JPH08166762A - Map display device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a road map displayed on a screen easy to understand by displaying a road map on a display device in the selected direction by a display direction selecting means. CONSTITUTION: The present position and the direction of progress are detected using a present position detecting device 1. Next, display direction setting processing is performed, and a display direction of a road map displayed on a display device 6 is set. Road map data of a prescribed range is read out from a map storage memory 2 so that a road map of a set display direction is display on the upside of a display screen. Read out road map data is converted into map picture data for displaying it on the display device 6. Converted map picture data is stored in a picture memory 5. Map picture data stored in the picture memory 5 is properly read out and displayed on the display device 6. It is discriminated whether or not a road map on a screen is updated, that is, whether or not a road map is rewritten.

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 There is known a device which displays a road map in the traveling direction of a vehicle on the upper side of a display screen of a display device (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-225391). When the display direction is the traveling direction of the vehicle, there is an advantage that an intersection or the like on the traveling route of the vehicle can be observed in detail, and when the traveling route is a straight traveling route, the road map becomes very easy to understand.

[0003]

However, when turning to another route at a predetermined intersection on the traveling route, displaying the current traveling direction does not make much sense, and the direction to which the vehicle is going to turn is displayed. Is preferable. Also, if the traveling direction of the vehicle is always displayed, if the traveling route curves greatly, the display direction of the road map will change with it, making it difficult to understand the direction and the current position on the road map. You may lose sight of it for a moment.

In order to solve the above problem, it is possible to set the direction of the destination as the display direction, or to set the direction of the intermediate point between the current position and the destination as the display direction. When the deviation from the direction of the destination or the direction of the waypoint is large, the road map becomes difficult to understand.

The object of the present invention is to make the road map displayed on the screen easy to understand by changing the display direction of the road map according to the distance from the current position to the destination or the distance from the current position to the transit point. It is to provide a map display device for a vehicle.

[0006]

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 6
The vehicle position detection means 1 for detecting the current location of the vehicle, the destination setting means 4 for setting the destination of the vehicle, and the recommendation from the starting point of the vehicle to the destination Depending on the recommended route setting means to set the route and the distance from the vehicle's current location to the destination or the distance from the current location to the stopover on the recommended route, the direction of the destination, the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the direction of the stopover By providing the display direction selection means for selecting any one of the directions, and configuring the display control means 3 to display the road map of the direction selected by the display direction selection means on the display device 6,
The above objective is accomplished. The invention according to claim 2 is the map display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the road map in the direction selected by the display direction selecting means is displayed on the display screen of the display device 6 rather than the road map around the current location. The display control means 3 is configured to display on the upper side. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle map display device according to the first or second aspect, the first determination that determines whether or not the distance from the current location of the vehicle to the destination is equal to or greater than a first distance The display direction selection unit is configured to select the direction of the destination when the first determination unit determines that the distance is equal to or greater than the first distance. The invention according to claim 4 is the vehicle map display device according to claim 3, further comprising: second determining means for determining whether or not the distance from the current position to the waypoint is shorter than the second distance. The display direction selection unit is configured to select the waypoint direction when the second determination unit determines that the distance is shorter than the second distance. The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 4.
In the vehicle map display device described in, when the direction of the waypoint is selected by the display direction selection means, a road map of the direction of a point that is a predetermined distance from the current position of the vehicle toward the destination along the recommended route is displayed. The display control means 3 is configured to display on the display device 6. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle map display device according to the fourth aspect, when the direction of the waypoint is selected by the display direction selecting means, a predetermined straight line distance is obtained from the current position of the vehicle toward the predetermined direction. Display device 6 for displaying a road map in the direction of a distant point
The display control means 3 is configured to display on. The invention according to claim 7 is the map display device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the guidance point closest to the current position of the vehicle is selected from the guidance points which are points required for route guidance on the recommended route. The display control unit 3 is provided with a guide point selecting unit for selecting, and when the display direction selecting unit selects the waypoint direction, the display control unit 3 is configured to display the road map in the direction of the guide point selected by the guide point selecting unit. It is a thing. The invention according to claim 8 is the map display device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising third determining means for determining whether or not the current position of the vehicle is on a recommended route. The display direction selection means is configured to select the traveling direction of the vehicle when it is determined by the third determination means that the vehicle is not on the recommended route. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle map display device according to the eighth aspect, the vehicle map display device further comprises data extracting means for extracting road map data around a current location of the vehicle, and the road map data extracted by the data extracting means. If the road map data on the recommended route is included in, the third determining means is configured to determine that the current position of the vehicle is on the recommended route.

[0007]

According to the invention described in claim 1, the direction of the destination, the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the transit area are determined according to the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination or the distance from the current position to the stopover on the recommended route. One of the directions is selected, and the selected direction is set as the display direction. This prevents the display direction of the road map from changing suddenly. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the direction selected by the display direction selecting means is displayed on the upper side of the display screen to provide an easy-to-understand road map. According to the third aspect of the invention, if the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination is equal to or greater than the first distance, the destination direction is selected as the display direction, so that the destination direction can always be confirmed. In the invention according to claim 4, when the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the stopover is shorter than the second distance, the stopover direction on the recommended route is selected as the display direction, so that the road condition around the stopover is determined. Display in detail. In the invention according to claim 5, when the waypoint direction is selected as the display direction, the recommendation is made by displaying the road map in the direction of the point which is a predetermined distance from the current position of the vehicle toward the destination along the recommended route. Display as many routes as possible.
In the invention according to claim 6, when the waypoint direction is selected as the display direction, a road map is displayed on the screen in the direction of a point which is a predetermined distance away from the current position of the vehicle in a predetermined direction by a straight line distance. Make the displayed road map range easy to understand. In the invention according to claim 7, a guidance point which is a point on the recommended route and necessary for route guidance is extracted, and a guidance point closest to the current position of the vehicle is selected from the guidance points. When the waypoint direction is selected as the display direction, the road condition around the guidance point is displayed in detail by displaying the road map in the direction of the guidance point closest to the current location of the vehicle. According to the eighth aspect of the invention, when the current position of the vehicle is not on the recommended route, the traveling direction of the vehicle is selected as the display direction to display the road condition in the traveling direction in detail. In the invention according to claim 9, the road map data around the current position of the vehicle is extracted, and if the extracted data includes road map data on the recommended route, the current position of the vehicle is on the recommended route. It is determined to be.

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

[0009]

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 for detecting the current position of the vehicle, for example, a direction sensor for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed, and a GPS signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite. It is composed of a GPS sensor and the like. Reference numeral 2 is a map storage memory for storing road map data, which is composed of, for example, a CD-ROM and its reading device. 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. Reference numeral 4 is an input device for inputting the destination of the vehicle. An image memory 5 stores image data to be displayed on the display device 6, and the image data stored in the image memory 5 is appropriately read and displayed on the display device 6.

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 destination is set. The destination is set by the operator via the input device 4. In step S2, a recommended route is set. The recommended route is automatically set by calculation using the well-known Dijkstra method or the like. 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 S3, the current position detecting device 1 is used to detect the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle. For example,
When a GPS sensor is provided inside the current location detection device 1, the current location is detected by so-called GPS navigation using the GPS sensor, and when a vehicle speed sensor and a direction sensor are provided instead of the GPS sensor, The current location is detected by so-called self-contained navigation that determines the travel path. Alternatively, the current position may be detected by combining GPS navigation and self-contained navigation. On the other hand, the traveling direction of the vehicle is detected using an azimuth sensor, a geomagnetic sensor (neither is shown), or the like.

In step S4, a display direction setting process shown in detail in FIG. 3 is performed to set the display direction of the road map displayed on the display device 6. Details of the display orientation setting process will be described later. In step S5, road map data in a predetermined range is read from the map storage memory 2 so that the road map in the display direction set in step S4 is displayed on the upper side of the display screen.

In step S6, the road map data read in step S5 is converted into map image data to be displayed on the display device 6. In step S7, step S
The map image data converted in 6 is stored in the image memory 5. The map image data stored in the image memory 5 is appropriately read and displayed on the display device 6.

In step S8, the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle are detected as in step S3. Step S9
Then, 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,
For example, it is determined that the road map is updated when the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or more, or when the operator instructs scrolling via the input device 4 or the like. If the determination in step S9 is affirmative, the process returns to step S4, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S10.

In step S10, it is determined whether or not to continue the main process of FIG. For example, if a power switch (not shown) is turned off, or a switch for instructing to stop the process is operated, the determination in step S10 is denied and the main process of FIG. 2 is ended. On the other hand, if the determination in step S10 is positive, the process proceeds to step S11, the display of the attached information is updated, and then the process returns to step S8.
Here, the attached information indicates, for example, a vehicle position mark displayed at the current position of the vehicle. In step S11, the display position of the auxiliary information such as the vehicle position mark is changed according to the traveling distance of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing details of the display orientation setting process in step S4 of FIG. In step S101 of FIG. 3, a route departure determination process shown in detail in FIG. 4 is performed to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route. Hereinafter, details of the route departure determination process will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S201 of FIG. 4, 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. 5 is a diagram for explaining the details of the processing in step S201 in FIG. In FIG. 5, a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in a grid indicate a unit 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. 5, the vehicle is a mesh cord 53.
39, the four mesh cords 5339, 5340, 5439, 54 surrounded by diagonal lines are shown.
The guide point information inside each area of 40 is read.

FIG. 6 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 above X coordinate, "Y coordinate" area for storing the Y coordinate on the map of the guidance point 1, "guidance point instruction" for instructing whether or not to select the guidance point 1 as the guidance point It is divided into a "flag" area and the like.

Returning to FIG. 4, in step S202, a predetermined range around the current position of the vehicle is set as a clipping range. Here, clipping means cutting out data in a square area centered on the current position of the vehicle,
For example, the clipping range is several hundred meters square. In FIG. 5, a triangular mark is displayed at the current position of the vehicle, and the clipping range around the triangular mark is hatched. In addition,
In the present embodiment, the shape of the clipping range is a square, but it may be another shape such as a circle or a triangle. Further, the width of the clipping range is not limited to the embodiment, and the width of the clipping range may be designated by a switch or the like. In step S203, it is determined whether the recommended route passes within the clipping range.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the clipping range shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the vehicle position mark is displayed at the center of the clipping range, the coordinates of the vehicle position mark are M (GX, GY), and the formulas for the boundary lines of the clipping range are Y = GY + 50 and Y = GY, respectively.
-50, X = GX-50, and X = GX + 50.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the recommended route passes through the right shoulder portion of the clipping range, and the thick line portion shows the portion overlapping the clipping range. Also, the circles on the recommended route indicate the guide points, and in FIG. 7, the coordinates of the respective guide points are P1 (Xn, Yn), P.
2 (Xn + 1, Yn + 1). Step S203
Then, the equation Y = aX + b of the straight line connecting the two guiding points P1 and P2 near the clipping range is calculated, and the equation of the boundary line between the calculated straight line and the clipping range ~
By making simultaneous with and, it is determined whether or not the recommended route passes within the clipping range.

If the determination in step S203 in FIG. 4 is negative, the process proceeds to step S102 in FIG. 3 to select the traveling direction of the vehicle as the display direction and return. On the other hand, if the determination in step S203 of FIG. 4 is affirmative, step S of FIG.
Proceeding to 103, the guidance point closest to the current location is selected. For example, in the case of FIG. 5, the guide point k is selected.

In step S104, the distance L between the current position of the vehicle and the guide point k is calculated. Step S105
Then, it is determined whether or not the distance L is shorter than a predetermined distance. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S106 and step S106.
The direction of the guide point k selected in 103 is selected as the display direction and the process returns. If the determination in step S105 is negative, the process proceeds to step S107, the destination direction is selected as the display direction, and the process returns.

The processes of FIGS. 2 to 4 described above can be summarized. After setting the destination and the recommended route, the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle are detected. Next, it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route. When the vehicle deviates from the recommended route, the traveling direction of the vehicle is set as the display direction. This allows
As shown in FIG. 8, the traveling direction of the vehicle is displayed on the upper side of the display screen, and the driver can observe the road condition in the traveling direction in detail. On the other hand, when the driver is traveling on the recommended route, the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, and the distance between the guidance point and the current location of the vehicle is equal to or more than the predetermined distance, the destination direction is set as the display direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, when the destination is still far away, it becomes possible to drive while confirming the direction of the destination. Therefore, there is no risk of making a wrong direction while traveling to the destination. Further, even if the traveling direction of the vehicle changes on the way, the display direction of the road map does not suddenly change, so that the road map becomes easy to understand.

On the contrary, when the distance between the guide point and the current position of the vehicle becomes shorter than the predetermined distance, the direction of the guide point is set as the display direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to observe the road condition in the vicinity of the guidance point in detail, and solve the problem of erroneously passing a corner. In addition, FIG.
At 0, the driver is warned by displaying an arrow indicating the turning direction at the guidance point indicating the corner.

In the display direction setting process of FIG. 3, when the distance L between the current position and the guide point is less than the predetermined distance, the direction of the guide point is set as the display direction. The display direction may be used. The direction of the waypoint set by the operator using the input device 4. The direction of a point that has traveled a specified distance from the vehicle's current location toward the destination along the recommended route. A direction that is a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle's current location in a straight line.

When the above directions are used as the display directions, many road maps in the directions desired by the operator can be displayed. When the above-mentioned direction is set as the display direction, many recommended routes can be displayed, which is particularly useful when the recommended route is winding. When the above direction is set as the display direction, the display range is determined by the straight line distance from the current position, so that it becomes easy to understand how much range the road map is displayed. Further, when the above or direction is set as the display direction, the value of the predetermined distance serving as the reference of the display direction may be set / changed.

In the route departure determination processing of FIG. 4, an example in which the guidance point information stored in the map storage memory 2 is sequentially read has been described, but the operator inputs which point on the recommended route is to be the guidance point. The designation may be made by the device 4. For example, in step S1 of FIG. 2, not only the destination but also a waypoint on the way to the destination can be set, and the set waypoint may be used as the guidance point. Alternatively, both the set waypoint and the guidance point stored in the map storage memory 2 may be used as the guidance point.

In step S106 of FIG. 3, the direction of the guidance point closest to the current position of the vehicle is the display direction.
The direction of the guidance point further ahead may be the display direction. In the display direction setting process of FIG. 3, an example in which the display direction of the road map is automatically set is shown, but the automatically set display direction may be changed by a switch or the like.
For example, after the traveling direction of the vehicle is selected as the display direction, the original display direction, for example, the destination direction may be changed. This allows the operator to set the most desired display direction. 8 to 10 show an example in which a road map is displayed in a bird's-eye view, but the present invention can also be applied to a case where a plane map is displayed. Further, when the bird's-eye view is displayed, as shown in FIG. 11, the azimuth, the distance to the guidance point, the intersection name of the guidance point, and the like may be displayed together.

In the embodiment configured as described above, the map storage memory 2 serves as road map storage means, the control circuit 3 serves as display control means, the current value detection device 1 serves as vehicle position detection means, and the input device 4 is provided. As the destination setting means, step S in FIG.
2 is the recommended route setting means, the display direction setting process of FIG. 3 is the display direction selection means, step S105 of FIG. 3 is the first determination means and the second determination means, and step S10 of FIG.
3 is the guiding point selecting means, and step S101 in FIG.
Corresponds to the third determining means, and step S202 of FIG. 4 corresponds to the data extracting means.

[0034]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the display direction of the road map is changed according to the distance from the current position to the destination or the distance from the current position to the stopover on the recommended route. As a result, problems such as a sudden change in the display direction of the road map and a large deviation between the traveling direction of the vehicle and the display direction do not occur. According to the second aspect of the invention, since the direction selected by the display direction selecting means is displayed on the upper side of the display screen, it is possible to sufficiently display the direction in which to proceed. According to the invention described in claim 3, when the distance from the current location to the destination is equal to or greater than the first distance, the direction of the destination is set as the display direction, and therefore the destination is confirmed when the destination is still far away. You can drive while doing so, and you will not make a big mistake in the direction. According to the invention of claim 4, when the distance from the current position to the waypoint is shorter than the second distance, the direction of the waypoint is set as the display direction. Therefore, the road condition around the waypoint can be displayed in detail, and the corner can be turned. There are no problems such as passing by.
According to the fifth aspect of the invention, since the direction of the point that has advanced the predetermined distance along the recommended route is the display direction, the recommended route can be displayed sufficiently long. Therefore, it is particularly useful when the recommended route is winding. According to the sixth aspect of the invention, since the road map is displayed in the direction of the point that is a predetermined distance away from the current location by a straight line distance, the road map range displayed on the screen can be roughly grasped. According to the invention of claim 7, since the direction of the guidance point closest to the current position is set as the display direction, the road condition around the guidance point can be grasped in detail. According to the invention described in claim 8, when the vehicle deviates from the recommended route, the traveling direction of the vehicle is set as the display direction, so that the road condition in the traveling direction can be grasped in detail. According to the invention described in claim 9, the road map data around the current location is extracted, and if the extracted road map data includes the road map data of the recommended route, the vehicle travels on the recommended route. Since it is determined that the vehicle is on the recommended route, it can be easily and accurately determined whether or not the vehicle is on the recommended route.

[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 display orientation setting process of a control circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a route departure determination process of the control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a clipping range and a mesh code.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of guide point information.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a clipping range.

FIG. 8 is a diagram in which a traveling direction of a vehicle is a display direction.

FIG. 9 is a diagram in which a destination direction is a display direction.

FIG. 10 is a diagram in which the direction of the guide point is the display direction.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a bird's-eye view display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 current position detection device 2 map storage memory 3 control circuit 4 input device 5 image memory 6 display device

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G06T 1/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00 AC

Claims (9)

[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. Vehicle position detection means, destination setting means for setting the destination of the vehicle, recommended route setting means for setting the recommended route from the departure point of the vehicle to the destination, the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination, or Display direction selection means for selecting one of a destination direction, a traveling direction of the vehicle, and the direction of the waypoint according to a distance from the current position to the waypoint on the recommended route, The control means causes the display device to display a road map in the direction selected by the display direction selection means. 2. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the road map in the direction selected by the display direction selection unit more than the road map around the current position. A map display device for a vehicle, which is displayed on the upper side of the display screen. 3. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: first determining means for determining whether or not the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination is a first distance or more. The vehicle map display device, wherein the display direction selection means selects a destination direction when the first determination means determines that the distance is equal to or greater than the first distance. 4. The vehicle map display device according to claim 3, further comprising second determining means for determining whether or not the distance from the current location to the waypoint is shorter than a second distance, The vehicle map display device, wherein the display direction selecting means selects the waypoint direction when the second determining means determines that the display direction selecting means is shorter than the second distance. 5. The map display device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the display control unit follows the recommended route from the current position of the vehicle when the route direction is selected by the display direction selection unit. A map display device for a vehicle, which displays a road map in a direction of a point which has advanced a predetermined distance toward a destination on the display device. 6. The vehicle map display device according to claim 4, wherein when the display direction selecting unit selects the waypoint direction, the display control unit moves from a current position of the vehicle toward a predetermined direction. A vehicle map display device for displaying a road map in a direction of a point separated by a predetermined distance in a straight line distance on the display device. 7. The vehicle map display device according to claim 4, wherein a guidance point that is closest to the current location of the vehicle is selected from guidance points that are points required for route guidance on the recommended route. The display control means displays a road map in the direction of the guidance point selected by the guidance point selection means when the display direction selection means selects the waypoint direction. The vehicle map display device. 8. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1, further comprising a third determination unit that determines whether or not the current location of the vehicle is on the recommended route. The vehicle map display device, wherein the direction selecting means selects a traveling direction of the vehicle when the third determining means determines that the vehicle is not on the recommended route. 9. The vehicle map display device according to claim 8, further comprising a data extraction unit that extracts the road map data around the current position of the vehicle, wherein the third determination unit is the data extraction unit. A vehicle map display device characterized in that, when the extracted road map data includes road map data on the recommended route, it is determined that the current position of the vehicle is on the recommended route.