JP4769615B2 - Navigation device, control method thereof, and control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for improving a method of displaying a stopover point, which is a stopover point arbitrarily designated by a user in navigation map drawing.

  In recent years, with the development of information processing technology, navigation devices for mobile objects such as vehicles have become widespread. The navigation device uses map data prepared in advance, displays the position and orientation of the vehicle measured by GPS etc. on the surrounding map, calculates the route to the specified destination, displays it on the screen and composes it It will guide you by voice.

In such navigation device route guidance, when a stopover point arbitrarily designated on the route by the user is displayed on a plurality of screens, as shown in FIG. , The number of the icon imitating the flag indicating the waypoint was given, or the color of the displayed item was changed and displayed. In addition, in the technique of displaying facilities, in order to avoid multiple icons from being displayed in duplicate, the display priority of the icons is judged, the higher priority is displayed, and the lower priority is displayed. It was decided not to do so (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-144721 A

  By the way, in the above conventional waypoint display method, for example, the waypoints for which guidance has ended are displayed in an inconspicuous color, such as gray, and the waypoints to be guided in the future are displayed in bright colors, and whether the guidance is finished or not Etc. can be read. However, as shown in FIG. 4, when the waypoint set by the user is close, the point where the guidance has ended may be displayed above the point to be guided. This is because the coordinate data of the guidance point that was read and stored first from the place close to the departure point on the route is drawn from the last stored at the time of drawing. By being displayed on the back side. In this case, the user has to obtain information by changing the scale of the map or scrolling the screen so that the icons indicating the waypoints do not overlap.

  In addition, from the idea that extra information is displayed on the screen in the past, it was decided to hide the icon of the facility with lower priority, but this was used to display the waypoint, and the guidance was over If it was decided not to display the ground, it was inconvenient because it was impossible to know where the driver went after driving.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to display information required by the user, that is, a point to be guided in the future, in displaying a guide point such as a transit point in map drawing. The object is to provide a navigation device, a control method thereof, and a control program capable of reliably guiding a route by displaying information, that is, above a point where guidance is finished.

  The present invention solves the above problems as follows. In addition, the guidance point used below is a concept that widely includes points that guide the user in navigation, such as points that are points on the guidance route such as intersections and branch points, and via points that are set by the user. .

The invention according to claim 1 is a storage unit for storing road map data for route search and map display and facility data including the location of the facility in advance, and detection means for the computer to detect the vehicle position based on the sensor output. A navigation device comprising: navigation means for calculating and guiding a route to a predetermined destination using the road map data and the detection means; and a display unit for displaying information . an input unit for accepting a waypoint that is arbitrarily set as the guidance point, the guide point storage means for storing the read memory coordinate data of said guide point to be guided in the path to the destination from the road map data, stored Guidance point display control means for sequentially displaying a predetermined icon on the display unit in accordance with the vehicle position, and guidance for which guidance has ended Means for assigning a flag to a point and storing it in a memory; and means for determining whether or not the flag is attached. The guide point display control means has the flag attached to the display unit. A guide point that does not exist is displayed in front of the guide point to which the flag is assigned.

The invention of claim 3 captures the invention of claim 1 from the viewpoint of a method, and stores a road map data for route search and map display and facility data including the location of the facility in advance, Detection means for the computer to detect the position of the vehicle based on the sensor output, navigation means for the computer to calculate and guide a route to a predetermined destination using the road map data and the detection means, and display information a method of controlling a navigation device including a display unit, a for a step of accepting a transit point that is set arbitrarily by the user as a guide point, the coordinate data of the guidance point to be guided in the path to the destination The step of reading from the road map data and storing it in the memory, and the stored guide points are sequentially displayed on the display unit according to the vehicle position. A guide point display control step for displaying, a step of assigning a flag to the guide point for which guidance has been completed and storing the flag in a memory, and a step of determining whether or not the flag is provided, the guide point display control step comprising: The guide point to which the flag is not given is displayed on the front side of the guide point to which the flag is given.

The invention of claim 5 captures the inventions of claims 1 and 3 from the viewpoint of a computer program, and stores road map data for route search and map display and facility data including the location of the facility in advance. A storage unit; a detection unit that detects a vehicle position based on a sensor output; a navigation unit that calculates and guides a route to a predetermined destination using the road map data and the detection unit; In a navigation device control program comprising a display unit for displaying information, the program causes the computer to accept a route point arbitrarily set by a user as a guide point, and to provide a route to the destination. the coordinate data of the guidance point to be guided and stored into the read memory from the road map data, the stored guidance point A predetermined icon is sequentially displayed on the display unit in accordance with the position of the vehicle, a flag is assigned to a guidance point where guidance has been completed and stored in a memory, and the presence / absence of the flag is determined. The process of displaying a point is characterized by causing the display unit to display a guide point to which the flag is not given in front of the guide point to which the flag is assigned.

  In the above aspect, a flag is attached to the guidance point where the guidance has ended, and the guidance point that is not flagged, that is, the guidance point that should be guided in the future, is displayed on the near side of the screen from the guidance point that is flagged. As a result, even when the waypoints set by the user are close to each other and are displayed in multiple layers, the guidance point to be guided from now on is always displayed on the near side. Therefore, the user can always accurately grasp the guide point such as the next route to be routed, and does not require extra operations such as changing the scale of the map or scrolling the screen.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the guide point display control means first displays the guide point to which the flag is assigned on the display unit, and the flag is not assigned. The guide point is displayed later.

  The invention according to claim 4 captures the invention according to claim 2 from the viewpoint of a method. In the invention according to claim 3, in the guide point display control step, the flag is given to the display unit. The guide point is displayed first, and the guide point not assigned with the flag is displayed later.

  The invention of claim 6 captures the inventions of claims 2 and 4 from the viewpoint of a computer program. In the invention of claim 5, the process of displaying the guide point is performed on the display unit by The guide point to which the flag is assigned is displayed first, and the guide point to which the flag is not assigned is displayed later.

  In the above-described aspect, the guide point with the flag, that is, the guide point that has already been guided, is displayed first, and the guide point without the flag, that is, the guide point where guidance is to be performed is displayed later. By doing so, the guidance point to be guided from now on is always displayed on the near side from the guidance point already guided. Accordingly, the user can always accurately grasp the guide point such as the next route to be routed, and does not require extra operations such as changing the scale of the map or scrolling the screen.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the display of guide points such as waypoints in map drawing, the information required by the user, that is, the point to be guided in the future, is higher than the other information, that is, the point where the guidance is finished. By displaying on the navigation device, it is possible to provide a navigation device capable of reliable route guidance, a control method thereof, and a control program.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[1. Constitution〕
In this embodiment, a navigation device that guides a route to a destination (hereinafter referred to as “this device”) will be described. It can also be grasped as a control method and a control program. The configuration of this device is shown in FIG. Shown in In the present invention, the “guidance point” includes not only a transit point arbitrarily set by the user but also a guidance point such as an intersection or a branch point on the route. This solves the problem when the display of the guide point remains, and from this point of view, it is best used as a waypoint display method. Therefore, in the following, this “guidance point” will be described as a transit point arbitrarily designated by the user.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes an FM multiplex reception and processing unit for acquiring VICS information, and reference numeral 2 denotes a beacon reception and processing unit for acquiring VICS information. Reference numeral 3 denotes a main CPU (central processing unit) that controls the entire system and its peripheral circuits, and is a control unit that performs information processing including control of each part of the apparatus. 4 is a dynamic RAM (DRAM) for loading the main program, 5 is a static RAM (SRAM) with battery backup for holding memory contents such as settings while the main power is off, 6 Is a ROM that is accessed by the control unit 3 at the time of startup or the like.

  Reference numeral 7 denotes a display unit for drawing and displaying information such as a map, and has a display screen such as a liquid crystal display panel. Reference numeral 8 denotes a video RAM (VRAM) provided for the display unit 7. 9 is a TV reception and processing unit for receiving TV (various television broadcasts), and 10 is a vehicle information acquisition unit that detects operations and states such as illumination (lighting of instrument panels, etc.), vehicle speed pulses, and parking. It is.

  The storage device 11 uses a drive such as an HDD, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM, and road map data (typically, route search data or map display data), other search data, map-related data, or the like. Is map data storage means for recording

  12 is an input unit that receives input of information and operations, and is a control device that detects an input from a touch key or the like. A remote control unit, a touch sensor integrated with a display panel, or the like may be used alone or in combination. Reference numeral 15 denotes a positioning unit that obtains navigation information relating to the behavior of the host vehicle such as the current position, direction, and speed by using a positioning technique (for example, GPS, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, acceleration sensor, vehicle speed pulse).

  Moreover, the control part 3 implement | achieves and performs the process means (30, 31 ... shown in FIG. 1) corresponding to the following functions and an effect | action by a predetermined control program. It should be noted that navigation processing common to the past (for example, calculation of the current position, destination designation reception, route search, guidance guidance output, etc.) is not an element peculiar to the present invention except for the guidance point output. The details are omitted.

[2. Effect)
[2-1. (Overview)
This embodiment can be implemented on a map screen on which a waypoint is displayed during guidance guidance after route search. As an outline, during the guidance guidance, the guidance point storage unit 31 obtains the result of the route search in the navigation unit 30, reads the location (coordinates) of the transit point arbitrarily set by the user in the route, and stores it in the main memory M. Store.

  Based on the vehicle position obtained from the current position calculation means of the navigation unit 30, the flag assigning unit 32 completes the guidance among the via points stored in the main memory M by the guidance point storage unit 31 or the own vehicle A flag is given to the coordinate data of the waypoint through which.

  Next, the guide point display unit 33 and the near side display unit 34 constituting the guide point display control means of the present invention are based on the coordinate data of the waypoints stored in the main memory M, and a predetermined icon, here A drawing of an icon simulating a flag is output to the display unit 7. At this time, the flag presence / absence determining unit 35 determines whether or not it is a waypoint to which the flag is given by the flag giving unit 32, and based on this, the guide point display unit 33 first draws the waypoint to which the flag is given. First, the data is output to the display unit 7. Subsequently, based on the determination by the flag presence / absence determination unit 35 as to whether or not it is a stopover, the front display unit 34 outputs a drawing of a stopover without a flag to the display unit 7.

  In this way, the waypoints to which the flag has been assigned, that is, the waypoints for which guidance has been completed, are displayed first, and the waypoints to which the flag has not been given, that is, the waypoints to be guided from now on are displayed later. As a result, the waypoints for which guidance has ended are displayed at the bottom of the screen display (back side), and the waypoints to be guided from now on are displayed at the top of the screen display (front side).

  Therefore, even when the waypoints set by the user are close to each other and are displayed in multiple layers, the waypoints to be guided from now on are always displayed on the near side. For this reason, the user can always accurately grasp the transit point such as the next transit point, and does not require extra operations such as changing the scale of the map or scrolling the screen.

[2-2. (Screen example of waypoint display)
Next, an example of a screen in which the stop point of guidance is displayed in the lower part of the screen display (back side) in the guide point display unit 33, and the stop point of guidance to be guided is displayed on the upper side (front side) of the screen display. 2 and FIG. 4, this will be described in comparison with the conventional example.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a conventional waypoint display, and as shown in the figure, the screen example shows a state immediately before the route point 1 and the route point 2 are finished and arrives at the route point 3. If the navigation device does not have means or information for determining whether or not the waypoint 1 and the waypoint 2 have been guided, the route point 1 in FIG. The route point 3 of 4F to be guided is displayed on the far side of the screen of the route point 1. This is because the coordinate data of the waypoint is read and stored first from the closest to the departure point on the route, and the last stored at the time of drawing, that is, from the waypoint farthest away from the departure point, the result is This is because what is drawn first is displayed on the back side of the screen.

  Therefore, in the waypoint display according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the flag assignment unit 32 assigns a flag to the data of the waypoint where the guidance is completed, and the data to which this flag is given, that is, the guidance is already finished. The guide point display unit 33 first draws the 2D waypoint 1 that is being used, and the data to which the flag is not added, that is, the route point 3 of 2F, which is the waypoint to be guided from now on, is drawn thereafter. The route point 3 of 2F, which is a power route, is displayed on the near side of the 2D route point 1 for which guidance has already been completed.

  Although not shown in this screen example, when an icon other than an icon indicating a transit point, for example, an icon indicating a surrounding facility, etc., overlaps with an icon representing a transit point, the icon representing the transit point is on the near side. Will be displayed.

[2-3. Example of processing procedure)
An example of the processing procedure of the guide point display unit 33 and the front display unit 34 in the present embodiment as described above is shown in the flowchart of FIG. In this example, first, it is confirmed whether or not the scale of the currently displayed map is a scale for displaying a flag at a transit point (STEP 1). This is determined based on individual settings such as displaying a flag at a transit point on a scale of 1 km or less, for example.

  The flag presence / absence determination unit 35 acquires the number n of all waypoints stored in the main memory M (STEP 2), and for these n pieces of data, whether or not the waypoint data is a point that has been guided. That is, it is repeatedly checked whether or not a flag is assigned to the data (STEP 3). Then, it is determined that the data to which the flag is given is already guided (YES), and the guidance point display unit 33 outputs the data to the display unit 7 (STEP 4). On the other hand, the data to which the flag is not given is not displayed (STEP 5) because it is not already guided (NO).

  Next, the flag presence / absence determination unit 35 determines whether or not the waypoint data has been guided to the n pieces of data acquired in STEP 2 again, that is, whether or not a flag is assigned to the data. Confirm repeatedly (STEP 6). Then, it is determined that the data to which the flag is given is already guided (YES) and is not displayed (STEP 7). On the other hand, regarding the data to which the flag is not given, it is determined that the guidance is not completed (NO), and the front display unit 34 outputs the data to the display unit 7 (STEP 8).

[3. Other embodiments]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, The following example and another example are included. For example, the configuration, processing procedure, and examples shown in the above embodiment are schematic examples, and can be appropriately specified or changed. For example, the way of displaying the waypoint icon is not limited to the above example. Anything can be used as long as it can be distinguished from the display mode of the guide point such as other facilities and intersections.

The functional block diagram which shows the structure of embodiment of this invention. The example of a screen which illustrates the waypoint display in an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which illustrates the process sequence in embodiment of this invention. The screen example which illustrates the waypoint display in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... FM multiplex reception and processing part 2 ... Beacon reception and processing part 3 ... Control part (Main CPU and its peripheral circuit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Navigation part 31 ... Guidance point memory | storage part 32 ... Flag provision part 33 ... Guidance point display part 34 ... Front display part 35 ... Flag presence determination part 4 ... Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
5. Static RAM (SRAM)
6 ... ROM
7 ... Display 8 ... Video RAM (VRAM)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... TV reception and processing part 10 ... Vehicle information acquisition part 11 ... Storage device 12 of road map data / search data and map related data ... Input part (touch key control device)
15 ... Positioning part M ... Main memory

Claims (6)

A storage unit that stores in advance road map data for route search and map display and facility data including the location of the facility;
Detection means for the computer to detect the vehicle position based on the sensor output;
Navigation means for a computer to calculate and guide a route to a predetermined destination using the road map data and the detection means;
In a navigation device comprising a display unit for displaying information,
An input unit that accepts a transit point arbitrarily set by the user as a guide point;
A guide point storage means for storing the read memory coordinate data of said guide point to be guided in the path to the destination from the road map data,
Guidance point display control means for sequentially displaying a predetermined icon on the display unit according to the vehicle position,
Means for giving a flag to the guidance point where the guidance has ended and storing it in a memory;
Means for determining the presence or absence of the flag,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the guide point display control means displays a guide point to which the flag is not given to the display unit on a front side of the guide point to which the flag is given.   The guide point display control means displays the guide point to which the flag is given first on the display unit and displays the guide point to which the flag is not given later. The navigation device described. A storage unit that stores in advance road map data for route search and map display and facility data including the location of the facility, detection means for the computer to detect the position of the vehicle based on the sensor output, and the computer includes the road map In a control method of a navigation device comprising navigation means for calculating and guiding a route to a predetermined destination using data and the detection means, and a display unit for displaying information,
Receiving a route point arbitrarily set by the user as a guide point;
And storing the read memory coordinate data of said guide point to be guided in the path to the destination from the road map data,
A guide point display control step for sequentially displaying a predetermined icon on the display unit according to the position of the host vehicle,
A step of assigning a flag to the guidance point where the guidance has ended and storing it in a memory;
Determining whether or not to give the flag,
The guide point display control step displays a guide point to which the flag is not assigned to the display unit on the front side of the guide point to which the flag is assigned.   4. The guide point display control step displays the guide point to which the flag is given first on the display unit, and displays the guide point to which the flag is not given later. A control method of the described navigation device. A storage unit that stores in advance road map data for route search and map display and facility data including the location of the facility, detection means for the computer to detect the position of the vehicle based on the sensor output, and the computer includes the road map In a navigation device control program comprising navigation means for calculating and guiding a route to a predetermined destination using data and the detection means, and a display unit for displaying information,
This program is stored in the computer
Let the transit point arbitrarily set by the user be accepted as a guide point,
The coordinate data of the guidance point to be guided in the path to the destination is stored to the read memory from the road map data,
The stored guidance points are sequentially displayed with predetermined icons on the display unit according to the vehicle position,
A flag is added to the guidance point where the guidance is finished and stored in the memory.
The presence or absence of the flag is determined,
The processing for displaying the guide point causes the display unit to display a guide point not provided with the flag on the near side from the guide point provided with the flag. .   The processing for displaying the guide point is characterized in that the guide point to which the flag is assigned is displayed first on the display unit, and the guide point to which the flag is not assigned is displayed later. 5. A control program for a navigation device according to 5.