JPH03150700A - Intersection drawing system in navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to recognize surely a guided intersection by providing background data together with mark data, and displaying a background preferentially, and besides, displaying a mark as attaching a rank to it. CONSTITUTION:Not only an arrow mark is attached to a guided road 2 solid- crossing the road 1, but an outline is attached to it, and simultaneously, it is enhanced by shading it so that it can be recognized at a glance that a vehicle ought to go to the solid crossing road 2. Besides, by drawing a river 9 and the road 10 not to be used as a background picture, and simultaneously, enhanc ing the mark 8 of a bookstore by surrounding it by a black frame, the guided intersection 7 is made easy to recognize. Thus, the drawing of the guided inter section can be made easy to understand, and it can be read exactly and quickly.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a navigation device that outputs guidance information according to a preset course, and a navigation device that displays background images and landmarks at intersections of the set course. Intersection drawing method of navigation device % type % [Prior art] When instructing a preset course in a navigation device, ■Display a map on the CRT screen, and display the current position, course, destination position, and A method that displays the travel trajectory etc. overlappingly.

■A method in which an enlarged view of the vicinity of the intersection is prepared as image data and arrows are displayed to guide the route at the intersection.

In the case of BF1■, etc., maps etc. are displayed on a small screen such as an in-vehicle CRT in a vehicle with a running width, so it is difficult for the driver to understand the information about the course, and it takes a short time to read the information from the screen. It is difficult to obtain accurate information, and since the method (■) is an enlarged view of only roads, it is difficult to check at intersections, and the amount of data becomes enormous. For this reason, some proposals have been made in which intersection markers such as banks are displayed on an intersection map so that the information necessary for traveling on a course can be quickly and accurately obtained.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, when displaying an intersection landmark, if you attempt to draw the intersection information as image data, there is a problem in that it is difficult to rotate the screen to display the intersection with the direction of travel facing upward. Furthermore, if there are no landmarks, it is difficult to recognize intersections, and conversely, if there are too many landmarks, it becomes a national problem to recognize intersections.

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 18, a method is used in which 55 guide intersection names 5 and distance #It display 6 are displayed on the screen, and a guide road 2 with a grade-separated intersection on road yK1 is drawn along with an arrow 3. Originally, roads with grade-separated intersections are supposed to be landmarks, but this display alone does not tell you whether or not the road is grade-separated, so you have to rely solely on arrows, which can lead to misunderstandings.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and has background data together with landmark data, displays the background preferentially, and ranks the landmarks for easy viewing.
Guaranteed guide intersections! ! An object of the present invention is to provide an intersection drawing method for a navigation device that can perform ilk.

[Means to solve the problem]

To this end, the intersection drawing method of the navigation device of the present invention is a navigation device that sets a course from a departure point and a destination and guides the user along the course. , road data consisting of information about roads,
A guidance data creation means that includes landmark data and background image data regarding intersections, performs a route search from the intersection data and road data, and creates guidance data; and a drawing display that draws and displays guidance intersections based on the guidance data. When drawing the guide intersection by converting the node data related to the guide intersection into screen coordinates, the guide intersection is drawn after the background is drawn, or the landmark is drawn or the background image is given priority for drawing and display. In addition, landmark data is ranked by pattern number and drawn in descending order of rank, guide roads are highlighted, background images are displayed in background-specific colors, and landmarks are highlighted by surrounding them with outlines. It is characterized by displaying.

[Action and effect of the invention]

The present invention is based on the fact that background images are easier to understand than landmarks when it comes to identifying guidance intersections. If you take it as data, you can draw the background image first and then draw the landmarks, or give priority to the background image - (draw it, and if there is no background, draw the landmarks, so
Guide intersections are easier to recognize, and guide roads such as grade-separated roads are highlighted by diagonal lines or landmarks are surrounded by frames, and landmarks are ranked in descending order of rank. By displaying a drawing, the guide intersection map can be easily understood and read accurately and quickly.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display screen using an intersection drawing method of a navigation device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a road, 2 is an overpass guide road, 3 is an arrow, 5 is an intersection name, 6 is a distance display, 7 is a guide intersection, 8 is a landmark, 9 is a river, and IO is a road.

In Fig. 1(a), the guide road 2 that intersects with road 1 is not only marked with an arrow, but also highlighted with an outline and diagonal line as shown in the figure, and the intersection is marked with a - It is designed so that you can do J+a by proceeding to road 2. .

In Figure 1 et al.), in C, the guide intersection 7 is made easier to recognize by drawing Jl+ 9 and the unused road 1O as a background image, and enclosing the bookstore landmark 8 with a black frame to emphasize it.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the system configuration of a navigation device to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 2, 11 is a distance meter, 12 is a rudder angle meter, 13 is a human power section, 16 is a data processing control section, 17 is an image output control section, 18 is a display section, 21 is a navigation program file, and 23 is map data. Show file.

The distance meter 11 measures the distance traveled by the vehicle,
For example, it may be a method that detects and counts the rotation of a wheel or a method that detects acceleration and integrates it twice, but other measurement means may also be used.

The steering angle gauge 12 detects whether or not the intersection has been turned. For example, an optical rotation sensor attached to the rotating part of the steering wheel, a rotating resistance polyneum, etc. can be used. An attached angle sensor may also be used.

The input 1131f may be a joystick, touch panel, or touch panel, or may be combined with the screen of the display unit 18 to display keys and menus on the screen and input manually from the screen.

The data processing control section 16 is the central part of the navigation device, and when the current location and destination are set from the input section 13, the data processing control section 16 calls and executes the navigation program for the course stored in the file 21. Each navigation program sets a course, displays a road map on the screen of the display unit 18 along the course to be traveled, displays a route guidance screen for intersections to turn, and provides other information such as the remaining distance to the intersection. It is configured to display information. The file 23 stores road data and map data for this purpose, and the image output control section 17 controls the output of images to the display section 18.

In the above navigation system, the input section 13 is
When the current location and destination are input from , the data processing control unit 1G reads out the navigation program corresponding to the course from the file 21 and executes it.

The navigation program calculates the position of the own army based on the measurement information from the distance meter 11 and the steering angle meter 12 according to the course, displays a guide map of the course and the current location, etc. through the display 118 and the speaker 20, and displays the characteristic objects on the way. Provides guidance, intersection guidance, etc.

For example, in the middle of a course where the distance to the next intersection is long,
In order to give the driver a sense of security that he is not deviating from the course, or to display a picture of a characteristic object he is passing on the screen. Alternatively, the guide map and the position of one's own troops may be displayed to notify the running position on the course. Then, when the intersection approaches, the intersection is drawn and output as described above.

Next, a drawing method for outputting the above display screen will be explained. First, the data structure will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

The road network data includes, for example, intersection numbers ■ to ■ and road numbers ■ as shown in Figure 3.
In the case where the intersection data 1:''°C'' is assumed to be composed of .about.■, the data structure is as shown in FIG. 4, the road data is shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the intersection data includes intersection names corresponding to intersection numbers ■ to ■, and the smallest road number (
(Exiting road), the lowest road number (Entering road) among the roads that end at the intersection, (East longitude, North latitude), the starting address where the intersection landmark data and background data are stored in memory. It consists of a landmark pointer, a background pointer, etc.

In addition, as shown in Figure 4 (b), the road data includes starting points and ending points according to intersection numbers, roads with the same starting point and roads with the next number, and roads with the same ending point, as shown in Figure 4 (b). It consists of the following number, a node string pointer indicating the start address where the node data is stored in the memory, the length and thickness of the road, etc.

The node data consists of the number of nodes, east longitude, north latitude, etc. as shown in Fig. 5, and includes the road'! &A cod unit consists of multiple nodes. Node data is position coordinate data regarding one point on a road, and represents each point as a node when the road is approximated by a polygonal line. If the connection between nodes is called an arc, a road is expressed by connecting each of a plurality of node strings with an arc. For example, it can be seen from the road data that the first address of the node data for the road number ■ starts with Aooo, and the node data consists of 15 nodes from the node string data in FIG.

According to these network data, for example, if we focus on intersection number I, for a course starting from this point, we will first search for the road number ■ based on the starting point information of the intersection data, and then search for the road number ``same starting point'' in the road data related to this road number ■. The road number ■ is searched from "roads with the following numbers".

Contrary to the similar information regarding the road number ■, since it is the road number ■, it can be determined that there are no surrounding roads with other road numbers. This also applies to the end point. .

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of background data.

Background data is stored in the memory area whose start address is specified by the background pointer as data that is easy to access such as roads, rivers, railroads, etc. for each intersection.As shown in Figure 6 (a), the number of background data is It consists of the number of elements indicating whether there is any, the number of nodes constituting each background data, the node type when roads = 1, rivers = 2, railways = 3, east longitude, north latitude, etc. In the example shown in FIG. 6(b), the number of elements is three, and they are composed of node type 1 (road), node type 2 (river), and node type 3 (railway). Note that, like roads, rivers and railroads are each represented as a node by each point when approximated by a polygonal line. Each background image can be drawn by using a node string, and in the present invention, background images are drawn preferentially to facilitate recognition of guide intersections.

Figure 7 shows the structure of intersection landmark data, and Figure 7 (a)
As shown in the figure, the number of landmarks, center position of the landmark 1;, position iN coordinates (east longitude, north ν, 1), and landmark pattern number are stored for each intersection in the memory area where the start address is specified by the intersection landmark pointer. Stored.

FIG. 7(b) shows a file of landmark pattern numbers, and for each landmark pattern number, image data of banks, gas stations, etc. is stored as matrix data of 24×24 dots. Note that this image data may be held in a character code.

The processing flow of the drawing method of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the navigation processing flow of the present invention.

This process starts at step 100, where the current location and destination are input and a route search is performed (step 101.10).
2>, create guidance intersection data along the route (step 103). At this time, if the distances between the guidance intersections become close, they are registered as composite guidance intersection data. Then, the current position is tracked (step 104), this process is performed until the destination position is reached, a guidance route is set, and intersection guidance is then performed (steps 105 and 106).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the flow of the intersection Z point drawing process.

The intersection drawing subroutine starts at step 110, and the rotation angle of the screen is set for easy viewing (step 1
11). For example, as shown in FIG. 18, this is done by setting the screen angle so that the guidance intersection is in the center of the screen and the direction of travel is directly above.

Then, draw the background of rivers, oceans, railroad tracks, etc. Step 112
), the next drawn road is searched (step 113). Step 114: To draw the road by performing coordinate conversion to display the east longitude and north latitude coordinates of each node of each drawn road on the screen.
115), and then draw guide arrows, landmarks such as buildings, etc. (Steps 116 and 117), and this subroutine ends (Step 118).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the rotation angle setting processing flow.

The rotation angle setting process starts in step 120, and out of the guide road array GROAD[], the one whose end point is the next guide intersection is set as GROAD[gp] (step 12
1), GRO8I f:gpJ represents the guide intersection sequence as well as the road sequence.

The node string noded:) of GROAD Cgp) is manually set to i, and it is determined whether the distance between node [i] and the center of the screen is f00m or more (step 123
). This is because in this embodiment, the vertical length displayed on the screen is 200 m, so no.
This is to determine whether or not to draw the mouth. 10
If it is less than 0m, node (i) will fit on the screen, so replace i with it (step I24)
, and searches for node [i] for which the distance between this node and the center of the screen is greater than 100 m. If there is no node larger than 100m with i≧O, all GROAD[g p) will fit on the screen, so gp is replaced with gp-1 and the above process is repeated (steps 126 and 127). and,
For example, if node (i) has a distance of 100 m or less from the center of the screen - (Yes, node: i -]) and a distance from the center of the screen that is greater than 100 m, then node [i] and n
ode C1-1), the distance from the screen center coordinates is 10
Step 128: Calculate the coordinates (X, Y) that will be 0m.
), the rotation angle is calculated from the coordinates (X, Y) so that the direction facing the screen center coordinates is perpendicular, and the process in step 129) is completed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow of the drawn road search process.

The drawn road search process starts in step 140, and the next intersection to be guided to is registered in the drawn intersection list (step 141). Next, a search is performed for roads connected to the drawn intersection list. In other words, it is determined in step 142 whether all the intersections in the drawn intersection list have been searched.
), if the search has been completed, the process ends; if the search has not been completed, one unsearched intersection C is taken out from the drawn intersection list and this intersection is marked as the searched intersection (step 143).

Next, search for roads connected to intersection C and register roads that are not yet registered in the drawn road list.
4/I). Among the intersections of the roads registered in this way on the opposite side of C, those whose distance from the screen center coordinates is less than 100m need to be drawn, so those that are not registered in the drawn intersection list are registered in the drawn intersection list. (step 145). Then, the process returns to step 142 and searches for a drawn road by repeating the same process.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the flow of coordinate conversion processing.

The coordinate transformation process starts at step 150, first i:
= 1, input the node string of the first road in the drawn road list, and set i=i+1 Steps 151 and 152
), convert the node string to screen coordinates (step 153)
. The above process is repeated until i reaches the number of roads to be drawn. When step 154Lt reaches the number of roads to be drawn, the coordinate conversion process ends.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the background drawing processing flow.

In step 160, the background drawing process starts and the block number is set to i. In this example, this is one guide text.
For the point ゛ (1? The j-th background data is extracted as the number of background data (steps 163 and 164).The background data is converted to screen coordinates (step 165), and it is determined whether it is within the drawing range and the type of the background data (step 166). .167), if the background is a road, draw it in the road color with a width step 168), if it is a railway, draw it in the railroad color step 169), and if the background is a river, draw it in the road color. At the same time as drawing, if the river has width, the inside is filled in (steps 170 to 172). Then, set j=j-1 and repeat the above process as long as j≧0, and when j becomes smaller than 0, set i=j+1 and perform the same process for the next data block (steps 173 to 1).
76) Color and draw all background image data.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the road drawing data creation process.

FIG. 14(a) is a flowchart showing the road drawing process, in which the road drawing process starts at step 180, performs drawing data creation processing (step 181), and then performs the process of drawing the road on the screen (step 181). Step 182). In the drawing data creation process, as shown in FIG. 14, etc., a road displayed by a node string is converted into screen coordinates into a polygon whose thickness is taken into consideration (step 191).

As shown in FIG. 14(C), first, the road represented by the node string converted to screen coordinates is shown in FIG. 15(a).
Display it on the screen as shown in step 200), then draw the polygon as shown in FIG.
1), and then fills the inside of the polygon with the road drawing color as shown in FIG. 15(C) (step 203).

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a processing flow for drawing arrows and landmarks of guidance intersections.

In FIG. 16(a), the arrow drawing process starts at step 210, and a node string is input from the guide road string.
211), this road is drawn in a different color from other roads, and a triangular arrow is drawn at the tip (steps 212 and 213). By changing the color of the road, the road is emphasized, so there is no mistaking the guide road.

FIG. 46(b) shows the process of ranking and drawing landmarks, the process of drawing landmarks starts at step 220, and the landmark data of the intersection to be guided next is input (step 221).

In this case, rank the pattern in advance so as to give priority to the one with the smallest pattern number shown in Figure 7, draw the first mark and put a frame on it (step 222), and then sequentially draw the first mark and frame it (step 222). Marks are drawn according to the ranking (step 223).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a processing flow for selectively displaying the background and landmarks.

First, set the rotation angle of the screen (Step 231), determine whether there is a river, railroad tracks, etc. in the background, and if there is, draw the background (Step 233).
draws a landmark (step 234). Then, a drawn road is searched, coordinate transformation is performed, the road is drawn, and an arrow is drawn (steps 235 to 238).

As mentioned above, if there are backgrounds such as roads, rivers, railways, etc., by giving priority to drawing these, guide intersections can be easily recognized, and landmarks are also ranked, starting from the highest rank. By displaying them in sequence, it is possible to prevent too many landmarks from becoming difficult to see, and by highlighting the guide roads, background images, landmarks, etc., it is possible to recognize the guide intersection at a glance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display screen using an intersection drawing method of a navigation device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a navigation device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a road network. 4 is a diagram showing intersection and road data, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing node data, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the background data structure, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing landmark data 441'l, Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the navigation processing J'lfJU-, Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the intersection drawing processing flow, Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the screen rotation angle setting processing flow, and Fig. 11 is the drawing road search processing flow. 12 is a diagram showing a coordinate conversion processing flow, FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a background drawing processing flow, FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a road drawing processing flow, FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a drawn road, 16th
The figure shows the flow of arrow drawing and landmark drawing processing.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a background image priority drawing processing flow, and FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a conventional guidance intersection drawing method. 1... Road, 2... Intersection guide road, 3... Arrow, 5... Intersection name, 6... Distance display, 7... Guide intersection, 8... Landmark, 9... ...river, 10...road. Applicant: Aisin AW 1 Co., Ltd. (1 other person)

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) In a navigation device that sets a course from a departure point and a destination and guides the user along the course, node data that is position information, intersection data that includes information about intersections, and road data that includes information about roads;
A guidance data creation means that includes landmark data and background data regarding intersections and creates guidance data by searching for a route from the intersection data and road data; and a drawing display that draws and displays guidance intersections based on the guidance data. What is claimed is: 1. An intersection drawing method for a navigation device, comprising: converting node data related to a guided intersection into screen coordinates to draw a guided intersection, drawing a background and then drawing a landmark. (2) In a navigation device that sets a course from a departure point and a destination and guides the user along the course, node data that is position information, intersection data that includes information about intersections, and road data that includes information about roads;
A guidance data creation means that includes landmark data and background image data regarding intersections, performs a route search from the intersection data and road data, and creates guidance data; and a drawing display that draws and displays guidance intersections based on the guidance data. What is claimed is: 1. An intersection drawing method for a navigation device, characterized in that when drawing a guidance intersection, a background surface is given priority for drawing and display. (3) The intersection drawing method for a navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the landmark data is ranked by pattern number and drawn in descending order of rank. (4) The intersection drawing method for a navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the guide road is highlighted. (5) The intersection drawing method for a navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the background image is displayed in a color unique to the background. (6) The intersection drawing method for a navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the landmark is highlighted by being surrounded by an outline.