JP2810278B2 - Vehicle navigation system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a screen display during route guidance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices for reducing the burden on a driver have been studied and are now mounted on vehicles. Among them, there is a navigation device for guiding a route to a destination.

[0003] Such a navigation device has a function of searching for a route from the current position to the destination by inputting the destination, and displaying the searched route to inform the driver. Can be. It also has a function of detecting the current position of the vehicle. During traveling, both the route obtained by searching and the detected current position are displayed to perform route guidance.

[0004] In this case, the driver if he remaining distance to the destination is minutes from the current location at the time of route guidance is easy to make the operation plan,
Useful. Therefore, even in the conventional navigation device, configured to display the remaining distance to the portion other than the map display section on the screen if necessary is adopted. As such a navigation system, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
JP-A-2-106600, JP-A-58-113200, and the like.

[0005]

However, during route guidance, the driver often gazes at the current position mark on the screen, and thus is located at a place other than the map display, that is, at a place distant from the current position mark. In the configuration in which the remaining distance from the current position to the destination is displayed, the driver is forced to move his or her line of sight, and there is a problem in that the driver cannot concentrate on driving.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object the purpose of determining a predetermined location from a current position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular navigation device that can display a point, for example, a remaining distance to a destination at a position where it is easy to see, and can display the remaining space on a map with a low importance to effectively use a display space.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an input means for inputting a point such as a current position or a destination, a storage means for storing map information, and a storage means for storing the map information. Route calculation means for searching for a route to a destination based on the detected map information, current position detection means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, and displaying the route obtained by the search on the map information together with the detected current position. Means for calculating a remaining distance from a current location to a predetermined point, and displaying the calculated remaining distance around the current location displayed on the display means. Display control means. Here, the remaining distance is the traveling direction of the vehicle.
It is preferable to display in the opposite direction to the
For example, a destination or an intersection is preferable.

[0008]

As described above, according to the present invention, the remaining distance to a predetermined point such as a destination or an intersection is displayed on the display means.
Location , that is , around the current location mark , driving
The user can grasp not only the current position mark but also the remaining distance at the same time.
Can be As described above, since the driver during the route guidance, often gazing the current position mark, the current position
By displaying the remaining distance around the location mark, the driver can
This remaining distance can be easily recognized without moving the line of sight to check the remaining distance. Also, map information around the current position mark, especially map information in the direction opposite to the vehicle traveling direction, is less important than map information in the vehicle traveling direction. There is no loss of information.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a vehicle navigation system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present apparatus. A map information storage unit 10 that stores information such as roads, place names (intersection names), building names, and river names is provided, and the stored map information can be read as needed. I have. Also, a GPS receiver 14 using a satellite navigation system (GPS) for measuring the current position of the vehicle, an azimuth sensor 16 for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle based on geomagnetism, and a traveling distance based on the number of rotations of the wheels. Is provided, and the current position measuring unit 12 determines the current position of the own vehicle based on the detection results of these sensors. Further, information from the steering sensor 17 is also input, and is used for map matching or the like for correcting the current position to an intersection position on a map when turning right or left at an intersection.

When performing route guidance to a destination, the destination is instructed on a screen of a display unit to be described later by the input unit 19, or is input by a place name or the like, and the current position calculated by the current position measurement unit 12 is calculated. Calculation unit 2 calculates the route from the position to the destination
The calculated route is calculated by the route calculation unit 22 included in the route storage unit 0, and the calculated route is stored in the route storage unit 24. Note that an appropriate route search method is adopted for this route calculation.

After inputting the destination and determining the route, actual route guidance is performed. The route guidance control unit 26 included in the calculation unit 20 reads map information around the own vehicle from the guidance information storage unit 10a in the map information storage unit 10 and stores the current vehicle position, traveling direction, and route storage unit 24 in the map information storage unit 10a. The information is superimposed on the stored route and displayed on the display unit 28.

The display unit 28 is provided in the instrument panel near the driver's seat, and the driver can confirm the position of the own vehicle by looking at the display and obtain information on a future route. As a display example, the selected route is displayed as a thick line, the other lines are displayed as thin lines, the position of the own vehicle is indicated by a circle, and the traveling direction can be indicated by a wedge-shaped arrow.

When the position of the vehicle approaches the intersection to be changed, the display unit 28 displays the name of the intersection and the distance to the intersection. The route guidance control unit 26 instructs the voice control unit 30 to generate a voice corresponding to the route guidance at the intersection together with this display. Voice control unit 30
Reads out information stored as digital data in the audio storage unit 32, converts this into an analog signal, and drives the speaker. Then, a route instruction is given to the driver from the speaker 34, for example, "the intersection is about 300 m ahead at the *** intersection to the left." This voice instruction is performed at predetermined intervals until the vehicle passes through the intersection. For example, when traveling on a road with two or more lanes, 700
The first guidance is given m m before, the second guidance 300 m before, and the final guidance 100 m before. These guidance voices are stored in the voice storage unit 32 as digital data for each phrase. Therefore, when outputting a guidance voice, a plurality of voices are read out, synthesized into a phrase, and output from the speaker 34 as a guidance signal. The output timing of the guidance voice is detected by the route guidance control unit 26, and the voice control unit 3
0 performs processing for audio output.

The route guidance is performed in this manner. During the route guidance, the driver may want to know the remaining distance to the destination. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a timer interrupt is issued during route guidance to respond to such a driver's request, and the map drawing control unit 26a displays the remaining distance on the display unit 28.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the display of the remaining distance in this embodiment. First, the current position and the traveling direction are acquired (S101). The current position and the traveling direction are supplied from the current position measuring unit 12. Then, the remaining distance on the search route to the current position and the destination is calculated (S10).
2). After calculating the remaining distance, the route guidance control unit 26 displays the current position on the display unit 28 (S103). As the current position display method, a circle or the like may be displayed on a map, and the traveling direction may be displayed by an arrow. Next, the calculated remaining distance is displayed on the display unit 28. In the present embodiment, the remaining distance is displayed around the current position mark, and in consideration of the traveling direction of the vehicle, a direction opposite to the traveling direction is considered. Is displayed around. This is the traveling direction the driver Ri <br/> Oh useful because it is the direction you want to know map information, thus when displaying remaining distance is suitably backward not to impair the map information required Because.

Therefore, it is determined whether the traveling direction of the vehicle is upward or downward on the screen (S104). If the traveling direction is upward on the screen, the remaining distance is displayed below the current position mark (S105). Is pointing downward on the screen, the remaining distance is displayed on the current position mark (S10).
6).

3 to 5 show examples of the display of the remaining distance in this embodiment. The left part of FIG. 3 shows the case where the traveling direction is the upper part of the screen, and the right part shows the case where the traveling direction is the lower part of the screen. The center circle indicates the current position mark indicating the current position of the vehicle, and the arrow indicates the current position of the vehicle. This mark indicates the direction of travel. In addition, the remaining distance is surrounded by a square, and the current position mark is surrounded by the current position mark , that is, as shown in the figure.
Is displayed in the surrounding area, and as a result,
The remaining distance and local position mark is displayed on together.

FIG. 4 shows a case where the remaining distance is displayed without being surrounded by a square and is superimposed on the map information as it is. Even if there is information desired by the driver under the remaining distance information, the information is displayed in such a manner that the useful information is not spoiled.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the remaining distance display portion has the map information erased in consideration of the case where the remaining distance is not surrounded by a square and the display of the remaining distance overlaps with the map information, making it difficult to see.

In FIGS. 3 to 5, it is of course possible to display the remaining distance information by coloring it with red or blue if necessary.

[0022]

As described above, according to the vehicular navigation system of the present invention, the remaining distance to a predetermined point such as a destination is displayed at a position where it is easy to see without losing useful map information in route guidance. And navigation can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a remaining distance according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a remaining distance according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a remaining distance according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a remaining distance according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Map information storage unit 12 Current position measurement unit 19 Input unit 20 Operation unit 26 Route guidance control unit 28 Display unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tohru Ito 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (72) Inventor Koji Kishi 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation ( 56) References JP-A-4-62418 (JP, A) JP-A-61-208076 (JP, A) JP-A-58-70127 (JP, A) JP-A-4-142421 (JP, A) JP-A-62-235700 (JP, A) JP-A-62-95699 (JP, A) JP-A-1-173817 (JP, A) JP-A-1-207623 (JP, A) JP-A-3-62082 (JP) JP-A-4-314085 (JP, A) JP-A-4-152383 (JP, A) JP-A-4-134210 (JP, A) JP-A-4-319985 (JP, A) JP-A-5-80697 (JP, A) JP-A-4-806112 (JP, A) 305116 (JP, A) JP-A-5-94130 (JP, A) JP-A-5-216403 (JP, A) JP-A-6-36192 (JP, A) JP-A-3-120417 (JP, A) 58-113200 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G09B 29/10

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An input unit for inputting a point such as a current position or a destination, a storage unit for storing map information, and a route calculation for searching for a route to a destination based on the map information stored in the storage unit. Means, a current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle, and a control means for superimposing a route obtained by the search on the map information together with the detected current position and displaying the map information on a display means. For a vehicle, comprising: distance calculation means for calculating a remaining distance from a current position to a predetermined point; and display control means for displaying the calculated remaining distance around the current position displayed on the display means. Navigation device. 2. An input unit for inputting a point such as a current position or a destination, a storage unit for storing map information, and a route calculation for searching for a route to a destination based on the map information stored in the storage unit. Means, a current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle, and a control means for superimposing a route obtained by the search on the map information together with the detected current position and displaying the map information on a display means. A vehicle navigation device comprising: distance calculation means for calculating a remaining distance from a current position to a predetermined point; and display control means for displaying the calculated remaining distance in a direction opposite to a traveling direction of the vehicle. . 3. The vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined point is a destination. 4. The vehicular navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined point is an intersection.