JPH0336434B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement in a driving trajectory display device for a vehicle, and particularly to a display device that superimposes and displays a current driving map and a driving trajectory on a display section of the driver's seat. It is something.

[Prior Art] In-vehicle navigators are well known for informing the driver of the current driving position of the vehicle, and have the advantage of freeing the driver from the tedious work of opening an atlas to check the driving position. This is extremely useful, especially when driving on unfamiliar routes. Conventional general navigators display a desired map on a display screen installed in front of the driver's seat, such as a CRT, or attach a map sheet, detect the current position of the vehicle using a direction and distance sensor, and display the map on the screen. It consists of a configuration that displays the trajectory sequentially.

Therefore, in such conventional devices, since the scale of the map displayed on the screen is constant, it is possible to display a map of the optimal size for driving on highways and on city roads near the destination. There was a problem with not being able to give directions.

Therefore, in order to solve such problems, vehicle travel trajectory display devices that can display maps of different scales have been proposed in the past. Different map data is stored in the memory, and the scale can be changed arbitrarily by the driver's switch operation.

In addition, as other conventional equipment,
14715, a magnification adjustment device is provided in the optical system of the display section, thereby making it possible to obtain projection images of different scales from one original image.

Another conventional device is known from Japanese Utility Model Application No. 57-199811, which also allows maps of different scales to be displayed on the display screen.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, each of the above-mentioned conventional devices requires manual operation by the driver to make necessary scale changes, and also requires a map of a scale suitable for the required driving area. The problem was that it was troublesome to select. In particular, when the driver has map data divided for each region and selects multiple types of map data with different scales for the same area, the driver must select these multiple types of map data before starting driving. There is a problem in that complicated operations are required to select the most suitable map from the destination to the destination, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of the travel trajectory display device.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to select only the map data of the area including the current location and display it on the display screen, and to obtain the optimal scale to reach the destination. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle traveling trajectory display device with excellent operability, which can automatically obtain a map of the optimum scale by touching two points, the current location and the destination, on a screen. .

[Means for solving the problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a CRT
A map of the selected region and the vehicle's travel trajectory are superimposed on the display section of the CRT screen, and a map selector is provided to select the map data of the required region. A group of transparent touch switches are provided, which enable the driver to specify two points, a current location and a destination, using the touch switch group, and the specified current location and destination data are stored in separate registers, respectively. , a scale selection circuit is provided for obtaining optimal scale data within the selected area based on the stored contents.

[Operation] Therefore, the driver first specifies the map data including the current location by inputting it from the map selector, displays the map with the largest scale on the screen, and then drives between the two points, the current location and the destination. These two points of data are input by touch operation on the area setter, and the data of these two points is read by the scale selection circuit.
The minimum scale map data including the current location and destination will be selected from the ROM and displayed on the display screen.

Therefore, according to the present invention, optimal map data can be automatically selected from multiple types of scales, and when a detailed city map or the like is required, the driver can specify a point near the current location. This makes it possible to obtain a desired enlarged map at any point along the way, even if the original destination is far away.

[Embodiments] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment circuit of a trajectory display device according to the present invention, and necessary map data is stored and held in a map ROM 10 electrically, usually as a binary signal. The map ROM 10 stores map data for a single area or multiple areas in advance, and also includes multiple types of map data of different scales for the same area.

Figure 2 shows an example of a map of a region, which is drawn at maximum scale, so that although it covers a wide area, it is almost impossible to discern the detailed road conditions. be.

Therefore, the map ROM 10 in the present invention stores a plurality of types of map data of different scales for this same area, and as shown in FIG. 3, the map is divided into nine areas A to I. The map data is stored in the map ROM 10 as shown in FIG. 5 as map data of three different scales shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG. 4, the maximum scale screen shown in FIG. 2 is shown by (a), and all nine areas A to I are displayed on one screen.

Screens with a smaller scale than this are shown as b to e, each representing 4 of the 9 areas in the whole area.
Shown in combination.

Furthermore, screens with a smaller scale than this are (f) to (n)
, each representing one of the nine minimum areas. As shown in FIG. 5, the map data a to n shown in FIG. 4 are sequentially stored in the addresses assigned to the areas shown in FIG. 2, respectively. Therefore, by specifying the start address of each of these stored contents, it is possible to arbitrarily read map data of a necessary scale.

In order to select map data in the map ROM 10, a map data selection circuit 12 is provided, and this map data selection circuit 12 includes a circuit for the driver to manually select map data corresponding to a desired area. A map selector 14 is connected. The map selector 14 is composed of, for example, a numerical keyboard,
It is also possible to specify map data corresponding to a desired region using a numerical code, or to input a map selection signal directly from a keyboard marked with the region name.

The map of the selected area is supplied to a map data selection circuit 12 and is processed by a multiplexer 16, a current location register 18, a destination register 20, a scale selection circuit 22, a preset counter 24 and an end detector 26, as will be described in detail later. Necessary map data is read out from the map ROM 10 by performing a predetermined selection action.

The map data read out as described above is displayed on a display section 30, such as a CRT, provided at the driver's seat under the control of the map display circuit 28. The map display circuit 28 includes a video RAM 32, an address counter 34, and an I/O port 36, and the map display circuit 28 is powered on when the engine key is turned on.

When reading or changing the map data in the map ROM 10 for the first time, the video
The RAM 32 is in the write (W) state, and the video RAM 32 is written to the map ROM 10 by one screen of address scanning from the address counter 34, which is controlled by the clock pulse φ obtained from the reference signal generator.
Reads the specified map data. Map data is provided to video RAM 32 from I/O port 36.

After reading one screen of data is completed, the map display circuit 28 enters the reading state (R), and the map data written in the video RAM 32 is supplied to the mixing circuit 38 via the I/O port 36. From there, it is sent to the display unit 30 for map display.

As described above, the selected map is statically displayed on the CRT screen of the display unit 30, and the vehicle's travel trajectory is superimposed on this map to detect the vehicle's travel direction and distance. A travel detection section 40 is provided in the vehicle.

The travel detection unit 40 includes a direction detector 42, a distance detector 44, and an A/D converter 46, and updates the pulse 100 every predetermined travel distance, for example, 50 m.
It also outputs the direction of the vehicle every predetermined travel distance and supplies this as a digital signal to the trajectory display circuit 50.

The locus display circuit 50 converts the travel distance conversion circuit 5 based on the travel detection signal and the current location data and scale data supplied from the map data selection circuit 12.
2. The coordinate conversion circuit 54 calculates desired travel trajectory data.

The traveling locus data of the coordinate conversion circuit 54 is written into the video RAM 58 by the preset counter 5, and the ever-changing traveling locus is updated and stored in the video RAM 58 one after another every time the update pulse is generated. The trajectory display circuit 50 of the embodiment is provided with a character generator 60, and the traveling trajectory is sequentially shown as a picture of a car or a black circle outputted from the character generator 60, and is displayed as a video.
Writing control of the trajectory is performed from the I/O port 62 into the RAM 58, and as soon as the end detector 64 completes writing for each update pulse generation, the latest trajectory data is read from the video RAM 58 and the above-mentioned The information is supplied to the circuit 38, so that the travel trajectory is sequentially displayed on the CRT screen of the display unit 30, superimposed on the selected map.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that the display section 3
A driving range setting device 70 is provided on the CRT screen of the 0. This driving region setting device 70 includes a group of transparent touch switches 72 arranged in a matrix on the screen, and the driving range setting device 70 includes a group of transparent touch switches 72 arranged in a matrix on the screen. Then, the position of the corresponding matrix on the map is detected as an electrical signal, and this signal is converted by the decoder 74 and sent to the map data selection circuit 12 and the map display 2.
8.

As mentioned above, the map data selection circuit 12 includes two registers, namely the current location register 18.
and a destination register 20 are provided, the first point set by the travel area setting device 70 is supplied from the multiplexer 11 to the current location register 18,
Next, the second point set is the destination register 20.
is supplied to

Then, the scale selection circuit 22 includes both registers 18,
20, the map data that includes both of these data and has the smallest scale is selected and instructed to the preset counter 24, and thereby, as described above, the desired new map data selected from the map ROM 10 is selected. Map data is read.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by simply specifying two points on the displayed map, it is possible to easily display the largest map including these two points.

The map selection effect in this embodiment will be explained in detail below.

By selecting from the keyboard or other means on the map selector 14, the display unit 30 can display the screen shown in the maximum scale, for example, in FIG. By giving instructions, it is possible to display a map that covers a wide area.

The multiplexer 16 supplies the signal from the map selector 14 to the scale selection circuit 22 from one of the registers 18 and 20, and when this signal is input, map data of the largest scale is always selected. Next, the driver reads the current location from the map on the screen of the display unit 30, and as shown in FIG.
A predetermined signal is supplied from the map data selection circuit 12 to the map data selection circuit 12. This current location data is supplied from the multiplexer 16 to the current location register 18, where it is stored and held. The touch operation of the current location simultaneously causes the travel area setter 70 to output a signal 102, thereby setting the current location register 18 in a writable state.

Next, the driver performs a touch operation on the destination as shown in FIG. 7, and the detection signals from the touch switch group 72 at this time are supplied from the multiplexer 16 to the destination register 20.

At the same time, a signal 104 is output from the traveling area setter 70, which puts the destination register 20 in the writing state and also sets the preset counter 24, I/O.
Preparations are made to write map data of different scales from the map ROM 10 to the video RAM 32 by controlling each circuit of the O port 36 and the video RAM 32.

The data in both registers 18 and 20 is processed by the scale selection circuit 22, and read from the minimum scale map data ROM 10 containing both of them, and the map data of this new scale is read out in the same way as the initial map data reading. The data is written to the video RAM 32, and the display screen of the display unit 30 is immediately switched.

FIG. 8 shows an enlarged screen obtained in this way, showing a partial enlargement of DEGH in FIG. 3.

Along with writing the current location into the current location register 18, this current location data is also sent to the trajectory display circuit 50.
The coordinate conversion circuit 54 determines the travel starting point.

Further, the scale data selected by the scale selection circuit 22 is transmitted to the travel distance conversion circuit 5 of the trajectory display circuit 50.
2 and the coordinate conversion circuit 54, and can provide the trajectory display circuit 50 with conversion data corresponding to the scale of the screen for the subsequent travel trajectory.

As described above, according to this embodiment, before the vehicle starts traveling, the driver simply selects map data that includes the current location, and to change the scale, touch the current location and destination on the on-screen map. The selection can be made automatically by simply pressing the button, which greatly simplifies the operation.

In addition, if necessary, even on the way to the final destination, you can change the scale of a complex driving route such as in a city area by specifying the current location and any nearby point. It is also possible to read out an enlarged map.

[Object of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the operation of a driving trajectory display device having other types of scale maps is significantly simplified, and the minimum scale map including the current location and destination can be displayed. By installing a scale selection circuit to select data, when you enter your current location and destination, the smallest scale map that includes your current location and destination will be displayed, automatically displaying the optimal size map on the screen. It becomes possible to obtain an easy-to-read travel trajectory display device that can display the travel trajectory on the screen.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the vehicle travel trajectory display device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a maximum scale display map, and FIG. 3 is a map of FIG. Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing how the area is divided into nine areas, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing how different scales are assigned to each area in Figure 3, and Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing how the map is divided into nine areas. Map data explanatory diagrams, Figures 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams showing the touch operation status of the current location and destination on the display screen, respectively, and Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the touch operation status shown in Figures 6 and 7. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing map screens of different scales. 10...Map ROM, 12...Map data selection circuit, 14...Map selector, 18...Current location register,
20...destination register, 22...scale selection circuit, 2
8...Map display circuit, 30...Display section, 40...Traveling detection section, 50...Trajectory display circuit, 70...Traveling area setter, 72...Matrix touch switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A map ROM in which a plurality of types of map data of different scales for the same area are stored, and a map from the map ROM based on an input signal from a map selector that specifies a map of a desired area. a map data selection circuit for reading out desired map data; a map display circuit for displaying a map of the selected area on a display unit based on the read map data; and a travel detection circuit for detecting the travel direction and distance of the vehicle. and a trajectory display circuit for displaying a driving trajectory on the display section in a superimposed manner on a map based on a signal from the driving detection section, wherein the map data selection circuit includes: A driving area setter having a plurality of transparent touch switches arranged in a matrix on the screen of the display section is connected to the map data selection circuit, and further, the map data selection circuit is connected to a driving area setting device having a plurality of transparent touch switches arranged in a matrix on the screen of the display unit. A current location register and a destination register that store current location and destination data, respectively, and a scale selection circuit that selects the minimum scale map data including the travel area set based on the data stored in both registers are provided. A travel trajectory display device for a vehicle, characterized in that a minimum scale map including the ground and the ground is selectively displayed on a display unit.