JPH0777426A - Map display device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a map display device for a vehicle changing the rotation angles of a displayed map and its own vehicle in response to the angle (advance angle) between the direction on a screen and the advance direction and having no sense of incompatibility and good visibility. CONSTITUTION:An advance angle is calculated by an advance angle calculation section 18. To which of three preset ranges the advance angle corresponds is judged by a judgment section 20. The angle ranges are divided into the first segment of 5 deg. and below, the second segment of 5 deg.-55 deg., and the third segment above 55 deg.. When the advance angle is in the first segment, the first rotation indication section 22 indicates to reverse the display by the advance angle, and the advance direction is matched with the direction on a screen by a display controller 14. When the advance angle is in the second segment, the second rotation indication section 24 indicates to rotate the display by 5 deg.. When the advance angle is in the third segment, the third rotation indication section 26 indicates the advance angle at 55 deg..

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a map for a vehicle which assists a driving operation by superimposing a map around the own vehicle, a current position and a traveling direction of the own vehicle on a screen, and showing them to a passenger. Regarding display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, on a display screen such as a CRT in an instrument panel of a vehicle, a road map in the vicinity of the vehicle and a position and a traveling direction of the vehicle are superimposed and displayed on the map to assist a driver's operation. A map display device for vehicles has been developed and put into practical use. Since this device can estimate the position of the own vehicle from the map drawn on the conventional paper and can confirm the position of the own vehicle on the map, compared to the method of searching the route to drive. , That can easily find a path.

In such a device, it is desirable that the upper side of the display screen is the traveling direction. This is because a passenger such as a driver recognizes the traveling direction above the display as is the case with a road display board and the like.

Therefore, when the traveling direction changes, the entire map needs to be rotated so that the traveling direction coincides with the upper part of the screen. For example, when turning right at a crossing or the like, it is necessary to rotate the map counterclockwise by 90 °. Therefore, it is necessary to rotate and display the displayed map every time the course is changed.

[0005]

However, if the displayed map rotates every time the traveling direction changes, when the passenger looks at the display screen, the map will rotate from the previous display, There are cases where the positional relationship cannot be understood immediately. The driver operates the vehicle based on the map before turning to select the target road, and after entering the target road, confirms again whether the traveling direction of the own vehicle is correct by the map on the display screen. At this time, if the orientation of the map has changed before and after the course change, the driver recalls the map before the course change,
Imagine how this would turn into the map that is currently displayed and then determine if the path is correct. That is, when the course change is large, or when the course change is frequently performed, the driver cannot instantly grasp the relationship between the position and the traveling direction of the own vehicle and the displayed map. For this reason, there is a problem that the operation of the own vehicle may not be determined with sufficient margin.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the present invention, and the displayed map and the rotation angle of the vehicle are changed according to the angle formed by the on-screen direction and the traveling direction so that there is no discomfort. An object of the present invention is to provide a map display device for a vehicle with good visibility.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a vehicle map display device according to the present invention sets a traveling angle which is an angle of a traveling direction of a vehicle with respect to an upward direction of a display screen every predetermined time. A traveling direction calculating means for calculating, and whether the traveling angle belongs to a first section having a first predetermined angle or less, or a second section having a first predetermined angle and a second predetermined angle or less, second Determination means for determining whether the vehicle belongs to a third section exceeding a predetermined angle, and first rotation instruction means for reversing the display of the map and the own vehicle by the traveling angle when the traveling angle belongs to the first section. When the traveling angle belongs to the second section, the second rotation instructing unit that reverses the display of the map and the own vehicle by the first predetermined angle, and the traveling angle is the third.
In the case of belonging to a section, it has a third rotation instructing means for reversing the display of the map and the own vehicle so that the traveling angle becomes the second predetermined angle.

[0008]

The present invention has the above-described configuration, and it is determined at predetermined time intervals which of the three sections the angle formed by the traveling direction with respect to the upper part of the screen (the traveling angle) belongs. When the traveling angle is in the first section, the display of the map and the host vehicle is reversed by the traveling angle, and the traveling direction faces the screen upper direction. Further, when the traveling angle is in the second section, the display of the map and the vehicle is rotated by the first predetermined angle so that the traveling direction approaches the screen upper direction. Further, when the traveling angle is in the third section, the map and the display of the own vehicle are rotated so that the traveling angle becomes the second predetermined angle. Therefore, if the traveling direction does not change on the way, if the traveling angle belongs to the third division, the map and the vehicle display are first rotated so that the traveling angle becomes the second predetermined angle, and further at every predetermined time. The display is rotated so that the traveling angle is reduced by the first predetermined angle, and finally the display is rotated so that the traveling direction matches the screen upper direction.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a vehicle map display device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the apparatus of this embodiment. The own vehicle position / azimuth detection unit 10 is configured by a global positioning system (hereinafter referred to as GPS) or an inertial navigation device that identifies the position of the own vehicle by the radio waves received from artificial satellites, and the position of the own vehicle on the ground surface. And the direction of travel is calculated. Further, the map information storage unit 12 stores the map information in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, and the display control unit 14 calls the map information in the vicinity of the own vehicle, and the called map information indicates the position of the own vehicle. The traveling direction is superimposed and displayed on the display unit 16. Such a configuration is a general configuration of a map information display device, and particularly in a display device for a vehicle, processing such as display control is performed so that the information on the display unit matches the traveling direction of the vehicle. There is.

The apparatus according to the present invention further includes the following parts in addition to the above-mentioned parts. The traveling angle calculation unit 18 forms an angle (traveling angle) between the upward direction of the currently displayed map and the traveling direction of the vehicle on this map.
To calculate. At this time, the traveling direction of the vehicle is obtained from the vehicle position / azimuth detecting unit 10 described above, and the information on the upward direction of the currently displayed map is obtained from the display control unit 14. The determination unit 20 determines what angle the traveling direction on the display screen is with respect to the screen upward direction. That is, which of the first section has a traveling angle that is less than or equal to a first predetermined angle, the second section that exceeds the first predetermined angle and is less than or equal to the second predetermined angle, and the third section that exceeds the second predetermined angle It is determined whether it belongs to the division.

If the traveling angle belongs to the first division, the first rotation instruction section 22 rotates the display of the map and the vehicle by the traveling angle so that the traveling direction coincides with the on-screen direction. If it belongs to the second section, the second rotation instructing section 24 rotates the display by the first predetermined angle so that the traveling direction approaches the screen upper direction. If it belongs to the third section, the third rotation instruction section 26 rotates the display so that the traveling angle becomes the second predetermined angle.

By repeating the determination and the display rotation as described above every predetermined time, the traveling direction gradually turns to the upper direction of the screen, and the passenger is not given an unnatural impression.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of control of the apparatus of this embodiment. In particular, this figure shows that the first predetermined angle is 5
And the second predetermined angle is 55 °, and the determination regarding the angle between the traveling direction and the screen upper direction is performed every 30 seconds. In the figure, each angle is simply indicated by an angle formed by the screen upper direction and the traveling direction, that is, an angle having positive and negative values, not an absolute value, and the counterclockwise direction is described as positive. The angle of the traveling direction with respect to the upward direction of the screen (traveling angle θ) is calculated (S100). It is determined whether the traveling angle θ is 0 (S102). If θ ≠ 0, the process returns to step S100, and if θ ≠ 0, it is determined whether 30 seconds have passed since the previous determination (S1).
04). If 30 seconds have not elapsed, step S10
If it has returned to 0 and has elapsed, the absolute value of the advance angle θ is 55
It is determined whether or not it is less than or equal to ° (S106). If the absolute value of the traveling angle θ is 55 ° or less, this is 5 °
It is determined whether it is the following (S108). This judgment is Y
In the case of ES, the traveling angle θ at this time belongs to the first section. Then, whether the traveling angle θ is positive or negative is determined (S11
0), and the rotation of the display is instructed accordingly. That is, if θ> 0, the display is rotated by −θ, and if θ <0, the display is rotated by θ. In this way, the traveling direction matches the screen upper direction.

Further, if it is determined in step S108 that the absolute value of the advance angle θ is not 5 ° or less, it means that the advance angle belongs to the above-mentioned second section, and depending on whether the θ is positive or negative (S116). The display is rotated 5 ° or -5 °. That is, when θ> 0, the display is rotated by −5 ° (S11
8), if θ <0, the display is rotated 5 ° (S12)
0). As a result, the traveling direction slightly shifts to the screen upper direction. This change in the advancing angle should be performed at an angle that does not give the occupant the impression that the screen display is extremely rotated. In the present embodiment, ± 5 ° is adopted, but this is not the only option. is not.

Further, when it is determined in step S106 that the absolute value of the traveling angle θ is not less than 55 °, that is, when it is determined that the traveling angle θ belongs to the third section, the traveling angle θ is determined depending on whether the θ is positive or negative (S122). The display is rotated so that is 55 ° or −55 °. That is, when θ> 0, the display is rotated by (55 ° −θ) (S124), and θ
When <0, it is rotated by (-θ-55 °) (S1
26). This 55 ° is an empirical value that does not allow the passenger to mistakenly judge the direction on the map and the actual direction,
Japanese Patent Application No. 4-176407 previously filed by the applicant
Issue is detailed. In brief, if the traveling direction is displayed in this range, it is considered that the passenger can easily correlate the displayed map with the actual topography.

When the above-described rotation display processing is completed, the process returns to step S100.

FIG. 3 shows a display example of the apparatus of this embodiment. In (a), the vehicle 30 has an intersection 34 with the road 36.
A state in which the vehicle is traveling along the road 32 is shown. When the host vehicle turns left along the arrow A, the traveling direction turns to the right on the screen and the traveling angle becomes 90 °. In this case, it is classified into the above-mentioned third section, and therefore the screen is rotated so that the traveling angle becomes 55 °. This figure is (b). Then, the traveling angle θ becomes the second division, and it is −5 ° every 30 seconds.
The display is rotated one by one. As shown in (c), the map is rotated by −5 ° from the previous traveling direction 38. And next 3
It becomes (d) after 0 second. Further, the own vehicle 30 is on the road 36.
Go up to the intersection 40 and turn right at this intersection 40,
Enter road 42. The figure at this time is (e). The traveling direction at this time also enters the second section, and after 30 seconds, it rotates by −5 ° and becomes (f). Further, in (f), the traveling angle is 3 °
And belongs to the first section. Therefore, the screen is inverted by the advance angle θ. That is, the screen is rotated by -3 ° to become (g).

In this way, when the traveling angle is larger than a certain angle, the traveling direction is changed all at once until the angle at which the correlation between the display screen and the actual topography is not lost. After that, the passenger is gradually turned to the upper direction of the screen so that the passenger does not feel uncomfortable.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the traveling angle is the third division, the passenger is swung to an angle at which the displayed map and the actual topography can be easily correlated with each other. In the case of the second division or the first division, the map or the like displayed at a slight angle is rotated so that the passenger does not feel uncomfortable so that the traveling direction becomes the upper direction of the screen. In particular, in the case of the second division, the map or the like displayed gradually is rotated every predetermined time. As a result, a display that is suitable for the passengers' senses and is comfortable can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a preferred embodiment of a vehicle map display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 Traveling angle calculation unit 20 Judgment unit 22 First rotation instruction unit 24 Second rotation instruction unit 26 Third rotation instruction unit 30 Own vehicle 32, 36, 42 Road 34, 40 Intersection

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A map display device for a vehicle, which displays a map in the vicinity of the own vehicle, a current position of the own vehicle, and a traveling direction in an overlapping manner, the angle being an angle of the traveling direction of the own vehicle with respect to an upper direction of the display screen at predetermined time intervals. Advancing direction calculating means for calculating an advancing angle, and whether the advancing angle belongs to a first section having a first predetermined angle or less or a second section having a first predetermined angle and a second predetermined angle or less , A determination means for determining whether the vehicle belongs to a third section that exceeds a second predetermined angle, and a first rotation instruction for reversing the display of the map and the own vehicle by the traveling angle when the traveling angle belongs to the first section. Means, second rotation instruction means for inverting the display of the map and the own vehicle by the first predetermined angle when the traveling angle belongs to the second section, and the traveling angle when the traveling angle belongs to the third section Becomes the second predetermined angle Vehicle map display device characterized by having a third rotation instruction means for urchin invert the display of the map and the vehicle, a.