JP3283146B2 - Car 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 an automobile navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Navigation systems for automobiles have attracted attention as devices that greatly reduce the stress and anxiety of drivers and serve as the core of computerization of automobiles, and the functions provided by them are diverse. A car navigation device is a large-capacity storage device such as a CD-ROM that stores map data of a road network, place names, peripheral facilities, and the like at a multi-step scale;
A current position detection device for detecting the current position of a vehicle equipped with the vehicle navigation device (hereinafter referred to as “own vehicle”) using an S (global positioning system) or a gyro sensor, etc., and an optimal route to the destination And a display device for displaying various information.

[0003] The most basic functions provided by a car navigation system are three points: provision of road information, display of a current position, and guidance to a destination. As a function of providing road information, the navigation device for a car displays a map including a road network and place names on the display and provides information on surrounding facilities and shops. In addition, as a function of displaying the current position, when the driver indicates the current position of the own vehicle on the display, the automobile navigation device places a cursor indicating the current position at a fixed position on the display, and the traveling direction of the own vehicle is constantly changed. The surrounding road network and place names are displayed as a map with the cursor at the center while pointing directly upward. Then, the navigation apparatus for a vehicle causes the map to be scroll-displayed in accordance with the movement of the vehicle.

[0004] Finally, as a guidance function to a destination, when a driver inputs a destination of a movement destination, an automobile navigation device obtains a shortest time route from a current position to a destination as a guidance route and the like. When driving, the driver guides the driver so that the vehicle does not deviate from the guidance route by displaying the guidance route in a different color from other roads or displaying a guidance cursor in front of the vehicle cursor on the display. I do. Furthermore, when the vehicle approaches an intersection or a junction where a steering wheel operation such as a right turn or a left turn is required to reach a destination on the guidance route, within a predetermined distance,
There is also an automobile navigation device having an intersection enlarged display function of enlarging and displaying a road shape such as an intersection or a junction on a display and displaying a traveling direction to a driver.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional car navigation apparatus, when the vehicle approaches the junction while driving on the highway, the intersection enlargement display function operates to enlarge and display the junction. Since the expressway and the general road are often arranged in a three-dimensional manner, the general road passing below the expressway is also enlarged and displayed. Since the map displayed by the car navigation system is a plan view, if both the three-dimensionally arranged highway and general road are enlarged and displayed, it is easy for the driver to see both as if they were connected, At the same time, there was a drawback that it was difficult to tell where the real turning point was. Furthermore, since the vehicle is running at high speed, there is a problem that it is difficult to quickly determine if there is extra display information. The present invention has been made under such a background, and has an intersection enlarged display function for judging a road type of a road on which the vehicle is currently traveling and selecting and enlarging only the road of the same road type. It is an object to provide a navigation device.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a vehicle navigation device mounted on a vehicle, a road network storage unit that stores road data classified by road type, a current position detection unit that detects a current position of the vehicle, and a destination of the vehicle. Destination setting means, and among the intersections and junctions passing before arriving at the destination, setting a guidance intersection that is an intersection and a junction that requires guidance in the traveling direction from the road data Means for determining whether or not a guidance intersection distance, which is a distance between the current position and the next guidance intersection among the guidance intersections, is equal to or less than a predetermined value; If the value is equal to or less than the value of the road, the road data of the same road type as the currently traveling road is read from the road network storage means, and the current road data is read based on the read road data. It is characterized by comprising the enlarged intersection display means for displaying an enlarged view of the center and the road network and location.

[0007]

In the navigation apparatus for an automobile according to the present invention, the guidance intersection setting means is an intersection or a junction that requires guidance in the traveling direction among intersections and junctions that pass before reaching the destination. The guidance intersection is obtained from the road data. Then, the proximity determining means determines whether or not the guidance intersection distance, which is the distance between the current position and the next guidance intersection among the guidance intersections, is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Furthermore, if the guide intersection distance is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the intersection enlarged view display means reads road data of the same road type as the currently traveling road from the road network storage means, and reads the current position based on the read road data. An enlarged view of the road network centered on is displayed. As a result, only the road shape of the same road type as the currently traveling road is displayed as an enlarged view.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an automobile navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a map data memory. In this embodiment, a CD-ROM drive and a CD-ROM are used as examples. The CD-ROM stores drawing data 1a, shape data 1b, and node link data 1c. The drawing data 1a is map data corresponding to a multi-step scale map from an entire map of the Japanese archipelago to a detailed map of each municipality nationwide.
It has information on peripheral facilities and road widths as well as road networks and place names.

The shape data 1b is data relating to the shape of the road. Specifically, the coordinate data of each node, the connection state between nodes, the distance between adjacent nodes, the type of road (expressway, national road, prefectural road, private road, etc.) , Etc.). Here, the node refers to a specific point for indicating a shape in the road network, such as an intersection, a junction of a highway, a junction, and a turning point when a curve curved with a curvature equal to or more than a predetermined value is linearly approximated. In addition, data indicating a node further includes an intersection,
A flag indicating that the node corresponds to the junction / junction of the expressway is set. Node link data 1c
Is data relating to a route formed by connecting lines (hereinafter, referred to as links) connecting the adjacent nodes, and is used for searching for a route to a destination.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a current position locating unit, which includes a gyro sensor 2a for detecting the turning speed of the own vehicle and a vehicle speed detector 2 for detecting the speed of the own vehicle from the number of rotations of the wheels in a predetermined time.
The position change of the own vehicle is continuously calculated based on the data sent from b, and the current position of the own vehicle is obtained. Further, the current position locating unit 2 receives data from the GPS 2c and checks whether the current position obtained by the above method is an accurate value. Reference numeral 3 denotes a current position memory.
Memorize the current position obtained. Since the current position memory 3 is backed up by a battery (not shown), the current position can be maintained even when the vehicle engine is stopped and power is not supplied to the vehicle navigation apparatus.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a destination setting unit, which is used for setting a destination for the vehicle navigation apparatus. The destination setting unit has, as input means for destination setting, a scale key for selecting a map (not shown), an eight-way input key for moving a cursor, and a decision key for determining a destination. The driver selects a map on which the destination is described with the scale key, and causes the display 12 to display the selected map. Further, the driver moves the cursor to the destination on the displayed map using the eight-way input keys, and presses the enter key to set the destination. Reference numeral 5 denotes a route creation unit which reads the node link data 1c from the map data memory 1 and searches for a route from the current position to the destination.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a guidance route memory.
The guidance route obtained in is stored. Reference numeral 7 denotes a guidance intersection memory, which is information on a guidance intersection, which is an intersection or a junction that requires guidance in a traveling direction at an intersection such as a right turn or a left turn in order to reach a destination on a guidance route (coordinates, latitudes, steering directions, etc.). ) Is stored. Reference numeral 8 denotes a proximity determination unit that determines whether the distance between the current position and the guidance intersection is equal to or less than a predetermined distance. Specifically, the proximity determining unit 8
The distance between the next guide intersection that is closest to the current position and the current position among the guide intersections that have not been passed and stored in the guide intersection memory 7 (hereinafter, the distance between the guide intersection and the current position is referred to as the pre-guide intersection passage distance). ) Is calculated. At the same time, the proximity determining unit 8 calculates the distance between the guide intersection that has just passed and the current position (hereinafter, referred to as the post-guide intersection distance). Then, if the distance before passing through the guidance intersection is 300 m or less, or the distance after passing through the guidance intersection is 30 m or less, the proximity determination section 8 outputs a signal indicating that the vehicle is approaching or passing through the guidance intersection ( Hereinafter, the signal will be referred to as a “guiding intersection passing signal”.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a map data forming unit which reads out the drawing data 1a from the map data memory 1 and converts the drawing data 1a from the current position memory 3 into a map of an arbitrary scale centered on the current position (hereinafter referred to as a normal map). The corresponding image data is written to the map section 11a of the V-RAM 11. at the same time,
The map data forming unit 9 reads the guidance route data from the guidance route memory 6 and, if there is a guidance route on the road network on the currently displayed map, the map unit 11a so that the guidance route is displayed in red. Update the image data of. Reference numeral 10 denotes an intersection enlarged view forming unit which, when receiving the above-mentioned guidance intersection passing signal from the proximity judging unit 8, reads out the shape data 1b from the map data memory 1 and stores the image data corresponding to the enlarged view of the guidance intersection into the V-RAM 11. Is written in the enlarged view portion 11b. Also, when the input signal during the passage of the guide intersection becomes inactive, the intersection enlarged view forming section 10 clears the contents of the enlarged view section 11b of the V-RAM 11 correspondingly.

The V-RAM 11 stores image data for display on the display 12. The V-RAM 11 includes a map section 11a written by the map data forming section 9 and an enlarged view section 11 written by the intersection enlarged view forming section 10.
b. The display 12 is a V-RAM 11
A map around the current position is displayed on the basis of the image data in the map section 11a, and a display of a guide intersection enlarged view is superimposed thereon based on the image data in the enlarged view section 11b of the V-RAM 11.

Next, the operation of the automobile navigation device having the above configuration will be described. When the driver turns on the engine of the car, the power is turned on to the car navigation system. At the same time, the contents of the map section 11a and the enlarged view section 11b of the V-RAM 11 are stored in the map data forming section 9 respectively.
And is cleared by the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10.
Since the stop position data when the vehicle was stopped last time is stored in the current position memory 3 as the current position data, the vehicle navigation device can use the data as it is as the current position data at the time of engine start. .

Next, the map data forming section 9 reads out the current position data from the current position memory 3, reads out the drawing data 1a corresponding to the current position from the map data memory 1, and obtains a map around the current position. Is written in the map section 11a of the V-RAM 11. Thereby, the display 12 displays the map unit 1 of the V-RAM 11.
An image of a normal map is displayed based on the image data written in 1a. Next, when the driver sets destination data using the destination setting unit 4, the destination data is sent to the route creating unit 5. When receiving the destination data, the route creating unit 5 reads the current position data from the current position memory 3 and
Further, a route search is performed based on the node link data 1c read from the map data memory 1, guidance route data connecting the current position and the destination is created, and stored in the guidance route memory 6.

After the guidance route data is created, the route creation unit 5 selects a guidance intersection by referring to all the intersections and junctions on the guidance route, and stores it in the guidance intersection memory 7. The map data forming unit 9 refers to the current position memory 3 and the guidance route memory 6 at regular intervals, and the current position is always at a predetermined position on the display 12 and corresponds to the guidance route in the road network around the current position. The map section 11a of the V-RAM 11 is updated at a constant cycle so that the road to be displayed is displayed in red on the display 12.

Next, when the driver starts driving and the car starts running, each of the current position locating unit 2, the map data forming unit 9, and the proximity determining unit 8 repeats the processing described below at regular intervals. The current position locating unit 2 calculates the current position data from the direction of the vehicle detected by the gyro sensor 2a and the speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detector 2b, and uses the GPS 2c to calculate the current position data. Is checked to see if it is an accurate value. When it is confirmed that the current position data is an accurate value, the current position locating unit 2 updates the value of the current position memory 3 to the current position. If the current position data does not match the reference value from the GPS 2c, the current position locating unit displays a warning message on the display 12 to notify the driver that an abnormality has occurred in the current position data.

The map data forming unit 9 refers to the current position memory 3 and the guidance route memory 6 at a fixed cycle, and the current position is always at a predetermined position on the display 12, and the guidance route is displayed in red on the display 12. The map unit 11a of the V-RAM 11 is updated at a constant cycle as indicated by. The proximity determining unit 8 calculates a distance before passing through the guidance intersection and a distance after passing through the guidance intersection. And the distance before passing through the guidance intersection is 300 m or less, or the distance after passing through the guidance intersection is 3
If the distance is less than 0 m, the proximity determining unit 8 sends a guidance intersection passing signal to the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10.

Next, the own vehicle is, for example, an expressway 1 shown in FIG.
The cross-section enlarged display function of the automobile navigation device according to the present invention will be described by taking, as an example, a case where the vehicle travels from 00 to 00 on 00. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that a number of general roads 200 pass vertically and horizontally below the highway 100 on which the vehicle is currently traveling. Point C is a guidance intersection, and the distance from point A to point C is 600
m, the distance from point B to point C is 300 m, and the distance from point C to point D is 30 m.

When the vehicle is passing the point A, the proximity determining unit 8 calculates the distance before passing the guidance intersection to be 600 m. As described above, the proximity determination unit 8 determines that the distance before passing through the guidance intersection is 3
If it is greater than 00 m, no signal is output during passage through the guidance intersection. Therefore, the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 uses the V-RAM 1
Since no image data is written into the enlarged view portion 11b of FIG. 1, the contents of the enlarged view portion 11b of the V-RAM 11 remain clear when the power is turned on, and the display 12 is shown in FIG. Thus, only the display of the normal map 30 is performed based on the image data written in the map section 11a of the V-RAM 11. Note that the display 12 also displays an own vehicle cursor 40 indicating the position and traveling direction of the own vehicle.

When the vehicle arrives at point B, the distance before passing through the guidance intersection becomes 300 m, so that the proximity judging section 8 sends out the guidance intersection passing signal to the intersection enlarged view forming section 10.
Upon receiving the guidance intersection passing signal, the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 reads out only the shape data 1b whose road type is the expressway from the map data memory 1. At this time,
The intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 does not read the shape data 1b of the road (general road) whose road type is other than the expressway.
Thereby, the road on which the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 draws the shape is limited to only the expressway. In the case of the road network as shown in FIG.
b is read out, and the shape data 1b of the general road 200 passing below is read out.

Then, the intersection enlarged view forming section 10 generates an intersection enlarged view showing only the shape of the highway 100 by 1/60.
As shown on the display 12 at a scale of 0, V-
The image data is written in the enlarged view portion 11b of the RAM 11.
As a result, the display 12 displays the intersection enlarged view 50 on the normal map 30 as shown in FIG. As can be seen from this figure, the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 reads out only the shape data 1b of the highway 100 and does not read out the shape data 1b of the general road 200. It does not appear in the cross-section magnified view 50 (even though it passes near 100). In this embodiment, the scale of the normal map 30 is 1/12.
000, and the intersection enlarged view 50 is a map enlarged 20 times as compared with the normal map 30. The reading of the shape data 1b and the calculation of the shape relating to the enlarged view of only the shape of the highway 100 in the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 are executed in advance before the point B is reached, and displayed when the point B is reached. You may do.

Similarly, when the vehicle is passing the point C (guidance intersection), the proximity determination unit 8 sends a guidance intersection passage signal to the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10. Then, the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 reads out only the shape data 1b whose road type is the expressway from the map data memory 1, and displays the intersection enlarged view showing only the shape on the display 12 so that the intersection is enlarged. The image data is written in the enlarged view portion 11b of the V-RAM 11. Thereby, the display 1
No. 2 displays the enlarged intersection map 50 on the normal map 30 as shown in FIG. Simultaneously with the passage of the vehicle at point C (guide intersection), the proximity determination unit 8 changes the distance calculation target from the distance before passing the guidance intersection to the distance after passing the guidance intersection.

When the vehicle is passing the point D, the proximity determining unit 8 calculates that the distance after passing the guidance intersection is 30 m. As described above, the proximity determination unit 8 determines that the distance after passing through the guidance intersection is 30.
If it is equal to or less than m, a signal during the passage of the guidance intersection is sent to the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10. Then, the intersection enlarged view forming unit 10 reads out only the shape data 1b whose road type is the expressway from the map data memory 1, and displays the intersection enlarged view showing only the shape on the display 12 so that the intersection is enlarged. The image data is written in the enlarged view portion 11b of the V-RAM 11. As a result, the display 12 displays the intersection enlarged view 50 on the normal map 30 as shown in FIG.

When the vehicle passes the point D, the distance after passing the guidance intersection becomes larger than 30 m.
Does not output a signal while passing through the guidance intersection. Since the signal that has been input during the passage of the guide intersection is no longer input, the intersection enlarged view forming section 10 clears the contents of the enlarged view section 11b of the V-RAM 11. Thus, the display 12 only displays the normal map 30 based on the image data written in the map section 11a of the V-RAM 11, as shown in FIG. Thus, the intersection enlarged display processing of the vehicle navigation device ends.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and changes in design and the like can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Even if there is, it is included in the present invention. For example, in one embodiment described above, while driving on a highway,
The example in which only the expressway is displayed as an intersection enlarged view is shown. However, the type of the road to be enlarged and displayed is not fixed to the expressway. It is conceivable to select a type of road that is enlarged and displayed in accordance with the type of the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, such as enlarging and displaying only a general road (without displaying.). In the embodiment, as a criterion for determining whether or not the proximity determining unit 8 outputs a signal during the passage of the guidance intersection, the distance before passing the guidance intersection is 300 m or less, or the distance after passing the guidance intersection is 30 m or less. However, this criterion value can be set to an arbitrary value.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the guidance intersection setting means includes, among the intersections and the junctions that pass before reaching the destination, the intersections and intersections that need to be guided in the traveling direction. A guidance intersection, which is a branch point, is obtained from the road data. Then, the proximity determining means determines whether or not the guidance intersection distance, which is the distance between the current position and the next guidance intersection among the guidance intersections, is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Furthermore, if the guide intersection distance is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the intersection enlarged view display means reads road data of the same road type as the currently traveling road from the road network storage means, and reads the current position based on the read road data. An enlarged view of the road network centered on is displayed. As a result, only the road shape of the same road type as the currently traveling road is displayed as an enlarged view, so that information unnecessary for steering operation is not displayed.
As a result, there is an effect that the driver can easily recognize the driving route.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 shows a highway 100 and a general road 2 in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state of a three-dimensional intersection with 00 and a traveling route of an automobile.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing display contents on a display 12 in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing display contents of a display 12 in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing display contents on a display 12 in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Map data memory 2 ... Current location unit
3 ... current location memory 4 ... destination setting unit 5 ... route creation unit 6 ... guidance route memory 7 ... guidance intersection memory 8 ... proximity determination unit 9 ... map data formation unit 10 ... intersection enlarged view forming unit, 11 ... V-RAM, 12 ... display

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-210700 (JP, A) JP-A-2-219084 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00-21/36 G08G 1/0969-1/137 G09B 29/00-29/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An automobile navigation device mounted on an automobile, a road network storage means for storing road data classified by road type, a current position detection means for detecting a current position of the automobile, Destination setting means for setting a destination, and among the intersections and junctions passing before arriving at the destination, a guidance intersection which is an intersection and a junction requiring guidance in the traveling direction is referred to as the road data. A guidance intersection setting means, which is determined from: a proximity intersection means for determining whether or not a guidance intersection distance that is a distance between the current position and the next guidance intersection among the guidance intersections is equal to or less than a predetermined value; If the guidance intersection distance is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the road data of the same road type as the currently traveling road is read from the road network storage means, and the read road data is read. An intersection enlarged view display means for displaying an enlarged view of a road network centered on the current position based on the current position.