined angle. A second detection unit, wherein the predetermined angle is set to a predetermined angle for each of the first and second display units, and the control unit may include only one branch within the predetermined angle. When detected, and when all the branch roads of the intersection is associated with the branch road display unit,
The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second display means are controlled so as to display the intersection. 3. The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the second number is a half of the first number.