JP3541403B2 - Electronic map display device and navigation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to an electronic map display device and a navigation device using the same.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a navigation device using a GPS (Global Positioning System) has been used to perform navigation to a destination by an automobile or the like. This involves detecting the position of the vehicle based on a signal sent from an artificial satellite to create position information, and for example, by using map information (such as terrain and road information) stored in a large-capacity recording medium such as a CD-ROM. ) Is displayed on a liquid crystal screen or the like by superimposing the vehicle position. Since the navigation device is roughly composed of a GPS receiving unit for detecting the position of the vehicle and generating position information, and an electronic map display device for displaying map information, the navigation device will be described below for simplification. The description also serves as the description of the electronic map display device.
[0003]
Hereinafter, a conventional navigation device will be described.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional navigation device. The GPS receiving unit 1 detects the position of the vehicle based on a signal from an artificial satellite and generates position information, and includes a central processing unit, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. To the control unit 2. The position information transmitted from the GPS receiver 1 is superimposed on the map information read from the CD-ROM or the like by the map information read unit 3 by the control unit 2 and displayed on the liquid crystal display or the like of the display unit 4. Therefore, when the user operates the touch panel or the keyboard of the input unit 5 to input two points as designated points, map information selection display processing for selecting and displaying map information corresponding to a route connecting the two points. Is performed, and the map information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4.
[0004]
Hereinafter, an example of the conventional map information selection and display processing will be described with reference to a flowchart showing the map information selection and display processing of the conventional navigation apparatus in FIG. 10 and the diagrams showing the display screens of the conventional navigation apparatus in FIGS. explain.
[0005]
First, the input unit 5 is operated to cause the control unit 2 to read map information around the destination from the map information reading unit 3 and display the map information on the screen of the display unit 4 (step 1). An arbitrary road (for example, National Route 211) in the displayed area is represented as polygonal line information by a set of a plurality of continuous points having latitude / longitude information. Next, the user operates the input unit 5 to input two points, a start point S and an arrival point E, as designated points on the road. Here, if the starting point S is not included in the read map information around the destination, the map information around the starting point S is newly read and the starting point S is input (step 2). When the input of the two points, the starting point S and the arriving point E, is completed, the control unit 2 searches all routes connecting the two points as polygonal lines connecting points in a certain area (step 3).
[0006]
Next, a route is obtained for each route as a search result (step 4), a route with the shortest distance is selected from the obtained routes (step 5), and selected from the map information including the selected route. A map information selection display process is performed to select and display map information in which the route is included at the maximum magnification (smallest scale), and the map information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4 (step 6).
[0007]
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the actual display screen is displayed so as to include the area between the starting point S and the arriving point E on a 1: 50,000 map. When the user wants to see the specified point between two points in detail, the map information is changed to a smaller scale and the map information is selected and displayed, and as shown in FIG. Display map information.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional configuration, only a certain scale of map information is read out from the map information of several stages stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and displayed as it is. However, it is not possible to display only the map information of a desired portion at an appropriate scale. For example, in the map of 1: 50,000 shown in FIG. 11, the route connecting the two designated points, the starting point S and the arriving point E, can be seen as one map on the screen, but the scale is too large. The route connecting the two points and the surrounding area cannot be seen in detail. Therefore, a map information selection display process is performed in which the scale of the map information is changed to a smaller one and displayed, and the map information of 1/25000 shown in FIG. 12 is displayed. However, although the contents of the displayed map information are detailed, since the entire route connecting the two points of the starting point S and the arriving point E cannot be contained as one map on the screen, the map information is sequentially displayed. There is a problem that it is necessary to switch to the matching map information, and it is difficult to grasp the outline of the route connecting the designated points.
[0009]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide an electronic map display device capable of easily displaying map information of a route connecting designated points and a navigation device using the same.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a GPS receiving unit that creates position information based on a signal from an artificial satellite, a map storage unit that stores map information of a plurality of scales , Display means for displaying on a screen together with position information from a GPS receiver, designating means for designating points on a map, means for setting a rectangular area including the designated plural points, and the set rectangular area In addition to reading and displaying the map information of the rectangular area, in displaying the map information of the rectangular area, detailed information related to the plurality of points is extracted from map information having a scale smaller than the scale of the read map information of the rectangular area. Control means for displaying the rectangular area on a map.
[0011]
[Action]
With this configuration, detailed information relating to a plurality of designated points, which is not obtained at the set map scale of the rectangular area, is extracted from the map information of a smaller scale, added to the map of the rectangular area, and displayed. be able to.
[0012]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same portions as those in the conventional example will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.
[0013]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The GPS receiver 1 detects the position of the vehicle based on signals from artificial satellites, creates position information, and transmits the position information to the controller 6 including a central processing unit, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The position information transmitted from the GPS receiving unit 1 is superimposed on the map information read unit 3 by the control unit 6 together with the map information read from the CD-ROM or the like, and is displayed on the display unit 4. Therefore, the user operates the input unit 5 to input two points as designated points, and sets road designation conditions as necessary, thereby determining the optimal display of a route connecting these two points. The selection display process is performed, and the map information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4.
[0014]
Hereinafter, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 2 showing the map information selection and display processing of the navigation device in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 8 showing the display screens of the navigation device in one embodiment of the present invention. An example of the map information selection display processing according to the present invention will be described.
[0015]
First, the input unit 5 is operated to cause the control unit 6 to read map information around the destination from the map information reading unit 3 and display the map information on the screen of the display unit 4 (step 7). An arbitrary road (for example, National Route 211) in the displayed area is represented as polygonal line information by a set of a plurality of continuous points having latitude / longitude information. Next, the user operates the input unit 5 to input the two points of the starting point S and the arriving point E on the road, respectively. Enter additional road specification conditions. Here, if the starting point S is not included in the read map information around the destination, the map information around the starting point S is newly read and the starting point S is input (step 8). When the input of the two points of the starting point S and the arriving point E is completed, the control unit 6 searches all the routes connecting the two points of the starting point S and the arriving point E as polygonal lines connecting points in a certain area (step). 9) Next, it is determined whether there is a road designation condition such as "highway" or "toll road avoidance" (step 10).
[0016]
If there is no road designation condition, a route is obtained for each route as a search result (step 11), and the shortest distance route is selected from the obtained routes (step 12).
[0017]
Next, a rectangular area 7 including the selected route is set as map information, and the set rectangular area 7 is included at the maximum magnification (smallest scale), for example, 50,000 / 50,000 shown in FIG. The first map information is selected (step 13).
[0018]
Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the selected rectangular area 7 set in the 1 / 50,000th piece of map information is enlarged as much as possible (or, if it cannot be enlarged, at the same magnification), for example, as shown in FIG. It is enlarged and displayed on the screen of the display unit 4 as a new scale of 1 / 30,000 map information (step 14).
[0019]
Next, simplification of the map information of a portion considered to be not significantly related to the selected route and refinement of a portion considered to be related to the selected route are performed (step 15). For example, among the map information shown in FIG. 4, since it is considered that there is no map information required by the user in an area sufficiently distant from the selected route, the map information in these areas is thinned out or deleted. Since it is considered that there is a lot of information required by the user in the vicinity of the selected route, more detailed information is added to these areas than the map information at a scale of 1 / 50,000 selected in step 13. In addition, at least one rank is combined with information on characters and roads selected from the map information having a small scale in a margin near the selected route, and displayed in a more detailed and easy-to-view manner. If there is little margin in the vicinity of the route, it is pulled out with an arrow or the like and displayed at a slightly distant place. By performing such processing, as shown in FIG. 5, the map information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4 as easy-to-view map information with a scale of 1 / 30,000.
[0020]
If there is a road designation condition, all routes connecting the two points including the designated road are searched as polygonal lines connecting points in a certain area (step 16), and it is determined whether there is a route including the designated road (step 17). ).
[0021]
If there is no route including the designated road, “No route including designated road” is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4 and the process proceeds to step 11.
[0022]
If there is a route including the designated road, the route from the departure point S to the entrance of the designated road, and the route from the exit of the designated road to the arrival point E, select the route of the shortest distance. From the entrance of the designated road to the entrance of the designated road｝ + ｛the journey from the entrance of the designated road to the exit of the designated road｝ + ｛the journey from the exit of the designated road to the arrival point E｝ is selected as the shortest route including the designated road (Step 18).
[0023]
Next, a rectangular area 7 including the selected route is set as map information, and map information is selected in consideration of road designation conditions (step 19). For example, when the road designation condition is “expressway”, the expressway itself may be simple, and only the vicinity of the interchange may be detailed. For example, the set rectangular area 7 is included at the maximum magnification (scale factor). (Smallest). If the map information is 1 / 50,000th scale, the map information of 1 / 1000th scale shown in FIG.
[0024]
Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the rectangular area 7 set in the selected 1 / 100,000 map information is enlarged as much as possible (or, if it cannot be enlarged, at the same magnification), for example, as shown in FIG. 7. It is enlarged and displayed on the screen of the display unit 4 as map information of a new scale of 1 / 35,000 (step 14).
[0025]
Next, simplification of the map information of a portion considered to be not so related to the highway which is the selected route and refinement of a portion considered to be related (step 15). For example, in the map information shown in FIG. 7, since it is considered that there is no map information required by the user in an area sufficiently distant from the selected highway, the map information in these areas should be thinned out. delete. Since it is considered that there is much information required by the user around the interchange on the expressway, more detailed information is added to these areas than the map information of the 1: 50,000 scale selected in step 19. In addition, information on characters and roads selected from map information having at least several ranks on a small scale is synthesized in a margin around the highway and displayed in a more detailed and easy-to-view manner. If there is little blank space around the highway, it is pulled out with an arrow or the like and displayed at a slightly distant place. By performing such processing, as shown in FIG. 8, the map information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4 as easy-to-view map information with a scale of 1 / 35,000.
[0026]
The electronic map display device described above has other uses. For example, by connecting a laser printer or the like as an image forming device, the map information synthesized and displayed on the screen of the display unit is converted into one map. You can also output.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention extracts detailed information related to a plurality of points from map information of a scale smaller than the read map scale of a rectangular area, and displays the detailed information on a map of the rectangular area. This configuration has a feature. With this configuration, detailed information related to a plurality of designated points, which cannot be obtained at the map scale of the set rectangular area, is extracted from the map information of a smaller scale to extract the rectangular area. Since an additional map is displayed on the map, an electronic map display device that can easily obtain detailed information to be added when displaying a map of a rectangular area without separately preparing the map can be realized.
[0028]
In addition, by combining the electronic map display device with a GPS receiving unit that creates position information based on a signal from an artificial satellite, the electronic map display device has the above-described operation and effect, and can easily display map information of a route connecting designated points. A navigation device can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing map information selection display processing of the navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display screen of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display screen of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display screen of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display screen of the navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional navigation device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating map information selection display processing of a conventional navigation device. Flowchart 11] [Explanation of symbols] shows a display screen of a conventional Fig. 12 is a conventional navigation device showing a display screen of the navigation device
Reference Signs List 1 GPS receiving unit 2 Control unit 3 Map information reading unit 4 Display unit 5 Input unit 6 Control unit 7 Rectangular area

Claims (2)

Map storage means for storing map information of a plurality of scales;
Display means for displaying map information;
Specifying means for specifying a point on the map;
Means for setting a rectangular area including the plurality of designated points,
The map information of the set rectangular area is read and displayed, and in the display of the map information of the rectangular area, the map information related to the plurality of points is selected from the map information of a scale smaller than the scale of the read map information of the rectangular area. Control means for extracting detailed information to be displayed and controlling the extracted detailed information to be displayed on a map of the rectangular area . The electronic map display device;
A GPS receiving unit that creates position information based on a signal from an artificial satellite,
A navigation device for displaying position information from a GPS receiver together with the rectangular area map information on a screen.

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