JP7277250B2 - MAP INFORMATION GUIDE SYSTEM, MAP INFORMATION GUIDANCE DEVICE AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a map information guidance system, a map information guidance device, and a computer program that guide information about points located on a map.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many vehicles are equipped with a navigation device that guides the vehicle so that the driver can easily arrive at a desired destination. Here, the navigation device detects the current position of the vehicle using a GPS receiver or the like, acquires map data corresponding to the current position through a recording medium such as a DVD-ROM or HDD or a network, and displays it on a liquid crystal monitor. It is a device that can Furthermore, in such a navigation device, in order to guide users to points of interest (POIs), such as facilities around the current position of the vehicle, a point of interest (POI) is located at a position on the map image. It is also possible to draw an icon indicating In recent years, some mobile phones, smart phones, tablet terminals, personal computers, etc. have functions similar to those of the above-described navigation devices.

However, especially in areas such as urban areas where facilities are densely present, a large number of the above icons are displayed on the map image, and there is a problem that it is not possible to provide information on the location appropriately. rice field. Also, there is a problem that the visibility of the map image is lowered. Therefore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-35414, when displaying icons related to a plurality of points on a map image, if the distance between the plurality of points is within a predetermined distance, each icon related to the plurality of points have been proposed to integrate them and display them with one icon.

JP 2016-35414 (pages 21-22)

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since there is no upper limit on the number of icons to be integrated, the locations where the icons are to be displayed are concentrated in only a part of the screen. In some cases, all the icons at those locations are integrated, resulting in a phenomenon in which only a very limited number of icons are displayed. As a result, although there are a large number of points to be guided, only information about extremely limited points is guided, and there is a problem that the original purpose of providing information about points cannot be achieved.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems in the conventional art. By setting an upper limit on the number of icons to be integrated, a certain number of icons can be displayed even after the icon integration process. It is an object of the present invention to provide a map information guidance system, a map information guidance device, and a computer program that can be left as

In order to achieve the above object, a map information guidance system according to the present invention comprises: map image display means for displaying a map image on a display device; as an icon display means for superimposing and displaying an icon indicating the location at a certain position of the location; and icon integration means for performing an integration process of integrating the icons of a plurality of points existing into one icon, wherein the icon integration means first selects a first icon from among the plurality of points to be displayed as icons. Select a point to be a reference icon, select icons to be integrated with a predetermined number as an upper limit, giving priority to icons at points near the point to be the first reference icon, and select the selected icon. performing a process of integrating into the first reference icon, and then displaying the first reference icon and the icon integrated into the first reference icon among the plurality of points to be displayed for the icon; A point is newly selected as a second reference icon by removing the point, and the first reference icon and the icon integrated into the first reference icon are removed and the point is used as the second reference icon. Icons to be integrated are selected with a predetermined number as the upper limit by giving priority to icons at positions close to the point, and the selected icons are integrated into the second reference icon.
In addition to facilities, "points" include departure points, destinations, points on maps that can be guided, etc. (for example, place names, addresses, etc.), points arbitrarily registered by users, etc. include.
Also, "to integrate icons" means to include a plurality of icons into one icon. It is also possible to display

Further, a map information guidance device according to the present invention comprises: map image display means for displaying a map image on a display device; Icon display means for superimposing and displaying an icon indicating the location at a certain position; and icon integration means for performing an integration process of integrating the icons of the locations into one icon, wherein the icon integration means first selects a first reference icon from among the plurality of locations to be displayed as the icons. select a location, select icons to be integrated with a predetermined number as the upper limit, giving priority to icons at locations near the location to be used as the first reference icon; Perform processing to integrate into a reference icon, and after that, out of a plurality of points to be displayed of the icon, except points indicated by the first reference icon and icons integrated into the first reference icon , select a new point to be the second reference icon, remove the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon, and place them at a position near the point to be the second reference icon. Icons at a certain point are prioritized, and icons to be integrated are selected up to a predetermined number, and the selected icons are integrated into the second reference icon.

Further, a computer program according to the present invention is a program that guides information regarding a location using an icon displayed on a map image. Specifically, a computer is provided with a map image display means for displaying a map image on a display device, and a point positioned within the map image displayed on the display device. icon display means for superimposing and displaying icons indicating the points; It functions as icon integration means for performing integration processing to integrate into one icon. Further, the icon integration means first selects a point to be a first reference icon from among a plurality of points to be displayed for the icons, and selects a point close to the point to be the first reference icon. Icons to be integrated are selected with a predetermined number as the upper limit with priority given to icons, processing is performed to integrate the selected icons into the first reference icon, and then a plurality of icons to be displayed are displayed. Among the points, the points indicated by the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon are excluded, and a point is newly selected as a second reference icon, and the first reference icon is selected. and, excluding the icons integrated into the first reference icon, the icon to be integrated is selected with a predetermined number as the upper limit, giving priority to the icon at a position near the location to be the second reference icon. Then, the selected icon is integrated into the second reference icon.

According to the map information guidance system, the map information guidance device, and the computer program according to the present invention having the above configurations, by setting an upper limit on the number of icons to be integrated, a fixed number of icons can be displayed even after the icons are integrated. icon can be left as a display target. As a result, the number of icons to be displayed does not become too small compared to the number of points to be guided, and information about points can be appropriately guided to the user. In addition, since one icon is used as a reference icon and icon integration processing is performed for the icons around it, even when there are a plurality of reference icons, the plurality of reference icons are displayed together in one place. It is possible to disperse and display without

1 is a block diagram showing a navigation device according to an embodiment; FIG. It is the figure which showed an example of facility data. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data in which facilities and groups to which they belong are associated; It is the figure which showed an example of the POI icon which concerns on this embodiment. 4 is a flowchart of a map image display processing program according to the embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an interval at which icon integration processing is performed; It is the figure which showed the driving|running guidance screen displayed on a liquid crystal display. 9 is a flowchart of a sub-processing program of icon integration processing; It is the figure which showed the integrated state linked|linked with the surrounding facilities and surrounding facilities. It is the figure which showed the integration frequency|count linked|linked with the peripheral facility and the peripheral facility. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of integrating POI icons of surrounding facilities; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a comparison of display modes of POI icons of surrounding facilities before and after integration;

A map information guidance system and a map information guidance device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings based on an embodiment of a navigation device. First, a schematic configuration of a navigation device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a navigation device 1 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a current position detection unit 11 that detects the current position of a vehicle in which the navigation device 1 is mounted, a data recording unit 12 that records various data, A navigation ECU 13 that performs various arithmetic processes based on input information, a touch panel 14 that receives operations from the user, a liquid crystal display 15 that displays a map image around the vehicle and information about points to the user, and a route. Communication that performs communication between a speaker 16 that outputs voice guidance related to guidance, a DVD drive 17 that reads a DVD as a storage medium, and an information center such as a probe center or a VICS (registered trademark: Vehicle Information and Communication System) center. a module 18;

Each component of the navigation device 1 will be described in order below.
The current position detection unit 11 includes a GPS 21, a vehicle speed sensor 22, a steering sensor 23, a gyro sensor 24, etc., and is capable of detecting the current vehicle position, direction, vehicle speed, current time, and the like. . In particular, the vehicle speed sensor 22 is a sensor for detecting the moving distance and speed of the vehicle, generates a pulse according to the rotation of the driving wheels of the vehicle, and outputs the pulse signal to the navigation ECU 13 . The navigation ECU 13 then counts the generated pulses to calculate the rotational speed of the drive wheels and the travel distance. It should be noted that the navigation device 1 does not need to include all of the above four types of sensors, and the navigation device 1 may be configured to include only one or more of these sensors.

The data recording unit 12 also includes a hard disk (not shown) as an external storage device and recording medium, and a driver for reading the map information DB 31 and predetermined programs recorded in the hard disk and writing predetermined data to the hard disk. and a recording head (not shown). Note that the data recording unit 12 may be configured by a memory card or an optical disk such as a CD or DVD instead of the hard disk. Alternatively, the map information DB 31 may be stored in an external server, and the navigation device 1 may acquire the information through communication.

Here, the map information DB 31 includes, for example, link data 33 relating to roads (links), node data 34 relating to node points, point data 35 relating to points such as facilities, map display data for displaying maps, and intersection data relating to each intersection. , search data for searching for routes, search data for searching for points, etc. are stored.

The link data 33 includes the width, slope, cant, bank, condition of the road surface, number of lanes of the road, locations where the number of lanes decreases, and width of the road to which each link of the road belongs. For corners, data representing the radius of curvature, intersections, T-junctions, corner entrances and exits, etc. For road attributes, data representing downhill roads, uphill roads, etc. Regarding the type, data representing general roads such as national roads, prefectural roads, and narrow streets, as well as toll roads such as national highways, urban expressways, motorways, general toll roads, and toll bridges are recorded.

The node data 34 includes coordinates (positions) of actual road branch points (including intersections, T-junctions, etc.) and node points set at predetermined distances according to the radius of curvature of each road, A node attribute that indicates whether a node corresponds to an intersection, etc., a connection link number list that is a list of link numbers of links that connect to a node, and an adjacency that is a list of node numbers of nodes that are adjacent to a node via links. A node number list, data about the height (altitude) of each node point, and the like are recorded.

Further, as the point data 35, information on points to be used as departure points, destinations, guidance targets, etc. in the navigation device 1 is stored. For example, accommodation facilities such as hotels and inns, fueling facilities such as gas stations, commercial facilities such as shopping malls, supermarkets, shopping centers and convenience stores, entertainment facilities such as theme parks and game centers, eating and drinking such as restaurants, bars and pubs. This includes information on facilities such as facilities, parking facilities such as public parking lots, transportation facilities, religious facilities such as temples and churches, and public facilities such as art galleries and museums. In addition to the various facilities described above, the points for which information is stored in the point data 35 include departure points, destinations, points on the map that can be guided, etc. (for example, place names, addresses, etc.). included. In the following description, however, a case where the point of departure, destination, guidance target, etc. in the navigation device 1 is a facility will be described as an example.

The point data 35 includes, for each point, a point ID that is an identifier of the point, a point name that indicates the name of the point, and a facility genre that indicates the genre of the facility (“parking lot”, “post office”, “restaurant”, etc.). (Only when the point is a facility), it is composed of position coordinates and the like indicating the position of the point. Here, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the point data 35. As shown in FIG. For example, in the example of the point data 35 shown in FIG. 2, it is determined that a "convenience store XX chain A branch (genre: convenience store)" corresponding to point ID: "10001" exists at a point with coordinates (x1, y1). showing. In addition, it is indicated that “×○ parking lot B town No. 1 (genre: parking lot)” corresponding to point ID: “10002” exists at the point of coordinates (x2, y2). Similarly, information about other points is also stored.

Among the facilities stored in the point data 35, for facilities belonging to any group, data linking the facility with the group to which it belongs and the name of the group are also stored as the point data 35. For facilities that do not belong to any group (for example, public facilities, privately run stores, etc.), group-related information is not stored.

Here, the "group" to which the facility belongs includes, for example, chain stores such as franchises, stores operated by the same owner or parent company, related group companies, parent company (head office) and its subsidiaries (branches, sales offices), There are temples of the same denomination. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, each facility that is a "convenience store XX chain" chain store, each facility that is a "parking lot x XX chain" chain store, and each facility that is a "XX stand chain" chain store Facilities are stored in association with groups to which they belong.

The point data 35 also stores an icon (hereinafter referred to as a POI icon) displayed on the map image for specifying the content and position of the point. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of POI icons of facilities. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the POI icon is defined for each genre of facility, and has an external shape (including characters, symbols, designs, etc.) indicating the genre of the facility. When the map image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 as will be described later, it is superimposed on the position of the facility of the genre corresponding to the map image (see FIG. 7). It should be noted that the POI icon need not be specified for all genres, and may be specified only for a specific genre. Also, the genres for which the POI icons are defined may be classified for each "group" to which the facilities described above belong. For example, even if the same "gas station" is used, a gas station managed by company A and a gas station managed by company B may be defined as different genres, and POI icons may be defined for each.

Further, in the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, POI icons are not displayed for all genres of facilities for which POI icons are defined, but only for facilities corresponding to preset genres. Is displayed. It should be noted that the genre of the facility for which the POI icon is to be displayed can be appropriately changed based on the user's operation. Icons superimposed and displayed on the map image include, in addition to the POI icon, an icon indicating a registered point registered by the user, an icon indicating traffic information occurring on the road, and the like.

A navigation ECU (electronic control unit) 13 is an electronic control unit that controls the entire navigation device 1, and includes a CPU 41 as an arithmetic unit and a control unit, and a working memory when the CPU 41 performs various kinds of arithmetic processing. A RAM 42 that stores route data and the like when a route is searched, a ROM 43 that stores a map image display processing program (FIG. 5) described later, etc. in addition to a control program, and reads out from the ROM 43 It has an internal storage device such as a flash memory 44 for storing the program. The navigation ECU 13 has various means as processing algorithms. For example, the map image display means displays the map image on the liquid crystal display 15 . The icon display means superimposes an icon indicating a point on a certain position of the point located in the map image displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 and displays the point. The icon integration means performs an integration process of integrating the icons of a plurality of locations, up to a predetermined number as an upper limit, into a single icon when the locations where the icons are to be displayed are concentrated.

The touch panel 14 is arranged in front of the display area of the liquid crystal display 15, and when scrolling the map image or selecting a button arranged in the display area, the POI icon displayed on the map image is selected. It is operated on a case-by-case basis. Then, based on the detection signal output from the touch panel 14 by the operation of the touch panel 14, the navigation ECU 13 performs "touch-on" in which the state in which the user does not touch the touch panel 14 shifts to the state in which the user touches the touch panel 14, and when the user touches the touch panel 14. Detects "touch off" that transitions from a touched state to a non-touched state. It also detects the touch coordinates, which are the coordinates of the point touched by the user (touch point), and the displacement of the touch coordinates when an operation (i.e., a drag operation or a flick operation) to move the touch point while being touched is received. . Then, the navigation ECU 13 performs control to execute various operations corresponding to the detected touch operation, touch coordinates, and the like.
As an operation means for receiving a user's touch operation, an operation means such as a tablet may be used instead of the touch panel 14 .

The liquid crystal display 15 also displays a map image including roads, traffic information, operation guidance, operation menu, key guidance, guidance route from the departure point to the destination, guidance information along the guidance route, news, weather forecast, Time, mail, TV program, etc. are displayed. A HUD or HMD may be used instead of the liquid crystal display 15 .

In addition, the speaker 16 outputs voice guidance that guides the vehicle along the guidance route based on instructions from the navigation ECU 13 and traffic information guidance.

Also, the DVD drive 17 is a drive capable of reading data recorded on recording media such as DVDs and CDs. Then, based on the read data, music and video are reproduced, the map information DB 31 is updated, and so on. A card slot for reading and writing a memory card may be provided instead of the DVD drive 17 .

In addition, the communication module 18 is a communication device for receiving traffic information consisting of information such as congestion information, traffic regulation information, and traffic accident information transmitted from a traffic information center, such as a VICS center or a probe center. For example, mobile phones and DCMs correspond.

Next, a map image display processing program executed by the navigation ECU 13 in the navigation device 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a map image display processing program according to this embodiment. Here, the map image display processing program is executed after the ACC power supply (accessory power supply) of the vehicle is turned on and at the timing of drawing the map image, and the map image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 and the map image is displayed. It is a program that draws various icons that indicate the location and content of points to be guided to the user.

Here, the timing for drawing the map image is basically immediately after the ACC power is turned on and at regular time intervals (for example, every 1 sec) thereafter. However, if an operation for changing the area of the map image to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 (hereinafter referred to as a display target area) (for example, a map image scale change operation, a map image scroll operation) is accepted, and When an operation to change the object to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 (for example, an operation to change the genre of the POI icon to be displayed) is accepted, it is also executed at the timing when the operation is accepted. . 5 and 8 below are stored in the RAM 42 and ROM 43 provided in the navigation device 1, and are executed by the CPU 41. FIG.

First, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1 of the map image display processing program, the CPU 41 first draws a background image as a map image on the liquid crystal display 15 based on data read from the map information DB 31 . Here, the display target area to which the background image is to be drawn in S1 is, for example, the area around the current position of the vehicle. Also, the size of the display target area varies depending on the display scale of the map image set in the navigation device 1, and the smaller the scale, the wider the area. In addition, the display target area is appropriately changed according to subsequent user operations (for example, map image scroll operation, map image scale change operation) or movement of the current position of the vehicle.

Next, in S2, the CPU 41 draws a road image within the display target area according to the background image drawn in S1, based on the data read from the map information DB 31. FIG. If there is traffic information (for example, congestion information, road closure information) about the road, an image showing the traffic information may also be drawn.

Subsequently, in S3, the CPU 41 displays areas and points included in the display target area according to the background image drawn in S1 and the road image drawn in S2 based on the data read from the map information DB 31. Renders a string representing various names for . Character strings to be drawn include, for example, place names, facility names, river names, road names, and the like. A map image of the display target area is drawn on the liquid crystal display 15 by the above S1 to S3.

After that, in S4, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the user has received an operation to intentionally change the POI icon to be displayed on the map image. Here, as an operation for the user to intentionally change the POI icon to be displayed on the map image, for example, an operation to change the display target area (specifically, an operation to change the scale of the map image, a map image scrolling, etc.), or an operation to change the genre of the POI icon to be displayed.

Then, when it is determined that the user has accepted an operation to intentionally change the POI icon to be displayed on the map image (S4: YES), the process proceeds to S5. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user has not intentionally changed the POI icon to be displayed on the map image (S4: NO), the process proceeds to S6. Exceptionally, S4: YES is also determined at the first execution immediately after the ACC power supply is turned on.

Next, in S5, the CPU 41 executes icon integration processing (FIG. 8), which will be described later. Note that the icon integration process is a process of integrating the icons of a plurality of concentrated locations into one icon when the locations where the icons are to be displayed are concentrated. Incidentally, in this embodiment, the above-described icon integration processing is executed especially for POI icons indicating the location and genre of facilities.

On the other hand, in S6, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the distance traveled by the vehicle since the previous icon integration process executed in S5 is less than 100 m (first distance). Note that the moving distance of the vehicle to be determined may be the distance along the road or the distance in a straight line. Also, the first distance, which is the criterion for determination in S6, can be changed as appropriate, and may be set to 50 m or 200 m, for example. Basically, in order to prevent frequent changes in the display mode of the icons displayed on the map image, it is desirable to set the first distance as long as possible. It is desirable to set the distance not to exceed the range in which the POI icon display target points were retrieved in the icon integration processing (S5) (that is, the range in which the POI icons were integrated by the icon integration processing). In S21, which will be described later, a predetermined number of points are searched in order of proximity from the current position of the vehicle, so it is possible to increase the first distance for an area where points to be displayed with POI icons are sparse.

Then, when it is determined that the distance traveled by the vehicle since the icon integration process was performed last time is less than 100 m (S6: YES), the process proceeds to S7. On the other hand, if it is determined that the distance traveled by the vehicle since the previous icon integration processing was performed is 100 m or more (S6: NO), the process proceeds to S5, and the icon integration processing is performed. As a result, in the state where the vehicle is moving as shown in FIG. 6, icon integration processing is basically repeated every time the vehicle moves 100 m. Note that 100 m (first distance) is the range in which points to be displayed as POI icons were searched in the previous icon integration process (S5) as described above (that is, the POI icons were integrated by the icon integration process). Therefore, even if the icon integration processing is not performed while the vehicle moves 100 m (the first distance), if the result of the previous icon integration processing is continuously used, the vehicle An appropriate state can be maintained for the integrated state of the icons with respect to the surroundings.

In S7, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the distance traveled by the vehicle since the previous icon integration process executed in S5 is less than 50 m (second distance). Note that the moving distance of the vehicle to be determined may be the distance along the road or the distance in a straight line. Also, the second distance, which is the criterion for determination in S7, can be appropriately changed within a range shorter than the first distance, and may be set to 30 m or 70 m, for example.

Then, when it is determined that the distance traveled by the vehicle since the icon integration process was performed last time is less than 50 m (S7: YES), the process proceeds to S9. On the other hand, if it is determined that the distance traveled by the vehicle since the icon integration process was performed last time is less than 100 m but is greater than or equal to 50 m (S7: NO), the process proceeds to S8.

In S8, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the elapsed time from the previous execution of the icon integration process executed in S5 to the present is 120 sec or more. It should be noted that the time used as the criterion for determination in S8 can be changed as appropriate, and may be set to 60 seconds or 180 seconds, for example.

Then, if it is determined that the elapsed time from the previous execution of the icon integration processing to be executed in S5 to the present time is 120 seconds or more (S8: YES), the process proceeds to S5, and the icon integration processing is performed. . As a result, when the vehicle is moving at a low speed due to traffic congestion or the like, if the vehicle has moved at least 50 m or more even before the vehicle has moved 100 m, the progress since the previous icon integration processing was performed is determined. When the time reaches 120 seconds, the next icon integration process is performed.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the elapsed time from the previous execution of the icon integration process to the present in S5 is less than 120 seconds (S8: NO), the process proceeds to S9.

In S9, the CPU 41 reads the result of the previously performed icon integration process (S5). Note that the result of the icon integration processing indicates whether or not each POI icon to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 is to be integrated as will be described later, and if it is integrated, it corresponds to either "parent" or "child". It is the result of specifying whether Details will be described later.

After that, in S10, the CPU 41 draws the POI icon according to the result of the icon integration process performed when the icon integration process (S5) is performed. If the icon integration process (S5) is not performed, the POI icon is drawn according to the result of the previous icon integration process read in S9. In addition to the POI icon, an icon indicating a registered point registered by the user, an icon indicating traffic information occurring on the road, and the like are drawn as necessary. As a result, a travel guide screen for guiding the travel of the vehicle is displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 .

Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the travel guidance screen 50 displayed on the liquid crystal display 15. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the travel guidance screen 50 includes a map image 51 of the surroundings of the vehicle's current position, a vehicle position mark 52 indicating the vehicle's current position matched on the map, and a vehicle position mark 52 set in the navigation device 1. A route image 53 showing the shape of the guidance route (displayed only when the guidance route is set) is displayed. Various icons are drawn on the map image 51, such as POI icons 54 indicating the positions and genres of facilities, and registered point icons 55 indicating registered points registered by the user. Note that the POI icons 54 drawn on the map image are basically within the display target area of the map image 51 and are in the genre set as the display target of the POI icons (for example, parking lot, gas station, etc.). A POI icon indicating facilities (convenience store, restaurant) is displayed. However, not all applicable POI icons are displayed, but only the POI icons that were not integrated in the above-described icon integration process (S5) and the POI icons of the facilities that were integrated and became "parents". is displayed.

By referring to the driving guidance screen 50 displayed on the liquid crystal display 15, the user can grasp the shape of roads and facilities around the user, the route to the destination, and the like. In addition, since the number of POI icons 54 to be displayed in an area where POI icons 54 are concentrated can be limited by performing the integration processing described later, it is possible to appropriately guide the information about the location by the POI icons 54, and the visibility of the map image is improved. does not decrease.

Subsequently, in S<b>11 , the CPU 41 determines based on the detection signal of the touch panel 14 whether or not an operation to select any icon drawn on the map image has been received. In addition to the POI icon, the items to be selected include an icon indicating a registered point registered by the user, an icon indicating traffic information occurring on the road, and the like. Also, among the POI icons, the POI icons of the facilities that have not become the "parents" of the POI icons that have been integrated in the above-described icon integration processing (S5) are basically hidden, and thus are not selected. .

If it is determined that an operation to select any icon drawn on the map image has been received (S11: YES), the process proceeds to S12. On the other hand, if it is determined that an operation to select any icon drawn on the map image has not been accepted (S11: NO), the map image display processing program is terminated.

In S<b>12 , the CPU 41 acquires detailed information about the location corresponding to the selected icon from the map information DB 31 and displays it on the liquid crystal display 15 . In addition, you may output by voice guidance. For example, when a POI icon is selected, details of the facility corresponding to the selected POI icon (for example, facility name, genre, required time from the current position, etc.) are displayed. Furthermore, various operations such as destination setting operation and point registration for the facility corresponding to the selected POI icon are also possible.

Furthermore, in the icon integration process (S5) described above, when the POI icon of the facility that is to be integrated and has become the "parent" is operated, the POI icon corresponding to the "child" POI icon integrated with the POI icon is operated. It is desirable to be able to display detailed information about the points as well.

Next, the sub-processing of the icon integration processing executed in S5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a sub-processing program for icon integration processing.

First, in S21, the CPU 41 extracts from the point data 35 the facilities (hereinafter referred to as "surrounding facilities") that are the display targets of the POI icons around the current position of the vehicle. The facility for which the POI icon is to be displayed is a facility corresponding to a preset genre (for example, a parking lot, a gas station, a convenience store, or a restaurant). The genre can be appropriately changed by the user's operation. For example, the upper limit of the number of surrounding facilities to be extracted in S21 is 200, and up to 200 surrounding facilities are selected in descending order from the current position of the vehicle, as long as the distance from the current position of the vehicle does not exceed the upper limit (for example, 3 km). Extract facilities.

Next, in S22, the CPU 41 stores in the flash memory 44 or the like the parameters indicating the positional coordinates and integrated state of all the peripheral facilities extracted in S21, as shown in FIG. Note that the initial value of the parameter indicating the integrated state is "unintegrated state".

The following processing of S23 to S30 is executed for each peripheral facility extracted in S21, and after the processing of S23 to S30 is executed for all relevant peripheral facilities, the process proceeds to S10. The processing of S23 to S30 is performed in order from the peripheral facility closest to the center of the map image displayed on the liquid crystal display 15. FIG. In the state where the map image around the current position of the vehicle is being displayed, the surrounding facilities may be accessed in order from the current position of the vehicle.

First, in S<b>23 , the CPU 41 reads from the flash memory 44 a parameter indicating the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed. Then, it is determined whether or not the integrated state is set to "unintegrated state".

Then, when it is determined that the parameter of the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed is "unintegrated" (S23: YES), the process proceeds to S24. On the other hand, if it is determined that the parameter of the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed is other than the "non-integrated state" (S23: NO), the peripheral facility to be processed is replaced with another peripheral facility. After switching to the facility, the processes after S23 are executed again.

In S<b>24 , the CPU 41 reads from the flash memory 44 a parameter indicating the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed. Then, "parent" is set in the consolidated state. Note that the "parent" in the integrated state indicates a facility in the vicinity of the POI icon (hereinafter referred to as the standard icon) that serves as a reference when the POI icons are integrated. The target icon is the reference icon of the peripheral facility that has become the "parent" and the POI icon of the facility within a predetermined distance from the point corresponding to the reference icon. As described above, the processing of S23 to S30 is performed in order from the peripheral facility closest to the center of the map image displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 or the peripheral facility closest to the current position of the vehicle. A POI icon of a peripheral facility located near the center of the image or a POI icon of a peripheral facility located near the current position of the vehicle is preferentially selected as the reference icon.

Next, in S25, the CPU 41 stores in the flash memory 44 or the like a parameter indicating the number of times of integration as shown in FIG. The initial value of the parameter indicating the number of times of integration is set to "0 (times)". Here, the number of integrations is the number of times other POI icons have been integrated with the reference icon of the peripheral facility that has become a "parent" up to the present time, that is, the number of integrations with respect to the reference icon of the peripheral facility that has become a "parent". Indicates the number of other POI icons.

The subsequent processing of S26 to S30 is executed for the peripheral facilities extracted in S21 (however, excluding the peripheral facilities set as "parents" in the most recent S24). Execution is performed as targets in order from the surrounding facilities that are closest to the set surrounding facilities. Then, as will be described later, when the number of integration times associated with the peripheral facility set as the "parent" in the most recent S24 reaches the upper limit, or the processing of S26 to S30 is performed for all applicable peripheral facilities. After being executed, the process returns to S23.

First, in S<b>26 , the CPU 41 reads from the flash memory 44 a parameter indicating the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed. Then, it is determined whether or not the integrated state is set to "unintegrated state".

Then, when it is determined that the parameter of the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed is "unintegrated" (S26: YES), the process proceeds to S27. On the other hand, if it is determined that the parameter of the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed is other than the "unintegrated state" (S26: NO), the peripheral facility to be processed is replaced with another peripheral facility. After switching to the facility, the processing after S26 is executed again.

In S27, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the straight line distance from the nearest peripheral facility set as "parent" in S24 to the peripheral facility to be processed is equal to or less than a predetermined integrated upper limit distance. It should be noted that the integrated upper limit distance is set to 2 cm on the display screen of the liquid crystal display 15, for example. However, the actual distance may be set instead of the distance on the screen. In that case, it is desirable to appropriately set the integrated upper limit distance according to the display scale of the map image.

Then, if it is determined in the most recent S24 that the straight line distance from the peripheral facility set as the "parent" to the peripheral facility to be processed is equal to or less than the predetermined integrated upper limit distance (S27: YES), It is determined to integrate the POI icon of the peripheral facility with the POI icon of the peripheral facility set as the "parent" in the most recent S24, and the process proceeds to S28. On the other hand, if it is determined in the latest S24 that the straight distance from the peripheral facility set as the "parent" to the peripheral facility to be processed is longer than the predetermined integrated upper limit distance (S27: NO), is not integrated with the POI icon of the peripheral facility set as the "parent" in the most recent S24. After that, the peripheral facility to be processed is switched to another peripheral facility, and the processes after S26 are executed again.

In S28, the CPU 41 reads from the flash memory 44 a parameter indicating the integrated state linked to the peripheral facility to be processed. Then, set the integrated state to "child". Note that the "child" in the integrated state indicates the peripheral facility of the POI icon to be integrated with respect to the reference icon of the peripheral facility that has become the "parent" when the POI icons are integrated. In addition, since the processing of S26 to S30 is executed in order from the peripheral facility closest to the nearby facility set as the "parent" in the most recent S24, A POI icon of a certain peripheral facility is preferentially selected as an object of integration.

Next, in S29, the CPU 41 reads from the flash memory 44 a parameter indicating the number of integration times associated with the peripheral facility set as the parent in the most recent S24. Then, "+1" is added to the integration count.

After that, in S30, the CPU 41 reads from the flash memory 44 a parameter indicating the number of times of integration linked to the peripheral facility set as the parent in the most recent S24. Then, it is determined whether or not the current integration count is less than the upper limit. Note that the upper limit value, which is the criterion for determination in S30, can be set as appropriate, but is set to, for example, "3 (times)".

Then, if it is determined in the most recent S24 that the number of times of integration linked to the peripheral facility set as the parent is less than the upper limit (S30: YES), the peripheral facility to be processed is replaced with another peripheral facility. , and the processes after S26 are executed again. On the other hand, if it is determined in the most recent S24 that the number of times of integration linked to the peripheral facility set as the parent has reached the upper limit (S30: NO), the The process of integrating the POI icons for the surrounding facilities ends, and the process returns to S23. Thereafter, the POI icons that are not to be integrated at present are subjected to the integration process from S23 onward. Then, the processes of S23 to S30 are repeatedly executed until the processes of S23 to S30 are performed for all the peripheral facilities extracted in S21.

After that, after executing the processing of S23 to S30 described above for all the peripheral facilities extracted in S21, the process proceeds to S10. Then, in S10, POI icons are displayed for peripheral facilities set as "parents" (including peripheral facilities that have not been integrated) in the above-described icon integration processing. On the other hand, POI icons are not displayed for peripheral facilities set as "child". However, the peripheral facilities extracted in S21 include peripheral facilities that are not to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 (peripheral facilities that are not located within the display target area). The icon integration processing described above is performed. Therefore, even if the peripheral facility is set as a "parent", the POI icon is not displayed unless the position of the peripheral facility is included in the display target area.

In the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, by performing the above-described icon integration processing (S21 to S30), when facilities A to H exist as peripheral facilities as shown in FIG. When the facility A closest to the center of the displayed map image is set as the “parent”, the POI icons of the facilities that are within the integrated upper limit distance from the facility A and up to the upper limit in order of proximity from the facility A are the POIs of the facility A. It will be integrated with the icon. For example, if the upper limit is 3, in the example shown in FIG. 11, facility B, facility D, and facility F, which are located near facility A, become "children" and are integrated into the POI icon of facility A.

Next, when the facility E closest to the center of the map image displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 is set as a new "parent" among the remaining facilities C, E, G, and H in the unintegrated state, the facility The POI icons of the facilities within the integration upper limit distance from E and closer to the facility E up to the upper limit value are integrated with the POI icon of the facility E. For example, if the upper limit is 3, in the example shown in FIG. 11, facility C and facility H, which are located near facility E, become "children" and are integrated into the POI icon of facility E. FIG. On the other hand, the POI icons of the remaining non-integrated facility G are not integrated (however, they are set as "parent") because there is no other non-integrated peripheral facility within the integration upper limit distance. .

As a result of the integration of the POI icons, POI icons corresponding to facility A, facility E, and facility G set as "parents" among facilities A to H, which are peripheral facilities, are displayed. On the other hand, the POI icons corresponding to facility B, facility C, facility D, facility F, and facility H set as "children" are basically not displayed.

As a result of executing the icon integration process for all the surrounding facilities extracted in S21, it is possible to limit the number of POI icons to be displayed in an area where POI icons are concentrated. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, facility A, facility B, facility D, and facility F are located close to each other. The POI icon 61, the POI icon 62 corresponding to the facility B, the POI icon 63 corresponding to the facility D, and the POI icon 64 corresponding to the facility F are densely displayed and partially overlapped. Information about facilities cannot be provided appropriately. Therefore, by integrating the POI icon 62 corresponding to the facility B, the POI icon 63 corresponding to the facility D, and the POI icon 64 corresponding to the facility F into the POI icon 61 of the facility A, the POI icon 61 of the facility A Show only As a result, the visibility of the map image is not lowered even in an area where facilities are concentrated. Further, in this embodiment, since an upper limit is set for the integrated number of POI icons, the number of POI icons to be displayed does not become too small compared to the number of facilities to be guided. It should be noted that the information regarding the facilities of the POI icons that have been merged and hidden can also be output by selecting and operating the POI icon of the facility corresponding to the "parent" (S12).

Further, it is preferable that the icon integration means preferentially select POI icons of facilities belonging to chain stores as reference icons serving as integration criteria. Specifically, first, among the peripheral facilities extracted in S21, only the peripheral facilities belonging to the chain store are set as "parents", and the processing of S23 to S30 is repeated a predetermined number of times (eg, 50 times). Information specifying facilities belonging to chain stores is stored in advance in the point data 35 (FIG. 3). After that, the processing of S23 to S30 is executed without considering whether the peripheral facility belongs to a chain store or not. As a result, even when the POI icons are integrated, it is possible to preferentially leave the POI icons of the facilities belonging to the chain stores that the user tends to drop by as display objects.

As described in detail above, in the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment and the computer program executed in the navigation device 1, the map image 51 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 (S1 to S3). Targeting points located within the displayed map image, an icon indicating the point is superimposed and displayed at a certain position of the point (S10). In this case, the icons of a plurality of locations that are concentrated up to a predetermined number are integrated into one icon (S21 to S30). It is possible to leave a certain number of icons as display targets even after performing the integration processing. As a result, the number of icons to be displayed does not become too small compared to the number of points to be guided, and information about points can be appropriately guided to the user.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and of course various improvements and modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, the POI icon corresponding to the facility is subjected to the icon integration process, but the icon integration process may be performed to an icon other than the POI icon. For example, an icon indicating a registered point registered by a user, an icon indicating traffic information occurring on a road, or the like may be targeted. Alternatively, icon integration processing may be performed between icons of different types.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the POI icons are integrated, the POI icons to be integrated are hidden except for the POI icon of the facility set as the "parent". POI icons other than the POI icon of the facility may be displayed in a different display form. For example, it is possible to display in a semi-transmissive state or display in a reduced size.

Moreover, the present invention can be applied to a device having a map image display function other than a navigation device. For example, it can be applied to mobile phones, smart phones, tablet terminals, personal computers, etc. (hereinafter referred to as mobile terminals, etc.). In that case, it is also possible to display a map image around pedestrians and two-wheeled vehicles instead of a map image around the vehicle.

Also, it is possible to apply to a system composed of a server, a mobile terminal, and the like. In that case, each step of the above-described map image display processing program (FIG. 5) may be implemented by either the server or the portable terminal. If the configuration is implemented by a server, the server corresponds to the map information guidance device of the present invention.

Further, although the embodiments embodying the map information guidance system according to the present invention have been described above, the map information guidance system can also have the following configuration, in which case the following effects are obtained.

For example, the first configuration is as follows.
map image display means (41) for displaying a map image (51) on a display device (15); and an icon display means (41) for superimposing and displaying an icon (54) indicating the location on the screen; and icon integration means (41) for performing an integration process of integrating icons of a plurality of points into one icon, wherein the icon integration means first selects a first icon from among the plurality of points to be displayed as the icons. select a point to be used as a reference icon for the first reference icon, select icons to be integrated with a predetermined number as the upper limit, giving priority to icons at points near the point to be used as the first reference icon, and select the selected icon are integrated into the first reference icon, and then the first reference icon and the icon integrated into the first reference icon among the plurality of points to be displayed for the icon. A new point is selected as the second reference icon by excluding the indicated point, and the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon are removed and used as the second reference icon. Icons to be integrated are selected with a predetermined number as the upper limit, with priority given to icons at locations nearer to the location, and the selected icons are integrated into the second reference icon.
According to the map information guidance system having the above configuration, by setting an upper limit on the number of icons to be integrated, it is possible to leave a certain number of icons to be displayed even after performing the icon integration process. . As a result, the number of icons to be displayed does not become too small compared to the number of points to be guided, and information about points can be appropriately guided to the user.

A second configuration is as follows.
After the integration, the icon integration means (41) hides the icons to be integrated except for the reference icon.
According to the map information guidance system having the above-described configuration, icons are not displayed except for the reference icon by integrating the icons, so the visibility of the map image is reduced even in an area where points to be guided are concentrated. never let

A third configuration is as follows.
A plurality of icons (54) to be integrated in the integration process with the first reference icon as a reference are located at locations within a predetermined distance from the location indicated by the first reference icon and the first reference icon. A plurality of icons, which are icons and are to be integrated in the integration process based on the second reference icon, are within a predetermined distance from points indicated by the second reference icon and the second reference icon. It is an icon of a place .
According to the map information guidance system having the above-described configuration, since the icon integration processing is performed for a plurality of icons that are arranged closely to each other, the icons may be displayed in duplicate or the surrounding map images may be visually recognized by the icons. Prevent events such as failure to occur.

Further , according to the map information guidance system having the above configuration, one icon is used as a reference icon, and icon integration processing is performed for icons around it. Therefore, even if there are a plurality of reference icons, It is possible to disperse and display a plurality of reference icons without clustering them in one place.

A fourth configuration is as follows.
The icon integration means (41) preferentially selects icons of facilities belonging to chain stores as the first reference icon and the second reference icon .
According to the map information guidance system having the above-described configuration, even when icon integration processing is performed, it is possible to preferentially leave the icons of facilities belonging to chain stores where users tend to drop by as objects to be displayed. Become.

Further , according to the map information guidance system having the above configuration, even when a large number of icons are concentrated, it is possible to leave only a certain number of icons out of the large number of icons to be displayed. . As a result, it is possible to appropriately guide the user with the information about the location.

Also, the fifth configuration is as follows.
The point is a facility, and the icon display means (41) selects a facility located in the map image (51) displayed on the display device (15) as a target and displays the icon corresponding to the location of the facility. An icon indicating the genre of the facility is superimposed and displayed.
According to the map information guidance system having the above-described configuration, when the integration process is performed particularly for the icons indicating facilities located in the map image, by setting an upper limit on the number of icons to be integrated, the number of icons can be reduced. It is possible to leave a certain number of icons to be displayed even after the integration process is performed. As a result, the number of icons to be displayed does not become too small compared to the number of facilities to be guided, and information on facilities can be appropriately guided to the user.

1 navigation device 13 navigation ECU
15 liquid crystal display 31 map information DB
35 location data 41 CPU
42 RAMs
43 ROMs
50 Driving guidance screen 51 Map image 54 POI icon 55 Registered point icon

Claims (7)

map image display means for displaying a map image on a display device;
icon display means for superimposing and displaying an icon indicating a point located in the map image displayed on the display device on a certain position of the point;
and icon integration means for performing an integration process of integrating icons of a plurality of locations, up to a predetermined number as an upper limit, into a single icon when locations where the icons are to be displayed are concentrated. have
The icon integration means is
First, a point to be used as a first reference icon is selected from among a plurality of points to be displayed as icons,
Icons to be integrated are selected with a predetermined number as an upper limit, with priority given to icons at locations near a location to be used as the first reference icon, and the selected icons are integrated into the first reference icon. and
After that, among the plurality of points to be displayed with the icons, the points indicated by the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon are newly set as the second reference icon. select a location and
excluding the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon, the icon at a location near the location to be the second reference icon is preferentially integrated with a predetermined number as the upper limit; A map information guidance system that selects a target icon and integrates the selected icon into the second reference icon . The icon integration means is
2. The map information guidance system according to claim 1, wherein after the integration is performed, the icons to be integrated are hidden except for the first reference icon and the second reference icon . A plurality of icons to be integrated in the integration process with the first reference icon as a reference are icons at locations within a predetermined distance from the location indicated by the first reference icon and the first reference icon. the law of nature,
A plurality of icons to be integrated in the integration process based on the second reference icon are icons at points within a predetermined distance from points indicated by the second reference icon and the second reference icon. The map information guidance system according to claim 1 or claim 2 . 4. The map information guidance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said icon integrating means preferentially selects icons of facilities belonging to chain stores as said first reference icon and said second reference icon. . The location is a facility,
2. The icon display means, for facilities located in the map image displayed on the display device, superimposes an icon indicating a genre of the facility on a position of the facility and displays the icon. Item 5. The map information guidance system according to any one of Item 4 . map image display means for displaying a map image on a display device;
icon display means for superimposing and displaying an icon indicating a point located in the map image displayed on the display device on a certain position of the point;
and icon integration means for performing an integration process of integrating icons of a plurality of locations, up to a predetermined number as an upper limit, into a single icon when locations where the icons are to be displayed are concentrated. have
The icon integration means is
First, a point to be used as a first reference icon is selected from among a plurality of points to be displayed as icons,
Icons to be integrated are selected with a predetermined number as an upper limit, with priority given to icons at locations near a location to be used as the first reference icon, and the selected icons are integrated into the first reference icon. and
After that, among the plurality of points to be displayed with the icons, the points indicated by the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon are newly set as the second reference icon. select a location and
excluding the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon, the icon at a location near the location to be the second reference icon is preferentially integrated with a predetermined number as the upper limit; A map information guidance device that selects a target icon and integrates the selected icon into the second reference icon . the computer,
map image display means for displaying a map image on a display device;
icon display means for superimposing and displaying an icon indicating a point located in the map image displayed on the display device on a certain position of the point;
icon integration means for performing an integration process of integrating icons of a plurality of concentrated locations into one icon, with a predetermined number as the upper limit, when the locations to be displayed with the icons are concentrated; A computer program for causing a
The icon integration means is
First, a point to be used as a first reference icon is selected from among a plurality of points to be displayed as icons,
Icons to be integrated are selected with a predetermined number as an upper limit, with priority given to icons at locations near a location to be used as the first reference icon, and the selected icons are integrated into the first reference icon. and
After that, among the plurality of points to be displayed with the icons, the points indicated by the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon are newly set as the second reference icon. select a location and
excluding the first reference icon and the icons integrated into the first reference icon, the icon at a location near the location to be the second reference icon is preferentially integrated with a predetermined number as the upper limit; A computer program that selects target icons and integrates the selected icons into the second reference icon .

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