JP3057291B2 - Navigation 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 navigation device used in a navigation system for displaying an efficient moving route to a destination based on a current position and a traveling direction actually proceeding from the current position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of navigation systems, for example, an electronic map system for reading map data recorded on a CD-ROM as a recording medium and displaying a map, and an arithmetic system based on signals supplied from artificial satellites. There is a navigation system including a global positioning system (hereinafter, referred to as GPS) for calculating a current position of the navigation system.

[0003] The GPS is a positioning system using satellites covering the whole earth. The GPS uses the satellites orbiting at an orbit altitude from the ground surface of 20183 km as the base of the pyramid, each of which is the peak of the pyramid. It is a system to get as a position. A total of 24 GPS satellites orbit each of the six orbits with respect to the earth, a total of 24 orbits. In the GPS positioning, the number of received GPS satellites forming the bottom of the pyramid is a necessary condition for establishing the positioning.

[0004] Here, four or more G's
If there is a PS satellite and the GPS receiver can receive,
The PS receiver can receive signals from each GPS satellite and obtain three-dimensional data, that is, position information of a current position including latitude, longitude, and altitude. Also, three GPS
It is known that when only signals from satellites can be received, the GPS receiver can only obtain two-dimensional, that is, planar information of the current position by latitude and longitude from the reception result.

Further, it is known that the positioning information greatly depends on the mutual geometrical positional relationship of the GPS satellites. Further, the GPS receiver can know not only the current position but also the speed of the moving object using the Doppler shift.

[0006]

By the way, in a navigation system, dimension identification information and positioning accuracy information are often not actually displayed. In addition, even when it is displayed, only the display of, for example, the number of currently receivable GPS satellites is displayed on a part of the periphery of the display screen.

In such a display, although the positioning accuracy information is displayed, it is far from the map display area displaying the current position of the user's attention. It is difficult to simultaneously grasp the relationship with the displayed positional information accuracy. In particular, when this navigation system is mounted on a vehicle, it is dangerous that the driver who is a user moves his / her field of view while driving to recognize the current position and the traveling direction and the positioning accuracy information.

As described above, when the number of receivable GPS satellites is as small as three, only two-dimensional positioning can be performed. However, a method of providing three-dimensional information using only three GPS satellites (hereinafter, referred to as pseudo three-dimensional).
Has been proposed. In this method, the altitude data of the electronic map system is read once from the map data, and thereafter, the assumed altitude information is added to the two-dimensional information of the current position, assuming that the user continues to be located at this altitude. This is a method of displaying and handling as three-dimensional data. Based on this method, the navigation system can display two-dimensional latitude and longitude and, for example, height on flat ground to display three-dimensional information.

However, if the altitude at which the user is located changes while assuming the altitude, the altitude information is not correctly displayed. Further, an error between the actual altitude and the assumed altitude affects two-dimensional latitude and longitude data obtained from a geometric relationship. For this reason, the method of positioning the current position assuming such an altitude can be used as an extremely effective method in a range where the assumption is correct. Will deteriorate.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the information currently displayed within a viewable field of view that does not pose a danger even while the user is driving is included. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device that can simultaneously display dimension identification information of three-dimensional or three-dimensional and positioning accuracy information relating to positioning accuracy.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a navigation device according to the present invention receives a signal from a satellite, and based on the signal from the satellite, generates position information on the current position of the user. Satellite signal positioning means for performing positioning and outputting dimension identification information obtained by identifying whether the position information is two-dimensional or three-dimensional, and corresponding to the position information based on the position information measured by the satellite signal positioning means. Map data reading means for reading map data from a recording medium; display means for displaying the map data read by the map data reading means and displaying the current position on a map based on the position information obtained by the satellite signal positioning means. When the identification information is two-dimensional, the current position information is displayed two-dimensionally, and when the identification information is three-dimensional, the current location information is displayed three-dimensionally. And control means for controlling the power sale display means.

[0012]

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a navigation device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, in this embodiment, a navigation system of the present invention is applied to a navigation system that displays a current position and a traveling direction that actually travels from the current position, and a navigation system is constructed and described based on an example in which the vehicle is mounted on a vehicle. I do. A navigation device to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 which is a block diagram showing the configuration of the navigation device.

The navigation device shown in FIG. 1 is a global positioning system (hereinafter referred to as GP) for measuring position information, dimension identification information, and positioning accuracy information relating to a current position.
S), an electronic map data reading system unit 12 that reads map data of a corresponding area from a recording medium according to positioning data from the GPS receiver 11,
A navigation system controller 13 which is a system control means for controlling the system according to the positioning information and the positioning accuracy information from the GPS receiver 11, map data from the electronic map data reading system unit 12, and output from the navigation system controller 13. A display 14 for displaying a map based on the data is provided.

The navigation system controller 13 causes the display 14 to display a mark indicating the current position in accordance with the positioning data from the GPS receiver 11.

The electronic map data reading system unit 12 uses a digital data recording disk as a recording medium. Digital data recording disks include, for example, a so-called read-only compact disk CD-RO.
There is M. The CD-ROM drive unit 12 uses this CD-RO
Map data consisting of digital data recorded in M is read. An operation key 15 is provided for displaying a map at a desired position and operating the navigation device.

The operation of the navigation device will be described with reference to actual displays and mark displays indicating navigation directions and the like shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and also to FIG. 1 as necessary.

The navigation device mounted on the vehicle receives the GPS receiver 1 to detect the current position of the vehicle as described above.
1 is used. The GPS receiver 11 receives a signal from a GPS satellite orbiting the earth's orbit via the antenna 10. The GPS receiver 11 calculates the current position of the vehicle based on position data obtained from GPS satellites. At this time, two-dimensional information of latitude and longitude or three-dimensional information of latitude, longitude and altitude is obtained for the current position of the vehicle. Further, the GPS receiver 11 can also obtain information indicating whether the current positioning state is a situation where two-dimensional detection is possible or a situation where three-dimensional detection is possible based on the current position of the vehicle. . As described above, the GPS receiver 11 can obtain at least the current position of the vehicle and the current positioning state.

It is known that the above-mentioned current positioning state theoretically fluctuates depending on the number of GPS satellites that the GPS receiver 11 can receive. GPS
When signals from four or more GPS satellites can be received by the GPS receiver in the sky at the current position, the receiver receives the signal from each GPS satellite and receives three-dimensional data, that is, latitude, longitude, and altitude. And the like to provide location information of the current location. When the GPS receiver can receive only signals from three GPS satellites, it can only obtain two-dimensional position information from the reception result, that is, the current position such as latitude and longitude.

Further, the current positioning state is a receivable G
It varies depending on the arrangement of PS satellites. This is because, when the GPS receiver is arranged in such a manner that the mutual positional relations of the respective GPS satellites are substantially equally distributed, three-dimensional information can be calculated with high accuracy.
Even if four or more GPS satellites are visible in the sky,
If the coordinated GPS satellites are close to each other, they are geometrically treated as one GPS satellite. Therefore, the positioning state is two-dimensional even though four or more GPS satellites are visible. Sometimes only information is available. In this way, the positioning accuracy can be checked also from the state of the arrangement of the satellites that can currently receive the signal.

At present, some displays in the navigation system display the number of received GPS satellites around the display screen to indicate this positioning state. However, this display position is apart from the vicinity of the center of the screen which the user is always paying attention to and watching. The display of the positioning state is often out of the range of the visual field that the user is gazing at. In addition, watching the display data at a specific position while driving is dangerous.

Therefore, this navigation device indicates the current position of the vehicle and a mark 16 displayed at the center of the field of view.
Is displayed in consideration of dimension identification information and positioning accuracy information.

For example, this navigation device has a GP
Using the S receiver, the mark 16 which is the current position indicating mark is switched and displayed according to whether the positioning data obtained from the GPS receiver is two-dimensional or three-dimensional. The switching display of the mark 16 is performed by the built-in navigation system controller 13. The navigation system controller 13 generates a mark 16 indicating the position of the vehicle according to the two-dimensional or three-dimensional identification information.
The display data is supplied to the display 15 by switching the color, the shape, or the blinking speed.

Further, as described above, two-dimensional data based on the assumption of altitude information when position information is displayed in pseudo three dimensions, that is, problems such as deterioration of positioning accuracy with respect to latitude and longitude are also safe for the user. Displaying a screen on the screen will lead to improvement of services for users. Therefore, the mark display is switched and displayed according to the positioning accuracy information determined based on the position of the artificial satellite supplying the signal to the GPS receiver 11.

If the mark 16 of the navigation device is an instruction mark including dimensional identification information or position accuracy information, the information can be displayed collectively at substantially the center of the user's field of view.

In a first specific example, the color of the current position indicating mark is changed to indicate the dimension identification information.
The mark 16A displayed at the center of the display 14 shown in FIG.
In the case of a dimension, it is displayed in "yellow". The mark 14A displayed at the center of the display 14 shown in FIG.
If the dimension identification information detected by the PS receiver 11 is two-dimensional, it is displayed in “white”. The direction of the arrow of the mark 16A indicates the traveling direction of the own vehicle traveling on the road 17.

By changing the color of the mark 16A, the user can safely and easily identify whether the detected dimensional identification information is two-dimensional or three-dimensional.

In the second embodiment, two-dimensional and three-dimensional identification is performed by changing the shape of the current position indicating mark. Two-dimensional identification information is detected by the GPS receiver 11. In this case, it is displayed “flat” in the same manner as the shape of the mark 16A displayed at the center of the display 14 shown in FIG. 2 (see FIG. 3A). When three-dimensional positioning data is detected by the GPS receiver 11, the mark 16A is displayed "three-dimensionally" as shown in FIG.

By changing the shape of the mark 16 in this manner, the user can safely and easily identify whether the dimensional identification information is two-dimensional or three-dimensional.

In the third embodiment, two-dimensional and three-dimensional identification is performed by changing the blinking state of the current position indication mark, and the three-dimensional identification information detected by the GPS receiver 11 is three-dimensional. In the case of dimensions, the display 14 shown in FIG.
The blinking speed of the mark 16 displayed at the center of the display is, for example, "fast". When the positioning data detected by the GPS receiver 11 is two-dimensional, the display 1 shown in FIG.
The blinking of the mark 16 displayed at the center of 4 is made to blink slowly or not without blinking compared to the case of three-dimensional.

By setting in this way, the user can safely and easily identify information such as the GPS reception status from the display of the mark 16.

When the mark display is switched and displayed according to the positioning accuracy information detected by the GPS receiver 11, similarly, the color, shape or blinking speed of the mark 16 is selected and the positioning accuracy information corresponding to the setting is displayed. 13 can be displayed. By reflecting the positioning accuracy information on the mark 16, the positioning accuracy information can be displayed in a visual field that is easy for the user to see. By switching and displaying the color, shape, or blinking speed in accordance with the condition setting in this manner, the user can safely and easily identify the positioning accuracy information from the screen.

Further, as a fourth embodiment, the navigation device allows the user to identify the reception status of the current position indication mark according to the positioning accuracy information obtained from the position of the artificial satellite. Depending on whether the detected positioning accuracy information is good or not,
For example, when associating “yellow” with “white” or distinguishing them by shape, for example, a “flat” mark and a “three-dimensional”
In the case of making the corresponding marks correspond to each other or identifying the mark by the blinking state of the mark, for example, the display form is switched and displayed by associating "fast blinking" and "slow blinking".

In a specific fifth embodiment, the color, shape, or blinking state of the current position indication mark is changed according to the dimension identification information and the positioning accuracy information, and the two-dimensional and three-dimensional identification and the accuracy are determined. A specific example of the case where the identification of
The display of the mark is changed according to the quality of the dimension identification information and the positioning accuracy information. Table 1 shows an example of a combination condition of the positioning accuracy information assigned to the mark 16.

[0035]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the dimension identification information is two-dimensional,
When the positioning accuracy information is good, for example, the mark 16 is displayed in white in a plane. When the dimension identification information is three-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is good, the mark 16 is displayed in a plane, the outline is set to black, and the color of the internal area 20 is set to, for example, light blue, and displayed. If the dimension identification information is two-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is bad due to the arrangement of satellites capable of receiving signals, the mark 16 is displayed in gray in a plane. Further, when the dimension identification information is three-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is displayed in, for example, a pseudo three-dimensional manner, or is bad due to the arrangement of satellites capable of receiving signals, the mark 16 is displayed in a plane, and the outline is black. Then, the color of the internal area 20 is set to, for example, dark blue and displayed.

As described above, the dimension identification information and the positioning accuracy information obtained from the GPS receiver 11 can be displayed by switching the color display of the mark 16. In addition, the current position indication mark is displayed by switching not only the color but also at least one of the shape and the blinking speed.

Furthermore, if the above-described color, shape, or blinking category is displayed in combination, the user can simultaneously identify the dimensional information and the positioning accuracy information. In this specific example, when the dimension identification information is two-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is good, for example, the mark 16 shown in FIG. When the dimension identification information is three-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is good, the mark 16 shown in FIG.
The outline is displayed in black, and the color is displayed in white, which indicates good accuracy. When the dimension identification information is two-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is bad due to, for example, the arrangement of satellites that can receive signals, the mark 16 shown in FIG. Further, when the dimension identification information is three-dimensional and the positioning accuracy information is represented in a pseudo three-dimensional manner, for example, or is bad due to the arrangement of satellites capable of receiving signals, the mark 16 shown in FIG. Displayed in gray to indicate a bad state.

As described above, by setting the symbol for the reception status of the dimension identification information and the positioning accuracy information and displaying the mark 16, the user can determine the positioning data and the positioning data from a combination based on various predetermined settings. It becomes possible to safely and easily identify information on the quality of the positioning accuracy information.

A procedure for changing the display of the mark in accordance with such positioning data and positioning accuracy information will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is referred to as needed.

First, the navigation device is activated by power input.

In step S10, the GPS receiver 11
Receives, via the antenna 10, a signal from a GPS satellite which is in the sky at the current position of the vehicle and can receive radio waves. GPS-based positioning data is calculated from the received signal. The positioning data includes the latitude, longitude, altitude, and speed of the vehicle. The positioning data is supplied to the navigation system controller 13.

In step S11, it is determined whether or not the positioning data supplied to the navigation system controller 13 is data of a new position. If it is not data of a new position, that is, if it is No, step S1
Return to 0 and wait for input of new positioning data. If it is determined that the data is at a new position, that is, if it is Yes, the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, the obtained position data is converted into graphic coordinate data on the display screen. The data of this graphic coordinate is (G _x ,
G _y ). After the graphic conversion ends, the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, in order to display the data converted in step S12, the symbols indicating the own vehicle position which have been displayed so far are deleted. This symbol is
This corresponds to the mark 16 displayed substantially at the center of the screen shown in FIG.

In step S14, G in step S11
It is determined whether or not the dimension identification information of the positioning data obtained from the PS satellite is two-dimensional.

If the received dimension identification information is not two-dimensional, that is, if it is No, the process proceeds to step S15. Also,
If it is determined to be two-dimensional, that is, if Yes, step S
Proceed to 16.

In step S15, a symbol indicating the three-dimensional vehicle position preset in the navigation system controller 13 is displayed at the position of the graphic coordinate data (G _x , G _y ). This display is performed, and the process proceeds to step S17.

In step S 16, the preset 2 is set in the navigation system controller 13.
A symbol indicating the position of the own vehicle for the dimension is displayed at the position of the data ( _Gx , _Gy ) of the graphic coordinates. This display is performed, and the process proceeds to step S17.

In this way, a mark based on the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information of the own vehicle is drawn on the graphic coordinates, and the flow advances to step S17.

The processing after step S17 describes the procedure for supplying map data to the display 14 via the electronic map data reading system unit 12.

In step S17, it is determined whether or not the position of the vehicle deviates from a set value set on the screen.

If the vehicle position is not actually deviated from the set value, that is, if the answer is No, for example, the process returns to step S10 without changing the screen of the currently displayed map data.
It waits until new positioning data is input in step S10.

On the other hand, if the position of the own vehicle is shifted from the set value on the screen, that is, if the answer is Yes, step S18 is performed.
Proceed to.

In step S18, the map is shifted so that the currently displayed vehicle position mark 16 is displayed at the center of the screen, and the flow advances to step S19.

In step S19, the map data corresponding to the empty area generated by the map displacement performed in step S18 is read by accessing the digital data recording disk mounted on the electronic map data reading system unit 12. The read map data is read by the navigation system controller 13.

In step S20, the map data is converted by the navigation system controller 13 so that it can be displayed on the display 14. An image based on the converted map data is sent to the display 14 and displayed in a free area. After this processing is completed, the process returns to step S10 and waits for input of new positioning data.

With the above control, the display of the vehicle position and the dimension identification information or the positioning accuracy information are integrally displayed as a mark. This allows the user to determine at a glance whether the current position and the current positioning status are two-dimensional or three-dimensional, or whether the positioning accuracy is good, by looking at only the vehicle position. . In addition, since the above-described information is determined by looking at the position of the own vehicle, there is no need to move the field of view, and when the vehicle is mounted, it can contribute to ensuring the safety of the driver.

Since it is not necessary to provide a special area on the screen for displaying the dimension identification information and the positioning accuracy information, the screen for displaying the map is effectively used.

[0060]

As described above, the navigation device according to the present invention generates position information based on a signal from a satellite, identifies whether the position information is two-dimensional or three-dimensional, Based on this, if the position information is two-dimensional, the current position information is displayed two-dimensionally, and if the position information is three-dimensional, the current position information is displayed three-dimensionally. Whether the current positioning status is 2D or 3
It is possible to instantly and intuitively determine whether the dimension is a dimension.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2A is a display screen showing that the dimension identification information is three-dimensional in the first embodiment of the mark display displayed on the display in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen showing that the dimension identification information is two-dimensional.

FIG. 3 (a) shows the shape of the mark displayed on the display when the received dimensional identification information is two-dimensional, and “b” shows the received shape in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which three-dimensional is displayed by displaying “three-dimensionally” when the dimension identification information is three-dimensional.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a more specific mark according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for switching and displaying a mark to be displayed on a display according to dimension identification information identified by positioning data received from a GPS satellite in the configuration shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 antenna, 11 GPS receiver, 12 electronic map data reading system unit, 13 navigation system controller, 14 display device.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-252274 (JP, A) JP-A-1-197681 (JP, A) JP-A-4-134281 (JP, A) JP-A-1-320485 (JP) JP-A-2-35312 (JP, A) JP-A-3-4189 (JP, A) JP-A-63-66414 (JP, A) JP-A-3-255310 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for receiving a signal from a satellite, measuring position information on a current position of a user based on the signal from the satellite, and identifying whether the position information is two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Satellite signal positioning means for outputting the dimension identification information, map data reading means for reading map data corresponding to the position information from a recording medium based on the position information measured by the satellite signal positioning means, and the map data reading means Display means for displaying the map data read out by the user and displaying the current position on a map based on the position information measured by the satellite signal positioning means; and when the identification information is two-dimensional, the current position information Is displayed two-dimensionally, and when the identification information is three-dimensional, a control means for controlling the display means so that the current location information is displayed three-dimensionally. Navigation device.