JP4231063B2 - Navigation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation system that performs guidance display based on map information, and particularly relates to a technical field of a navigation system that displays various facilities as landmarks along a road on a screen as landmarks.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, navigation systems have become more sophisticated, and various types of guidance information can be displayed on the screen in order to provide driving guidance to the driver. As such guide information, in addition to roads around the current position, landmarks corresponding to facilities along the road are generally displayed on the screen. For example, if a logo mark representing a specific facility such as a gas station or a convenience store is prepared and displayed superimposed on a map, it is convenient for the driver because it becomes a mark when driving.

  With the recent advancement of image technology, there is a growing need for more realistic guidance display in navigation systems. For this reason, it is desirable to use a real landmark representing an actual building shape from a logo mark.

  However, when a conventional logo-like landmark is simply replaced with a real landmark, an unnatural screen display may occur. That is, if the landmark is displaced from the nearby road, or if the portion corresponding to the entrance of the building is not placed facing the road, the viewer will be greatly discomforted. In this way, when using conventional logo-like landmarks, it was not a problem even if the position and direction were not specified accurately with respect to the road, but when using real landmarks However, it is necessary to accurately match the position and direction with respect to the nearby road, and the screen configuration cannot be easily performed.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and even when a realistic landmark is used, the position and direction of the landmark are accurately defined with respect to a nearby road and displayed on the screen. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation system that can be used.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the navigation system according to claim 1 is a navigation system that performs guidance display based on map information, and displays a landmark corresponding to a facility corresponding to the map information on a screen. The landmark display means sets a reference position for the landmark, and the reference position is in contact with one road in the vicinity of the landmark according to the type of the landmark. A navigation system characterized by defining a position and a direction of a mark.

  According to the present invention, when guidance is displayed using landmarks together with map information in the navigation system, the position and direction with respect to the reference position set for the landmarks are defined, and the landmarks corresponding to the types of the landmarks are specified. The screen is displayed so as to be in contact with one nearby road. Therefore, it is possible to display realistic landmarks having a problem with the directionality and position with respect to the road in an accurate arrangement, and to improve the visibility of the guidance display of the navigation system.

  A navigation system according to a second aspect is the navigation system according to the first aspect, wherein the landmark display means is in contact with the one road according to a road type in addition to the type of the landmark. The position and direction of the landmark are defined.

  According to the present invention, the landmark display means displays the screen so as to be in contact with the one road according to the type of road in addition to the type of landmark. Therefore, it is possible to display realistic landmarks having a problem with the directionality and position with respect to the road in an accurate arrangement, and to improve the visibility of the guidance display of the navigation system.

  The navigation system according to claim 3 is the navigation system according to claim 2, wherein the landmark display means sets a priority according to the type of the road, and there are a plurality of roads in the vicinity of the landmark. In this case, the road having the highest priority is selected as the one road.

  According to the present invention, when there are a plurality of roads in the vicinity of the landmark, the arrangement of the landmark is determined so that the reference position is in contact with the road with the highest priority set for the road. Various facilities that are highly likely to be along the main road can be arranged close to reality, and guidance display without a sense of incongruity can be performed.

  The navigation system according to claim 4 is the navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the landmark includes a three-dimensional landmark that three-dimensionally represents a facility corresponding to the map information. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, the three-dimensional landmarks are used to realistically represent structures such as various facilities, and as described above, the positions and directions with respect to nearby roads are defined and displayed on the screen. Is accurately arranged along the road in a realistic expression, and the visibility of the guidance display of the navigation system can be further enhanced.

  The navigation system according to claim 5 is the navigation system according to claim 4, wherein when the landmark display means cannot secure a display space for the three-dimensional landmark, the three-dimensional landmark is displayed as a planar landmark. It is characterized by being replaced.

  According to the present invention, when displaying a three-dimensional landmark on the screen, if a space cannot be secured, the three-dimensional landmark is replaced with a planar landmark and displayed. In a certain area, landmarks can be identified even if the display space is small, and optimum guidance display according to the surrounding situation can be performed.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, a case where the present invention is applied to a navigation system mounted on a vehicle will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the navigation system according to this embodiment. The navigation system shown in FIG. 1 includes a CPU 1, a ROM 2, a RAM 3, a DVD-ROM drive 4, a sensor unit 5, a GPS receiving unit 6, an interface 7, an operation unit 8, and a display 9. It is configured.

  In FIG. 1, the CPU 1 controls the operation of the entire navigation system. The CPU 1 is connected to each component of the navigation system, reads a control program stored in the ROM 2, and executes various processes while temporarily holding data being processed in the RAM 3.

  The DVD-ROM drive 4 is loaded with a disc 10 on which map information is recorded in accordance with the DVD format, and performs a necessary map information read operation. The disk 10 is an information recording medium having a large storage capacity of, for example, about 4.7 GB per layer on one side, and map information including road link data and node data used for navigation display is recorded together with various related information.

  In the present embodiment, various data for displaying landmarks are recorded on the disc 10 in addition to the map information. Specifically, data indicating the type of facility to which each landmark corresponds, position data indicating the position of each landmark, shape data for displaying each landmark, and the like are recorded. The types of landmarks include the types of facilities such as gas stations and convenience stores, the types of companies that operate each facility, and the like. Further, on the disk 10, data indicating the type of roads included in the map information is recorded, and the priority indicating the road to be prioritized when a landmark is described later is set for each road type. Has been.

  Next, the sensor unit 5 includes various sensors necessary for detecting the current position. Specifically, it includes a vehicle speed sensor, a travel distance sensor, a direction sensor, and the like for detecting the travel state of the vehicle. The GPS receiver 6 receives radio waves from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite and outputs positioning data. The interface 7 performs an interface operation between the sensor unit 5 and the GPS receiving unit 6 and the CPU 1. The CPU 1 determines the current position of the vehicle based on the sensor output from the sensor unit 5 and the positioning data from the GPS receiving unit 6. The indicated position data is calculated.

  The operation unit 8 includes a key unit provided in the navigation system body or a remote controller including the key unit, and supplies a signal corresponding to the key input to the CPU 1 in order to perform a desired operation in the navigation operation.

  The display 9 is display means used for the navigation operation, and is composed of, for example, a CRT, a liquid crystal display element or the like. On the display 9, the map data is displayed in various forms, and the current position of the vehicle is displayed as a car mark superimposed on the map data. A guidance display in which landmarks are arranged is displayed on the display 9 based on processing described later.

  Next, the basic concept of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present invention is applied when it is necessary to consider the direction of landmarks and the positional relationship with a road when performing screen display in a navigation system.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of screen display using a three-dimensional landmark as a case where the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 2, the display screen 11 displayed on the display 9 displays a stereoscopic field image viewed from the driver's line of sight. By performing a three-dimensional display during the navigation operation, a more realistic image for the driver can be seen compared to the case of displaying a planar map, and comfortable navigation can be realized.

  On the display screen 11 shown in FIG. 1, a visual field image around the intersection 12 formed by the road 13 on which the vehicle travels and the road 14 that intersects is displayed. A solid landmark 15 is displayed at one corner of the intersection 12 to represent a building such as a convenience store in a three-dimensional manner. The three-dimensional landmark 15 is drawn in a structure having an entrance 15 a as a reference position, and is arranged so that the entrance 15 a faces the road 14. Here, since it is unnatural that the entrance 15a does not face the road, it is necessary to consider the directionality when displaying the three-dimensional landmark 15. Further, since the entrance 15a is in contact with the road, it is necessary to accurately determine the position of the landmark 15 on the display screen 11. Therefore, in the navigation system according to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately define the position and direction of the three-dimensional landmark 15 with respect to a nearby road using a method as described later.

  Next, the concept of landmark arrangement in consideration of the positional relationship and directionality with respect to the road when the landmark is displayed on the screen will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2 described above, an example of the three-dimensional landmark 15 is shown. However, as long as it is necessary to determine the positional relationship and direction with respect to the road on the display screen, the present invention can be applied regardless of a plane or a solid. . Hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, the landmark display method according to the present invention will be described with reference to plan views.

  FIG. 3 shows a structure around the landmark 20 to be displayed and the intersection 22 on the map where the landmark 20 is arranged. For the landmark 20, for example, a reference position 21 corresponding to an entrance of a building is set. Then, consider a case where the landmark 20 is arranged at positions A to E around the intersection 22 where the road 23 and the road 24 intersect. Here, it is assumed that the road 23 is a large road such as a national road, and the road 24 is a small road such as a street. Positions A to D correspond to the four corners of the intersection 22, and positions E and F correspond to predetermined positions on the road 24 away from the intersection 22.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the landmark 20 illustrated in FIG. 3 is disposed at all positions A to F around the intersection 22. In FIG. 4, the landmark 20 and the reference position 21 arranged at the positions A to F are shown as the landmarks 20A to 20F and the reference positions 21A to 21F, respectively. In addition, each direction in FIG. 4 is represented by N, S, E, and W by arrows.

  In FIG. 4, landmarks 20A and 20B arranged at positions A and B in FIG. 3 have reference positions 21A and 21B facing the road 23 and facing the S direction, respectively. Further, the landmarks 20C and 20D arranged at the positions C and D in FIG. 3 have the reference positions 21C and 21D facing the road 23 and facing the N direction, respectively. Further, the landmark 20E arranged at the position E in FIG. 3 has the reference position 21E facing the road 24 and faces the W direction. Further, in the landmark 20F arranged at the position F in FIG. 3, the reference position 21F faces the road 24 and faces the E direction.

  Thus, when the position of the landmark 20 is different, it can be seen that the road facing the reference position 21 and the arrangement direction thereof change. Therefore, when the landmark 20 is displayed, it is necessary to perform display processing after determining the positional relationship with the road and the arrangement direction. In FIG. 4, the landmarks 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> D at positions A to D are arranged to face the road 23 instead of the road 24 even though they are close to both the roads 23 and 24. This is because the priority of the main road 23 is set higher than that of the road 24. The priority of the road will be described in detail later.

  Next, the landmark display process according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing landmark display processing executed during navigation activation in the navigation system according to the present embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 5 is performed as needed when the current position of the traveling vehicle fluctuates and the navigation screen is updated.

  In FIG. 5, first, a landmark 20 around the current position is selected (step S1). Current position data corresponding to the current position of the vehicle is obtained based on the sensor output from the sensor unit 5 and the positioning data from the GPS receiving unit 6. Then, the position data of the landmark 20 recorded on the disc 10 is compared with the current position data, and the landmark 20 set within a predetermined distance from the current position is selected (step S1). As the predetermined distance, a range that normally fits on the display screen may be set.

  Next, for the specific landmark 20 selected in step S1, a nearby road is searched (step S2). That is, referring to map information in the vicinity of the map area displayed on the display screen, a road located within a predetermined range around the landmark 20 is selected from roads included in the map information. As a result of the search in step S2, it is determined whether only one road has been searched or two or more roads have been searched (step S3). As a result, when only one road is searched (step S3; YES), steps S4 and S5 are executed. When two or more roads are searched (step S3; NO), steps S6 to S8 are executed. Execute.

  When the process proceeds to steps S4 and S5, the landmark 20 is arranged along the road searched in step S2. First, the reference position 21 of the landmark 20 is associated with the searched road (step S4). In this case, since there is only one road, the landmark 20 is rotated at an appropriate angle to adjust the direction of the reference position 21 in order to set the reference position 21 in the direction facing the road.

  Subsequently, the position of the landmark 20 is corrected based on the relative positional relationship with the road (step S5). That is, in the state of step S4, since the distance between the road and the landmark 20 is not optimized, the position of the landmark 20 is corrected so that the reference position 21 is in contact with the road.

  Here, the process of step S5 is demonstrated using FIG. 6 and FIG. In FIG. 6, three patterns are shown as the positional relationship between the target road link 30 and the landmark 20. In FIG. 6A, the road link 30 to the center part 200 of the landmark 20 are arranged at a distance d1. In this state, since the road link 30 and the landmark 20 are in a positional relationship, it is not necessary to correct the position of the landmark 20. The distance d1 between the road link 30 and the center portion 200 of the landmark 20 can be calculated based on the latitude and longitude included in the respective position data.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 6B, the road link 30 to the center portion 200 of the landmark 20 are arranged at a distance d2 (d2 <d1). In this state, since the road and the landmark 20 overlap, the position of the landmark 20 needs to be corrected. Therefore, by moving the landmark 20 in the direction away from the road link 30 to the correction position 31 indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 6B, the same arrangement as in FIG. 6A is obtained.

  In FIG. 6C, the road link 30 and the center portion 200 of the landmark 20 are arranged at a distance d3 (d3> d1). In this state, since the road and the landmark 20 are too far apart, the position of the landmark 20 needs to be corrected. Therefore, the landmark 20 is moved in the direction approaching the road link 30 to the correction position 32 indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 6C, whereby the same arrangement as in FIG. 6A is obtained.

  On the other hand, when the position correction as described with reference to FIG. 6 is performed on the landmark 20, there is a possibility of overlapping with another road. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the position correction of the landmark 20 assuming such a case. Here, an example will be described in which the position correction shown in FIG. 6B overlaps with another road.

  In FIG. 7, two road links 30a and 30b are shown. First, in order to prevent the landmark 20 from overlapping the road link 30a, the position is corrected in the same manner as in FIG. 6B, and the landmark 20 is moved to the correction position. At this time, it can be seen that the correction position 34 overlaps with the link 30b of another road. Therefore, the landmark 20 is moved from the correction position 34 along the road link 30a to the correction position 35 that is separated from the road link 30b by a distance d4. As a result, the landmark 20 can be arranged so as not to overlap both the road links 30a and 30b.

  6 and 7, since the road actually has a road width, it is desirable to consider the road width of the road in addition to the link 30 of the road. Since the road information of the road is included in the map information, when the distance between the road and the landmark 20 is obtained, the road width equivalent may be corrected.

  Next, returning to FIG. 5, when proceeding to steps S6 to S8, among the two or more roads searched in step S2, priority determination is performed for the road closest to the landmark 20 and the second closest road. It performs (step S6). For example, when the landmark 20 is arranged at one corner of the intersection, as shown in FIG. 4, the process is performed to determine a road that the reference position 21 faces.

  In this embodiment, the priority is determined according to the type of road and the type of landmark 20. In principle, when the road types are arranged in descending order of priority, the roads are set in the order of highway, exclusive road, national road, prefectural road, city road, and street. Further, depending on the type of the landmark 20, for example, there are some that are not arranged along a highway or an automobile-only road such as a police box or a hospital. In this case, the priorities of roads are set in the order of national roads, prefectural roads, city roads, streets, automobile roads, and expressways, and a road according to the type of landmark 20 is selected. In addition, although the priority with respect to a road may be preset, you may make it the structure which can change a setting suitably by predetermined operation by the operation part 8. FIG.

  In step S6, a road with a high priority is selected based on the road priority set in this way. The process of step S7 following step S6 is performed in the same manner as the process of step S4 described above, and the process of step S8 is performed similarly to the process of step S5 described above. In particular, in step S8, it is necessary to correct the position so that the landmark 20 does not overlap the lower priority road.

  In step S6, if the two roads have the same priority, a road close to the landmark 20 may be selected. That is, the roads that are determined to be closest are selected by comparing the lengths of the vertical lines from the center portion 200 of the landmark 20 to the respective roads. Alternatively, a road closest to the landmark 20 may be selected from a plurality of nearby roads without performing the priority determination in step S6.

  When the process of step S5 or step S8 is completed, it is determined whether or not the arrangement has been determined for all the landmarks 20 selected in step S1 (step S9). As a result, when the landmark 20 whose arrangement has not yet been determined remains (step S9; NO), the process returns to step S2 and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, when the arrangement has been determined for all the landmarks 20 (step S9; YES), the respective landmarks 20 are drawn on the screen, display processing is executed (step S10), and the processing of FIG. Finish.

  Next, as a modified example of the processing of FIG. 5, a case will be described in which the stereoscopic landmark 15 as shown in FIG. Usually, the three-dimensional landmark 15 requires a larger display area on the screen than a general landmark. Therefore, when there are many buildings adjacent to one corner of the intersection, it is difficult to display all of them with the three-dimensional landmark 15. On the other hand, if the number of the three-dimensional landmarks 15 to be displayed is limited, the amount of information obtained from the display screen is reduced. Therefore, when the three-dimensional landmarks 15 are densely arranged, or when the three-dimensional landmarks 15 are arranged in a narrow area surrounded by roads, the three-dimensional landmarks 15 are replaced with general landmarks. It is effective to display.

  Taking the process of FIG. 5 as an example, in step S8, it is determined whether or not a space for displaying the three-dimensional landmark 15 cannot be secured due to the overlap of roads and other landmarks. In such a case, the same kind of general landmarks may be arranged instead of the three-dimensional landmark 15. If a space cannot be secured even if a general landmark is substituted, this landmark is not displayed. If such processing is performed in the order from the current position, the closer to the current position, the higher the possibility that the three-dimensional landmark 15 is displayed, and the visibility of the guidance display can be improved.

  In addition, the said embodiment is an example of the aspect of the navigation system which concerns on this invention, It is possible to apply this invention also to another aspect, without being restricted to this. For example, the landmark configuration, the priority setting method for the road, and the like can be appropriately changed according to the embodiment.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a reference position is set for a landmark, and the position of the landmark and the reference position are in contact with a road near the landmark according to the type of the landmark. Since the direction is defined, it is possible to realize a navigation system that can display a screen with good visibility without a sense of incongruity of the landmark display even when a realistic landmark is used.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the navigation system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen display using a solid landmark as a basic concept of this invention. It is a figure explaining the concept of the arrangement | positioning of the landmark which considered the positional relationship and directionality with respect to a road, and is a figure which shows the structure of the landmark and the intersection periphery on a map. It is a figure explaining the concept of arrangement | positioning of the landmark which considered the positional relationship and directionality with respect to a road, and is a figure which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the landmark in various places around an intersection. 5 is a flowchart showing landmark display processing executed during navigation activation in the navigation system according to the present embodiment. It is a figure explaining the position correction process of a landmark, and is a figure which shows three patterns as a positional relationship of a road link and a landmark. It is a figure explaining the position correction process of a landmark, and is a figure which shows the further position correction when it overlaps with another road when the position correction of a landmark is performed.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... CPU
2 ... ROM
3 ... RAM
4 ... DVD-ROM drive 5 ... sensor unit 6 ... GPS receiving unit 7 ... interface 8 ... operation unit 9 ... display 10 ... disc 11 ... display screens 12, 22 ... intersections 13, 14, 23, 24 ... road 15 ... three-dimensional land Mark 20 ... Landmark 21 ... Reference position 30, 30a, 30b ... Road links 31, 32, 34, 35 ... Correction position 200 ... Landmark centers d1, d2, d3, d4 ... Distance to the center

Claims (5)

A navigation system that displays guidance based on map information,
Comprising landmark display means for displaying the facility corresponding to the map information as a landmark on the screen,
The landmark display means sets a reference position for the landmark, and the reference position and the position of the landmark so that the reference position is in contact with one road in the vicinity of the landmark according to the type of the landmark. A navigation system characterized by defining a direction.   The landmark display means defines the position and direction of the landmark so as to contact the one road according to the type of road in addition to the type of landmark. Navigation system.   The landmark display means sets priority according to the type of the road, and when there are a plurality of roads in the vicinity of the landmark, selects the road with the highest priority as the one road. The navigation system according to claim 2, wherein:   The navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the landmark includes a three-dimensional landmark that three-dimensionally represents a facility corresponding to the map information.   5. The navigation system according to claim 4, wherein the landmark display means displays the stereoscopic landmark by replacing the stereoscopic landmark with a planar landmark when a display space for the stereoscopic landmark cannot be secured.

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