JP3355852B2 - 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 for displaying a current position of a vehicle obtained by positioning at a corresponding point on map data including the current position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, GPS (Global Positioning) which receives radio waves from GPS satellites and calculates its own current position.
System) Find your current position by navigation, etc.
-Reads a predetermined range of map data including the current position stored in a ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) or the like, displays the read map data on a display, and displays the current position at a corresponding point of the current position on the map data. Navigation devices that display marks are widely used. Hereinafter, a conventional navigation device will be described.

A conventional navigation device is a CD-RO.
Road data in map data stored in a storage medium such as M is represented as a line connecting intersections or curved portions of roads with nodes as nodes.

[0004] In addition, the user sets a departure point and a destination on the map data, and takes into consideration the total mileage of the passing route, the required time, and the toll if traveling on a toll road. Some systems have a recommended route setting function for automatically calculating a route considered to be the best.
The recommended route is displayed so as to be superimposed on the map data, and at the same time, guidance information on the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle and the positional relationship between the recommended route has been displayed or output as voice.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the recommended route which is considered to be the best is automatically set by setting the starting point and the destination. However, it may not always be the best due to changes in user preferences, weather, and road conditions. To change a part of the recommended route once set, the user must set a relay point at the intersection of the road on which the user wants to travel, and must follow each node. There has been a problem that the operation load is heavy on the user when making corrections.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device which can easily change a part of a recommended route once set.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, a navigation device according to the present invention provides a navigation system in which a user can calculate and set a recommended route of a moving body by setting a departure place and a destination. A positioning device for obtaining a current position, a storage device in which map data, road information, and the like are stored in advance, an input device for performing an input operation by a user, a current position and a predetermined range including the current position. Display means for displaying map data etc. to the user, and when changing a part of the recommended route once set, specify the intersection to be changed on the recommended route set by the user by operating the input means. Control means for calculating a new recommended route including an intersection to be passed from two intersections before and after the intersection to be changed, when the specified intersection is to be passed outside the recommended route, It was configured to include.

[0008] In addition, the designation of the intersection to be changed and the intersection to be passed is performed by linking the node indicating the intersection to be changed from the plurality of nodes indicating the intersection indicated on the recommended route displayed on the display means to the input means. The node is designated by the cursor, and the designated node is moved together with the cursor to designate the intersection to be passed.

[0009]

According to this configuration, the user can set a new recommended route including an intersection to be passed from two intersections before and after the intersection to be changed only by specifying an intersection to be changed and an intersection to be passed. .

[0010] In addition, from among a plurality of nodes indicating intersections displayed on the recommended route, an intersection to be changed is designated by a cursor, and the designated node is moved together with the cursor, so that the intersection with the recommended route before the change is passed. The user can visually grasp the positional relationship with the desired intersection.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below 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. In the present embodiment, a vehicle is taken as an example of a moving object on which a navigation device is mounted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a GPS receiver for receiving a radio wave from a GPS satellite to determine the current position of the vehicle, and 2 detects the azimuth of the vehicle using, for example, a vibration gyro utilizing Coriolis force. The direction sensor 3 is a distance sensor that detects the traveling distance of the vehicle, such as a vehicle speed sensor. Output data from the GPS receiver 1, the azimuth sensor 2, and the distance sensor 3 are sent to the controller 4.

The control unit 4 obtains output data from the GPS receiving unit 1, the direction sensor 2 and the distance sensor 3 via the interface unit 5, and outputs map data including the current position of the vehicle based on these output data. The CPU 6 is pulled out from a storage medium 9 described later, performs an image forming process, analyzes a command input by a user operating an input device 16 described later, and various programs executed by the CPU 6. It comprises a ROM 7 in which other necessary information is stored in advance, and a RAM 8 in which necessary information is written and read when the CPU 6 executes a program.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a storage medium, such as a CD-ROM or an IC.
Digitized map data and road information are stored in a card or the like. The CPU 6 obtains the current position of the vehicle based on the output data from the GPS receiver 1, the azimuth sensor 2, and the distance sensor 3, and obtains the map data of a predetermined range including the point on the map data corresponding to the current position. And the road information is acquired from the storage medium 9, temporarily stored in the RAM 8, and output to the display unit 11 described later.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a display unit, which is a CRT (Cathode Rad).
y Tube) display and LCD (Liquid Crystal Displ)
ay), a graphic memory 13 having a video RAM to which map drawing data sent from the control unit 4 is written, and a graphic memory 1
And a display controller 15 for controlling the output of image data sent from the graphic controller 14 to the display unit 12.
It is composed of

Reference numeral 16 denotes an input device operated by a user.
When a user operates an operation surface including a keyboard, a trackball, and the like, various commands corresponding to the operated keys are output to the control unit 4. The operation surface of the input device 16 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing operation keys of the input device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and shows an example of an operation surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation keys of the input device 16 include a cursor key 2 that can move a cursor displayed on the display unit 12 (see FIG. 1) in eight directions.
1. A menu key 22 for opening a menu screen for performing various settings and an OK key 23 for performing settings are provided, a start key 26 for starting or resuming positioning, a destination and a departure place, etc. There are provided various keys, such as a position registration key 24 for registering a map, a position correction key 25 for correction, a guide setting key 27 for setting a route, and scale keys 28 and 29 for changing the scale of map data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the navigation device in one embodiment of the present invention. When the positioning is started, the display screen of the display 12 shows the current state of the vehicle as shown in FIG. Map data of a predetermined range including the position is displayed, and a vehicle mark is displayed at a corresponding point of the current position.

The operation of the navigation device configured as described above will be described below. In addition,
In the following description, reference numerals used in FIGS. 1 and 2 are used as they are.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the navigation device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
6 shows an operation of setting a recommended route or an operation of changing a part of the once set recommended route. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1.
FIGS. 0, 11 and 12 are views showing one display example of the navigation device in one embodiment of the present invention, and show one display example in each step of the flowchart shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the user operates the input device 16.
By operating the guidance setting key 27, the display mode changes to the recommended route processing mode screen as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, "route setting" and "route correction" are displayed on the display screen, and the user operates the cursor key 21 of the input device 16 to select one of them, and
By operating the key 23, setting or correction of the recommended route is started (Step 101).

When the user selects "route setting" in Step 101, first, the CPU 6 sets a departure place. As shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 6 displays "Departure point setting" on the display screen. By operating the cursor keys 21 of the input device 16, the user positions the cursor appearing on the display screen at an intended point on the displayed map data and operates the OK key 23. The CPU 6 sets the point indicated by the cursor as the departure point (Step
p102).

After completing the process of setting the departure place in Step 102, the CPU 6 sets the destination. As shown in FIG. 7, the CPU 6 displays "Destination setting" on the display screen.
Is displayed. The user moves the cursor to an intended point on the displayed map data and operates the OK key 23 in the same manner as setting the departure place in Step 102. The CPU 6 sets the point indicated by the cursor as the destination (Step 103).

When the destination setting processing in Step 103 is completed, the CPU 6 calculates a recommended route based on the departure point and the destination set in Steps 102 and 103. The CPU 6 uses the Dijkstra method or the like to calculate the route, checks all the routes connecting the two points of the set departure point and destination, and calculates the best route based on the shortest distance or the like. It takes time to do so. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8, “During route search” is displayed on the display screen, and the progress of the route calculation process is displayed as a bar graph or the like (Step 104).

When the recommended route calculation processing in Step 104 is completed, the CPU 6 displays the calculated recommended route by color-coding or superimposing so as to connect the symbolized departure point and destination (Step 105).

On the other hand, when the user selects “route correction” in Step 101, in this case, although the recommended route has already been set, a part of the route calculated in Step 104 is changed (Step 105).
First, as shown in FIG. 10, the CPU 6 displays "Route Correction" on the display screen and displays each intersection node and the cursor on the set recommended route.

The user operates the cursor key 21 of the input device 16
When the cursor is moved to the intersection node to be changed by operating and the OK key 23 is operated, the selected intersection node can be moved together with the cursor. As shown in FIG. 11, the cursor is moved to the desired intersection and the OK key 23 is moved.
Operate.

The CPU 6 draws a guideline from an intersection node before and after the selected intersection node on the recommended route to an intersection node set as a desired passing intersection, and calculates a new recommended route according to the guideline. As shown in FIG. 12, the calculated recommended route is displayed together with the recommended route before correction excluding the correction section.

Here, an example of criteria for selecting an intersection node which is an end point of a guide line drawn when a part of the recommended route is changed will be described. 13 and 14
And FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of route correction in one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 13, for the selection criteria of the two intersection nodes before and after the intersection to be changed when drawing the guideline, the angle θ formed by the two guidelines is determined in advance as shown in FIG. And an appropriate intersection node is selected from the intersection nodes existing in a range where the two guide lines make an angle θ.

As shown in FIG. 14, based on the linear distance L between the intersection node to be changed and the intersection node to be passed, the intersection nodes before and after the intersection node to be changed are L-1 <L1 <L + 1, L -1 <L2 <L +
Select an appropriate one in the range of 1. For example, if the straight line distance L is 3 Km as the actual distance, an appropriate one is selected from the intersection nodes existing within a range of 2 Km to 4 Km apart from the intersection to be changed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the user may specify an intersection node before and after the intersection node to be changed. However, these are examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

As described above, in this embodiment, when changing the recommended route once set by inputting the departure point and the destination, the user can use the cursor to change the intersection node on the recommended route to the desired intersection. By moving, a guideline is drawn from the preceding and following intersection nodes at the intersection node to be changed to the intersection node at the desired passing intersection, and a new recommended route according to this guideline is calculated and displayed. The user can easily change the recommended route.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a part of a recommended route once set is changed, an intersection which the user wants to change on the recommended route and an intersection which the user wants to newly pass outside the recommended route are used. By simply designating, it is possible to calculate a new recommended route including the intersection to be passed, with the two intersections before and after the intersection to be changed as end points, so that a part of the recommended route once set can be easily changed. A navigation device capable of performing the above can be realized.

As a method of designating an intersection to be changed and an intersection to be passed when changing a part of the recommended route once set, a node indicating each intersection is displayed on the recommended route and each displayed node is displayed. From the nodes, specify the node indicating the intersection to be changed by the cursor, and move the node indicating the specified intersection together with the cursor,
By locating at a new intersection to be passed, it is possible to realize a navigation device that allows the user to visually grasp the positional relationship between the set recommended route and the intersection to be passed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing operation keys of an input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the navigation device in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of route correction in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of route correction in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of route correction in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 GPS receiving part 2 Orientation sensor 3 Distance sensor 4 Control part 9 Storage medium 11 Display part 16 Input device

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00 G09B 29/10

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A navigation device capable of calculating and setting a recommended route of a moving body by setting a departure place and a destination by a user, a positioning means for obtaining a current position,
A storage unit in which map data, road information, and the like are stored in advance, an input unit for performing an input operation by a user, and a display unit for displaying to the user a current position and map data in a predetermined range including the current position When changing a part of the recommended route once set, the user operates the input means to specify an intersection to be changed on the set recommended route and an intersection to be passed outside the recommended route. A navigation device, comprising: when specified, control means for calculating a new recommended route including an intersection to be passed from two intersections before and after the intersection to be changed. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when changing a part of the recommended route once set, the control means draws a guideline from the two intersections before and after the intersection on the recommended route to be changed to the intersection to be passed. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein a new recommended route is calculated according to the guidelines. 3. The two intersections before and after the intersection on the recommended route to be changed are selected based on the angle formed by two guidelines drawn from these two intersections with respect to the intersection to be passed. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the two intersections before and after the intersection on the recommended route to be changed are selected based on a linear distance between the intersection to be changed and the intersection to be passed. The navigation device according to claim 2. 5. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein two intersections before and after the intersection on the recommended route to be changed can be designated by the user using the input means. 6. An intersection to be changed and an intersection to be passed are specified by inputting a node indicating an intersection to be changed from nodes indicating an intersection indicated by a recommended route on the map data displayed on the display means. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the navigation device is designated by a cursor or the like linked to (i), and the designated node is moved together with the cursor to match an intersection to be passed.