JP5346650B2 - Information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display device performing superimposed display hardly disturbing a driver's view. <P>SOLUTION: In a navigation device, a display area setting part sets a conditionally-drawable area and a drawable area in a display area Ar of an HMD or the like, and a display image generating part controls a display of the HMD or the like such that a visibility of landscape outside a vehicle that is superimposed upon symbols Sa, Sc displayed in the conditionally-drawable area as viewed from a driver is higher than a visibility of landscape outside the vehicle that is superimposed upon a symbol Sb displayed in the drawable area. Since the visibility of landscape outside the vehicle that is superimposed upon the symbols Sa, Sc displayed in the conditionally-drawable area becomes higher than the visibility of landscape outside the vehicle that is superimposed upon the symbol Sb displayed in the drawable area, the driver recognizes the landscape outside the vehicle that is superimposed upon the symbols Sa, Sc in the conditionally-drawable area more easily than the landscape outside the vehicle that is superimposed upon the symbol Sb when the symbol Sb is displayed in the drawable area. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information display device that superimposes and displays an information image representing predetermined information on a scenery outside a vehicle viewed from a driver.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a “route guidance data display device” disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 below as an information display device that displays an information image representing predetermined information superimposed on a scenery outside a vehicle viewed from a driver. With this technology, for example, by displaying a right / left turn guidance display on the head-up display as route guidance information by the navigation device, it is possible to easily determine whether the driver should make a right / left turn while looking ahead. I have to.

JP-A-8-190696

  However, according to this disclosed technique, the position and range of the information image to be superimposed and displayed on the scenery outside the vehicle are not considered. For this reason, for example, an arrow display (information image) for turning right and left may overlap with a maximum speed sign (for example, “40” in yellow characters) painted on the road surface, and road signs, road signs, traffic lights, etc. Information necessary for the driver may be hidden by the superimposed display. That is, there is a problem that such superimposed display can hinder the driver's view.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an information display device that can perform superimposed display that is unlikely to obstruct the driver's view.

In order to achieve the above object, the technical means of claim 1 described in claims is adopted. According to this means, the display area setting means sets the entire range of the displayable area in the displayable area of the information image by the display means as the “second area that cannot be determined based on the information on the road” . after, by setting the "first region that can be defined on the basis of the information on the road" in the second region, it remains without being set to the display region on the first region and the first region The information is displayed on the first area by the display control means so that the information image displayed in the first area is transparently displayed with a transmittance such that the scenery overlapping the information image can be seen through. Display control for displaying the information image displayed in the two areas with a lower transmittance than the information image displayed in the first area is performed on the display means. Here, “information relating to the road” refers to information relating to the road shape (road width, slope gradient, etc.) and features (road markings, road signs, traffic lights, etc.) on the road on which the vehicle is traveling. Note that the display control means causes the display control means to make the visibility of the scenery overlapping the information image displayed in the second area lower than the visibility of the scenery overlapping the information image displayed in the first area as viewed from the driver. May be displayed on the display means.

  As a result, the visibility of the scenery overlapping the information image displayed in the first area is higher than the visibility of the scenery overlapping the information image displayed in the second area. Even if information relating to roads and an information image are superimposed and displayed in the surrounding area, the driver can visually recognize the scenery overlapping behind the road. In other words, when the information image is displayed in a superimposed manner, the degree of visually disturbing the scenery by the information image is lower in the first area than in the second area, so that the scenery in the first area is the scenery in the second area. The information image in the first area is less noticeable than the information image in the second area (the information image in the second area is more noticeable than the information image in the first area). “Visibility” as used herein means the degree of visual recognition. The higher the visibility, the better the visibility, and the lower the visibility, the less visible (or invisible).

Further, the technical means of claim 2 described in claims is adopted. According to this means, the display area setting means is a vehicle based on information on a feature having information on a predetermined position away from the road in the height direction among information on the road as a boundary of the first area with respect to the second area. Boundary in the celestial direction in the top of the landscape corresponding to the predetermined position obtained from the distance from the vehicle to the feature and the height information of the feature obtained from the current position information and the absolute position information of the feature Set. For example, for traffic lights, road information display boards, etc., not only the area where traffic lights (display parts) exist in the overhead space of the road, but also the space from the road surface to the predetermined position of the traffic lights (display parts). for even Ru setting Teisu as the first region.

  As a result, since this space is not set as the second area, the information image of the second area that is easily noticeable with respect to the scenery outside the vehicle is not displayed in this space. Since it is a difficult information image of the first region, it is possible to make it difficult for the driver's attention to deviate from the traffic signal in the sky. In addition, the length of the space in the height direction is usually shorter (smaller) as the distance from the vehicle to the feature is longer (larger), and longer as the distance from the vehicle to the feature is shorter (smaller) ( Therefore, by setting the length of the first region from the road to the predetermined position based on the separation distance from the vehicle to the feature, a more realistic setting can be performed.

Further, the technical means of claim 3 described in claims is adopted. According to this means, the display area setting means is a rectangular range in which the width of all lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is horizontal and the predetermined height from the road surface of the road is vertical. The lateral width is set based on the distance on the road that is close to the vehicle out of the vehicle speed-dependent positions that are set when the vehicle speed ahead is far or slow when the vehicle speed is high. A rectangular range is set in the first area.

Further, the technical means of claim 4 described in claims is adopted. According to this means, when the display area setting means determines that there is a traffic signal at the intersection ahead of the road on which the vehicle travels based on the information about the road , the display area setting means The area from the road surface to the height of this traffic light is set as the first area, and when it is not determined that there is a traffic light at the intersection, the rectangular area is set as the first area.

  In the invention of claim 1, the visibility of the scenery overlapping the information image displayed in the first area is higher than the visibility of the scenery overlapping the information image displayed in the second area. Even if information related to the road and the surrounding information are displayed in the scenery outside the viewed vehicle, the driver displays the scenery that overlaps behind the road, and the information image is displayed in the information other than the road and the surrounding area. In this case, it is possible to make it easier to recognize visually than the scenery overlapping behind the information image. Therefore, in the first area determined based on the information related to the roads constituting the landscape, it is possible to perform a superimposed display that is less likely to hinder the driver's view compared to the second area.

  In the invention of claim 2, for the feature having the information on the predetermined position away from the road in the height direction, the space from the road surface to the predetermined position is not set in the second area. The information image that is easy to stand out is not displayed in this space, and even if it is displayed, the information image that is not conspicuous to the landscape is superimposed and displayed. Can be directed. Further, the vehicle approaches the feature by setting the length of the first region that is the length in the height direction from the road to the predetermined position based on the separation distance from the vehicle to the feature installation position. A more realistic setting process such that the length of the first region in the height direction becomes larger can be performed.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the navigation apparatus (henceforth "this navigation apparatus") which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a setting of the drawable area and conditional drawing possible area in a display area. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a superimposition display process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the display area setting process shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the display process classified by area shown in FIG. It is an example of area setting in the superimposed display process (by the number of lanes). It is an example (by road shape) of the area setting in a superimposition display process. It is an example of the area setting in a superimposition display process (in the case of the presence or absence of a median strip, a motorway). It is an example of the area setting in superimposition display processing (due to the presence or absence of a traffic light). It is an example of the display according to area in superimposition display processing.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which an information display device of the present invention is applied to a display of a vehicle-mounted navigation device and display control thereof will be described with reference to the drawings. First, a configuration example of the navigation device will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation apparatus includes an input device 11, various sensors such as a GPS 12 and a vehicle speed sensor 13, a front camera 16, an HMD 17, a map database 20, a monitor ECU 50, and the like, with a navigation ECU 10 as a center. .

  The navigation ECU 10 is an electronic control device that includes a CPU, a semiconductor memory, an input / output interface, a LAN interface, etc. (hereinafter “CPU etc.”), and has a function of controlling the entire navigation device. A basic function is a function for guiding the shortest geographical route, that is, a navigation function, and is realized by the navigation unit 10a and the vehicle position detection unit 10b. The navigation unit 10a and the vehicle position detection unit 10b function when a predetermined program is loaded into the semiconductor memory and executed by the CPU.

  That is, the navigation unit 10a maps the shortest distance route (hereinafter referred to as “recommended route”) from the current position (departure point) of the vehicle obtained by the vehicle position detection unit 10b to the destination input from the input device 11. After searching based on the map data obtained from the database 20, the recommended route and its guidance information are output to the monitor ECU 50. Thereby, the driver of the vehicle can receive route guidance from the current location to the destination by the monitor image and the synthesized voice by the monitor ECU 50. The departure point may be input by the input device 11.

  In addition to the function of outputting the navigation information (recommended route guidance information) by the navigation ECU 10 to the monitor screen of the monitor ECU 50, the present navigation device, for example, operates such recommended route guidance information and driving road information. A function (hereinafter referred to as “superimposition display function”) of superimposing and displaying on the scenery outside the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “scene outside the vehicle”) viewed from the person. This function is also realized by loading various programs corresponding to the vehicle position detection unit 10b, the display area setting unit 10c, and the display image generation unit 10d to the semiconductor memory and executing them by the CPU, as with the navigation unit 10a. The

  The GPS 12 has a function of detecting the current position of the vehicle by an absolute coordinate value composed of latitude and longitude, and is a global positioning system using an artificial satellite. The vehicle speed sensor 13 outputs a vehicle speed pulse at a cycle proportional to the speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle, and detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. The gyro 14 has a function of detecting the angular velocity, and can detect the traveling direction of the own vehicle when the GPS 12 cannot be used. A geomagnetic sensor that detects geomagnetism and detects the traveling direction may be used. In addition, these are transmitting data to navigation ECU10 via vehicle-mounted LAN by predetermined communication protocols, such as CAN, for example.

  The rear camera 15 captures a rear image of the vehicle, that is, a road on which the vehicle is traveling, and outputs image information of lane marks (lane boundary lines) included in the video to the vehicle position detection unit 10b. This makes it possible to identify the traveling lane position of the vehicle. In addition, since the image recognition technique of the travel lane by the rear camera 15 is a well-known technique, description is omitted about a specific structure. Further, both the rear camera 15 and the front camera 16 described below are in data communication with the navigation ECU 10 for image information and the like via the in-vehicle LAN.

  The front camera 16 captures a front image of the vehicle, that is, a front road of the vehicle, an intersection thereof, another vehicle traveling on the road, a pedestrian crossing the road, and the like. Information includes (1) road shape (road width, number of lanes, inclination angle, intersection, etc.), (2) feature (road marking (lane mark, center line, maximum speed, stop line, pedestrian crossing, traveling direction) ), Road signs (road name, intersection name, maximum speed, temporary stop, prohibition of traveling outside specified direction, prohibition of rotation, parking prohibition, prohibition of entry, etc.) and traffic lights) 3) Other vehicles traveling on the road and pedestrians crossing the road are photographed, and image information including (1) to (3) can be output to the display area setting unit 10c.

  This enables display area setting processing by the display area setting unit 10c as will be described later. Of the features (road markings, road signs, traffic lights, etc.) that have heights such as road signs and traffic lights, the height information is also based on the image information acquired by the front camera 16. Can be obtained. The distance from the vehicle to the feature required in this case is calculated from the current position based on the latitude / longitude of the vehicle and the absolute coordinate value based on the latitude / longitude of the target feature.

  Note that the image recognition technology for “information on roads” by the front camera 16 is a known technology, and a description of the specific configuration and the like is omitted. The image information output from the front camera 16 can correspond to “image information obtained by photographing a landscape” described in the claims. Here, the front camera 16 sets the photographing range to the front of the vehicle, but may be on the side or the rear of the vehicle, and the output image information is described in the claims. This may correspond to “image information obtained by photographing a landscape”.

  The HMD 17 is a head-mounted display that can be mounted on the driver's head of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the HMD 17 uses a retinal projection type that projects images directly on the retina of one eye of the driver. . If it is a head-mounted display, it may be a virtual image projection type in which a virtual image is projected by a glasses-type small mirror or the like.

  The HUD 18 is a head-up display configured on the upper part of the dashboard so that an image can be projected onto the windshield of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the HUD 18 overlaps with the scenery outside the vehicle over almost the entire driver's field of view (vehicle front field of view). In this way, display (superimposition display) is possible.

  In addition, HMD17 and HUD18 are normally selected alternatively, and any one is provided in the said vehicle. Further, since the HMD 17 and the HUD 18 themselves are configured by a known technique, description of the configuration and the like is omitted. These and the navigation ECU 10 are connected by, for example, a dedicated high-speed serial data bus so that large-capacity image data can be transferred at high speed.

  The map database 20 is a relatively large-capacity information storage medium such as a CD or DVD that uses magnetism or light, and stores map data necessary for route search and route guidance by the navigation unit 10a. In this embodiment, for example, roads, intersections, traffic lights, road signs (including those provided on pedestrian bridges and buildings), road markings (paint on the road surface), buildings, rivers, and other information are accumulated. In the case where the location and range can be specified by latitude and longitude (for example, a feature), the information is stored as an absolute coordinate value. In addition, as other information, road type (automobile road, main trunk road, narrow street, etc.), road width, number of lanes, presence / absence of central divider, separation zone width, maximum speed, traffic direction restriction, traffic restriction time zone The map database 20 also stores various information such as the presence / absence of a sidewalk, the width of a sidewalk, the height of traffic lights and signs, the height of buildings such as buildings and steel towers, and the height of elevated structures straddling roads.

  Of these information, the road shape (road width, number of lanes, inclination angle, intersection, etc.) and features (road markings, road signs, traffic lights, etc.) are described in “ ". The map data by the map database 20 may correspond to “map information of roads on which vehicles can travel” described in the claims. In addition, the height of traffic lights and signs, the height of buildings such as buildings and steel towers, the height of elevated structures that straddle the road, etc. are described in the “Information on a predetermined position away from the road in the height direction”. ".

  In the present embodiment, as road lane information, absolute coordinate values based on the latitude / longitude of lines marked on the road surface, line colors (white, yellow, etc.), line types (dotted lines, solid lines, double lines, etc.), etc. Are stored in the map database 20. The map database 20 is connected to the navigation ECU 10 by, for example, a parallel data bus.

  The monitor ECU 50 is, for example, an electronic control device that includes an unillustrated monitor screen (liquid crystal display or plasma display) that can display image information input via an in-vehicle LAN, and includes a CPU and the like, similar to the navigation ECU 10. Yes. In the present embodiment, the route guidance information output from the navigation ECU 10 is received and the shortest route and the guidance information are displayed so as to be visible to the driver.

  Here, an overview of the vehicle position detection unit 10b, the display area setting unit 10c, and the display image generation unit 10d that realizes the superimposed display function will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. This superimposition display function allows the driver to see the recommended route guidance information obtained by the navigation unit 10a and the road information (hereinafter referred to as “symbol”) of the vehicle that the map database 20 has acquired. The display area Ar, which is displayed superimposed on the scenery outside the vehicle and is displayed superimposed on the scenery outside the vehicle by the HMD 17 or HUD 18, is divided into two types of drawing areas. This display area can correspond to an “information image displayable area” described in the claims.

  That is, in the display area Ar, if the symbol S can be displayed anywhere without considering the display position and range of the symbol S to be superimposed, for example, it is painted on the road surface as shown in FIG. Information necessary for the driver, such as a stop line sign, a pedestrian crossing sign, or a traffic light, may be hidden by the symbol S and hinder the driver's view.

  For this reason, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the display area Ar includes a drawable area Ra (indicated by a broken line shown in FIG. 2A) and a conditional drawable area Rb (FIG. 2). (B), the symbol S can be displayed in a superimposed manner. In FIG. 2, the symbol S is not shown in order to clearly show the ranges of two types of drawing areas.

  In the drawable area Ra (second area), information necessary for driving the vehicle does not exist (or is compared even if it exists) based on the information about the road on which the vehicle is traveling, acquired from the map database 20. This is an area that is judged to be less. On the other hand, in the conditional drawing enabled area Rb (first region), it is determined that information necessary for driving the vehicle is present (or present in a relatively large amount) based on the acquired information on the road. It is an area to be done. “Necessary information for driving” refers to information on the features (road markings, road signs, traffic lights, etc.) on the road on which the vehicle is traveling. In simple terms, “information important to the driver” You can say that. That is, an area Ra with little information important to the driver is a drawable area Ra, and an area with much information important to the driver is the conditional drawing area Rb.

  Then, the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps the symbol S displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb when viewed from the driver with respect to both such drawing areas is represented by the symbol S displayed in the drawable area Ra. The superimposed display is performed so as to be higher than the visibility of the overlapping outside scenery. As a result, the visibility of the scenery overlapping the symbol S displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb is higher than the visibility of the scenery overlapping the symbol S displayed in the drawable area Ra. It is possible to make it easier to visually recognize the outside scenery behind the symbol S in the conditional drawable area Rb than the outside scenery superimposed behind the symbol S when the symbol S is displayed in the drawable area Ra. Become. That is, even if the symbol S is superimposed on the information important to the driver, the driver can visually recognize the information. In the present embodiment, the navigation ECU 10 includes a vehicle position detection unit 10b, a display area setting unit 10c, and a display image generation unit 10d in order to enable such superimposed display.

  The vehicle position detection unit 10b has a function of specifying the position of the own vehicle. For example, based on the map information obtained from the map database 20 and the absolute coordinate value information of latitude and longitude obtained from the GPS 12, the road information on which the vehicle is currently traveling is acquired and included in the road information. The lane information (absolute coordinate values, line color, line type, etc. of the line marked on the road surface) is compared with the lane image information obtained from the rear camera 15, and the lateral position (travel lane position) of the vehicle is determined. Identify. Thereby, for example, it becomes possible to specify which lane is ahead of how many meters from the front intersection.

  The display area setting unit 10c has a function of setting a drawable area Ra and a conditional drawable area Rb in the display area Ar. Specifically, among information on roads that can be acquired from the map database 20, information on road shapes (road width, number of lanes, inclination angle, intersections, etc.) and features (road markings (lane marks, center lines, etc.)) On the basis of the information on the road signs, traffic lights, etc., for example, the conditional drawable area Rb is set as follows. Information regarding the road may be acquired based on image information output from the front camera 16.

  In addition, the display area setting unit 10c displays the number of displayed symbols as symbol information of the symbol S (recommended route guidance information) acquired from the navigation unit 10a and the symbol S (road information during travel of the vehicle) acquired by the map database 20. It also has a function of outputting attributes (symbol display position / range, display mode) to the display image generation unit 10d.

[1] Own lane, adjacent lane, oncoming lane Information on roads based on the map database 20 or the like includes the own lane (the lane in which the vehicle travels), the adjacent lane (the lane adjacent to the own lane travels in the same direction as the vehicle) Lanes of other vehicles) and oncoming lanes (lanes of oncoming vehicles that run in the opposite direction to the vehicle), road markings painted on the road surface within these lane ranges ( Lane mark, maximum speed, stop line, etc.), other vehicles that run side by side, oncoming vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles that run on the shoulder (side of the road), and pedestrians crossing. For this reason, it is determined that there is a lot of information important to the driver, and the area occupied by the lane range in the outside scenery is set as the conditionally drawable area Rb. As will be described later, there is an exception when a median strip exists on the road or when the road is an automobile-only road.

[2] Intersections If the information related to roads by the map database 20 or the like includes intersections connected to the own lane, road markings painted on the road surface (intersection cross marks (intersection cross marks ( (Cross, T-shaped, Y-shaped markings, etc.), zebra zones (pedestrian crossing markings, stop lines, etc.) and other vehicles, oncoming vehicles and crossing pedestrians may exist. In the scenery outside the vehicle, the area occupied by the intersection range and its surrounding range is set as the conditional drawing enabled area Rb.

[3] Direction of travel From the information on the road by the map database 20 or the like, the width (total lane width W) of all lanes (the own lane, the adjacent lane, and the opposite lane) included in the road on which the vehicle travels is defined as the horizontal width. A rectangular range having a predetermined height (for example, 2 m) H as a vertical width (height) is set as the conditional drawing area Rb. This range is a range at a predetermined distance in front of the vehicle, and is the range where the driver who is driving the most attention, the position Dt of the predetermined distance is (1) the position of the front vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle Or (2) the forward position of the distance traveled for 2.5 seconds at the speed limit of the road on which the vehicle is traveling (the maximum speed marking speed) (70 m for a speed limit of 100 km / h (highway), It is set closer to the vehicle (40 m for a restricted vehicle speed of 60 km / h (general road) and 20 m for a restricted vehicle speed of 30 km / h (narrow street)) (Fig. 8 (A), (See (B)). As will be described later, when there are traffic lights and road signs (including those attached to pedestrian bridges and elevated structures) within this range, the height of the traffic lights and the like from the road surface (0 m) is higher than the predetermined height H. Up to (for example, 5.5 m) is set as the conditional drawing possible area Rb.

[4] Sidewalks If the information about roads in the map database 20 or the like includes sidewalks (pedestrian roads located on the side of the own lane or the opposite lane), pedestrians, bicycles, etc. Since there is a possibility that it exists, the area occupied by the sidewalk in the scenery outside the vehicle is set as the conditional drawing area Rb. In consideration of the height of the pedestrian, a range from the road surface of the sidewalk to a predetermined height h (for example, 2 m) is also set as the conditional drawing area Rb. That is, for the sidewalk, the height direction is also set in the conditional drawing area Rb. As will be described later, there is an exception when a median strip exists on the road or when the road is an automobile-only road.

  In addition, as information regarding the road described above, recognition of lanes and their numbers, intersections, median strips, traffic lights, road signs, sidewalks, and the like is performed based on road information accumulated in the map database 20, but the front camera 16 or the rear camera 15 may be used. The display area setting unit 10c can correspond to “display area setting means” described in the claims.

  Thus, in this embodiment, based on the information regarding roads, such as the map database 20, the range where there is much information important to the driver is set as the conditional drawing possible area Rb (FIG. 2 (B)). Then, in the display area Ar, a range that is not set in the conditional drawable area Rb is determined as a range that has little information important to the driver, and the range is set in the drawable area Ra (FIG. 2A). . The drawable area Ra cannot be set based on information about roads. 2A and 2B indicates the hood of the vehicle, and the range is set in the drawable area Ra.

  The display image generation unit 10d recognizes the scenery outside the vehicle where the visibility of the outside scenery overlapping the symbol S displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb as seen from the driver overlaps the symbol S displayed in the drawable area Ra. It has a function of performing display control on the HMD 17 or the like so as to be higher than performance. Specifically, display control is performed to increase the transparency of the symbol S so that the driver can see the scenery outside the vehicle overlapping the symbol S, that is, to be visible, or only the outline of the symbol S is displayed. The so-called hollow display control is performed so as not to display the enclosed inner side. Further, blink display control (for example, blinking at a cycle of 1 second) in which normal opaque display of the symbol S is intermittently performed at a predetermined cycle may be performed.

  In other words, the display control for making the visibility of the symbol S displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb lower than the visibility of the outside scenery overlapping the symbol S is performed on the HMD 17 or the like, and is displayed in the drawable area Ra. Display control for making the visibility of the symbol S higher than the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle overlapping the symbol S is performed on the HMD 17 or the like. The display image generation unit 10d may correspond to “display control means” recited in the claims.

  The display image generation unit 10d recognizes the scenery outside the vehicle where the visibility of the outside scenery overlapping the symbol S displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb as seen from the driver overlaps the symbol S displayed in the drawable area Ra. It has a function of performing display control on the HMD 17 or the like so as to be higher than performance. Specifically, display control is performed to increase the transparency of the symbol S so that the driver can see the scenery outside the vehicle overlapping the symbol S, that is, to be visible, or only the outline of the symbol S is displayed. The so-called hollow display control is performed so as not to display the enclosed inner side. Further, blink display control (for example, blinking at a cycle of 1 second) in which normal opaque display of the symbol S is intermittently performed at a predetermined cycle may be performed.

  By configuring the navigation device in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, the superimposed display processing by the navigation ECU 10 is performed. This process is performed, for example, immediately after the navigation ECU 10 is turned on, after being started together with the navigation unit 10a described above, and after a predetermined initialization process such as clearing a work area, a register flag, etc. secured in the semiconductor memory, Steps S101 to S105 described below are repeatedly executed, for example, every 100 milliseconds.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the superimposed display process, first, a vehicle position detection process is performed in step S101. This process specifies the vehicle position, and is performed by the vehicle position detection unit 10b described above. In the present embodiment, the current absolute coordinate value of the vehicle and the current traveling road are determined based on the position in the front-rear direction of the vehicle K with respect to a reference point (for example, the distance from the vehicle position to the front intersection) and the horizontal position. Specify the lane position.

  In the next step S103, display area setting processing is performed. This process is a process of setting the drawable area Ra and the conditional drawable area Rb in the display area Ar by the HMD 17 or HUD 18, and is performed by the display area setting unit 10c described above. The details of this processing are shown in FIG. 4, and will be described with reference to FIG. Further, the area setting examples shown in FIGS. In the area setting examples shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the area set in the conditional drawing enabled area Rb as described below is colored in gray to clarify the range. Note that S103 can correspond to “display area setting means” recited in the claims.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the display area setting process, a drawable area setting process is first performed in step S201. This process temporarily sets the entire displayable area by the HMD 17 or the like, that is, the entire range of the display area Ar, in the drawable area Ra, and corresponds to an initialization process.

  That is, as described above, the conditional drawable area Rb can be set based on the information about the road, while the drawable area Ra cannot be set based on the information about the road. The entire range of the display area Ar is set as the drawable area Ra, and the conditional drawable area Rb is set by the subsequent processing (from S203), so that the conditional drawable area Rb is set as a result. The remaining area is set as the drawable area Ra. That is, the drawable area Ra is set by the erasing method.

  In the next step S203, road shape acquisition processing is performed. This processing is based on the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling in the forward line-of-sight range (a range that can be seen without any obstacles obstructing visibility in the direction of travel), that is, the road shape (the width of the road, Get the number of lanes, angle of inclination, intersection, etc.). For example, in the road examples shown in FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B), a straight line shape (for example, FIG. 6 (A): width 8.5 m, lane number 3, inclination angle 0 degree, FIG. 6 (B) : Width 5.5m, number of lanes 2, slope angle +2 degrees), and all are connected to the intersection, and the example of the road shown in FIG. 7 is a clockwise curve shape (for example, width 4.0m, number of lanes) 2), but there is no intersection. Such information such as road shape is acquired based on map information from the map database 20 or the like, but may be acquired based on image information output from the front camera 16.

  In step S203, the number of lanes is also acquired. That is, the number of lanes of the road on which the vehicle travels, that is, the number of lanes, is acquired based on information about the road by the map database 20 or the like. For example, in the example of the road shown in FIG. 6A, the lane number 2 is acquired as the lane in the same direction as the traveling direction of the vehicle in total of the own lane and the adjacent lane. In the example of the road shown in FIG. 6B, the lane number 1 for only the own lane is acquired. The lane position of the own vehicle is grasped from the own vehicle position acquired in the previous step S101. The number of lanes may also be acquired based on image information from the front camera 16.

  In subsequent step S205, feature information income processing is performed. This process includes road markings painted on the road surface where the vehicle travels, road signs installed on the road, traffic lights, presence of median strips, and their height and width (separation zone width, etc.) Get feature information. For example, in the example of the road shown in FIG. 6A, road markings such as stop lines and pedestrian crossings are painted, and traffic lights Sg are installed at intersections. The For road signs, traffic lights, and other items with height, the height information is also acquired.

  In step S207, a conditional drawable area setting process is performed. That is, since the information regarding the road shape, the number of lanes, and the presence or absence of an intersection is acquired in step S203, based on these and the map information stored in the map database 20, the own lane range La, the adjacent lane range Lb, and the intersection range Is is set in the conditional drawing enabled area Rb. In each example shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 7, the own lane range La is indicated by a thick solid line, the adjacent lane range Lb is indicated by a one-dot chain line, and the intersection range Is is indicated by a thick line ellipse.

  In step S209, road attribute acquisition processing is performed. In this process, as the attribute information of the road, for example, a road type (automobile road, main highway, narrow street, etc.) is acquired from the map database 20.

  In step S211, processing for determining whether or not there is a median on the road is performed. The presence / absence of a median strip is determined based on the feature information acquired in step S205. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, when the median strip Cb exists (S211; Yes), steps S213 and S215 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S217. That is, when the median strip Cb is present, there is a low possibility that an oncoming vehicle will enter the own lane from the oncoming lane, so processing for setting the oncoming lane as a conditionally drawable area, etc. (S213, S215) Is not done.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), FIG. 6 (B) and FIG. 7, when the median strip Cb does not exist (S211; No), the number of lanes on the opposite lane is obtained in the subsequent step S213. In step S215, a process of setting the oncoming lane as a conditional drawing-enabled area is performed. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 7, the oncoming lane range Lc (two-dot chain line) is also set in the conditional drawable area Rb.

  In step S217, processing for determining whether or not the road is an automobile-only road is performed. Based on the road attribute information acquired in step S209, it is determined whether or not the road corresponds to an automobile-only road. For example, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the road is an automobile-only road (S217; Yes), step S219 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S221. That is, in the case of an automobile-only road, since there is a low possibility that a pedestrian is passing the sidewalk on the side road, the processing for setting the sidewalk as a conditionally drawable area (S219) is not performed.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 6 (A), 6 (B), 7 and 8 (A), when the road is not an automobile-only road (S217; No), both sides of the road are followed by step S219. The process of setting the sidewalk existing in the conditionally drawable area is performed. If there is a median strip Cb, it is unlikely that a pedestrian will enter the lane from the sidewalk on the opposite lane side beyond the median strip Cb. Set to the drawable area. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7 and 8A, the sidewalk range Pv (dotted line) is also set in the conditionally drawable area Rb. In the sidewalk range Pv, a range from the road surface to a predetermined height h (for example, 2 m) is also set as the conditional drawable area Rb.

  In the subsequent step S221, processing for determining whether or not the traffic light Sg exists within a predetermined range ahead of the road (for example, within a range of 50 m from the current position of the vehicle) is performed. The presence / absence of the traffic light Sg is determined based on the feature information acquired in step S205. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 9, when the traffic light Sg exists (S221; Yes), a predetermined height from the road surface at the position where the traffic light Sg is installed in the next step S223. A process of setting the area up to H (for example, the height of the traffic light (5.5 m)) as the conditional drawing possible area Rb is performed. In principle, the width W of the conditional drawing area Rb is set to the width of all lanes including the own lane, the adjacent lane, and the opposite lane at the position where the traffic light Sg is installed. Accordingly, the lower space such as the traffic light Sg is set as the traveling direction range Fv in the conditional drawing enabled area Rb. However, when driving on a road where there is a low possibility that a pedestrian such as an automobile-only road will enter the own lane or when driving at a high speed, the width W of the own lane is set as the lateral width W of the conditional drawable area Rb. May be set.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, when the traffic light Sg does not exist (S221; No), in step S225, the road surface is positioned at the predetermined distance Dt in front of the vehicle. To a predetermined height H (for example, 2 m) is set as the conditional drawing possible area Rb. Note that the width W of the conditional drawable area Rb is set to the width of all lanes including the own lane, the adjacent lane, and the opposite lane. Thereby, similarly to step S223, the traveling direction range Fv is set to the conditional drawing enabled area Rb.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (A) and FIG. 9, for features having information on a predetermined position away from the road in the height direction, such as traffic lights Sg and road signs Sp, based on the separation distance Ds from the vehicle. Alternatively, a predetermined height H (length of the first region) of the conditional drawing area Rb may be set. Thereby, when the separation distance Ds between the traffic light Sg and the vehicle is large, the lower space of the traffic light Sg and the like is narrowed (the predetermined height H of the conditional drawing possible area Rb is small; FIG. 9A). ) As the vehicle approaches the traffic light Sg, the lower space of the traffic light Sg and the like becomes wider (the predetermined height H of the conditional drawable area Rb is large; FIG. 9B). Processing becomes possible. The separation distance Ds from the vehicle K is calculated from the current position based on the latitude / longitude of the vehicle K and the installation position based on the latitude / longitude of the target feature.

  When a series of information processing by such display area setting processing is completed, the processing returns to FIG. 3 and the display processing by area in step S105 is performed. In this process, a predetermined symbol S is displayed in the drawable area Ra and the conditional drawable area Rb in the display area Ar set in step S103, and the details are shown in FIG. For this reason, the following description will be given with reference to FIGS. 4 and 9. Note that S105 may correspond to “display control means” described in the claims.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, in the display processing by area, first, symbol information acquisition processing is performed in step S301. In this process, the number and attributes (display position / range and display mode) of symbols to be displayed are acquired from the display area setting unit 10c.

  For example, in the case of a symbol Sa that guides the traveling direction of a small arrow type as shown in FIG. 10A, the display position is approximately the center or the lower center of the display area Ar, and the display range is a predetermined pixel (n × If the display mode is both opaque display (low transmittance) and transparent display (an example of special display with high transmittance), these pieces of information become symbol attributes. On the other hand, in the case of the virtual sign type symbol Sb as shown in FIG. 10A, the display mode is opaque solid display (low transmittance), so the display position is the display area Ar. At the left end, the information indicating that the display range is vertically long and the display mode cannot be specially displayed is a symbol attribute.

  In the case of the symbol Sc that guides the traveling direction of a large arrow type as shown in FIG. 10B, since it is a so-called hollow display (an example of special display), the display position is substantially the center of the display area Ar. Alternatively, at the lower center, information indicating that the display range is relatively wide and special display is possible is a symbol attribute.

  In step S305, area attribute acquisition processing is performed. This process acquires the drawing attribute of the area where the symbol S is to be displayed, and specifically acquires information about whether the area is the drawable area Ra or the conditional drawable area Rb.

  In the subsequent step S307, based on the drawing attributes of the area acquired in step S305, a process for determining whether the area is the drawable area Ra (normal) or the conditional drawable area Rb (conditional). Done. If the area is the drawable area Ra (S307; normal), the symbol S is normally displayed in step S309. If the area is the conditional drawable area Rb (S307; conditional), the process proceeds to step S313. Thus, a special display of the symbol S is performed.

  For example, in the case of the symbol Sa shown in FIG. 10A, in the normal display process in step S309, a display process with a low transmittance that does not show a background overlapping therewith, that is, a scenery outside the vehicle, is performed, and a special display process in step S313. Then, a display process with a high transmittance through which the scenery outside the vehicle can be seen through is performed. In the case of the symbol Sb shown in FIG. 10A, the normal display process in step S309 performs an opaque (low transmittance) display process in which the scenery outside the vehicle is not transparent, and the process in step S313. In the special display process, blink display (for example, blinking with a cycle of 1 second) is performed in which the opaque display is intermittently performed at a predetermined cycle.

  In the case of the symbol Sc shown in FIG. 10B, a hollow display whose outline is opaque and whose inside is transparent is performed in both the normal display process in step S309 and the special display process in step S313. .

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the visibility of each symbol Sa (display with high transmittance), Sb (blink display), and Sc (empty display) is superimposed on the outside of the vehicle by the special display process (S313). By making it lower than the scenery, the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle overlapping these symbols Sa, Sb, Sc is relatively high. Thereby, the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps the symbols Sa, Sb, and Sc displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb is the scenery that overlaps the symbol S (solid-colored opaque display) displayed in the drawable area Ra. Therefore, it is possible to visually recognize the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps behind the symbols Sa, Sb, and Sc.

  In step S315, processing for determining whether or not all symbols S to be displayed have been displayed is performed based on the number of symbols acquired in step S301. If an undisplayed item still remains (S315; No), the process proceeds to step S305. If not (S315; Yes), a series of area-specific display processing is terminated and shown in FIG. The process returns to step S101 of the superimposed display process. Then, the superimposed display process described above is repeatedly executed (S101 to S105).

  As shown in FIG. 5B, as another example of the display processing by area, an algorithm for displaying the symbol S may be configured for each of the drawable area Ra and the conditional drawable area Rb. good. That is, in the area-specific display process shown in FIG. 5A, for each of a plurality of types of symbols S, the displayable drawable area Ra and the conditional drawable area Rb are set and displayed. The symbol S to be displayed may be displayed for each of the multiple areas Ra and Rb.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, in this processing example, first, area information acquisition processing is performed in step S501. In this process, the number and attributes (position / range and presence / absence of conditions) of the area to be displayed are acquired from the display area setting unit 10c, and drawing is performed by a series of display area setting processes described with reference to FIG. Since information on the number, position, and range of the possible area Ra and the conditional drawing possible area Rb is obtained, this is acquired. The presence / absence of the condition is information indicating whether the area is the drawable area Ra or the conditional drawable area Rb.

  In the subsequent step S503, processing for determining whether or not there is a symbol S to be displayed in the area is performed. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 10A, when the current process is performed for the conditional drawing enabled area Rb located below the display area Ar (the hood of the vehicle K), there is one symbol Sa. Therefore, assuming that there is a display symbol (S503; Yes), the process proceeds to the subsequent step S505. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 10B, since the symbol S to be displayed does not exist in the drawable area Ra located above the display area Ar, it is assumed that there is no display symbol in this case ( S503; No), the process proceeds to the subsequent step S515.

  In the next step S505, an area attribute acquisition process is performed. This process acquires the drawing attribute of the area to be displayed, and based on the area information acquired in step S501, information indicating whether the area is a drawable area Ra or a conditional drawable area Rb. To be acquired. Steps S507, S509, and S513 are processed in the same manner as steps S307, S309, and S313 described above, respectively. Thus, if there is a symbol S to be displayed in the area, the symbol S is displayed according to the drawing attribute of the area.

  In step S515, the process of determining whether all the areas to be displayed have been displayed is performed based on the number of areas acquired in step S501. If undisplayed items remain (S515; No), the process proceeds to step S503. If not (S515; Yes), the series of display processing by area ends.

  As described above, according to the navigation device, the display area setting unit 10c sets the conditional drawable area Rb and the drawable area Ra in the display area Ar of the symbol S by the HMD 17 or the like, and the display image generating unit 10d. Thus, when viewed from the driver, the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps the symbols Sa and Sc displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb is higher than the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps the symbol Sb displayed in the drawable area Ra. Thus, display control for superimposing and displaying the symbol S is performed on the HMD 17 or the like.

  As a result, the visibility of the outside scenery that overlaps the symbols Sa and Sc displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb is higher than the visibility of the outside scenery that overlaps the symbol Sb displayed in the drawable area Ra. Even if information on roads such as road markings and signs and the symbols Sa and Sc are superimposed and displayed in the surrounding scenery viewed from the driver, the driver can display the symbols Sa and Sc in the conditionally drawable area Rb. It is possible to make it easier to visually recognize the scenery outside the vehicle overlapping behind the vehicle than the scenery outside the vehicle overlapping behind the symbol Sb when the symbol Sb is displayed in the drawable area Ra. Therefore, in the conditionally drawable area Rb determined based on information about roads such as road markings and signs constituting the outside scenery, the superimposed display is less likely to hinder the driver's view compared to the drawable area Ra. be able to.

  In the above-described embodiment, the HMD 17 and the HUD 18 are exemplified as the display means. However, for example, a scene outside the vehicle photographed by the front camera 16 is displayed on the monitor screen of the monitor ECU 50, and this screen can be drawn in the area Ra. As described above, the symbol S may be superimposed and displayed separately in the conditional drawing area Rb. In the case of this configuration, as with the HMD 17 or the like, the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps the symbols Sa and Sc displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb when viewed from the driver is shown for both drawing areas. The superimposition display control of the symbols Sa and Sc may be performed so as to be higher than the visibility of the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps the symbol Sb displayed by Ra, and the opaque display of the conditional drawable area Rb may be performed. The scenery image overlapping the back of the symbol S is further superimposed on the front surface of the opaque symbol S, and the background scenery image is superimposed and controlled so that the transparency of the symbol S can be seen through. Also good.

  As a result, in any superimposition display control, the visibility of the scenery that overlaps the symbols Sa, Sc, and S displayed in the conditional drawable area Rb is greater than that of the scenery that overlaps the symbol Sb displayed in the drawable area Ra. Since it becomes higher than the visibility, the driver can view the scenery outside the vehicle that overlaps behind the symbols Sa, Sc, S in the conditional drawing area Rb behind the symbol Sb when the symbol Sb is displayed in the drawing area Ra. It becomes possible to make it easier to recognize visually than a scene outside the vehicle.

  Further, in the embodiment described above, an example in which the front scenery of the vehicle K viewed from the driver is superimposed is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, for example, the vehicle viewed from the driver. The present invention can also be applied to the side landscape and the rear landscape, and the same effects as those described above can be obtained. Moreover, in the example mentioned above, although demonstrated to the driver | operator, if it is a person wearing HMD17 or HUD18, the effect similar to what was mentioned above can be acquired.

10. Navigation ECU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10a ... Navigation part 10b ... Vehicle position detection part 10c ... Display area setting part (display area setting means)
10d: Display image generation unit (display control means)
16 ... Front camera 17 ... HMD (display means)
18 ... HUD (display means)
20 ... Map database 50 ... Monitor ECU (display means)
Ar ... display area (information image displayable area)
Ra: drawable area (second area)
Rb: Conditional drawable area (first area)
S ... Symbol (information image)
K ... Vehicle bonnet

Claims (4)

An information display device mounted on a vehicle,
Display means for superimposing and displaying an information image representing the predetermined information on the scenery outside the vehicle viewed from the driver;
A map database that stores information about roads;
After setting the whole range of the displayable area in the display region of the information image by the display unit to the "second region that can not be determined based on the information on the road", "the road in the second region A display area that divides the displayable area into the first area and the second area that remains without being set as the first area by setting a "first area that can be determined based on information about" Setting means;
The information displayed in the second region is transparently displayed with a transmittance such that the scenery overlapping the information image can be seen through the information image displayed in the first region when viewed from the driver. Display control means for performing display control on the display means for displaying an image with a lower transmittance than the information image displayed in the first region;
An information display device comprising: The information on the road that the map database is stored, includes information about the land thereof,
The display area setting means is based on information on a feature having information on a predetermined position away from the road in a height direction among information on the road as a boundary of the first area with respect to the second area. The landscape corresponding to the predetermined position obtained from the distance from the vehicle to the feature obtained from the current position information of the vehicle and the absolute position information of the feature and the height information of the feature. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the boundary is set in a celestial direction on the top and bottom of the terrain.   The display area setting means is a rectangular range in which the width of all lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is horizontal and the vertical height is a predetermined height from the road surface of the road, and the vehicle travels in front of the vehicle. The lateral width is set based on a distance on the road at a position close to the vehicle among vehicle speed-dependent positions that are set near when the vehicle speed of the vehicle is high or when the vehicle speed is high or low. The information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rectangular range is set in the first area.   If the display area setting means determines that there is a traffic signal at an intersection ahead of the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on the information about the road, the display area setting means starts from the road surface where the traffic signal is installed on the road. The space up to the height of the traffic light is set in the first area, and when it is not determined that there is a traffic light at the intersection, the rectangular area is set in the first area. Information display device.

Images