JPH08166249A - Map display device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To eliminate the difficulty of grasping a distance feeling, which is a drawback of a bird's eye view. CONSTITUTION: A control circuit 3 sets a screen display mode and a display environment after setting a destination and a recommended route for vehicle. For example, when a mode for displaying a bird's eye view on a base screen and a flat map on a window screen is selected, first the bird's eye view is displayed on the base screen and then the flat map is displayed on the window screen. A map reduced scale, a display area and a display position within the window screen are set by an operator via an input device 4. When a vehicle exceeds a specified distance, rewriting of the base and window screen is performed and when this travels below the specified distance, only a vehicle position mark within the base and window screens is moved. Thus, since both bird's eye view and flat map are displayed, the difficulty of understanding a distance as the drawback of the bird's eye view display type is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle map display device capable of displaying on a display device a road map within a set range from a present location to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a road map is displayed on a display device, a road map is displayed in a so-called bird's-eye view display format in which the road map around the vehicle's current location is displayed in an enlarged manner compared to a distance. Is known (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-244188). The device disclosed in the above publication places a viewpoint behind the current position of the vehicle and displays a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is looked down from this viewpoint on the screen of the display device. When such a bird's-eye view display is performed, the map information around the current location can be enlarged and displayed, and a wide range from the current location to the distant area can be displayed, so that the connection status of the road map can be visually easily grasped.

[0003]

However, when the road map is displayed in a bird's-eye view, it is difficult to grasp the sense of distance as compared with the case where a two-dimensional map is displayed. Therefore, when the driver does not accurately recognize the current position of the vehicle, such as when driving in an unfamiliar area, it is better to display the plan map than the bird's-eye view so that the surrounding road conditions can be grasped. Often easy

An object of the present invention is to display a bird's-eye view at the center while displaying a planar map on a part of the display screen to solve the drawback of the bird's-eye view that it is difficult to grasp the sense of distance. To provide the vehicle map display device.

[0005]

The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 showing an embodiment. In the present invention, the road map storage means 2 for storing road map data relating to a road map and the road map data are displayed. Display control means 3 displayed on the device 8
The vehicle position detecting means 1 for detecting the current position of the vehicle and the viewpoint above the current position on the road map are applied to the vehicle map display device provided with, and a predetermined look-down angle and spread angle are set from this viewpoint. The road map storage means 2 is provided so that a bird's-eye view looking down on the road map is displayed on the display device 8.
Bird's-eye view data conversion means for reading road map data in a predetermined area from the road map data and converting it to bird's-eye view data, and plane map data for reading road map data in a predetermined area including the current location of the vehicle from the road map storage means 2 to create the plane map data A first means for displaying a bird's-eye view based on the bird's-eye view data in a first display area of the display screen of the display device 8.
The above-mentioned object can be achieved by configuring the display control means 3 so that the planar map based on the planar map data is displayed in the second display area, which is a part of the display area of 1. The invention according to claim 2 is, in the vehicle map display device according to claim 1, window setting means for setting at least one of a display area, a display position, and a map scale of the second display region. 4, the display control means 3 is configured to display a planar map in the second display area in accordance with the setting content of the window setting means 4. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle map display device according to the first or second aspect, a part or all of the road map range displayed in the first display area is displayed in the second display area. In such a case, the display control unit 3 displays the display frame indicating the road map range displayed in the first display area at the corresponding position in the second display area.
It is what constitutes. The invention according to claim 4 is the vehicle map display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a bird's-eye view is displayed in the first display area and a planar map is displayed in the second display area. Window display instructing means 4 for instructing that a bird's-eye view is displayed in the first display area and a planar map is displayed in the second display area when the window display instructing means 4 gives an instruction. When there is no instruction from the instruction unit 4, the display control unit 3 is configured not to display the window in the second display area.
It is what constitutes. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle map display device according to any one of the first to third aspects, a destination setting means for setting a destination of the vehicle, and a starting point to a destination of the vehicle. The recommended route setting means for setting the recommended route, the guidance point extraction means for extracting the guidance points on the recommended route necessary for route guidance from the road map storage means 2, and the current position of the vehicle among the extracted guidance points And a determination means for determining whether or not the distance between the nearest induction point and the current position of the vehicle is within a predetermined distance,
If the determination means determines that the distance is within the predetermined distance, the bird's-eye view is displayed in the first display area and the plan view is displayed in the second display area. If the determination means determines that the distance is greater than the predetermined distance, the second display area is displayed. The display control means 3 is configured so that no window is displayed in the display area.

[0006]

In the invention described in claim 1, the first screen in the display screen is displayed.
, A bird's-eye view is displayed on the entire display screen, for example,
By displaying the planar map in the second display area, which is a part of the first display area, as a window, the problem that it is difficult to grasp the sense of distance is solved. According to the invention of claim 2,
By making it possible to set at least one of the display area, display position, and map scale of the second display area, the second display area can be displayed without disturbing the second display area.
The display area of is displayed. According to the invention of claim 3,
By displaying the display frame indicating the road map range displayed in the first display area at the corresponding position in the second display area,
The road map range displayed in the first display area can be easily understood. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the window is displayed in the second display area only when the window instructing means gives an instruction. In the invention according to claim 5, a guidance point required for route guidance is extracted from the road map storage means 2, and among the extracted guidance points, the distance between the guidance point closest to the current location of the vehicle and the current location of the vehicle is predetermined. It is determined whether the distance is within the distance, and only when it is determined that the distance is within the predetermined distance, the window display in the second display area is performed.

Incidentally, in the section of means and action for solving the above problems for explaining the constitution of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used for making the present invention easy to understand. It is not limited to.

[0008]

【Example】

First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle map display device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a current position detection device that detects the current position of the vehicle, for example, a direction sensor that detects the traveling direction of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed, and a GP.
It is composed of a GPS sensor or the like for detecting GPS signals from S (Global Positioning System) satellites. 2 is a map storage memory for storing road map data, such as a CD-R
It consists of an OM and its reader. The road map data stored in the map storage memory 2 mainly includes road data, name data, background data, and the like. The map storage memory 2 also stores road map data of a plurality of map scales.

Reference numeral 3 is a control circuit for controlling the entire apparatus,
It consists of a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits. 4 is an input device for inputting the destination of the vehicle, 5 is a memory for plane map data that stores road map data used when a plane map of the road map viewed from directly above is displayed on the display device, 6 is a road map 3 is a bird's-eye view data memory for storing road map data used when displaying the bird's-eye view.

An image memory 7 stores image data to be displayed on the display device 8. The image data stored in the image memory 7 is read out as appropriate and displayed on the display device 8. Reference numeral 9 is an antenna for receiving traffic information transmitted from a beacon receiver (not shown) or the like.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the main processing of the control circuit 3, and the operation of this embodiment will be described below based on this flow chart. The control circuit 3 starts the process of FIG. 2 when the key is operated to the ignition on position. In step S1 of FIG. 2, a recommended route and a destination are set. The destination is set by the operator via the input device 4, and the recommended route is automatically set by calculation using, for example, the well-known Dijkstra method. Alternatively, the recommended route candidates may be stored in advance in the ROM or the like, and any one of them may be selected as the recommended route.

In step S2, the display screen mode is set. The display screen modes set here include, for example, the following eight modes. The operator selects these modes via the input device 4. Mode in which the window screen is always displayed Mode in which the window screen is not always displayed Mode in which the window screen is automatically displayed when approaching a predetermined guidance point on the recommended route Mode in which the window screen is automatically displayed when traffic / guidance information is received Mode in which the base screen is a bird's eye view and the window screen is a plane map Mode in which the base screen is a bird's eye view and mode is in which the window screen is a bird's eye view Is a plan map. The base screen refers to the entire display screen of the display device 8, and the window screen refers to a screen displayed as a window on a part of the base screen.

In step S3, the display environment is set.
There are the following five display environments set here, for example. The operator selects these display environments via the input device 4. Setting the window screen size Setting the base screen and map scale within the window screen Setting the window screen display position Setting the display color of the base screen and window screen Setting the display direction of the base screen and window screen

In step S4, the current position of the vehicle is detected. In step S5, a map display process whose details are shown in FIGS. By performing this processing, for example, a road map as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. FIG. 6 shows an example in which a bird's-eye view is displayed on the base screen and a plane map is displayed on the window screen.

In step S6, the current position of the vehicle is detected as in step S4. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the road map on the screen is updated, that is, whether or not the road map is rewritten. Here, it is determined that the road map is updated, for example, when the vehicle travels for a predetermined distance or more, or when the operator instructs scrolling through the input device 4.

If the determination in step S7 is affirmative, the process returns to step S5, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, it is determined whether to continue the main process of FIG. For example, when a power switch (not shown) is turned off or a switch for stopping the process is operated, the determination in step S8 is denied and the main process of FIG. 2 is ended.

If the determination in step S8 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S9, the display of the attached information is updated, and then the process returns to step S6. Here, the attached information indicates, for example, a vehicle position mark displayed at the current position of the vehicle. In step S9, the display position of the accessory information such as the vehicle position mark is changed according to the traveling distance of the vehicle. When the vehicle position mark is displayed on both the base screen and the window screen, the display positions of both vehicle position marks are changed.

3 to 5 are flow charts showing details of the map display processing in step S5 of FIG. In step S101 of the figure, it is determined whether or not the road map displayed on the base screen is a bird's-eye view. Here, the determination is made based on the display screen mode set in step S2 of FIG. If the determination in step S101 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S102, the bird's-eye view display process shown in detail in FIG. 4 is performed, and the bird's-eye view is displayed in the base screen display area on the screen.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S101 is negative, the process proceeds to step S103, the planar map display processing shown in detail in FIG. 5 is performed, and a bird's-eye view is displayed in the base screen display area on the screen. When the process of step S102 or S103 ends, the process proceeds to step S104 to determine whether to display the window screen. Here, the determination is made based on the display screen mode set in step S3 in the figure.

If the determination in step S104 is affirmative, the flow advances to step S105 to determine whether or not the road map displayed on the window screen is a bird's-eye view. This determination is also made based on the display screen mode set in step S2 of FIG. If the determination in step S105 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S106, and the bird's-eye view display process shown in detail in FIG. 4 is performed to display the bird's-eye view in the window screen. On the other hand, if the determination in step S105 is negative, step S107
Then, the process goes to step 2 to execute the plane map display processing, the details of which are shown in FIG. 5, to display the plane map in the window screen.

When the process of step S106 or S107 is completed, or when the determination of step S104 is negative, the process proceeds to step S108, and the auxiliary information such as the vehicle position mark is displayed on both the base screen and the window screen. And return.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing details of the bird's-eye view display processing of step S102 of FIG. In step S201 of FIG. 4, the display direction angle when performing the bird's-eye view display is calculated.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating the display direction angle α. The XY axes shown in the figure indicate the road map plane, the origin O indicates the starting point of the vehicle, the coordinates G (X0, Y0) indicate the current position of the vehicle, and the coordinates P1 (X1, Y1) indicate the destination. As shown in the figure, the display direction angle α is the angle between the X-axis and the line segment (the dotted line in the figure) connecting the current position G and the destination P1 and is represented by the equation (1).

Tan α = {(Y1−Y0) / (X1−X0)} (1) In step S201, the display direction angle α is obtained based on the equation (1).

In step S202, step S in FIG.
Road map data around the current position is read from the map storage memory 2 based on the current position detected in step 4 and the display direction angle α calculated in step S201. For example, the road map data of several 10 km square including the current location is read.

In step S203, step S202
The data used when displaying the bird's-eye view is selected from the road map data read in step 3, and the selected data is stored in the bird's-eye view data memory 6. Here, in order to reduce the data amount of the road map information displayed on the display device 8, only the data whose data type satisfies a predetermined condition is extracted and stored in the bird's-eye view data memory 6. In step S204, the road map data selected in step S203 is converted into bird's-eye view data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the conversion to bird's-eye view data. The road map is the XY plane, the viewpoint M is placed on the Z-axis orthogonal to the XY plane, and the angle of looking down from the viewpoint M is φ.
Here is an example. The rectangle abcd shown in the figure shows the display range of the display device 6 as enlargedly displayed in FIG. 9, and the trapezoid ABCD of FIG. 8 shows the road map range displayed on the display device 6.

In order to convert the road map data into the bird's-eye view data, the viewpoint M is first displayed so that all the road map data in the trapezoidal area ABCD shown in the figure can be displayed on the display device 6.
After defining the height Z, the down-looking angle φ from the viewpoint M, and the spread angle θ from the viewpoint, the bird's-eye view data projected on the rectangular area abcd in FIG. 8 is created using these parameters. At this time, the looking-down angle φ is set such that the vicinity of the center line connecting the midpoints of the upper side and the lower side of the display screen of the display device 6 becomes the destination direction.

Returning to FIG. 4, in step S205, the bird's-eye view data converted in step S204 is displayed on the display device 8.
It is converted to the final map image data to be displayed on and returned.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the planar map display processing of step S103 of FIG. In step S301 of FIG. 5, a road map around the current position of the vehicle is read from the map storage memory 2. In step S302, the data used for displaying the plane map is selected from the road map data read in step S301, the selected data is stored in the plane map data memory 5 as the plane map data, and the process returns. . Here, similarly to step S203 of FIG. 4, data with high priority is selected. In step S303, the plan map data stored in the plan map data memory 5 is converted into map image data, stored in the image memory 7, and the process returns.

2 to 5 described above are summarized, the control circuit 3 sets the screen display mode and the display environment after setting the destination and the recommended route of the vehicle. For example, when the mode of displaying the bird's-eye view on the base screen and the plan map on the window screen is selected,
First, the bird's-eye view is displayed on the base screen, and then the plane map is displayed on the window screen. The operator sets the map scale, display area, and display position in the window screen through the input device 4. When the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or more, the base screen and the window screen are rewritten, and when the vehicle travels less than the predetermined distance, only the vehicle position marks in the base screen and the window screen are moved.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the road map different from the base screen can be displayed on the window screen. Therefore, for example, the bird's-eye view is displayed on the base screen while the plane map is displayed on the window screen. It is also possible to display a map. This eliminates the disadvantage of the bird's eye view display format in which it is difficult to grasp the sense of distance.

Second Embodiment In the second embodiment, the window screen is not normally displayed, but the window screen is displayed only when the vehicle approaches the guidance point. The second embodiment has a configuration common to the first embodiment and is common to the first embodiment except for the process of step S104 of FIG. 3, so that the process of step S104 of FIG. 3 will be described below. Details will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the details of the processing in step S104 of FIG. In step S401 of FIG. 10, the guide points around the current position of the vehicle are read from the map storage memory 2. Here, the guidance point refers to a point on the recommended route that is necessary for route guidance, and is constituted by, for example, an intersection or a curve point. Information about the guide point on the recommended route is stored in the map storage memory 2 in advance.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the details of the processing in step S401 in FIG. The plurality of square regions shown in FIG. 11 are units for reading road map data (hereinafter, this unit is referred to as a mesh code), and each code is given a unique number. The solid line in the figure indicates the recommended route, and the black circles on the recommended route indicate the guiding points. The triangular mark in the figure indicates the current location of the vehicle.

In FIG. 11, the vehicle is a mesh cord 5
If it is located at 339, the shaded area around it is 4
One mesh code 5339, 5340, 5439, 5
The guidance point inside each area 440 is read.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the data structure of the guide point information stored in the map storage memory 2. As shown in the figure, the guide point information includes a "mesh number" area for storing a mesh code number, a "guide point number" area for storing a guide point number n in the mesh area, and a map of guide point 1 in the mesh area. "X coordinate" area for storing the upper X coordinate, Y on the map of the guide point 1
It is divided into a "Y coordinate" area for storing coordinates, a "guidance point instruction flag" area for instructing whether or not to select the guidance point 1 as a guidance point, and the like.

Returning to FIG. 10, in step S402,
From the guidance points read in step S401, the guidance point closest to the current position of the vehicle is selected. Figure 11
In the case of, the guide point k is selected. Step S40
In 3, the current position of the vehicle is detected again. Step S40
In 4, the distance L between the guidance point k and the current position of the vehicle is calculated. In step S405, it is determined whether the distance L is within a predetermined distance. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S105 of FIG. 3 and the process of displaying a window screen is performed thereafter. On the other hand, if the determination in step S405 is negative, the process proceeds to step S108 in FIG. 3 and only the additional information such as the vehicle position mark in the window screen is rewritten.

As described above, in the second embodiment, route guidance is performed without displaying the window screen until the vehicle approaches the guidance point, and the window screen is automatically displayed when the vehicle approaches the guidance point. Since the information is displayed, the driver can be notified that the guidance point is approaching, and the road condition near the guidance point can be displayed in detail.

In the above embodiment, when the base screen and the window screen are displayed, the map scale in the window screen is set so that the entire road map range displayed in the base screen is displayed in the window screen. It may be set automatically. In the above embodiment, an example in which the display position of the window screen is changed according to the instruction of the operator has been described, but the window screen may be automatically displayed at a position that does not overlap the vehicle position mark and the recommended route. . In the above embodiment, a switch for separately scrolling the base screen and the window screen may be provided. For example, when a switch for scrolling the window screen is operated, the road map may be scrolled according to the operation, and at the same time, the vehicle position mark may be moved. In the above embodiment, the display screen mode and the display environment are set in the main process by the control circuit 3 shown in FIG. 2, but the display screen mode and the display environment may be set by the interrupt process. That is, when the operator gives an instruction to change the display screen mode or the display environment via the input device 4, the process of the control circuit 3 may be interrupted to change the settings such as the display screen mode. As a result, the mode can be changed quickly.

In the embodiment thus constructed, the map storage memory 2 serves as the road map storage means, the control circuit 3 serves as the display control means, the current position detection device 1 serves as the vehicle position detection means, and the bird's-eye view of FIG. Display processing is a bird's eye view data conversion means,
The flat map display processing of FIG.
The input device 4 is the window setting means and the window display instructing means, the process of step S1 of FIG. 2 is the destination setting means and the recommended route setting means, S402 of FIG. 10 is the guiding point extracting means, and step S405 of FIG. Each corresponds to the determination means.

[0041]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the bird's-eye view is displayed in the first display area, and the planar map is displayed in the second display area which is a part of the bird's-eye view. Therefore, the problem that it is difficult to grasp the sense of distance, which is a defect of the bird's eye view display format, is solved. That is, when driving normally based on the bird's-eye view displayed in the first display area and measuring the distance between two points, it is sufficient to check the second display area. It becomes easier to understand. According to the invention as set forth in claim 2, since the display area, the display position and the map scale of the second display area can be arbitrarily changed, the second display area can be displayed so as not to interfere with the display of the first display area. The display area can be displayed. According to the invention of claim 3, when the road map range displayed in the first display area and the road map range displayed in the second display area overlap each other, the road map range is displayed in the first display area. Since the display frame indicating the displayed road map range is displayed in the second display area, the road map range displayed in the first display area can be grasped at a glance. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the planar map is displayed in the window in the second display area only when the window display instructing means gives an instruction. Therefore, the second map is displayed only when the operator needs it. The display area can be displayed, and the screen display becomes easy to see. According to the invention of claim 5, when the guide point is approached, the plane map is automatically displayed in the window in the second display area. Therefore, the driver can be notified that the guide point is approaching. , You can display the road condition around the guidance point in detail.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing main processing of a control circuit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a map display process of a control circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a bird's-eye view display process of a control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a planar map display process of the control circuit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which a bird's-eye view is displayed on the base screen and a plane map is displayed on the window screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method of calculating a display direction angle α.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating conversion into bird's-eye view data.

9 is an enlarged view of the rectangular area abcd shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating details of processing in step S104 in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the details of the processing in step S401 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a data structure of guide point information stored in a map storage memory 2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 current position detection device 2 map storage memory 3 control circuit 4 input device 5 memory for plane map data 6 memory for bird's-eye view data 7 image memory 8 display device 9 antenna

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00 A C 29/10 A

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle map display device comprising: a road map storage means for storing road map data relating to a road map; and a display control means for displaying the road map data on a display device. The present location of the vehicle is detected. A vehicle position detection means, a viewpoint is placed in the sky above the current location on the road map, and a bird's-eye view looking down the road map at a predetermined looking-down angle and spread angle from this viewpoint is displayed on the display device, Bird's-eye view data conversion means for reading the road map data in a predetermined range from the road map storage means and converting the road map data into bird's-eye view data, and plane map data for reading the road map data in a predetermined range including the current location of the vehicle from the road map storage means. And a plane map data creating means for creating the first map in the display screen of the display device.
For displaying a bird's-eye view based on the bird's-eye view data in a display area of the vehicle, and displaying a planar map based on the planar map data in a window in a second display area that is a part of the first display area. Map display device. 2. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1, further comprising window setting means for setting at least one of a display area, a display position, and a map scale of the second display area, The map display device for a vehicle, wherein the display control means displays the planar map in the second display area according to the setting content of the window setting means. 3. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display control means causes a part or all of a road map range displayed in the first display area to be the second map area. When displayed in the display area, a display frame indicating the road map range displayed in the first display area is displayed at a corresponding position in the second display area. Display device. 4. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1, wherein the bird's-eye view is displayed in the first display area, and the planar map is displayed in the second display area. Window display instructing means for instructing that the display control means displays the bird's-eye view in the first display area and displays the bird's-eye view in the second display area when instructed by the window display instructing means. A map display device for a vehicle, which displays the planar map and does not display a window in the second display area when there is no instruction from the window display instruction means. 5. The vehicle map display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein destination setting means for setting a destination of the vehicle, and a recommended route from the departure point of the vehicle to the destination are set. A recommended route setting means, a guide point extraction means for extracting a guide point required for route guidance on the recommended route from the road map storage means, and among the extracted guide points, the current route of the vehicle is the most A display unit for determining whether or not the distance between the near guidance point and the current position of the vehicle is within a predetermined distance, and the display control unit displays the first display when the determination unit determines that the distance is within the predetermined distance. When the bird's-eye view is displayed in the area and the plan view is displayed in the second display area, and the determination means determines that the distance is larger than the predetermined distance, the window to the second display area is displayed. Vehicle map display device comprising means no window display.