JPH01162111A - Map display device for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable information not included in map information to be registered at a desired position and checked it later, by displaying a specified mark at a position previously registered. CONSTITUTION:In a register mode, a register mode switch 9f is turned ON and map information of area corresponding to the current position of an automobile is read out of a map memory 1 to be shown on a display device 3. Then, when the map displayed is desired to be enlarged, an enlarging switch 9a is turned ON. When it is desired to be reduced, a reduction switch 9b is turned ON and when it is to be moved, a scroll switch 9c done. Then, a cursor is made to match a position to be registered to turn ON a setting switch 9e and a coordinate position on a map is stored into a memory means in a controller 2. A detector 5 for the current position of an automobile is connected to the controller 2. In a display mode, a map is shown on a display device 3 centered on the position of the automobile.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automobile map display device, and particularly to an automobile map display device that allows a user to register a predetermined mark at an arbitrary position on a map. .

[Prior Art] Conventionally, navigation systems for automobiles have been proposed that provide various information to drivers for convenience of driving. Conventional navigation systems for automobiles, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-208698, display map information read from a map memory on a display, and also display the current position of the automobile on a displayed map. Display in the corresponding position. Further, as the vehicle moves, the display screen of the display device is scrolled.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, conventional automobile navigation systems do not support information contained in map information (for example, roads, railways, etc.).
(waterways, place names, etc.) are displayed, but the user was unable to display any information. On the user side,
For example, you may want to additionally display information not included in the map information, such as the location of a date spot, a friend's house, or a gas station, on the map.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a map display device for an automobile that allows a user to register any location on a map and display a predetermined mark at the corresponding location.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The automobile map display device according to the present invention includes a map information storage means that stores map information in advance, a display means for displaying the map information, and a display of the display means. a display control means for controlling the display, a designation means for specifying an arbitrary position on the map on the screen of the display means by giving instruction data to the display control means, and a setting memory for the position designated by the designation means. and a setting storage means for. The display control means is characterized in that, if the position stored in the setting storage means exists within the area of the map being displayed on the display means, a predetermined mark is displayed at the corresponding position.

[Operation] In the present invention, any position on the map is registered by setting and storing the position specified by the specifying means in the setting storage means. If a position stored in the setting storage means exists within the area of the map being displayed on the display means, a predetermined mark is displayed at the corresponding position, allowing the user to easily check the pre-registered position. can do.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a map memory 1 stores map information in advance and is constituted by, for example, a semiconductor memory or a floppy disk device.

The control device 2 is constituted by, for example, a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and mainly performs mark registration and display control of the display device 3. The display device 3 is constituted by, for example, a CRT display or a liquid crystal display, and displays display data from the control device 2 or a television signal from the TV tuner 4. That is, the display device 3 displays display data from the control device 2 when the navigation system is operating, and displays the television signal from the TV tuner 4 when the navigation system is not operating. Furthermore, a vehicle current position detection device 5 is connected to the control device 2 . This vehicle current position detection device 5 is based on the output of a wheel sensor (sensor that detects the rotation speed and rotation direction of the vehicle's wheels) 6 and the output of a direction sensor (sensor that detects the traveling direction of the vehicle) 7. It detects the current position of a car and includes, for example, an arithmetic circuit. Note that the vehicle current position detection device 5 may be configured to detect the current location of the vehicle by receiving, for example, directional radio waves emitted from an artificial satellite with the antenna 8. Further, a switch panel 9 is connected to the control device 2 for giving various instructions to the control device 2. This switch panel 9 includes, as switches of particular interest to the present invention, an enlargement switch 9a, a reduction switch 9b, a scroll switch 9C, and a mark selection switch 9d.
A mark setting switch 9e and a registration mode switch 9f are provided. Enlargement switch 9a and reduction switch 9
b are switches for instructing enlarged display and reduced display of the map displayed on the display device 3, respectively. The scroll switch 9C is a switch for instructing scrolling of the map displayed on the display device 3 in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. The mark selection switch 9d is a switch for selecting a desired mark from among a plurality of predetermined types of marks. The mark setting switch 9e is a switch for instructing the setting of the mark selected by the mark selection switch 9d. The registration mode switch 9f is a switch for instructing switching to registration mode.

2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the control device 2 in FIG. 1. The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

First, the operation in the registration mode will be explained with reference to FIG. This registration mode is a mode for registering a desired mark at an arbitrary position on the map displayed on the display device 3, and is started by turning on the registration mode switch 9f. First, a map is displayed on the display device 3 centered on the current location of the vehicle (step Sl). That is, the current position of the car is taken in from the car current position detection device 5,
Map information of the area corresponding to the current position of the car is read out from the map memory 1 and displayed on the display device 3. At this time, a cross-shaped cursor is displayed at the center of the screen of the display device 3. Therefore, initially, this cross-shaped cursor represents the current position of the car. Next, the location to be registered is specified. If the displayed map is to be enlarged, the enlargement switch 9a is turned on, and if the displayed map is to be reduced, the reduction switch 9b is turned on. Furthermore, if the user wishes to move the displayed map, turn on the scroll switch 9C. In response to these operations, the control device 2 performs predetermined operations. That is, when it is determined that the enlargement switch 9a is on (step S2), the vicinity of the center of the display screen on the display device 3 is enlarged and displayed (step S3).
. Furthermore, when it is determined that the reduction switch 9b is turned on (step S4), a wider map is displayed without changing the center of the screen (step S5). The operations in steps S3 and S5 can be realized by changing the area of the map information read from the map memory 1. Also,
When it is determined that the scroll switch 9C is on (step S6), the display screen of the display device 3 is moved in accordance with the operation of the scroll switch 9C (step S7). These enlargement switch 9a, reduction switch 9b, and scroll switch 9c are operated until the desired position to be registered reaches the center of the screen of display device 3, that is, the position where the cross-shaped cursor is displayed. When the position to be registered is at the center of the display screen of the display device 3, the user presses the mark selection switch 9.
d to select the desired mark. When it is determined that the mark selection switch 9d is turned on (step S8), the selected mark is stored in the storage means (RAM etc.) provided inside the control device 2 (step S8).
9). Next, when the user turns on the mark setting switch 9e, this is determined in step S10, and the selected mark is displayed at the cross-shaped cursor position, that is, at the center of the screen, and the selected mark is displayed on the map where the mark is displayed. The coordinate position of is stored in the storage means in the control device 2 (step 511).

The above operation continues until the registration mode switch 9f is turned off. Therefore, multiple locations can be registered in one registration mode. Registration mode switch 9f
When is turned off, the operation shifts to the display mode shown in FIG. 3 (step 512).

Next, the operation in the display mode will be explained with reference to FIG. In this display mode, a map is first displayed on the display device 3 centered on the location of the car (step 521), and then it is determined whether or not a mark has been registered in the registration mode (step 522). ). If the mark is registered, then it is determined whether the coordinate position where the mark is registered is within the area of the map currently displayed on the display device 3 (step 523). If the coordinate position where the mark is registered exists within the currently displayed area, the mark registered at the corresponding position is displayed (step 524). The above operation is repeated until the registration mode switch 9f is turned on. If the registration mode switch 9f is turned on, the process shifts to the registration mode shown in FIG. 2 (step 525).

As described above, when a mark is registered at a position in the registration mode, if the registered position exists within the area being displayed in the display mode, the registered mark is displayed at the corresponding position. Therefore, the user can easily confirm the pre-registered location.

In the above embodiment, the switch panel 9 including a plurality of switches is provided as a means for giving instructions to the control device 2. However, the key tops of the switches are displayed on the screen of the display device 3, and the switch panel 9 is a so-called panel switch. The instructions may also be input in a format. In this case, the number of switches included in the switch panel 9 can be significantly reduced.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the display mode is a mode in which a map is displayed according to the position of the car, as shown in FIG. There are also other display modes that can selectively display. Therefore, it goes without saying that the registered mark may be displayed at the registered position in such other display modes as well.

Further, in the above embodiment, a mark selection switch 9d is provided to enable selective registration of a plurality of types of marks, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the mark selection switch 9d is provided to enable selective registration of a plurality of types of marks. Only one type may be used.

In that case, the mark selection switch becomes unnecessary.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since a predetermined mark is displayed at a pre-registered position, the user can register information not included in map information at any position. Since this can be confirmed later, an extremely user-friendly automobile map display device can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the control device 2 shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, 1 is a map memory, 2 is a control device, 3 is a display device, 4 is a TV tuner, 5 is a vehicle current position detection device, 6 is a wheel sensor, 7 is a direction sensor, 8 is an antenna, 9
9a is a switch panel, 9a is an enlargement switch, 9b is a reduction switch, 9C is a scroll switch, 9d is a mark selection switch, 9e is a mark setting switch, and 9f is a registration mode switch. Figure 1

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Map information storage means that stores map information in advance, display means for displaying the map information, display control means for controlling the display of the display means, and providing instruction data to the display control means. a designation means for designating an arbitrary position on a map on the screen of the display means, and a setting storage means for setting and storing the position designated by the designation means; A map display device for an automobile, characterized in that when a position stored in the setting storage means exists within an area of a map being displayed on the display means, a predetermined mark is displayed at the corresponding position. (2) The specifying means includes means for specifying one of a plurality of types of marks prepared in advance in addition to specifying the position, and the setting storage means is configured to specify the position specified by the specifying means. The map display device for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays the mark stored in the setting storage means at the position stored in the setting storage means. .