JPH0476045B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a navigation system that provides guidance to the driver by displaying the trajectory of the vehicle, current position, etc. The present invention relates to a navigation system with a function of indicating the direction of travel.

[Background of the invention]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called navigation system is known that displays a vehicle's progress trajectory, current position, etc. together with a map on a display device such as a cathode ray tube (hereinafter referred to as CRT). For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-26214, route information is input in advance,
A progress information device is disclosed that instructs a driver in the direction of travel, such as turning right, turning left, or going straight, before a waypoint. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-70117 discloses a driving guide device for automobiles that displays the direction in which the driver should proceed when the automobile approaches a predetermined destination point such as an intersection. has been done. Furthermore, similar techniques are disclosed in JP-A-58-204308 and JP-A-59-52710.

However, in such conventional technology, since the direction of travel is given only at a predetermined point,
It was not possible to constantly indicate the direction of travel to the driver when necessary, such as when the driver lost his or her own direction while driving.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation system with a direction-indicating function that can instruct a driver in the direction of travel as needed.

[Summary of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention described above is to detect the traveling distance and traveling direction of a car, calculate the current position of the car,
In a so-called navigation system that displays map information along with the vehicle's current location and travel trajectory on a display, the direction in which the vehicle should travel is determined based on the angular difference between the direction of the destination point and the vehicle's traveling direction. This is achieved by a navigation system with a heading direction function, which is characterized by having means for transmitting the determined direction to the driver by voice according to the driver's request.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a microcomputer section having a function of controlling the operation of the entire navigator system, and is the core section of this navigation system. The detailed internal functional contents are shown in FIG. 3, and a detailed explanation of the contents will be given later.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a direction sensor that detects the absolute direction in which the vehicle is traveling, and utilizes the earth's magnetism to amplify analog quantities of the X and Y components and output them. 3
Like the azimuth sensor 2, the azimuth sensor 2 is a azimuth sensor that indicates the traveling direction of the automobile and generates a relative azimuth output, and is composed of, for example, an optical gyro. 4 is a means for inputting the distance traveled by the automobile into the microcomputer section 1 of the navigator system, and generates ON/OFF pulses according to the vehicle speed.

Numeral 5 is for inputting various driving conditions of the automobile into the microcomputer section 1, and the above settings are inputted into the system as digital signals by a plurality of switches set on this operation section. The operation switch section 5 further includes a switch 20 for instructing the movement of the automobile, which is a feature of the present invention.

6 is an external storage device for storing road map information and various driving conditions, and is controlled by the microcomputer section 1. Reference numeral 7 denotes a color CRT serving as a means for displaying road map information etc. stored in the external storage device 6, etc., and is controlled by the output of a color CRT control circuit in the microcomputer section 1. 8 is an amplifier for amplifying the audio signal, and 9 is a speaker. 8 and 9 convey progress instructions and driving information to the driver.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a more specific structure of the operation switch section 5 shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, 11
is a switch that sets the travel start point and travel destination point during initial setting of the navigator system. Reference numeral 12 is a switch that is operated in combination with the set switch 11 when starting to set the destination point of the vehicle. 13 position switch is 1
This is used in combination with the correction switch No. 9, and is used to correct the current position of the vehicle. The azimuth switch 14 is also used in combination with the correction switch 19, and is used when correcting the azimuth sensor 1 and the azimuth sensor 2 that detect the traveling direction of the automobile. Switch groups 15 to 18 are color
These switches are used to set and move the cursor that indicates the current position and destination of the car displayed on the CRT 7, and the cursor moves in the direction indicated on each switch. For example, when the north switch 15 is pressed, the cursor moves north from the current location. Switch No. 16 moves the cursor westward, switch No. 17 moves the cursor southward, and switch No. 18 moves the cursor northward. 20
is a selection switch for whether or not to perform a proceeding instruction operation.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed internal configuration diagram of the microcomputer section 1 shown in FIG. 1. A microprocessor 31 is the core of the microcomputer section 1 and controls the operation of the microcomputer section 1. 32 is a RAM (volatile memory) used by the microprocessor 1 to temporarily store data during calculation and control operations, and the power supply for this RAM is separate from the system power supply. Even when the system power is off, power is always supplied from the on-board battery, thereby guaranteeing the memory contents.

33 is a ROM (non-volatile memory) in which programs for various control operations of the microprocessor 1, ie, arithmetic processing operations, are stored. 3
Reference numeral 4 denotes an input/output control LSi for inputting various data inputted from the interfaces 36 to 39 to the microprocessor 1. 36-3
Reference numeral 9 denotes an interface section which performs signal level conversion and waveform shaping. interface 36
A direction sensor 2 is connected to the interface 37, a vehicle speed pulse sensor 4 is connected to the interface 38, and an operation switch section 5 is connected to the interface 39. 35 is a small magnetic tape device for controlling the input/output of control signals and data (road map information, various driving conditions, etc.) between the external storage device 6 and the microprocessor 31 when the external storage device 6 is a small magnetic tape device. Control LSi
(hereinafter abbreviated as CMTC). The interface 40 performs signal processing to ensure the transmission and reception of signals between the CMTC 35 and the small magnetic tape device.

41 is an LSi (hereinafter abbreviated as CRTC) which is the core of the circuit that transmits various display data to the color CRT 7, and all display data contents are transferred to this CRTC.
41.

42 generates a reference clock signal for the CRTC, a serial clock signal sent to the video controller 53, and a timing signal for controlling the gate opening and closing of the multiplexer 43. A multiplexer 43 has a function of switching between an address signal from the microprocessor 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as MPU) and an address signal from the CRTC in accordance with a timing signal from a timing signal generator 47.

44 to 46 are graphic memories for each color element of the color CRT 7, that is, red, blue, and green display data, which can be read and written from both the MPU 31 and the CRTC 41 via the multiplexer 43; By combining the above three primary colors, it is possible to display eight types of data in different colors. Reference numeral 47 is a memory dedicated to character data for displaying character information on the color CRT 7, and is a character memory capable of read/write operations from both the MPU 31 and CRTC 41 via the multiplexer 43.

48 is a character generator that stores character information such as alphanumeric characters, signals, and katakana in patterns, and CRTC41 and character memory 4.
Various stored character patterns are selected and output by the output of step 7. 49 to 52 convert the parallel data output from the graphic memories 44 to 46 and the character generator 48 into serial data in synchronization with the timing signal generated from the timing signal generator 42. This is the conversion section.

53 is a video controller that performs level conversion and waveform shaping processing on the outputs of the converters 49 to 52 that convert parallel data into serial data in accordance with the required specifications of the color CRT 7; the color CRT 7 is connected to the video controller 53; , data is transmitted.

FIG. 4 is for explaining the operating principle of the navigation system according to the present invention, and shows an example of road map information displayed on the display section. In the figure, 100~
103 indicates a road. 104 is the driving start point, 105 to 107 are points just before the intersection,
108 is a destination point. 109-111 indicate intersections of roads 100-103.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the angular difference calculated from the destination position and the traveling direction. In FIG. 5, 120 is the current location of the vehicle, 121 is the destination position vector, and 123 is the vehicle's heading vector.
122 is the angular difference between the destination position vector 121 and the traveling direction vector 123.

In the above configuration, the following operation will be explained according to the present invention. First, the ignition
At the ON time, the system including the MPU 31 shown in FIG. 3 is activated, and the system initializes according to the initial setting program stored in the ROM 33. As a result, the system enters a state in which commands are accepted by each operating switch on the operating switch unit 5. In that situation, the driver
When any of the switches 15 to 18 is operated, the switch signal is transmitted to the interface 39.
After waveform shaping, the MPU
31. The MPU 31 does not use the signals of switches 15 to 18 after initialization as azimuth signals; first, in the block code that divides the whole of Japan into a plurality of blocks, switch 15 increases the column number, switch 17 decreases the column number, Switch 16 is used to decrease the line number, and switch 18 is used to increase the line number. MPU31 is switch 15~
Send a call command for the road map block selected by the above setting operation in step 18 to the CMT 35,
The command is sent to the external storage device 6 via the interface 40. Based on the command, the external storage device 6 stores the corresponding road map block information via the interface 40 and CMTC 31.
Under the control of MPU 31, graphic memory 4
Write in numbers 4-46. Graphic memory 44
-46 data is sent to data converters 49-51 under the control of the CRTC 41, and after converting the parallel data into serial data, the data is sent to the color CRT 7 via the video controller 53.
Is displayed. A display example is shown in FIG. The driver is
Next, in the displayed road map information, the cursor is moved using switches 15 to 18, and the intersection of the cursors is set as the travel start point. Thereafter, the set switch 11 is operated, and at that point the traveling start point 104 in FIG.
In controlling the MPU31 via the LSi34,
It is written to a specific address in RAM32. In the same way, use switches 15 to 18 to select destination point 1.
The coordinate data of 08 is stored in RAM by the above series of operations.
32 specific address. In this state, when the driver starts traveling on the road 103 in Fig. 4, the current location is sequentially calculated based on the signals from the direction sensors 2 and 3 and the vehicle speed pulse sensor 4, and the driving trajectory is colored. displayed on the CRT screen 7. At the same time as the calculation, the MPU 31 updates the current point 1 at regular intervals as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 20 calculates the azimuth vector 121 of the destination point 108 and the traveling azimuth vector 123 of the vehicle, and calculates the angular difference 122 between them. In the example shown in Figure 5, the current location is intersection 1 in Figure 4.
The state at a point 105 immediately before 09 is shown. Using the destination position vector 121 as a reference, the angular difference from the traveling direction vector 123 is about 90 degrees. In FIG. 6, the progress instruction zone is roughly divided into three, with the destination position being 0 degrees (reference). When the angular difference between the destination position vector 121 and the heading vector 123 is 30 degrees or more or 330 degrees or less, it is a straight ahead zone, 31 degrees or more and less than 180 degrees is a right turn zone, and 180 degrees or more and less than 330 degrees is a left turn zone. Become. Applying the results in Figure 5 to Figure 6, we get the results in Figure 4.
Destination position vector 121 at 105 points,
Since the angular difference between the traveling direction vectors 123 is about 90 degrees, the 105th point is a right turn zone. MPU31
When the proceeding instruction zone is determined, in this embodiment, a right turn code is input/output from the straight forward, right turn, and left turn codes stored in the ROM 33.
4. The signal is transmitted to the amplifier 8 via the interface 54, and the speaker 9 transmits the information "Please turn right" to the driver. At the same time,
As shown in Figure 4, on the color CRT7 screen,
CRTC41, graphic memory 44-46,
The text "Right" is displayed via the converters 49 to 51 and the video controller 53. The driver turns right at the intersection 109 in FIG. 4 according to the above-mentioned display data instruction and voice instruction. After turning right, the angular difference between the traveling direction vector 123 and the destination position vector 121 is within 30 degrees, so while the vehicle is traveling on the road 101, the "go straight" direction instruction is repeated at regular intervals. Since the above series of operations will be executed repeatedly, in order to perform them only when necessary, press the advance instruction selection switch 20 on the switch box in FIG.
interface 39 and input/output LSi3
4, the switch state is taken into the MPU 31, and it is controlled whether or not to issue a proceeding instruction. Such a direction of travel instruction operation can be performed according to the driver's needs, so that the direction of travel can be specified as necessary, regardless of intersection points or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, while the car is running, progress instructions are transmitted to the driver in response to the driver's request, so the driver's driving effort can be significantly reduced, and when necessary, progress instructions can be transmitted to the driver at any time. You can get instructions.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of each switch on the operation panel section, FIG. 3 shows a detailed internal circuit of the microcomputer section in FIG. 1, and FIG. Figure 4 shows an example of a road map display for explaining the principle of the present invention, Figure 5 shows an example of calculating the destination position and heading direction, and Figure 6 shows the progress instructions when the destination is referenced. Indicates zone range. 1...Microcomputer section, 2, 3...Direction sensor, 4...Vehicle speed pulser, 5...Operation switch section, 6...External storage device, 7...Color CRT,
8...Amplifier, 9...Speaker, 20...Direction indicating switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A display means is provided, which detects the traveling distance and traveling direction of the automobile, calculates the current position of the automobile from the detected information, and displays the current position of the automobile and map information corresponding to the position. in the navigation system that displays on the display means, a calculation means for calculating the angular difference between the azimuth of a destination point serving as a target point of travel and the direction of travel of the vehicle at regular intervals; A voice instruction transmitting means for instructing the direction in which the vehicle should travel by voice, and a request receiving means for receiving instructions from the driver and causing the voice instruction transmitting means to transmit instructions only when the driver requires it. A navigation system with a direction indicating function. 2. In claim 1, the calculation means also sends information indicating the direction in which the automobile should proceed, to the display means, and the display means displays the direction in which the automobile should proceed together with map information. A navigation system with a heading function.