JPH09287971A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable easy-to-recognize and appropriate navigation display to avoid navigation guide when a road is yet to be opened by storing the unopened road data in a storage device in advance and navigation-displaying opened roads and unopened roads in different formats. SOLUTION: When a program is read from an information storage device 3 into a CPU 40 and a navigation program is started, a current position is detected by a current position detector 2 for displaying a peripheral map with the current position as the center, and also a name of the current position is displayed. Then a destination is set, a route is found from the current position to the destination, and while the current position is being traced by the detector 2, the route to the destination is guided and displayed repetitively. Map data is checked to determine whether an unopened road exists in the map data from road attribute data of navigated road data. When an unopened road exists, whether it is opened or not is determined from an expected road opening date. If it is not yet open, route finding is done based on the map data which excludes the unopened road.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for providing route guidance using a CD-ROM storing information necessary for route guidance such as map data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of vehicle navigation devices have been proposed which provide route guidance from a departure place or current position to a destination through a transit point or the like using display and voice. The vehicle navigation device stores map data, guidance data for displaying / speaking the features of intersections and waypoints in an information storage device in an information storage device, and inputs a transit point or a destination point to a destination. Is searched (route search) on the basis of map data to provide route guidance. Therefore, as a vehicle navigation device, an input / output device that inputs and outputs information related to route guidance, a current position detection device that detects information related to the current position of the vehicle, and navigation data and route guidance necessary for calculating a route are required. And a central processing unit that performs display guidance processing necessary for route search processing and route guidance and controls the entire system.

The information storage device is a database in which all data necessary for the navigation device are recorded, including an index, map data, search data, guidance data, map matching data, destination data, and other files. Many CD-ROMs as storage media
Is used. The CD-ROM is distributed as a single unit, and when the user wants to use the one in which the latest map data is input, the user purchases a new CD-ROM and replaces it.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional road map is updated by replacing the CD-ROM with a new one. However, a new road is opened soon after the purchase of the CD-ROM. In some cases, such roads cannot be displayed or notified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to avoid a situation in which a CD-ROM needs to be replaced immediately after the road is opened, and to display or receive guidance on the latest opened road. It is intended to provide a device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an information storage means in which unopened road data is stored, and a means for drawing an unopened road and an open road in different modes, when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Means for judging that an unopened road has been opened and providing guidance for opening the road, and when it is determined that an unopened road has been opened, means for searching or guiding with data including the road is provided. And The predetermined condition for determining whether the unopened road has been opened is whether or not the scheduled opening date and time set in the unopened road data has been reached, or
Whether the running locus matches the unopened road, or whether the running locus matches the unopened road a predetermined number of times, or whether the unopened road is selected by an external input operation It is characterized by.

[0007]

According to the present invention, guidance information is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner by storing unopened road data in a storage device in advance, and displaying the opened road and the unopened road in different ways. can do. Further, by changing data of an unopened road satisfying a predetermined condition to an opened road, appropriate guidance can be provided. Also,
It is possible to avoid guidance in the unopened state.
Exchange of D-ROM data can be minimized.

In addition, by setting conditions for opening, if the opening schedule is known, guidance can be provided with data including the road opened on the opening date. Since the data is changed by judging that the vehicle has traveled on the opened road, it is possible to reliably provide guidance when the vehicle travels next time even on a road whose opening schedule is not known. Since the data is changed by the predetermined number of times of traveling, even if an error occurs in the detected current position, the data is not changed by mistake. Even when the scheduled opening date is not known in advance, guidance can be provided as needed by the user's selection.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a vehicle navigation device to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle navigation device according to the present invention includes an input / output device 1 for inputting and outputting information relating to route guidance, a current position detecting device 2 for detecting information relating to the current position of the vehicle, and a route calculation device. Information storage device 3 in which navigation data and display / voice guidance data and programs (applications and / or OS) necessary for route guidance are recorded, and display /
It comprises a central processing unit 4 that performs voice guidance processing and controls the entire system. First, each configuration will be described.

The input / output device 1 instructs the central processing unit 4 to perform a navigation process according to the driver's intention so that the driver can input a destination or output guidance information by voice and / or screen when necessary. And a function to print out the processed data and the like. As means for realizing the function, the input unit includes a touch switch 11 and an operation switch for inputting a destination as a telephone number or coordinates on a map, and for requesting route guidance. Of course, an input device such as a remote controller may be used. In the output unit, the input data is displayed on the screen, and the route guidance is automatically displayed on the screen in response to the driver's request. The display 12 stores the data processed by the central processing unit 4 and the information storage device 3. And a speaker 16 for outputting route guidance by voice.

Here, a voice recognition device for enabling voice input and a recording card reading device for reading data recorded on an IC card or a magnetic card can be added. In addition, an information center that stores data necessary for navigation and provides information via a communication line at the request of the driver, an electronic notebook that stores driver-specific data such as map data and destination data in advance, etc. A data communication device for exchanging data with another information source can also be added.

The display 12 is composed of a color CRT or a color liquid crystal display, and is required for navigation such as a route setting screen based on map data or guidance data processed by the central processing unit 4, a section map screen, an intersection map screen, etc. In addition to outputting all screens in color display, buttons for setting route guidance, guidance during route guidance, and screen switching operations are displayed on this screen. In particular, the passing intersection information such as the passing intersection name is displayed in color in a pop-up on the section map screen at any time.

The display 12 is provided in an instrument panel near the driver's seat. The driver can check the current position of the vehicle by looking at the section map and obtain information on the route from now on. it can. The display 12 is provided with a touch switch 11 corresponding to the display of the function button, and is configured to execute the above-described operation based on a signal input by touching the button. The input signal generating means including the button and the touch switch constitutes an input unit, but a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

The current position detecting device 2 includes a GPS receiving device 21 and a beacon receiving device 22 using a satellite navigation system (GPS), for example, a cellular phone (car phone) or F
A data transmission / reception device 23 for receiving a GPS correction signal using an M multiplex signal, an absolute direction sensor 24 including a geomagnetic sensor, a relative direction sensor 25 including a wheel sensor, a steering sensor, a gyro, and the like, wheel rotation A distance sensor 26 for detecting the traveling distance from the number is provided.

The information storage device 3 is an external storage device that stores navigation programs and data, and is, for example, a CD-ROM. As shown in FIG. 2, the program includes a map drawing unit, a route search unit, a route guidance unit, a current position calculation unit, a destination setting operation control unit, and the like. A program for performing processing such as a route search, a processing program shown in the flowchart described in the present embodiment, a display output control required for route guidance, and a voice output control required for voice guidance. A program and data necessary for the program, and display information data necessary for route guidance and map display are stored (FIG. 2).
(B)). Data includes map data, search data,
It consists of files such as guide data, map matching data, and destination data, and stores all the data necessary for the navigation device (FIG. 2 (a)). The present invention can be applied to a type in which only data is stored in the CD-ROM and the program is stored in the central processing unit.

The central processing unit 4 includes a CPU 40 for executing various arithmetic processing, a flash memory 41 for reading and storing programs from a CD-ROM of the information storage device 3,
ROM 42 storing a program (program reading means) for performing program check and update processing of flash memory 41, set point coordinates of destination, road name code No. RAM 43 for temporarily storing searched route guidance information such as searched data and data during arithmetic processing, image memory 44 for storing image data used for screen display on a display, and display output control signals from CPU 40. An image processor 45 which retrieves image data from the image memory 44, performs image processing on the image data, and outputs the processed image to a display
Information storage device 3 based on an audio output control signal from the PU
The speaker 1 which synthesizes the voice, the phrase, the sentence, the sound, etc. read from
6, a communication interface 47 for exchanging input / output data by communication, a sensor input interface 48 for receiving a sensor signal of the current position detecting device 2, and a date and time for writing date and time in internal diagnostic information. A clock 49 and the like are provided. Here, route guidance is performed by screen display and voice output, and the presence or absence of voice output is configured to be selectable by the driver.

The navigation device according to the present invention has a relatively large capacity flash memory 41 for reading a program from the CD-ROM of the external storage device, as described above.
A small-capacity ROM 42 storing a program (program reading means) for performing a CD boot process is built in.
The flash memory 41 is a non-volatile storage unit that retains stored information even when the power is turned off. Then, as a start-up process of the CD, the program in the ROM 42 which is a program reading means is started, the program stored in the flash memory 41 is checked, and disk management information of the CD-ROM of the information storage device 3 is read. Program loading process (update process)
The determination is performed based on this information and the state of the flash memory 41.

FIG. 3 shows main data files in the map data stored in the information storage device 3 of FIG. FIG. 3A shows a guide road data file in which data necessary for calculating a route and performing route guidance by the route calculation means is stored. For each of the number n of roads, a road number, a length, a road It consists of address and size data of attribute data and shape data, and address and size of guidance data. The road number is set for each direction (outbound and return) for each road between the branch points. As shown in FIG. 3B, when each road is divided into a plurality of nodes (nodes), the shape data has coordinate data including east longitude and north latitude for each of the number m of nodes.
The map drawing unit of the program shown in FIG. 2 draws a road locus from the coordinate data of the node. As shown in FIG. 3C, the guidance data includes an intersection (or junction) name,
It consists of attention point data, road name data, address of road name data, size and address of destination data, and data of size.

As shown in FIG. 3D, the road attribute data as the road guidance information auxiliary data includes information on whether the road is an elevated road, next to an elevated road, an underpass, an underpass, or the number of lanes. The data indicates whether the road is an unopened road, and if the road is an unopened road, data on the scheduled opening date and time is set. As described above, a major feature of the present invention is that an unopened road is stored in advance as road data, and when it is confirmed that the road has been opened, the road is included in the search data and the map matching data. When it is determined that an unopened road has been opened, the flag indicating the open state in FIG.
Updated to "1". Thereafter, the application program sees this flag “1” and handles it as route search data. In addition, besides discriminating between open and unopened by setting a flag, the search cost of route search is changed, and in the case of unopened, the search cost is made sufficiently large so that it is not selected as a search route, When the vehicle is opened, the search cost may be made the same as that of other roads.

Next, the navigation processing of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the entire system of the navigation device according to the present invention. When the CPU 40 of the central processing unit 4 reads the program from the information storage device 3 and starts the route guidance program,
The current position is detected by the current position detecting device 2, and a map around the current position is displayed, and the name of the current position is displayed (step S1). Next, the destination is set using the target name such as the place name and the facility name, the telephone number and the address, the registration point, the road name and the like (step S2), and the route from the current position to the destination is searched (step S3). ). When the route is determined, the route guidance / display is repeated until the vehicle arrives at the destination while tracking the current position by the current position detecting device 2 (step S4). If a detour setting is input before arriving at the destination, a search area is set, a re-search is performed in the search area, and route guidance is repeated until the vehicle arrives at the destination.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing flow for judging that the vehicle has been opened on the condition that the scheduled date of opening has been reached. When the power of the navigation device is turned on (step 101), the date is confirmed by the clock built in the central processing unit of FIG. 1 (step 102), and then the map data is confirmed (step 1).
03), it is determined whether or not there is an unopened road in the map data (step 104). This determination is made based on, for example, a flag indicating the opening status set in the road attribute data of the guide road data shown in FIG. If there is no unopened road, the current position is detected (step 108), and route search / guidance is performed according to the processing flow shown in FIG. If there is an unopened road, the above-mentioned confirmed date is compared with the data of the scheduled opening date and time to determine whether or not the scheduled opening date has been reached. Of course, the comparison may be performed not on a daily basis but on an hourly basis. If the scheduled opening date has not been reached, it is determined that the road has not been opened, and a route search process is performed based on map data that does not include the road. When the scheduled opening date has been reached, it is determined that the road has been opened, the flag indicating the opening status is updated from “0” to “1”, and the display data is
For example, the line is changed from a broken line to a solid line, and is changed so as to be included in the search data (steps 106 and 10).
7). Next, the current position is detected (step 108).
The route search process starts. In this manner, since the unopened road is included in the search data on the condition that the scheduled opening date has been reached, display and guidance including the latest opened road can be performed. In the present embodiment, the presence or absence of an unopened road is checked at the time of starting the navigation. However, only the map data necessary for the route search may be checked.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processing flow for judging the opening by the running judgment. The current position is detected by the current position detecting device (step 201), and based on this data, the current position on the map is calculated by the current position calculation unit of the application program in FIG. Generate and store (step 202). Next, the traveling locus is compared with the map matching data to search for a matching road (step 203). When a road that matches the travel locus is searched for in the map matching data, it is determined whether or not the searched road is unopened (step 204). If it is an unopened road, the road is open, so the opening status flag of the road attribute data shown in FIG. 3 is updated from “0” to “1” (step 20).
5). If the road is an open road, the open determination process ends.

In the opening determination process shown in FIG. 6, it is determined that the vehicle is to be opened if the running locus coincides with the unopened road even once.
There is a possibility that an incorrect judgment will be made only by running once. This is prevented by the determination processing flow of FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing flow for determining the opening by a predetermined number of traveling determinations. The current position is detected by the current position detecting device (step 301), and based on the detected current position, the current position on the map is calculated by the current position calculation unit of the application program in FIG. And store it (step 302). Next, the traveling locus is compared with the map matching data to search for a matching road (step 303). When a road that matches the travel locus is searched for in the map matching data, it is determined whether or not the searched road is unopened (step 30).
4). If it is an unopened road, the number N of matching travel judgments is 1
Is increased (step 305), and it is determined whether or not the number N of traveling determinations is greater than a predetermined number n (step 306). If the number of times of travel determination N is larger than the predetermined number n, it is determined that the road is open, and the opening status flag of the road attribute data shown in FIG. 3 is updated from “0” to “1” (step 30).
7). If the road is an open road in step 304, and if the number of times of travel determination N is smaller than the predetermined number n in step 306, the open determination process ends. As described above, since it is determined that the road has been opened on the condition that the traveling locus and the unopened road coincide with each other a predetermined number of times, it is possible to extremely reduce the probability of erroneous determination as compared to a single determination. is there.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing flow in the case where the opening is determined by the user's designation of the road. When the power of the navigation device is turned on (step 401), it is determined whether or not a road is designated by the user (step 4).
02). If the road is specified by the user and the specified road is an unopened road, the road is determined to be open and the display data is changed from, for example, a dashed line to a solid line, and changed to be included in the search data. (Step 40
4, 405), the current position is detected, and the route search is started.
If there is no road designation by the user and the designated road is not an unopened road, the current position is detected as it is and the route search is started. By this processing, for example, when the scheduled opening date is advanced and the opening is performed before the date and time set in the road data, it is possible to cope with the situation by the user's specification. As a method of designation by the user, the scheduled opening date of each road may be corrected. In this case, it is possible to cope with the processing described with reference to FIG. 5 based on the opening date and time after the correction. The designation of the road in the above description is not limited to the manual input operation by the user, but may be performed by an external input operation using a notebook type electronic device, telephone line, FM radio wave, VICS, or any other means. .

In the present invention, unopened road data is stored, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied, it can be handled as an opened road. For example, as shown in FIG. Roads and recently opened ○ roads and unopened □ roads can be displayed and distinguished in different modes. In addition, since it is determined that a road that has not been opened has been opened when a predetermined condition is satisfied, for example, as shown in FIG. Can be planned. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 can be achieved without having the opening date and time data as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in particular, and prevents the data capacity of the information storage device from being carelessly increased. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a navigation device 1 to which the present invention is applied.
It is a figure showing composition of an example.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a navigation program and data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of road attribute data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an overall flow of guidance processing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing flow for determining that the vehicle has been opened on the condition that the scheduled date of opening has been reached;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow for determining whether or not the vehicle is to be opened based on traveling determination.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing flow for determining opening based on a predetermined number of traveling determinations.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow in a case where the opening is determined by a user's designation of a road;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example in which the display mode of an opened road and an unopened road are made different and an opening guidance is performed.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 input / output device, 2 current position detecting device, 3 information storage device, 4 central processing device, 11 touch switch, 12
... Display, 13 ... Printer, 16 ... Speaker, 2
1 ... GPS receiver, 22 ... beacon receiver, 23 ...
Data transmitting / receiving device, 24 ... Absolute direction sensor, 25 ... Relative direction sensor, 25 is distance sensor, 40 ... CPU, 41 ...
Flash memory, 42 ... ROM, 43 ... RAM, 44
... image memory, 45 ... image processor, 46 ... audio processor, 47 ... communication interface, 48 ... input interface.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An unopened road data is stored in an information storage means storing data necessary for route guidance, and guidance is displayed in a different manner on an unopened road and an open road in a map to be displayed. A navigation device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. An unopened road data is stored in an information storage means storing data necessary for route guidance, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied, it is determined that the unopened road has been opened, and opening guidance is provided. Navigation device. 3. An unopened road data is stored in an information storage means storing data necessary for route guidance, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied, it is determined that the unopened road has been opened, and data including the road data is determined. A navigation device that searches for a route based on the navigation and provides guidance. 4. An information storage means for storing data necessary for route guidance including unopened road data, and a map drawing means for reading data stored in the information storage means and drawing a map, A navigation device wherein the map drawing means displays an unopened road and an open road in different modes. 5. A route to the input destination is calculated,
In a navigation device that reports guidance information by tracking a current position of a moving object, a road data storage unit that separates an open road from an unopened road to store road data, and that is stored in the road data storage unit. Unopened road
Determining means for determining whether or not the road has been opened; and processing means for processing the unopened road as an open road when the determination means determines that the road has been opened, Is a navigation device for determining the opening of an unopened road when a predetermined condition is satisfied. 6. An information storage means for storing data necessary for route guidance including unopened road data, a determining means for determining that the unopened road has been opened when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and A navigation device comprising: a guide unit that provides guidance for opening when it is determined that an unopened road has been opened. 7. An information storage unit storing all data necessary for route guidance including unopened road data, a determining unit for determining that the unopened road has been opened when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the determining unit A route search unit that reads data including the road data and searches for a route on the condition that it is determined that the unopened road has been opened, and a guide unit that provides route guidance based on the route searched by the route search unit. And a navigation device comprising: 8. A current position detecting means for detecting a current position of a vehicle, an input means for inputting information necessary for calculating a destination and a route, and all necessary information for route guidance including unopened road data. An information storage unit that stores data; a route calculation unit that calculates a route to a destination based on the information input by the input unit and data stored in the information storage unit; Route information storage means for storing a route, guidance means for performing route guidance based on the route stored in the route information storage means, and determination means for determining that the unopened road has been opened when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The route calculation unit may use data including the road data as route search data, on condition that the determination unit determines that the unopened road has been opened. Navigation device according to claim. 9. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined condition for determining that an unopened road has been opened is set in the unopened road data. A navigation device that has reached the scheduled opening date or scheduled opening date and time. 10. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined condition for judging that the unopened road has been opened is that the traveling locus and the unopened road are different. Navigation device that is to match. 11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8, wherein the predetermined condition for determining that an unopened road has been opened includes: A navigation device that has matched a predetermined number of times. 12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8, wherein the predetermined condition for determining that an unopened road has been opened is that an unopened road has been selected. Is a navigation device.