JPH09133542A - Azimuth navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance safety by calculating and displaying the distance from the current position to a goal and the advancing direction of a mobile based on positional information so that the direction and distance to the goal or a passing point can be confirmed visually at a glance. SOLUTION: When a goal or a passing point is set 20 and driving is started, a main electronic controller 22 calculates the distance (m) between a goal point M and a current position P detected by various sensors (geomagnetism sensor, distance sensor) 10 and a GPS unit 12. The controller 22 then calculates the direction (b) of goal point M with respect to an advancing direction (a) based on a past traveling track, current position P, and the advancing direction (a) detected by the sensor 10. The advancing direction (a), the distance (m) to goal point M, and the direction (b) of goal point M thus calculated are then presented on a display 16 with the advancing direction directing upward at all times. Consequently, a driver can visually recognize the positional relationship between the current advancing direction and the goal point M or passing point and the distance (m).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, when guiding a vehicle to a destination point, provides safety to convey only the sense of direction and distance to the destination or waypoint without giving excessive information to the driver of the vehicle. The present invention relates to an important navigation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a navigation device developed to display the position and orientation of a vehicle on a map screen to facilitate traveling on a strange land.
The navigation device includes a display device, a GPS receiver,
Road map memory, computer, etc. are installed in the vehicle, and
The vehicle position is detected based on the match between the traveling data input from the PS receiver and the road pattern stored in the road map memory, and the vehicle position is displayed on the display device together with the road map.

[0003]

However, since the storage capacity of the road map memory is very large, the CD-RO
An external storage device such as M is required, and the entire system must be complicated and heavy. Further, in order to display a map on a display, a display device having a considerably high level of resolution is required, which pushes up the manufacturing cost even at the current technical level and prevents its spread.

By the way, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the navigation device of the vehicle because it is necessary to consider driving safety for the driver of the vehicle. In the conventional navigation device, the mainstream method is to display a simplified map around the current position of the vehicle on the display device. In this method, the driver of the vehicle watches the map on the display device while driving. It has been pointed out in part that it is very dangerous to drive inadvertently while driving. There is also a method of use in which a passenger in the vehicle sees the navigation device and conveys information to the driver, but this is a fall due to the original function of the navigation device for its own use. Therefore, in consideration of safety, the display mode is automatically switched while the vehicle is running, and only the main roads are displayed or only the necessary information is displayed, and other information is displayed in different colors. Although there is an invention, in any case, since it is unavoidable to display a map of the road, it is extremely difficult for the driver to glance at the display device and judge information while driving the vehicle.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention gives a glance at a display device without compromising safety as much as a driver of a vehicle looks at a vehicle driving device such as a speedometer or a tachometer while driving. By providing the means for obtaining information on the direction and distance of the destination or waypoint. In addition, a low-priced navigation device can be provided for general individual users by eliminating extra information and map data.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the azimuth navigation device according to claim 1, a GPS receiving unit receives a radio wave from a GPS satellite and sends the information to a main electronic control unit. The main electronic control unit calculates the current position coordinates of the vehicle, and the center of the display screen is used as the current position of the vehicle, and the distance from the coordinate position of the destination or waypoint previously input from the operation unit or the external information receiving unit. The display electronic control unit has a control means for calculating the range in which the destination or the waypoint can be displayed on the display after setting the central portion of the display screen as the current position, and displaying the range on the display. To do.

Further, a concentric circle equidistant from the center position of the screen on the display, that is, the current position is drawn to show the distance to the destination or the waypoint, and as the vehicle approaches the destination or the waypoint, the distance becomes constant. It is characterized by having a control means for automatically changing the distance scale.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, a second aspect is provided.
In the azimuth navigation device, the destination or waypoint previously input from the operation unit or the external information receiving unit is displayed at a fixed point in the upper center of the display unit screen, and the GPS receiving unit receives radio waves from GPS satellites and Information is passed to the main electronic control unit, the main electronic control unit calculates the distance between the current position of the vehicle and the coordinate position of the destination or waypoint, calculates the range in which the current position coordinates can be displayed, and displays the electronic display. The section is characterized by having a control means for displaying on a display.

Further, a concentric circle that is equidistant from the upper center of the screen of the display, that is, the position of the destination or the waypoint is drawn to represent the distance to the current position, and the coordinate position is calculated each time the vehicle moves, and the current position is calculated. And a control means for displaying the locus coordinate position where the vehicle has moved.

[0010]

In the navigation device according to the present invention, the driver sets the destination or the waypoint, starts driving the vehicle, and simultaneously displays the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle and the destination or the waypoint on the same screen. To do. Therefore, the driver knows the positional relationship between the direction in which he is currently traveling and the destination or stopover, and can approach the destination by turning left or right on the running road. In addition, the distance between the vehicle position and the destination or waypoint is always displayed as equidistant concentric circles, and a sense of distance can be visually obtained, so that the criterion for turning right or left is supplemented.

Further, in the navigation device according to the present invention, when the destination or the waypoint is displayed at a fixed position in the upper center of the display, and the driver of the vehicle starts driving, the point where the device is operated is displayed. The starting point is displayed as a straight line between the starting point and the destination or waypoint, and the current position of the vehicle and its travel path are displayed each time the vehicle moves, so the driver does not deviate from the shortest straight line. By selecting a road that is as close to a straight line as possible, the result is that the shortest course was traveled.

【Example】

Example. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the vehicle information display device according to this embodiment. The vehicle information display device according to the present embodiment includes various sensor units 1 as constituent elements for obtaining various information.
0, a GPS device 12, and an external information receiving unit 14 are provided. The various sensor units 10 are composed of an azimuth sensor that detects the traveling azimuth of the vehicle based on the geomagnetism, a distance sensor that measures the traveling distance by the number of rotations of the vehicle, and the like. The GPS device 12 detects the position of the own vehicle, and together with the various sensor units 10, obtains operation route information used for vehicle operation, guidance, and the like. The external information receiving unit 14 receives external information, for example, traffic congestion information from the VICS center or the like.
Further, in the vehicle information device, a display 16 that is controlled by the display electronic control unit 18 to display vehicle information including various information, and an operation switch 20 that performs a switching operation of information displayed on the display 16, Main electronic control unit 22 for inputting vehicular information, controlling various calculation processes, and controlling display electronic control unit 18 to display predetermined vehicular information
And are provided. The operation switch 20
May have a different configuration, or may be a touch switch operated by touching the surface of the display 16. Further, the display electronic control unit 18 includes a main electronic control unit 22.
The main electronic control unit 22 may be configured to have one function.

In the above device configuration, the operation switch 20
Is operated to set the destination point, and the relative relationship between the destination point, the current traveling point, and the traveling direction is displayed on the display 16 by two display methods, and the host vehicle is appropriately advanced. .

In the present embodiment, the two display methods will be described separately in order to clarify their characteristics. However, by displaying the two display methods on the display 16 at the same time, the position of the vehicle can be recognized more accurately. You can In FIG.
A process flow chart of the display method 1 is shown, and the process of the vehicle information display device in the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

Normally, the vehicle information display device of this embodiment displays the start screen (step 10).
1), the screen for setting the destination and various settings is displayed. Here, when the setting of the destination point is selected (step 102) and the setting is performed with the operation switch 20 (step 103), the following steps are usually repeated, and the relative positional relationship between the current point and the destination point is successively obtained, that is, the current point and the destination. The distance to the point, the current heading and the heading of the destination are calculated and displayed on the display 16. The current position is detected by the various sensors 10 and the GPS device (step 106), and the distance between the current position and the destination position set in step 103 is calculated. (Step 107) Next, the traveling direction and the current position in the past and the traveling direction are detected by the geomagnetic sensor and the distance sensor of the various sensors 10, and the direction of the destination point is calculated with respect to the traveling direction. (Step 1
08) The display 16 displays the traveling azimuth, the distance to the destination, and the azimuth relationship between the destination and the traveling azimuth calculated by the above processing. (Step 109) Further, in order to change various settings (for example, change of destination point) and display various information, the operation switch 20 is operated (Step 104), and various setting changes and information are displayed. (Step 110) The above process is ended by operating the operation switch 20. (Step 10
5)

The feature of this display method is that when the information calculated by the above processing has the positional relationship shown in FIG.
As shown in (4), the visual recognizability is enhanced by displaying such that the traveling direction is always upward.

Next, a processing flowchart of the display method 2 is shown in FIG. 3, and the display method 2 will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that processing similar to that of Display Method 1 is omitted.

The process from the start screen display (step 101) to the destination setting (step 103) is "0015".
As described in the above. Depending on the destination setting, GPS
Calculate the distance and direction to the current start point detected by the device. (Step 121) The current position is calculated in order to calculate the relative relationship between the shortest line, the traveling locus, and the current progress point with the straight line (hereinafter referred to as the shortest line) connecting the start point and the destination point as the axis ( Step 106) and
Calculate the distance between the destination and the current location (step 107)
The same process as "0015" is performed to calculate the calculated present position and the azimuth of the shortest line. (Step 122) The shortest line, the destination, the current position, and the traveling path calculated by the above processing are displayed on the display 16. (Step 12
3)

The feature of this display method is to recognize the destination and the current position by displaying the relationship with the shortest line connecting the start point to the destination point (the shortest route to reach the destination point if there is no road). Since the display method is used, the positions of the start point and the destination point in FIG. 6 are recognized by displaying the destination point upward as shown in FIG. 7 and displaying the current position and the traveling locus as shown in FIG. It is to improve sex.

By displaying the above two display methods at the same time, or by using one as a main display and the other as a sub display, it is possible to complement each other and further improve the recognizability.

As described above, since it is possible to display by the straight line expressing the azimuth and the circle expressing the point and the distance expressing the position, the display 16 does not deteriorate in recognizability even in monochrome, and a map, a road, etc. Since it is possible to provide the driver with information for appropriately operating the vehicle without having to store a large amount of information, it is possible even if the main electronic control unit 22 and the display 16 do not have high performance.

[0022]

As described above, the vehicle information display device according to the present invention displays the current position of the host vehicle, the traveling direction, and the distance to the destination by two simple display methods. The driver can be provided with highly recognizable and safe information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a vehicle information display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display method 1 of a vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
It is a flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a display method 2 of a vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
It is a flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a display method 1 of a vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
It is the positional relationship on the coordinates with the north facing upward.

FIG. 5 is a display method 1 of a vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
2 is a positional relationship and display contents on the coordinate with the traveling direction in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a display method 2 of the vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
It is the positional relationship on the coordinates with the north facing upward.

FIG. 7 is a display method 2 of the vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
This is the positional relationship on the coordinates with the destination point facing upward from the start point in.

FIG. 8 is a display method 2 of the vehicle information display device according to the present invention.
Is the display content of.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device mounted on a moving body, comprising a main electronic control unit, a GPS receiving unit, an external information receiving unit, various sensor units, a display electronic control unit, a display and an operating unit, wherein the GPS receiving unit is The mobile body has means for inputting position information that moves every moment, and the main electronic control unit is based on the position information input by the input means, and the operation unit is preliminarily centered around the current position. Alternatively, the distance to the destination input from the external information receiving unit and the traveling direction of the moving body are calculated, and the display electronic control unit displays the moving body position, the destination position, and the equidistant concentric circles from the moving body on the display unit. A navigation device comprising: a display unit for creating and displaying an absolute azimuth with respect to a traveling direction of a moving body that constantly changes. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, comprising the main electronic control unit, the GPS reception unit, the external information reception unit, the various sensor units, the display electronic control unit, the display, and the operation unit. In the main body device mounted on the moving body, the GPS receiving unit has means for inputting position information of the moving body moving every moment, and the main electronic control unit is inputted by the input means. Based on the position information, calculate the distance to the moving body from the position information of the destination or waypoint previously input from the operation unit or the external information receiving unit, the traveling direction,
The display electronic control unit includes means for displaying information about a destination or waypoint the mobile body is about to reach in the upper center of the display unit, and means for displaying the current position of the mobile body each time the mobile body is moved. 2. A navigation device comprising means for displaying the movement locus of, and creating and displaying equidistant concentric circles from the destination or waypoint.