JP4969392B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device, and more particularly, to a guidance display of a traveling direction of an intersection.

  A navigation system that searches for a route to a destination and guides the route is developed and used in vehicles, portable terminals, and the like. The navigation device calculates the location where the vehicle is traveling, displays the vehicle location mark on the map around the vehicle location shown on the display, provides guidance on nearby roads, and searches for routes to the destination. Then, guidance to the destination is performed by the searched guidance route.

  The navigation device is provided with a function of guiding the traveling direction of the next intersection on the guidance route. Patent Document 1 sets the importance for each intersection on the basis of increase / decrease in travel distance, and displays an intersection with a higher importance as a more conspicuous color. For example, when the traveling distance is remarkably increased when the traveling direction is wrong at the intersection, the importance of the intersection is increased, and the intersection is displayed in a prominent color such as red.

  Patent document 2 displays the color of the arrow which shows a advancing direction, changing a color according to a progress condition. Patent Document 3 determines whether or not there is another intersection between the vehicle and the guidance intersection, and colors the guidance route depending on whether or not there is another intersection.

JP 2001-116574 A JP 2004-245837 A JP 2006-64473 A

  In the navigation device, by displaying the vehicle position mark and the guidance route to the destination on the road map screen, the user recognizes the road condition and the traveling direction around the vehicle position. When the vehicle approaches the intersection, an icon or the like indicating the direction of travel of the intersection is displayed on the road map screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the road map screen 1 displays a guidance route 2 and a vehicle position mark M, and an intersection guidance icon 3 that guides the user to turn left at the next intersection A. The Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the display is displayed in two screens, the road map screen 1 is displayed on one side, and the intersection guidance screen 4 for guiding the traveling direction of the intersection on the guidance route 2 is displayed on the other side. Is displayed.

  In this way, the display for guiding the direction of travel of the conventional intersection displays the intersection guidance icon 3 on the road map screen or sets the intersection guidance screen 4, so that an invisible part is generated on the road map screen 1 There was a problem that the display space of the road map screen 1 would be limited. In particular, portable navigation devices are required to be smaller and lighter, so the size of the display is reduced, and this problem becomes significant. Furthermore, when the intersection guidance icon 3 is displayed, the screen design must be taken into consideration.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems and to provide a navigation device that can display guidance in the traveling direction of an intersection without limiting the display space of a road map screen as much as possible.

  The navigation apparatus according to the present invention includes a search unit that searches for a guidance route to a destination, an intersection specification unit that specifies a nearest intersection on the guidance route, a determination unit that determines a traveling direction of the specified intersection, Display color determining means for determining the display color of the guidance route or the vehicle position mark based on the traveling direction determined by the determination means, and the guidance route or the vehicle position mark with the display color determined by the display color determination means. Display means for displaying above. Further, instead of the guide route or the vehicle position mark, the display color of the background of the road map data may be changed according to the traveling direction.

  The navigation device further includes a calculation unit that calculates a distance from the vehicle position to the specified intersection, and the display unit is determined by the display color determination unit when the calculated distance becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value. The display color may be displayed. Preferably, the display color determining means changes the display color according to the right turn, left turn, or straight ahead at the intersection.

  Further, the navigation apparatus according to the present invention includes a search means for searching for a guidance route to the destination, an intersection specification means for specifying the nearest intersection on the guidance route, and a determination means for determining the traveling direction of the specified intersection. Form determining means for determining the display form of the vehicle position mark based on the traveling direction determined by the determining means, and display means for displaying the vehicle position mark on the road map in the display form determined by the form determining means; Have

  A display method or a display program for displaying an advancing direction of an intersection in a navigation device according to the present invention includes a step of identifying a nearest intersection on a guidance route to a destination, and a step of determining the advancing direction of the identified intersection And determining the display color of the guidance route or the vehicle position mark or the background of the road map based on the determined traveling direction, and displaying the guidance route on the road map with the determined display color.

  According to the present invention, the display color of the guidance route to the destination is determined according to the direction of travel of the intersection, so the intersection guidance icon is displayed on the road map screen or the intersection guidance screen is set. This eliminates the need for the road map screen even with a small display. In addition, since there are no restrictions on the screen design, it is easy to create road map data.

  In addition, in the case of the icon for intersection guidance, it was necessary to understand the contents, but since the direction of the intersection is expressed by changing the display color of the guidance route, etc., the direction of travel should be understood intuitively. Can do. Thereby, the user can recognize the traveling direction of the intersection in advance, and can move the lane with a margin when traveling on a road with a plurality of lanes, for example. Furthermore, it is also possible to apply the display color of the guidance route or the like to the guide arrow at the time of the intersection enlargement guidance, thereby further improving the visibility of the icon.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, an in-vehicle navigation device is used as an example.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the navigation device 10 according to the present embodiment. The navigation apparatus 10 includes a vehicle speed sensor that measures a travel distance, an autonomous navigation sensor 20 that includes a gyro sensor that measures a traveling direction, and a GPS receiver that receives radio waves from GPS satellites and measures the current position and current direction of the vehicle. 22, VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System, FM multiplex receiver 26, user input interface 30 (including operation panel 32, voice input unit 34, and remote control operation unit 36) for receiving current road traffic information from antenna 24, large capacity A storage device 40 having a hard disk, a data communication control unit 42 that performs wireless or wired data communication, a sound output unit 50 that outputs sound to a speaker 52, a display control unit 60 that displays an image on a display 62, and a program that stores a program Memory 70, data for temporarily storing data Mori 80, and configured to include a control unit 90.

  The user input interface 30 includes a map search key, a map scroll key, a route search key, a set key, a search start key, and the like. The storage device 40 stores programs necessary for executing various navigation functions, a database, polygon data for displaying a facility, a vehicle position mark, and other figures. The database includes road map data including link (road) data, node (intersection) data, and facility data. Link data is data related to roads that connect intersections with each other. The longitude and latitude of the start and end points of the road, the link length (distance), the type of road (highway, national road, general road, etc.), road Includes width, regulations (one-way traffic, etc.), lane number, etc. The node data includes an intersection flag indicating whether or not the vehicle is an intersection, a link ID linked to the intersection, a restriction on the intersection, and the like.

  Furthermore, the storage device 40 stores a display color determination table for determining the display color of the guidance route, the vehicle position mark, and the like, and a display mode determination table for determining the display mode of the vehicle position mark. As will be described later, the guidance route and the vehicle position mark are displayed on the road map screen according to the display color determination table and the display form determination table.

  The program memory 70 loads and stores a program stored in the storage device 40. The program memory 70 is, for example, a vehicle position detection program 72 that detects the vehicle position based on position information from the autonomous navigation sensor 20 or the GPS receiver 22, and a guidance route search that searches for a guidance route from the departure point to the destination. A program 74, a display data generation program 76 for generating display data constituting the road map screen displayed on the display, an intersection traveling direction display program 78 for guiding or displaying the traveling direction of the intersection, and the like are included. The control unit 90 controls each operation according to these programs.

  The data memory 80 includes position data 82 obtained from the autonomous navigation sensor 20 and the GPS receiver 22, road map data 84 around the vehicle position read from the storage device 40, guidance route data 86 to the destination, intersection The traveling direction display data 88 and the like necessary for displaying the traveling direction are stored.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the intersection traveling direction display program 78 of this embodiment. The intersection traveling direction display program 78 includes an intersection identification unit 100 that identifies an intersection existing on the guidance route based on road map data and a guidance route, and an intersection distance measurement unit that measures a distance along the road from the vehicle position to the intersection. 101, a traveling direction determination unit 102 that determines the traveling direction of the vehicle at the intersection, a display color determination unit 103 that determines the display color of the guidance route based on the traveling direction, and color information output that outputs the determined color information Part 104.

  The intersection identifying unit 100 searches all nodes on the guidance route, refers to the intersection flag, and determines whether the node is an intersection. Note that the intersection in the present embodiment is an intersection that can be a target of guidance to which three or more roads are connected, and includes, for example, a T-junction, a crossroad, and other branching points. is there. The intersection distance measurement unit 101 calculates the total length of the links entering the intersection from the link where the host vehicle is located. The traveling direction determination unit 102 identifies a link entering the intersection and a link exiting the intersection, and determines a traveling direction such as a right turn, a left turn, or a straight travel from the connection relation of these links. The display color determination unit 103 determines the display color of the guidance route according to the traveling direction. In the conventional example, the guidance route is displayed in a color that can be distinguished from a road or a map, and the display color is constant. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the guidance route changes the display color according to the traveling direction of the intersection. That is, the display color of the guidance route depends on the function of identifying the guidance route from the other and the progress of the next intersection. And the function of identifying the direction.

  FIG. 4A is an example of a display color determination table used for determining the display color of the guidance route. The display color determination unit 103 determines the color scheme of the guide route according to this table. For example, if there is no intersection within 1 km from the vehicle position, the guidance route is displayed in green. When the intersection is within 1 km and goes straight through the intersection, the guidance route is displayed in green. On the other hand, there is an intersection within 1 km from the vehicle position, and when turning left there, the guidance route is displayed in blue, and when turning right, the guidance route is displayed in red. In addition, hatching when the display color is shown in the drawing is also shown.

  The color scheme of the guide route is determined in consideration of the user's memorability. Preferably, the arrangement of the face-to-face vehicle traffic signals, that is, the left side is the same as blue and the right side is the same as red. Of course, the color scheme may be determined from the relationship with the color scheme of other display objects on the road map data, or may be arbitrarily set by the user. Further, since traffic information such as traffic jam information and one-way traffic is displayed by color coding of the guidance route, it is desirable to select a display color that is not confused with them.

  The color information output unit 104 outputs the color information determined by the display color determination unit 103 to the display data generation program 76. The display data generation program 76 generates guide route display data to be displayed on the road map data according to the color information.

  Next, the display operation in the traveling direction of the intersection in the navigation apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the user sets a destination (step S101), an optimum guide route from the departure point to the destination is searched, and the searched guide route data 86 is stored in the data memory 80. As the vehicle starts running, the vehicle position is detected by the autonomous navigation sensor 20 and the GPS receiver 22, and road map data corresponding to the vehicle position is read from the storage device 40. The display data generation program 76 generates a road map screen displayed on the display 62. This display data includes the vehicle position mark M and the guidance route combined with the road map data.

  Next, the intersection specifying unit 100 specifies the nearest intersection in the traveling direction of the own vehicle based on the guidance route data 86 (step S102), and the intersection distance measuring unit 101 determines from the own vehicle position to the nearest intersection. The distance along the road is measured (step S103). Further, the traveling direction determination unit 103 determines the traveling direction of the vehicle at the nearest intersection based on the guidance route data 86 (step S104).

  Next, the display color determination unit 103 determines whether or not the distance from the vehicle position to the nearest intersection has reached a certain value or less (step S105). This value is set in advance to determine the timing for guiding the traveling direction of the intersection. Here, this distance is set to 1 km. When the distance to the intersection becomes a certain value or less, the display color determination unit 103 determines the display color of the guidance route according to the display color determination table shown in FIG. 4 in response to the determination result of the traveling direction determination unit 102. (Step S106). The color information output unit 104 outputs the color information of the determined guidance route to the display data generation program 76 (step S107). Thereby, the guide route data of the determined display color is synthesized on the road map data, and the display control unit 60 displays the guide route of the display color corresponding to the traveling direction on the road map screen (step S108).

  Next, the intersection identification unit 100 refers to the vehicle position and determines whether the vehicle has passed the nearest intersection (step S109). If the vehicle does not pass through the intersection, the display color of the guidance route is continued as it is. After passing the intersection, the next intersection on the guidance route is identified (step S110), and the display color according to the traveling direction of the intersection is determined by the same processing as described above, and the determined guidance route is displayed on the road map screen. Is displayed. If there is no next intersection on the guide route, the display operation of the direction of travel of the intersection is terminated.

  Next, a specific display example of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 schematically shows display data generated by the display data generation program 76. The display data 130 reads road map data in a wider range than the display area of the display from the storage device 40, and constitutes a plurality of map leaves (parcels) around the vehicle position. This is to respond quickly to changes in the scale of the map and scrolling of the screen.

  The display data 130 combines the guidance route 2 and the vehicle position mark M on the road map data. The nearest intersection from the vehicle position is N1, N2 and N3 are intersections passing through the vehicle, L1 is a link from the vehicle position to the intersection N1, and L2 and L3 are links between the intersections N2 and N3 thereafter. The traveling direction of the intersection N1 goes straight, the traveling direction of the intersection N2 turns left, and the traveling direction of the intersection N3 turns right. In addition, rectangular areas S1, S2, S3, and S4 indicated by broken lines are display areas displayed on the display, that is, road map screens.

  FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the road map screens S1 to S4 shown in FIG. In the road map screen S1 of FIG. 7, when the vehicle position is on the link L1 within 1 km from the intersection N1, the vehicle travels straight through the intersection N1, so the guidance route 2 is displayed in green. On the road map screen S2, when the vehicle position is on the link L2 within 1 km from the intersection N2, the left side of the intersection N2 is turned, so that the guidance route 2 is displayed in blue. On the road map screen S3, when the vehicle position is 1 km or more away from the intersection N3, the intersection guidance is not displayed on the guidance route 2, and the guidance route 2 is displayed in green. On the road map screen S4, when the vehicle position is on the link L3 within 1 km from the intersection N3, the intersection N3 is turned to the right, so the guidance route 2 is displayed in red. The road map screens S3 and S4 are head-up display examples in which the traveling direction is above the display.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the display color of the guidance route is changed in accordance with the traveling direction of the intersection. In the second embodiment, the display color of the vehicle position mark is changed in accordance with the traveling direction of the intersection. The own vehicle position mark is typically configured by an arrow or a triangle indicating a traveling direction and a circle surrounding the arrow. An arrow or a circle indicating the traveling direction may be blinked. In the second embodiment, the display color of a part or all of the vehicle position mark is changed according to the display color determination table shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a display example of the vehicle position mark according to the second embodiment. FIG. 8A is a display example when the vehicle travels straight through the intersection N1, and the portion indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle position mark is displayed in green. FIG. 8B is a display example when turning left at the intersection N1, and the vehicle position mark is displayed in blue. FIG. 8C is a display example when turning right at the intersection N1, and the vehicle position mark is displayed in red. As in the case of the first embodiment, the vehicle position mark M is displayed in a color indicating the traveling direction when the road distance from the vehicle position to the intersection N1 reaches within, for example, 1 km. It may be. Furthermore, the second embodiment can be used in combination with the first embodiment, and the display color of the vehicle position mark and the guidance route may be changed simultaneously.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The background of the road map data is selected to be a color scheme that makes it easy to understand the roads, facilities, and guidance routes displayed there, or is selected to be a color scheme that makes the scene image based on the location and travel time zone. For example, if the location is a plateau, a background color based on green that makes you imagine a mountainous area is used, and if it is an urban area at night, a background color based on black that expresses the illuminated city Is used. In the third embodiment, the background display color is changed according to the traveling direction of the intersection. The background here is at least the background of the road, the guidance route, and the vehicle position mark.

  FIG. 9 is a display example of the background color according to the third embodiment. FIG. 9A shows a display example when the vehicle travels straight through the intersection N1, and the background of the road is displayed in green. FIG. 9B is a display example when turning left at the intersection N1, and the background of the road is displayed in blue. FIG. 9C is a display example when turning right at the intersection N1, and the background of the road is displayed in red. As described above, since the background color also changes depending on the location and the travel time zone, it is desirable to select a display color that is not confused with these background colors. It is also possible to set the entire road map screen to a transparent or translucent background color. Furthermore, the third embodiment can be used in combination with the first and second embodiments.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. Unlike the first to third embodiments, the fourth embodiment changes the form of the vehicle position mark according to the traveling direction of the intersection. FIG. 4B is an example of a display mode determination table for selecting the display mode of the vehicle position mark. When there is no intersection within 1 km from the vehicle position, and when going straight through the intersection, the vehicle position mark in the normal display form is selected, and when turning right or left at the intersection, the direction of travel is expected Some mark, for example, a protrusion is added. Such a mark is not necessarily limited to the protrusion, and may have another shape. The display color of the mark may be changed according to the traveling direction as in the first to third embodiments.

  FIG. 10 is a display example of the vehicle position mark according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10A is a display example when the vehicle travels straight through the intersection N1, and no mark is added to the vehicle position mark M. FIG. FIG. 10B is a display example when turning left at the intersection N1, and a mark 140 is added to the left side of the vehicle position mark M. FIG. FIG. 10C is a display example when turning right at the intersection N1, and a mark 140 is added to the right side of the vehicle position mark M. FIG. In this way, the traveling direction of the intersection can be represented by the mark. The fourth embodiment can be used in combination with the first to third embodiments. In this case, the display color of only the mark 140 may be changed, or the display color of the guidance route and the vehicle position mark M may be changed together. Further, the mark 140 may be blinked to make it stand out.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to specific embodiments according to the present invention, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Deformation / change is possible. For example, the arrow indicating the traveling direction can be color-coded according to the traveling direction even at the time of intersection guidance by icon display.

FIG. 1A is a display example of a road map screen on which a conventional guidance icon is displayed, and FIG. 1B is an example of displaying an intersection guidance screen by two-screen display. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the intersection advancing direction display program shown in FIG. FIG. 4A is an example of a display color determination table for determining the display color of the guidance route, and FIG. 4B is an example of a display form determination table for determining the display form of the vehicle position mark. is there. It is a flowchart of the display operation | movement of the advancing direction of the intersection of the navigation apparatus which concerns on a present Example. It is the figure which showed typically the display data by a 1st Example. It is a figure which shows road map screen S1-S4 shown in FIG. FIG. 8A is a display example according to the second embodiment. FIG. 8A is a display example when going straight at the intersection, FIG. 8B is turning left at the intersection, and FIG. 8C is turning right at the intersection. FIG. 9A is a display example according to the third embodiment. FIG. 9A is a display example when the intersection goes straight, FIG. 9B is a left turn at the intersection, and FIG. 9C is a right turn at the intersection. FIG. 10A shows a display example according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10A is a display example when the intersection is turned straight, FIG. 10B is a left turn at the intersection, and FIG. 10C is a right turn at the intersection.

Explanation of symbols

1: Road map screen 2: Guide route 3: Display icon 4: Icon display screen 10: Navigation device 22: GPS receiver 30: User input interface 40: Storage device 60: Display control unit 62: Display 70: Program memory 72: Own vehicle position detection program 74: guidance route search program 76: display data generation program 78: intersection traveling direction display program 80: data memory 82: position data 84: road map data 86: guidance route data 88: traveling direction display data 90: Control unit 130: Road map data 140: Marks L1, L2, L3: Link M: Own vehicle position marks N1, N2, N3: Intersection

Claims (7)

Search means for searching for a guidance route to the destination;
An intersection specifying means for specifying the nearest intersection on the guidance route;
Determining means for determining the traveling direction of the identified intersection;
Display color determining means for determining the display color of the guidance route based on the traveling direction determined by the determining means;
Form determining means for determining the display form of the vehicle position mark based on the traveling direction determined by the determining means;
Display means for displaying the guidance route on a road map in a display color determined by the display color determination means;
Calculating means for calculating a distance from the vehicle position to the specified intersection,
The display means displays the guidance route in the display color determined by the display color determination means when the calculated distance becomes equal to or less than a certain distance, and the vehicle in the display form determined by the form determination means. Display the location mark on the road map,
The display color determining means changes the display color according to the right turn, left turn, or straight ahead at the intersection,
The said form determination means is a navigation apparatus which changes the display form of the own vehicle position mark according to the right turn of the intersection, the left turn, or straight ahead . The display color determining means further determines the display color of the vehicle position mark based on the traveling direction determined by the determining means ,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the vehicle position mark on a road map with the display color determined by the display color determination unit. The display color determining means further determines the display color of the background of the road map data based on the traveling direction determined by the determining means ,
The navigation device according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays a road map with the display color determined by the display color determination unit. A display program for displaying a traveling direction of an intersection in a navigation device,
Identifying the nearest intersection on the guidance route to the destination;
Determining the direction of travel of the identified intersection;
Determining a display color of the guidance route and a display form of the vehicle position mark based on the determined traveling direction;
The distance from the vehicle position to the specified intersection is calculated, and when the calculated distance is less than a certain value, the guidance route is displayed on the road map in the determined display color, and the determined display mode And displaying the own vehicle position mark on the road map ,
The determining step is a display program for changing a display color according to a right turn, a left turn, or a straight turn at an intersection, and changing a display form of the vehicle position mark according to a right turn, a left turn, or a straight turn at an intersection . The determining step further determines a display color of the vehicle position mark based on the determined traveling direction ;
The display program according to claim 4, wherein the displaying step displays the vehicle position mark on the road map with the determined display color. A display method for displaying a traveling direction of an intersection in a navigation device,
Identifying the nearest intersection on the guidance route to the destination;
Determining the direction of travel of the identified intersection;
Determining a display color of the guidance route and a display form of the vehicle position mark based on the determined traveling direction;
The distance from the vehicle position to the specified intersection is calculated, and when the calculated distance is less than a certain value, the guidance route is displayed on the road map in the determined display color, and the determined display mode And displaying the own vehicle position mark on the road map ,
The determining step is a display method in which a display color is changed according to a right turn, a left turn, or a straight turn at an intersection, and a display form of the vehicle position mark is changed according to a right turn, a left turn, or a straight turn at the intersection . Display method further comprises determining the display color of the vehicle position mark on the basis of the determined direction of travel, displays a vehicle position mark at the determined display color, display method according to claim 6.

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