JPH03174184A - Map display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use identical data in various kinds of display states in common by storing each point of plural road constituent points as the coordinate data of a 1st coordinate system and transforming the stored data to the display coordinate of a 2nd coordinate system in a display means in relation to a display area. CONSTITUTION:A map data storing medium 2 in which specified map data is previously stored stores each point of plural road constituent points as the coordinate data for specifying it as the point of the 1st coordinate system with respect to a specified point. Then, the coordinate data of a map constituent point included in an area obtained by specifying the area of the 1st coordinate system equivalent to a map which is displayed on the display means 1 is extracted from the storage means 2 and the extracted coordinate data of the plural map constituent points is transformed to the display coordinate data of the 2nd coordinate system in relation to the 2nd coordinate system which is decided in order to display the map on the display means 1 and the specified area, then the points on the display are connected to be displayed. Thus, the identical data is used in the various kinds of display states in common.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a map display device that displays a road map on a display means.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-10781,
There is a map display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-186111, etc., which displays a map using map display data that corresponds one-to-one with the display on the display means, that is, so-called pattern (image) data.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-mentioned conventional map display device, since the above-mentioned image data is used to display the map, it is necessary to change the display form of the map display, for example, to enlarge the map display in the same area. , reduction, etc., it is necessary to prepare map data for the change, and there are considerable limitations in terms of freedom in changing the display format.

The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and instead of providing a unique map display using image data as shown in the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention allows flexibility in changing various display formats through the common use of the same data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a map display device that can increase the number of maps.

[Means for Achieving the Object] In order to achieve the above object, in the first invention of the present application, as shown in FIG. storage means for storing each of the plurality of roads, yokoweiji and tuns for displaying each of the roads constituting the road, as coordinate data defining them as points in a first coordinate system with respect to a specific point; and display on the display means. area defining means for defining an area of the first coordinate system corresponding to a map to be mapped; and extracting coordinate data of a plurality of map constituent points included in at least the area defined by the area defining means from the storage means. coordinate data of a plurality of map constituent points extracted by the extraction means from the relationship between the second coordinate system determined for map display on the display means and the area defined by the area definition means; coordinate conversion means for converting the coordinates into display coordinate data of the second coordinate system, and a point on the display on the display means defined by the display coordinate data coordinate-converted by the coordinate conversion means, and a connected display point. A technical means is adopted in which the display means is provided with a road display control means for causing the road display to be displayed.

Further, in the second invention of the present application, the storage means includes road information defining each of the roads constituting a map by a combination of a plurality of road displays, and the road display in association with this road information. The method uses coordinate data that defines each of a plurality of road configuration points as a point in a first coordinate system for a specific point, and further, the extraction means extracts information related to the road information from the storage means. A technical means is adopted that extracts the coordinate data of road component points for each piece of road information.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the first invention of the present application, each of the plurality of road constituent points constituting the map is stored as coordinate data in the first coordinate system, and this is stored as coordinate data in the second coordinate system in the display means in relation to the display area. Since the displayed map is configured by converting the coordinates to the display coordinates of the first coordinate system, it is possible to display a map of the desired range by determining the display area in the first coordinate system, and at that time, the same This has the excellent effect that data can be used in common for various display formats.

Furthermore, in the second invention of the present application, the above-mentioned display map can be formed for each road to be displayed, and the roads to be displayed can be selected and selected, and the display form can be changed even more freely. It has the excellent effect of increasing the level of strength.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the embodiment.

In FIG. 2, 1 is a display as a display means for displaying a map, and 2 is a map data storage medium in which predetermined map data, which will be described later, is stored in advance. Reference numeral 7 is an operation unit, which is used by the driver etc. when using the travel guidance system; 8 is an azimuth sensor, which detects the direction of movement of the vehicle, that is, the geomagnetic direction relative to the own troops; 9
is a distance sensor that detects the distance traveled by the vehicle. 10 is a control device, which includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM.
, Ilo, etc., and a display controller 10-2, and functionally execute arithmetic processing and display control.

The operation unit 7 has an enlargement key for instructing to enlarge the currently displayed map, that is, the currently displayed map, by one rank, a reduction key for reducing the currently displayed map by one rank, and a reduction key for making the currently displayed map sparse by one rank. sparse key, and the currently displayed map as 1
It has a secret key to make the rank dense.

The orientation sensor 8 includes a permalloy core on a ring, an excitation coil, and two coils that are perpendicular to each other, and controls an orientation signal for detecting the direction of travel of the vehicle with respect to the earth's magnetic field based on the output voltages of these two coils. Output to the device 10.

The distance sensor 9 indirectly detects the rotation of the speedometer cable as an electrical signal using a reed switch, a magnetically sensitive element, or a photoelectric conversion element, or detects the rotation of the output shaft of the transmission as an electrical signal using the same means as described above. , outputs to the control device 10 a distance signal used in calculating the distance traveled by the vehicle.

The map data storage medium 2 is a ROM (Read Only
M emory ) package. The data structure of the map data stored in advance in the map data storage medium 2 is as follows:
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a header 11 that is an identification symbol of regional map data, a point information string 12 about points such as major intersections, a route information string 13 about routes such as national highways, and information about various services. Article information column 14
It consists of The point information string 12 has prefecture point information strings for prefectures belonging to the region, such as the Aichi prefecture point information string 15 for Aichi Prefecture. It has a cluster of location information columns for cities, etc. belonging to the prefecture, such as a Nagoya City location information column 16 for Nagoya City, and among the location information arrays, for example, the Nagoya City location information column 16 is a list of major points belonging to Nagoya City. It has a point information group consisting of point information 17-1.17-2, ..., and each point information 17-1.17-2 includes the point number, point level, point type, and the earth coordinates of the point. It consists of information on X component and Y component. The route information string 13 includes #1 route information string 18-1, #2 route information string 18-2, . . . #N route information string 18-N, and these route information strings 18-1.
Consisting of pointers 19-1.19-2,...19N that correspond one-to-one to 18-2,...18-N, each route information string 18-1.182,...18-N consists of a route number, a route level, a route type, a group of point numbers for points forming the route, and the end of the route. The article information column 14 includes an intersection name information column 20-1, a route name information column 20-2, . . . , a landmark name information column 20-
M, and these name information strings 20-1, 20-2,...
Pointer 21-1.21- corresponding one-to-one to 20-M
2, ..., 21-M, intersection name information string 2
0-1 has an intersection information group consisting of intersection information 21-1, 21-2, . . . of point number, name level, intersection name, and route name information column 20-2 has route number, name level, Route name route information 22-1.22-2,
It has a route information group consisting of..., and the landmark name information string 20-M has a landmark information group consisting of point number, name level, landmark information 23-1, 23-2,... .

Here, the above route type represents the type of route such as national highway, expressway, general road, railway, coastline, etc., and the above point type refers to general intersection, grade-level intersection of general road, interchange, general road, etc. This indicates the type of fee, such as an intersection with an expressway or an intersection between a general road and a railway.

The control device 10 receives instruction signals from the operation unit 7 and the direction sensor 8.
In response to the direction signal from the azimuth sensor, the distance signal from the distance sensor 9, and the map data from the map data storage medium 2, it executes predetermined processing as described later in FIG. 6, controls the display 1, and outputs a video signal. Output to display 6.

The display is CRT (Cathode Ray).
A map and the like are displayed on the display screen using a video signal from the control device 10.

In the above configuration, the relationship between the level information in the map data on the map data storage medium 2 and the size specified by key operation is as shown in the following table (a).

(Left below) Specifically, when a size O corresponding to a scale of 1/1 million is specified by operating the enlargement key or reduction key, only routes and points for which "O" has been given as level information in advance will be displayed. is an object that can be displayed on the display l, and if size 1 corresponding to a scale of 1/500,000 is specified, only routes and points whose level information is r□ or "1" are to be displayed, The relationships between other size specifications and display targets are also the same as above.

Normally, the relationship between size and level is as shown in table (a) above, but when a sparse key or a dense key is operated, the relationship between the two is determined by one operation of each key. ), (
It is updated as shown in c).

Note that the table (b) corresponds to the case where the secret key is operated once.

Table (B) Table (C) To be more specific, for example, if a sparse key of 1 is created in a state where a map corresponding to size 3 is currently displayed, the level "O", "1" ”, “2”, “3”
Points or routes that had any of the above were displayed, but now points or routes that have levels 0, 1, or 2 are displayed.
Therefore, level 3 points or routes are excluded from display targets, and the displayed map becomes sparse. On the other hand, similarly size 3
When the specified map is displayed, when one dense key is pressed, a new level "4" point or route is added to the display target, and the displayed map becomes dense.

Next, an example of the transition of the display form of the display 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4a to 4C and FIGS. 5a to 5C.

When it is specified by the operator's key operation or the internal processing of the control device 10 that the displayed map should be enlarged, for example, the fourth
Assuming that a map as shown in FIG. 4a is displayed, the control device 10 executes an enlargement process for the area A surrounded by the broken line in FIG. It should be relatively detailed. After that, when further enlargement is specified, the enlarging process for the dotted line enclosing area B in Fig. 4b is executed, and a more detailed map as shown in Fig. 4C is displayed on the display 1 screen. Make it. still,
Points a and b in FIG. 4a represent the same points as points a and b in FIG. 4b, respectively, and points a to h in FIG. 4b represent the same points as points a to h in FIG. 4c, respectively.

On the other hand, when it is specified that the displayed map should be reduced, a transition in the display form is performed that is opposite to the transition in the display form caused by the enlargement process as described above. That is, the displayed map shown in FIG. 40 is changed to the displayed map shown in FIG. 4b, and further to the displayed map shown in FIG. 4a.

Furthermore, when it is specified that the displayed map should be made denser by the operator's key operation or by the internal processing of the control device 10, if the map shown in FIG. 5a is currently being displayed, the control device lO Densification processing is executed so that a comparatively detailed map as shown in FIG. 5b, for example, is displayed on the first screen of the display. After that, when further densification is specified, further densification processing is executed, for example, the 5th c.
A more sophisticated map as shown in the figure is displayed. Note that points a' to g' in FIG. 5a represent the same points as points a' to g' in FIG. 5b, respectively, and points a' to 0' in FIG. 5b respectively represent the same points as points a' to g' in FIG.
This represents the same point as points a' to O' in the figure.

On the other hand, when it is specified that the displayed map should be made sparse, a transition in the display format is made that is opposite to the transition of the display form due to the densification process as described above. That is, the displayed map shown in FIG. 5C is changed to the displayed map shown in FIG. 5b, and further to the displayed map shown in FIG. 5a.

Next, the processing operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the schematic flowchart shown in FIG. Note that the following explanation will be given by taking as an example a case where enlargement is specified by an operator's key operation.

When the operator operates the enlargement key of the operation section 7, the microcomputer 10-1 of the control unit 11 100 starts processing as shown in FIG.

First, step 101 is executed and the map data storage medium 2 is
The content of the head pointer 19-1 in the route information string 13 is read out.

Next, step 102 is executed to determine whether the contents of all pointers 191 to 19-N have been read out.

At this point, the contents of the head pointer 19-1 have just been read, so the determination result is rNo.

Then, step 103 is executed.

In step 103, the #i route information string (#1
The root level information of the root information string 18-1) is read. Here, the root level information can be thought of as the relative importance assigned to each route.

Next, step 104 is executed to determine whether the root level is a displayable level or not, in other words, #imil-(#lroot) determines the importance level to be displayed for the specified size as described above. Determine whether the route has the following information.

If the #i route (#1 route) is a route that does not need to be displayed, step 105 is executed to update the pointer, that is, read the contents of the next pointer (#2 pointer 19-2), and step 102 Return to

On the other hand, if the #i route (#1 route) is the route to be displayed, then step 106 is executed and the route type information of the #i route information column (#1 route information column 181) is read.

Next, step 107 is executed and #i route information string (#l
The point number information (at this point, the first point number information) of the route information string 18-1) is read out.

Next, step 108 is executed and #i route information string (#1
It is determined whether the route end information of the route information string 18-1) has been read out.

At this point, since the starting point number information has just been read out, the determination result is "NO", and then step 109 is executed to select the point information string 12 that matches the point number (starting point number). The point level information given to the point number is read out, and it is determined whether the point has a degree of importance that should be displayed for the specified size as described above.

Even if this point is not displayed, if it is a good point, the process returns to step 107 and reads out the next point number in the #i route information string (#1 route information string 1B-1).

On the other hand, if this point is the point to be displayed, then step 110 is executed to check whether it is the point number extracted first in the #i route information string (#1 route information string 18-1). to judge.

At this point, since it is the first point number, the judgment result is rYESJ, and then steps 111 to 11
4, and calculate the earth coordinate X component and earth coordinate Y of this point.
Read out the components, convert this earth coordinate point (X, Y) to a display coordinate point (Xi, Yl), and then convert it to a display coordinate point (Xi, Yl).
Find the area A to which l) belongs.

As shown in Figure 7a representing the earth coordinate system and Figure 7b representing the display coordinate system, the above coordinate conversion process begins with (1)
The shaded area in the display coordinate system (Display 1
Corresponds to the map display area. )'s origin (0,0) and l
Find (MPO3, BPO3) that corresponds to the earth coordinates (X, Y) of the earth coordinate system corresponding to pair l, and then (2) find the current target point based on the found point (MPO3, BPO3). coordinates are converted from the earth coordinates (LP01.APO3) to a point (Xl, Yl) in the display coordinate system.

Here, the above points (MPO3, BPO3) are obtained as follows. First, set the current location or the center point of the administrative district point group (Figure 9a) in the case of administrative district designation to the display map center coordinates (MAPCENX, MAP) in the earth coordinate system.
CENY), and then this coordinate information MAPCE
NX, MAPCENY, the number of dots a and b on the map display screen of display 1 (Figure 9b), the number of dots per unit of longitude LD○T, and the number of dots per unit of latitude ADOT determined according to the specified size. The point (MPO3, BPO3) is found from the following formula with parameters as % and %. and the point (X
, Y) can be found from the following formula.

The coordinates of the center point of the administrative district designation map shown in Figure 9a are:
Four points (α, β,
From the earth coordinates of T, δ), the following formula MAPCENX= (
It is determined by (longitude of the east end - latitude of the west end)/2 MAPCENY - (latitude of the north end - latitude of the south end)/2.

On the other hand, the area determination process determines to which area the display coordinate point (XI, Yl) obtained by the coordinate conversion process as described above belongs among the divided rooms 0 to 2 as shown in FIG. 8a. It is done by making a judgment. In addition, in this FIG. 8a, area (2) corresponds to the diagonally shaded area shown in FIG. 7b, that is, the map display area.

Once the area A to which the display coordinate point (XI, Yl) belongs is determined in step 114 described above, the process returns to step 107.
Read the next point number in the #i route information string (#1 route information string 18-1).

Next, step 108 is executed to determine whether or not the route has ended. If the route has not been completed, step 109 is then executed to determine whether or not the point level of this point number is a displayable level, and the displayable level is If not, step 107
Return to - If the level can be displayed in blue, then step 110 is executed, and this point number is the point number extracted first in the #i route information string (#1 route information string 18-1). Determine whether it exists or not.

At this point, since the first point number has already been extracted, the judgment result is "NO", and then steps 115 to 118 are executed sequentially, and the same processing as steps 111 to 114 is performed. Processing takes place. In other words, the earth coordinates (X
, Y) into display coordinates (X2, Y2), and find the area B to which the display coordinates (X2, Y2) belong.

Next, step 119 is executed, and the point (XI, Yl) and the point (
X2, Y2), that is, whether or not the area A and the area B have a specific relationship is determined. Here, as shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b, this judgment process is performed, for example, when the display coordinates (Xi, Yl) are
jff area and the other display coordinates (X2, Y2) belong to any of the O, ■, ■, ■, ■ areas, there is no specific relationship (as shown in Fig. 8b). Indicated by an x.

It is determined that the display coordinates (Xi, Yl) belong to the OeM area, and the other display coordinates (X2, Y2) belong to the area ■, ■,
If it belongs to one of the areas (1) and (2), it is determined that there is a specific relationship (indicated by a circle in FIG. 8b). Other combinations are as shown in FIG. 8b.

If region A and region B do not have a specific relationship, then steps 120 to 121 are executed to update the region from region A to region B and change the coordinates (XI, Yl) to (
X2, Y2), and step 10
Return to 1.

On the other hand, if there is a specific relationship, then step 122
is executed, and a connecting line between the point (XI, Yl) and the point (X2, Y2) is displayed on the display screen according to the route type. That is, for example, if route #i (route #1) is a national highway, the route is displayed with higher brightness than other routes. Then, steps 120 and 121 are executed to perform area update processing and coordinate update processing, and the process returns to step 107.

Thereafter, until the end of the route of #i route (#1 route) is read, the route consisting of steps 107, 108, 109, or steps 107, 108, 109 and steps 110, 115 to 122 (in some cases, 122
except for. ) is selected and executed, and the route for #i route (#1 route) is displayed.

When the end of route #i route (#1 route) is read out, the determination result in step 10B is reversed to rYES, so step 105 is executed next, pointer update processing is performed, and the next route (#1 route) is read out. 2 route) is performed in the same way as the process for route #1 above.

Thereafter, the same processing as described above is sequentially executed for each route information string, and when the processing for #N route information string 18-N is completed, it is determined in step 102 that the contents of all pointers have been read, and the sixth The illustrated process is completed.

As is clear from the above description, when the control device 10 receives an enlargement designation etc. from the switching means, for example, the operation unit 7, the control device 10 selects a route having a level corresponding to the designation from among each route information string in the map data storage medium 2. Extract a point from the route that has a bell corresponding to the designation, perform coordinate transformation on the extracted point, determine whether two adjacent points have a specific relationship, and identify the point. If the relationship is as follows, the two points are displayed in a connected manner with a brightness according to the route type.

Therefore, when the display mode is an enlargement or reduction scale mode, the display pattern as shown in FIGS. A display pattern such as that shown in FIG. 5C can be obtained.

Note that the display is not limited to CRT, and may be a display device such as liquid crystal or EL. Further, although ROM is shown as the map data storage medium, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, magnetic valve, etc. may also be used. Needless to say, in this case, a reading device is required to read the map data. Furthermore, although a direction sensor that detects earth's magnetic field is shown, a gyro type sensor that detects the relative direction of movement of the vehicle may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the earth coordinates are given as absolute longitude and absolute latitude, but the present invention also includes cases in which the coordinates of a point are expressed as spherical coordinates for a specific point (for example, Tokyo) or orthogonal coordinates for a specific point. .

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, Figures 2 to 8b are examples of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram, and Figure 3 is a map. Data constituent countries, Figures 4a to 4c are diagrams showing the display form when the display mode is scale mode, and Figures 5a to 5c are diagrams showing the display form when the display mode is density mode. , Figure 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing operations, Figures 7a and 7b are diagrams for explaining coordinate transformation from the earth coordinate system to the display coordinate system, and Figures 8a and 8b are display coordinates. Figures 9a and 9b, which are diagrams for explaining the connection conditions between two points in the system, show the earth coordinates (MPO3,
Explanatory diagrams for explaining the method for determining BPO3) are shown. 1...Display, 2...Map data storage medium 7
. . . Operation unit, 8 . . Direction sensor, 9 . . . Distance sensor. 10...Control device. Figure 2 Figure 7Q Figure 7b Figure A Figure 9Q

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A display means for displaying a map, and a map configured by a combination of a plurality of road displays, each of which is used to display each road display, as a point in a first coordinate system relative to a specific point; storage means for storing coordinate data as defined; area defining means for defining an area of the first coordinate system corresponding to a map to be displayed on the display means; an extraction means for extracting coordinate data of a plurality of said map constituent points from said storage means, a second coordinate system defined for map display on said display means, and a relationship between an area defined by said area definition means; coordinate conversion means for converting coordinate data of a plurality of map constituent points extracted by the extraction means from the above into display coordinate data of the second coordinate system; and display coordinate data converted by the coordinate conversion means. A map display device comprising road display control means for displaying a connected display of defined points on the display means and causing the display means to display the road. (2) The map display device according to claim 1, wherein the area defining means defines the area based on the coordinates of the center point of the area and the size of the area. (3) A display means for displaying a map, road information defining each of the roads constituting a map by a combination of a plurality of road displays, and a plurality of road configurations associated with this road information for displaying the road display. storage means for storing each point as coordinate data that defines each point as a point in a first coordinate system with respect to a specific point; and area definition for defining an area in the first coordinate system corresponding to a map to be displayed on the display means. means, extraction means for extracting coordinate data of road constituent points related to the road information from the storage means for each piece of road information; a second coordinate system determined for map display on the display means; a coordinate conversion means for converting the coordinate data of a plurality of map constituent points extracted by the extracting means from the relationship with the area defined by the area defining means into display coordinate data of the second coordinate system; and this coordinate conversion. A map display device comprising road display control means for causing the display means to display the road by connecting and displaying points on the display on the display means defined by display coordinate data coordinate-converted by the means. (4) The map display device according to claim 3, wherein the area defining means defines the area based on the coordinates of the center point of the area and the size of the area.