JP4463675B2 - Car navigation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigation device that guides a vehicle to a destination according to a guidance route, and more particularly, an in-vehicle navigation device having a function of displaying information on facilities (for example, interchanges and parking areas) attached to toll roads on a map. The present invention relates to a navigation device. Unless otherwise defined in the following description, the term “vehicle” simply refers to the own vehicle.

  Conventional typical vehicle-mounted navigation devices include a control device such as a CPU that controls all processing related to navigation, a storage device such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) -ROM or an IC memory card that stores map data in advance, It has a display device, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a detection device that detects the current position and current direction of the vehicle, such as a gyro and a vehicle speed sensor. Then, the control device reads out map data including the current position of the vehicle from the storage device, displays a map image around the vehicle position on the display device screen based on the map data, and indicates the current position of the host vehicle. The vehicle position mark to be displayed is superimposed on the map image, the map image is scrolled according to the movement of the vehicle, the map image is fixed on the screen and the vehicle position mark is moved, and where the vehicle is currently located. You can see at a glance whether you are driving.

  In general, in-vehicle navigation devices are equipped with a route guidance function that allows a user (for example, a driver) to set a desired destination and easily travel on the road without making a mistake. ing. According to this route guidance function, the optimum route connecting from the starting point to the destination is automatically searched by performing simulation calculation such as horizontal search method or Dijkstra method using the map data, and the searched route is used as the guide route. Remember, while driving, draw the guidance route on the map image with a different color from other roads and display it on the screen, or within a certain distance to the intersection where the vehicle should change the course on the guidance route When approaching, the user is guided to the destination by drawing an arrow indicating the course at the intersection where the course should be changed on the map image and displaying it on the screen.

  When searching for a route, the user sets a destination in advance, and sets a waypoint on the way to the destination as necessary. If necessary, various conditions (whether toll road priority or general road priority) are also set. In the navigation device, a plurality of routes to the destination are searched based on these set data, and the searched routes are displayed in different colors, for example, according to one route selected by the user. Give guidance.

  In such a navigation device, a map is displayed on a display screen, and names of facilities in a range where the map is displayed are displayed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying the name of a facility on a display screen so as not to overlap with a guidance route so that it is possible to quickly grasp whether the information is in the vicinity of the guidance route.

In addition, when displaying toll roads included in the guidance route, IC (interchange), JCT (junction), SA (service area), PA (parking area) are displayed on the display screen as information on facilities incidental to the toll road. The names of various facilities are displayed on the left or right side of the guidance route so that information such as the exit of the toll road can be acquired.
JP 2000-46570 A

  As described above, in the conventional in-vehicle navigation device, when performing route guidance toward the destination by the route guidance function, the names of various facilities attached to the toll road are also displayed in the vicinity of the road. Yes. In such a situation, when the user wants to check the facilities ahead on the guidance route on which the vehicle is currently traveling, the display screen is scrolled by a remote control operation by the user and the desired area is displayed on the display screen. There are things to do. However, in this case, the following inconvenience occurs.

  In other words, if a location that is considerably ahead of the vehicle position on the guidance route is displayed by scrolling the display screen, information on the facility near the guidance route is displayed, but the vehicle position mark indicating the vehicle location is scrolled. Depending on the amount, it may fall out of the screen. If the vehicle position mark is displayed on the guidance route in the screen, the traveling direction of the host vehicle can be grasped from the direction indicated by the vehicle position mark, so there is no particular inconvenience.

  However, when the vehicle position mark is not displayed on the guidance route in the screen, the traveling direction of the host vehicle may not be easily determined. In particular, when the so-called “North-up” display mode is adopted, in which the “North” side of the map is displayed on the upper side of the display screen, for example, the direction on the guidance route is directed southward (below the display screen). When traveling in a direction), there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp the traveling direction unless the vehicle position mark is displayed on the screen as described above. In addition, when the vehicle is traveling in a direction other than the south direction (downward on the display screen), the traveling direction of the vehicle is grasped if the vehicle position mark is not displayed. It ’s hard.

  This problem is not limited to the north-up display mode, but also in the case of the so-called “nose-up” display mode in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is directed to the upper side of the display screen. Can happen.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and makes it possible to easily determine the traveling direction of the vehicle on the guidance route regardless of whether or not the vehicle position mark is displayed, thereby improving the user's merit. It is providing the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus which can do.

In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, according to the basic form of the present invention, display means for providing guidance information on a screen, memory means for storing information relating to map data and various facilities, the display means, Control means operably connected to the memory means, and the control means provides guidance on the guidance route to the destination on the screen of the display means, and there is a toll road on the guidance route. When it is included, information on the facility incidental to the toll road included in the guidance route is acquired from the memory means, and whether or not the position of the host vehicle is included on the screen on which the guidance route is guided Regardless of whether the acquired facility information is displayed on the screen of the display means so as to be positioned on the left side of the traveling direction of the vehicle in the vicinity of the location of the facility on the guidance route. Characteristic In-vehicle navigation device that is provided.

  In the present invention, in the in-vehicle navigation device, when a toll road is included in the guidance route, information on a facility incidental to the toll road is displayed only on the left side of the road toward the traveling direction of the vehicle. I have to. Thereby, even if the vehicle position mark is not displayed due to the scrolling of the display screen, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be easily determined. In particular, this is effective when the north-up display mode is adopted, and the user merit can be enhanced.

  In the in-vehicle navigation device according to the above aspect, the control unit emphasizes information on facilities attached to the toll road included in the guidance route from information on facilities attached to the toll road other than the guidance route. You may make it display on the screen of the said display means with a display mode.

  In the present invention, the display of the information on the facility incidental to the toll road on the guidance route is displayed with a relatively emphasized comparison with the display of the information on the facility incidental to the toll road other than the guidance route. This makes it easier to understand where the guidance route is. In addition, it is possible to easily grasp information such as ICs on the route.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(Configuration of in-vehicle navigation system)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a storage medium in which map data and other guidance data are stored. In the present embodiment, a DVD (DVD-ROM) is used as a storage medium for storing such data, but a hard disk or other storage medium may be used. The map stored here is divided into longitude and latitude widths of appropriate sizes according to each scale level such as 1/1500, 1/25000, 1 / 50,000, 1/10000, etc. Roads, buildings, facilities, and other various properties included in are stored as a coordinate set of points (nodes) expressed in longitude and latitude. Map data includes (1) a road layer composed of a road list, a node table, an intersection configuration node list, etc., (2) a background layer for displaying roads, buildings, parks, rivers, etc. on a map image, (3) It consists of a character / symbol layer for displaying a letter indicating a name of an administrative division such as a municipality name, a road name, an intersection name, a name of a facility attached to a toll road, a map symbol, or the like.

  An operation unit 2 is provided with operation buttons and the like for operating the navigation apparatus body 10. In the present embodiment, the operation unit 2 includes a remote control transmitter and a remote control receiver, and the user can operate the navigation apparatus body 10 with the remote control transmitter at hand.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a GPS receiver that receives a GPS signal sent from a GPS satellite and detects the longitude and latitude of the current position of the vehicle. Reference numeral 6 denotes a self-contained navigation sensor. The self-contained navigation sensor 6 includes an angle sensor 6a such as a gyro that detects a vehicle rotation angle, and a travel distance sensor 6b that generates a pulse for every predetermined travel distance.

  Reference numeral 7 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal panel. The navigation device main body 10 displays a map around the current position of the vehicle on the display device 7, guide routes from the departure point to the destination, vehicle marks, Other guidance information is displayed. Reference numeral 8 denotes a speaker for providing guidance information to the user by voice.

  The navigation device body 10 is composed of the following. Reference numeral 11 denotes a DVD controller that controls reading of map data from the DVD 1. A buffer memory 12 temporarily stores map data read from the DVD 1. Reference numeral 13 denotes an interface connected to the operation unit 2, 16 denotes an interface connected to the GPS receiver 5, and 17 denotes an interface connected to the autonomous navigation sensor 6.

  Reference numeral 18 denotes a control unit constituted by a microcomputer. The control unit 18 detects the current position of the vehicle based on information input from the interfaces 16 and 17, reads predetermined map data from the DVD 1 to the buffer memory 12 via the DVD controller 11, Various processes such as searching for a guidance route from the departure place to the destination are performed under the search conditions set using the read map data.

  19 is a map drawing unit that generates a map image using the map data read to the buffer memory 12, and 20 generates various menu screens (operation screens) and various marks such as vehicle position marks and cursors according to the operation status. This is the operation screen / mark generator.

  21 is a guide route storage unit that stores the guide route searched by the control unit 18, and 22 is a guide route drawing unit that draws the guide route. In the guidance route storage unit 21, all nodes of the guidance route searched by the control unit 18 are stored from the departure point to the destination. When displaying the map, the guide route drawing unit 22 reads the guide route information (node sequence) from the guide route storage unit 21 and draws the guide route with a color and line width different from those of other roads.

  An image composition unit 23 superimposes various marks and operation screens generated by the operation screen / mark generation unit 20 on the map image drawn by the map drawing unit 19, a guide route drawn by the guide route drawing unit 22, and the like. Display on the display device 7.

  An audio output unit 24 supplies an audio signal to the speaker 8 based on a signal from the control unit 18.

  In the in-vehicle navigation device configured as described above, the DVD 1 corresponds to “memory means”, the display device 7 corresponds to “display means”, and the control unit 18 corresponds to “control means”.

  The in-vehicle navigation device according to the present embodiment is basically the same as the conventional in-vehicle navigation device, except that the operation mode when displaying information on facilities attached to toll roads is different, as will be described later. The following operations are performed.

  That is, the control unit 18 detects the current position of the vehicle based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 5 and the signal detected by the self-contained navigation sensor 6. Then, map data around the current position of the vehicle is read from the DVD 1 and stored in the buffer memory 12. The map drawing unit 19 generates a map image based on the map data read into the buffer memory 12 and displays a map image around the current position of the vehicle on the display device 7.

  The control unit 18 detects the current position of the vehicle based on signals output from the GPS receiver 5 and the self-contained navigation sensor 6 as the vehicle moves, and displays the current position on the display device 7 according to the detection result. The vehicle position mark is overlaid on the map image, and the vehicle position mark is moved as the vehicle moves, or the map image is scroll-displayed.

  Further, when the user operates the operation unit 2 to set the destination, the control unit 18 uses the current position of the vehicle as the starting point, and displays the map data of the DVD 1 on the route with the lowest cost connecting the starting point to the destination. Use to search. Then, the route obtained by the search is stored as a guide route in the guide route storage unit 21, and the guide route is displayed on the map image. In addition, the control unit 18 appropriately outputs guidance information as the vehicle travels, and guides the vehicle to travel along the guidance route to the destination.

  As a basic feature of the in-vehicle navigation device according to the present embodiment, the names of the facilities information attached to the toll road as the guidance route are all displayed on the left side in the traveling direction of the vehicle. By setting it as such a display mode, it becomes easy for a user to recognize the advancing direction of the own vehicle on a display screen intuitively. In particular, even if the display screen adopting the north-up display mode is scrolled and the vehicle position mark is no longer displayed, the traveling direction of the host vehicle can be easily grasped.

  Further, as a further feature, the display of the information on the facility incidental to the toll road of the guidance route is displayed with a relatively emphasized comparison with the display of the information of the facility incidental to the toll road other than the guidance route. Yes. By setting it as such a display mode, the information on the facility on the guidance route is emphasized, and the guidance route and the information on the guidance route are easily grasped.

  FIGS. 2A and 2B show screen display examples related to the name display of information on facilities attached to toll roads performed by the navigation device of the present embodiment. For comparison, FIG. 2C shows a screen display example related to the name display of information on facilities attached to a conventional toll road.

  FIG. 2A is an example of a screen display of a guide route that employs a north-up display mode. When the north-up display mode is adopted, a north-up instruction mark 31 is displayed on the display screen 30. In the map image 30a displayed on the display screen 30, a guide route 33 toward the destination is displayed together with a vehicle position mark 32 indicating the current position of the vehicle. Here, the guide route 33 is displayed in a display mode (for example, displayed in a conspicuous color or thickened in line width) different from other roads 34 so that the user can easily identify.

  In the screen display example shown in FIG. 2A, the names of the IC 35 and the PA 36 are displayed on the left side (the right side of the guide route in the figure) of the guide route 33 in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Moreover, it is highlighted and highlighted so as to stand out.

  In the screen display example shown in FIG. 2 (b), the user operates the operation unit 2 of the navigation device to scroll the map image 30a shown in FIG. 2 (a), and the map ahead of the current travel position. Is an example. On the map image 30b displayed on the display screen 30, a guide route 33 toward the destination is displayed. Similar to FIG. 2A, the guide route 33 is displayed in a display mode different from the other roads 37 and 38. However, the vehicle position mark 32 is not displayed because the display screen is scrolled.

  Further, the names of the facilities 43 and 44 attached to the road 38 that is not the guide route are displayed on the right side and the left side of the road 38, respectively. On the other hand, the names of JCT 40, SA 41, and IC 42 attached to the guide route 33 are displayed only on one side of the guide route 33 (in the drawing, the right side of the guide route). Thus, by displaying the name of the facility only on one side of the guide route 33, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be grasped even if the vehicle position mark 32 is not displayed. In the present invention, JCT or the like is displayed on the left side in the traveling direction of the vehicle.

  FIG. 2 (c) is a diagram showing an example of a conventional display after scrolling the map image 30a shown in FIG. 2 (a) for comparison. On the map image 30c displayed on the display screen 30, a guide route 33 toward the destination is displayed. Similar to FIG. 2A, the guide route 33 is displayed in a display mode different from that of the other roads 37 and 38. Further, the vehicle position mark 32 is not displayed.

Further, the names of the facilities 43 and 44 attached to the road 38 that is not the guide route are displayed on the right side and the left side of the road 38, respectively. Furthermore, the names of JCT 45, SA 46 and IC 47 incidental to the guide route 33 are displayed on the left side, right side and left side of the guide route 33, respectively. In this case, since the vehicle position mark 32 is not displayed, it is difficult to know the traveling direction of the own vehicle.
(Information display of facilities incidental to toll roads)
Hereinafter, the information display processing of the facility incidental to the toll road performed by the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3 showing an example of the processing flow.

  First, in step S11, a route search destination is acquired. The destination is set by a user (for example, a driver) by an input operation from the operation unit 2. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where a toll road is used is targeted, and a condition of toll road priority is set as a search condition.

  In the next step S12, a route search is performed. The route search is based on the input destination data and the departure point data set based on the current position of the vehicle detected based on the output signals of the GPS receiver 5 and the autonomous navigation sensor 6. The map data in the range from the ground to the destination and the road data for route search are read from the DVD 1 to the buffer memory 12 by controlling the DVD controller 11, and the data stored in the guidance route storage unit 21 is further referred to. Then, a guidance route connecting the shortest distance from the departure point to the destination is searched by a horizontal search method or the like. The search result is stored in the guide route storage unit 21.

  In the next step S13, guidance of the searched guidance route is started. The route guidance provides the route guidance information based on the route search result of step S12 to the user via the screen of the display device 7. That is, a map is displayed on the screen, and a guidance route 33, a vehicle position mark 32, and the like are displayed.

  In the next step S14, it is determined whether or not the route guidance is terminated. That is, when the power switch is turned off or when the navigation device is not in use, the process is terminated, and in other cases, the process proceeds to step S15.

  In the next step S15, the control unit 18 refers to the guide route storage unit 21 in which the map data to be displayed on the screen and the guide route are stored, and determines whether there is a toll road on the map data to be displayed on the screen. . If it is determined that there is a toll road on the map data, the process proceeds to step S16. If it is determined that there is no toll road on the map data, the process returns to step S13 to continue normal route guidance.

  In next step S16, the control unit 18 refers to the map data displayed on the screen and the guide route storage unit 21, and determines whether or not the toll road displayed on the screen is a toll road included in the guide route. If it is determined that the toll road is included in the guide route, the process proceeds to step S17. If it is determined that the toll road is not included in the guide route, the process proceeds to step S18.

  In the next step S17, names such as JCT 35 and IC 36, which are facilities incidental to the toll road serving as the guide route, are displayed. In this embodiment, the name of the facility incidental to the toll road is displayed so as to be located on the left side in the vehicle traveling direction. Moreover, when displaying the name of the facility, the name of the facility on the guidance route may be displayed in a display form that is emphasized more than the name display of the facility on the road other than the guidance route. In addition, in order to set it as the emphasized display mode, you may display in the color which the name of a plant | facility is conspicuous, or may display a character with a thick line.

  On the other hand, in step S18, the name of the facility incidental to the toll road that is not the guidance route is displayed at the normal position. That is, the names of these facilities are displayed on the left side of the toll road or on the right side. In addition, when displaying the name of the facility, it may be displayed in a display form that is toned down from the name of the facility incidental to the toll road included in the guidance route.

  Next, in step S19, the control unit 18 determines whether a scroll operation has been performed on the display screen (YES) or not (NO) based on the output signal from the operation unit 2. The map screen scroll operation is performed when, for example, an attempt is made to check a front portion of a guide route that does not appear on the screen during guidance of the guide route.

  If it is determined that there is a screen scroll operation, the process proceeds to step S20. If it is determined that there is no screen scroll, the process proceeds to step S13, and the route guidance is continued.

  In the next step S20, the map is moved and displayed on the display screen of the display device 7 via the image composition unit 23 under the control of the control unit 18 based on the scroll operation. Then, it returns to step S15 and repeats said process.

  In this embodiment, the case where the north-up display mode is adopted for the screen display on which the guidance route is displayed has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the nose-up display mode. Of course.

  As described above, in the in-vehicle navigation device according to the present embodiment, when a toll road is included in the guidance route, the display of all facilities attached to the toll road is displayed in the direction of travel of the vehicle. Display on the left side. Thereby, even if the vehicle position mark is not displayed due to the scrolling of the display screen, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be easily determined. This is particularly effective when the north-up display mode is adopted.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the display of the information on the facility incidental to the toll road on the guidance route is displayed more emphasized than the display of the information on the facility incidental to the toll road other than the guidance route. As a result, it is possible to make it easier to understand where the guidance route is, and it is possible to make it easier to grasp the information of the facilities attached to the guidance route.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are diagrams showing screen display examples relating to information display of facilities incidental to a toll road. FIG.2 (c) is a figure which shows the example of a screen display concerning the information display of the facility incidental to the conventional toll road. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the information display process of the facility incidental to the toll road which the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus of FIG. 1 performs.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... DVD,
2 ... operation part,
5 ... GPS receiver,
6 ... Self-contained navigation sensor,
7 ... display device,
8 ... Speakers
10 ... navigation device body,
18 ... control unit,
30 ... display screen,
30a, 30b, 30c ... map image,
31 ... North Up instruction mark,
32 ... Vehicle position mark,
33 ... guidance route,
35, 36, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49 ... facility information.

Claims (3)

Display means for providing guidance information on the screen;
Memory means storing map data and information about various facilities;
Control means operably connected to said display means and memory means,
The control means includes a guidance route from the memory means to the guidance route when the guidance route includes a toll road in a state where guidance on the guidance route to the destination is being performed on the screen of the display means. Regardless of whether the location of the vehicle is included on the screen on which the guidance route is guided or not, the information on the acquired facility is obtained from the guidance route. An in-vehicle navigation device characterized in that it is displayed on the screen of the display means so as to be positioned in the vicinity of the location where the facility is located and on the left side in the traveling direction of the vehicle.   The control means causes the information on the facilities attached to the toll road included in the guidance route to be displayed on the screen of the display means in a display mode emphasized from the information on the facilities attached to the toll road other than the guidance route. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1.   The said control means displays the guidance route to the destination on the screen of the said display means in a display mode in which the north side of the map is on the upper side of the screen. In-vehicle navigation device.

Images