JPH10132598A - Navigating method, navigation device and automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To regularly perform a precise route guide without requiring a detailed map data by detecting the present position and advancing direction of an automobile, and displaying the image by the obtained guide information in superposition on an image photographed on the automobile. SOLUTION: When the position measurement data by a present position detecting part 15 or a self-navigation part 17 is supplied to an arithmetic processing part 11, a control part 12 reads a road network data from a road data memory part 14. The arithmetic processing part 11 adds the guide information present in the advancing directional road of an automobile to the guide information obtained from the data to form an image signal, which is then supplied to a video signal generating part 19 to form a video signal for display of guide information. A video camera 30 is mounted in a prescribed position within the automobile to photograph the front at a picture angle within a prescribed range, and the video signal is supplied to a video signal generating part 19. The video signal generating part 19 superposes the display signal of guide information from the arithmetic processing part 11 onto this video signal and displays them on the display device 40 of a navigation device 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device mounted on a moving body such as an automobile for guiding a route, a navigation method applied to the navigation device, and an automobile equipped with the navigation device. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various navigation devices to be mounted on automobiles and the like have been developed. This navigation device is, for example, a CD RO storing road map data.
It comprises a large-capacity data storage means such as M, a current position detection means, and a display device for displaying a road map near the detected current position based on the data read from the data storage means. In this case, as a means for detecting the current position, a means using a positioning system (hereinafter simply referred to as GPS) using a positioning satellite called a GPS (Global Positioning System), a traveling direction of the vehicle, and a traveling direction are used. There is an autonomous navigation method that tracks a change in the current position from a departure point based on information such as speed.

[0005] The road map data near the current position detected by the current position detecting means is read from a large-capacity data storage means such as a CD ROM as an optical disk, and an image for displaying the road map is displayed. A signal is created, and this video signal is supplied to a display device to display a road map near the current position. In addition,
In some cases, the navigation device main body and the display device are configured separately.

[0004]

A road map displayed by such a navigation device is a CDR map.
The map is based on road map data stored in road map data storage means such as OM, and the accuracy of the displayed road map depends on the accuracy of the road map data. Therefore, for example, in order to display a detailed road map, a very large amount of map data is required, and one CD ROM
The capacity that can be stored in the (disk) is exceeded, and only one road data of a limited area can be stored using one disk.

[0005] In addition, actual roads are constantly undergoing construction work such as new construction and improvement, and disks storing map data are updated with new road data every certain period (for example, every year). If the disk is not replaced, a newly established intersection or the like will not be displayed on the map, and accurate guidance will not be possible. However, there has been a disadvantage that updating the map disk requires a great deal of cost and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a route guidance for a moving body such as an automobile, which can always be accurately performed with a simple configuration that does not require detailed map data.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention detects a current position and a traveling direction of a moving body, judges guidance information at the detected position and the traveling direction, and determines a position on the moving body. Is superimposed on the image based on the guidance information on the image photographed in step (1), and the superimposed image is displayed.

According to the present invention, as long as there is at least guidance information on the course of the moving object, an image displayed while traveling along the course is an image in which the guidance information is superimposed on an image taken during actual traveling, It is possible to display an accurate guidance image based on an image taken during traveling of the vehicle.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this embodiment, a navigation apparatus is used by being mounted on a moving body (here, an automobile). FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration, and FIG. 2 shows a state where the navigation apparatus is mounted on an automobile.

The navigation apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes an arithmetic processing unit 11 which is a microprocessor for performing processing such as guidance information to be displayed based on data such as the current position.
The control unit 12 includes a control unit 12 which is a system controller for controlling the arithmetic processing in the arithmetic processing unit 11, and a RAM 13 as a memory required for the arithmetic processing in the arithmetic processing unit 11. As the arithmetic processing in the arithmetic processing unit 11 based on the control of the control unit 12, for example, a route search processing to a destination is executed. That is, a preset departure place (or current place)
An appropriate route from the vehicle to the destination is calculated based on road network information described later, and the information on the route is stored in the RAM 1.
3, and information such as where the current position is on the route is sequentially updated and stored in the RAM 13.

The navigation device 10 of the present embodiment is
A road data storage unit 14 to which a recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD ROM) on which road data necessary for navigation is recorded is prepared, and the stored data is read out under the control of the control unit 12.

Here, the road data stored in the storage medium mounted on the road data storage unit 14 of the present embodiment includes, for example, the connection state of a main road (or a road of a certain size or more even if it is not a main road). Road network information and information associated with the road network information. The road network information includes, for example, information on coordinate positions of intersections (intersections) of roads constituting the road network information, and vector data indicating shapes of roads connecting the intersections.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of this road network information. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a route search is performed by the arithmetic processing unit 11 based on this road network information. Is set as shown by the thick line. As information accompanying the road network information, traffic regulation information such as no right turn and other various information necessary for performing navigation are stored. When performing a route search, these additional information are taken into consideration. Searched.

The navigation apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is connected to a GPS antenna 16, and a positioning signal from a GPS satellite received by the antenna 16 is received and processed by a current position detection unit 15. By analyzing the received data, the current coordinate position and its altitude are calculated, and the moving speed and the traveling direction of the vehicle equipped with the navigation device 10 are also calculated. In addition,
Here, the data of the current coordinate position is, for example, latitude and longitude data as absolute position information, and the altitude data is altitude data.

Further, the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment is provided with an autonomous navigation unit 17 for performing positioning by autonomous navigation. That is, a pulse signal corresponding to the vehicle speed supplied from an engine control computer or the like on the automobile is counted by a vehicle speed sensor 18a (see FIG. 2) such as a pulse counter, and the count data is transmitted via a terminal 18 to the navigation device 10. To the autonomous navigation unit 17 in the vehicle. In addition, the autonomous navigation unit 17 has a built-in gyro sensor, and in the arithmetic processing in the autonomous navigation unit 17, detects the traveling speed of the vehicle from the count data, and detects the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the gyro output. Based on the detected speed and traveling direction, the current position is determined from the determined position by autonomous navigation. For example, when positioning cannot be performed by the current position detecting unit 15 by GPS (for example, when a signal from a satellite cannot be received for some reason), based on the control of the control unit 12, the current position detecting unit 15 finally performs positioning. From the determined position, the autonomous navigation unit 17 performs positioning by autonomous navigation.

These positioning data (current position detector 15)
Or the positioning data in the autonomous navigation unit 17)
When supplied to the control unit 1, under the control of the control unit 12, the road network data near the corresponding coordinate position is read out by the road data storage unit 14 and supplied to the arithmetic processing unit 11. The arithmetic processing unit 11 creates an image signal of guidance information for display based on the road network data and the accompanying data, and converts the image signal of the guidance information into a video signal generation unit 19.
To supply. When the image signal of the guide information is created, not only the coordinate position but also the traveling direction of the vehicle from the coordinate position (which can be determined from the movement state of the coordinate position) is determined, and the detected coordinates are determined. The guide information existing on the road or the like in the direction from the position to the traveling direction at that time is determined, and an image signal of the guide information for display is created.

In this embodiment, a video camera 30 is mounted at a predetermined position of the automobile, for example, in front of the center of the ceiling in the automobile as shown in FIG.
Supplies a video signal to be captured and output to the video signal generation unit 19. Therefore, the image captured by the video camera 30 is an image in front of the automobile 50 in the traveling direction. In this case, the video camera 30 is provided with a photographic lens having a fixed focal length, the photographic angle of view is always in a predetermined range, and the angle position at which the video camera 30 performs photography is at a predetermined angle. For example, assuming that the car is running on a flat, straight road with no slope, the center of the image captured by the video camera 30 has an angle such that the road surface is about 30 m away.

The video signal generator 19 converts the video signal supplied from the video camera 30 into a video signal obtained by superimposing the display signal of the guide information supplied from the arithmetic processor 11. Then, the superimposed video signal is supplied to a display device 40 connected to the navigation device 10 and displayed on the display device 30. In this case, the guidance information includes, for example, the display of an arrow indicating the route of the car, the display of the distance to the next intersection to be turned, and the like, using characters or graphics. The display of the arrow indicating the course is performed from when the distance between the current position and the next intersection to be turned becomes a predetermined distance (for example, 30 m before this point), and until the vehicle passes through the intersection. Also, information such as the distance to the next turning intersection is constantly displayed, for example. The display state of these pieces of guidance information (such as the setting of the distance at which the arrow is displayed) may be changed by mode setting by operating the key 23 described later.

As the display device 30, a relatively small display device that can be installed on a console panel or the like in front of the driver's seat of an automobile is used. For example, a liquid crystal display device having a display screen size of about 6 inches is used. You.

The navigation apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a voice signal generation unit 20 which generates voice signals for performing various types of guidance by voice synthesis processing or the like in accordance with a command from the arithmetic processing unit 11, and outputs the voice signals to a predetermined position in the automobile. Is supplied to the speaker 24 disposed at For example, an audio signal for guiding the traveling direction or the like is generated from the relationship between the route detected by the arithmetic processing unit 11 and the current position.

The navigation apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a traffic information receiving section 22, and receives a signal received by any receiving apparatus (FM broadcast receiving apparatus, radio wave beacon receiving apparatus, optical beacon receiving apparatus, etc.) connected to the terminal 21. Are extracted by the traffic information receiving unit 22. The traffic information obtained by the receiving unit 21 is supplied to the arithmetic processing unit 11, and the arithmetic processing unit 11 performs a corresponding process. For example, if there is traffic congestion section information on the route that is currently running,
A search for a route to avoid the traffic jam is performed.

Various operations of the navigation apparatus of this embodiment are performed using the prepared operation keys 23. It is assumed that the operation key 23 is attached to a side of a steering wheel 51 of the automobile, for example, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, remote control can be performed by using a remote control signal (such as an infrared signal) from the remote control device as a key arranged on a remote control device separate from the navigation device 10.

Here, an example in which the navigation device of the present embodiment described above is actually mounted on an automobile will be described with reference to FIG.
Is mounted in a predetermined empty space such as a truck in the automobile 50, and the GPS antenna 16 is fixed at a predetermined position. Then, a video signal captured by the video camera 30 mounted on the ceiling in the car is transmitted to the navigation device 10.
The video signal and the audio signal generated by the navigation device 10 are supplied to the display device 40 and the speaker 24 installed near the driver's seat. Also,
When performing position positioning by autonomous navigation, a vehicle speed sensor 1 is provided near an engine control computer of the vehicle.
8a is attached and the speed is detected.

Next, a display state when the automobile is actually driven by the navigation device having the above-described configuration will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that a route search from the current location A to the destination B has been performed in advance and the navigation device 10 has been set. Here, when the vehicle starts traveling from the current location A and reaches a position 30 m before the first intersection C, the video signal generation unit 19 superimposes an arrow for guiding the traveling direction in the video,
As an image displayed on the display device 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, an image in which an arrow 41 indicating a traveling direction is displayed in an image that is currently viewed in front of the automobile. At a predetermined position such as a corner of the screen, a display 42 indicating the distance and direction from the current position to the intersection where the vehicle turns is provided. As the display 42, for example, "turn left 15m ahead" is displayed. At this time, a voice such as "Please turn left at the intersection 15 m ahead" may be guided by the voice output from the speaker 24. In addition, since the position of the corresponding intersection in the displayed image changes as the vehicle travels (specifically, moves downward), it is necessary to change the display position of the arrow 41 corresponding to the traveling. . The control of the change of the display position is performed by calculation based on the change of the current position determined by the calculation processing unit 11.

If the current traveling position is 30 m or more before the next turning intersection, for example, as shown in FIG.
Only the guidance display 43 that indicates the distance and direction to the next turning intersection, the distance to the destination, and the like in the corners of the screen using characters or figures is superimposed.

As described above, according to the navigation device of the present embodiment, the image displayed on the display device 40 indicates the traveling direction in the same image as the real image seen through the windshield 53 of the automobile, for example, as shown in FIG. Arrow 4
As a result, guidance information such as 1 is displayed, and a very easy-to-understand route guidance is provided. That is, in the case of the conventional navigation device, the image displayed on the display device is a road map, and the actual road condition is simply shown by a two-dimensional figure. Although there was an inconvenience that it was difficult to understand the correspondence with the road, in the case of this example, the image in which the course was directly instructed is always displayed in the image taken in front of the actual traveling direction, so that the image can be seen through the windshield 53. Guidance is provided so that the correspondence with the video is easily understood and the course is very easy to understand.

Further, as the road data included in the navigation device of this embodiment, only the network information of the main roads necessary for route search and the like is sufficient, so that detailed road map data is not required unlike the conventional navigation device. This reduces the load on the storage medium for storing the map data.

Further, in the case of the present embodiment, since the image photographed when the vehicle actually travels is always displayed, even if there is any change in the passing road, the road data storage unit 14
Good guidance can be provided without updating the road data stored in. For example, even when an intersection is newly established in the middle of a road that passes as a course, if the vehicle only passes through the intersection, the display device 40 displays an image of the intersection when passing through the newly established intersection. Is displayed, so you do not need to update the road data,
The guidance displayed on the display device 40 does not match the actual road condition, and an accurate guidance display is always performed.

In order to make the guide information displayed on the display device 40 easy to understand, an image shot by the video camera 30 is displayed in a state where colors are restricted like a monochrome monochrome image (for example, a monochrome image). Then, the display color of the guidance information may be displayed in a color (for example, red) other than the color in which the captured video is displayed, so that the guidance information is conspicuous. Alternatively, regarding the display of guidance information such as an arrow, a blinking display or the like may be performed so that a prominent display is performed.

Information to be provided by text or the like includes
As shown in FIG. 4, various kinds of guidance information other than the information for guiding the route may be displayed. For example, when traffic information (congestion information or the like) near the position where the vehicle is currently traveling is received, the information may be displayed in characters or the like.

In the processing for detecting the current position, the position determined by the GPS or the autonomous navigation is simply set as the current position in the above-described embodiment, but the position is determined as conventionally performed by a navigation device. The position matching error may be corrected by performing a map matching process in which the position is matched with the position on the road indicated by the map data.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, only the process of displaying the guide information in the image ahead of the traveling direction photographed by the video camera has been described.
4 includes data for displaying a map as in a normal navigation device as road data included in the display device 4, and a display mode in which guidance information is displayed in an actually photographed image as in this example, and a normal road map. The display mode for displaying the current position and the like during the display may be switched.

In the above-described embodiment, the route to the destination is set, and the route is applied to the guidance process in the case where the route is instructed. Can also be applied. For example, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a process of determining a traveling road and displaying various kinds of guidance information on the road.

[0035]

According to the navigation method and the navigation device of the present invention, as long as there is at least guidance information on the path of the moving object, an image displayed while traveling along the path is guided to an image taken during actual traveling. It becomes an image with information superimposed, and it is possible to display an accurate guidance image based on the image taken during actual driving, and without having detailed map information, accurate guidance of the actual road according to the actual road condition Guidance becomes possible.

In this case, as guide information, predetermined travel route information to the destination is displayed, and an image indicating the travel position of the mobile object toward the destination is displayed in a manner superimposed on the image photographed on the mobile object. By doing so, it becomes possible to guide the course well by the image indicating the traveling position.

When the image indicating the traveling position is displayed, the image indicating the traveling position is displayed as follows.
By performing the procedure from a predetermined distance before passing through the point where the traveling direction is changed to passing this point, an image indicating the traveling position is displayed only when necessary, and an appropriate guidance display can be displayed only when necessary. .

Further, as an image to be displayed, the image taken by the video camera is set as a monochrome image, and the color of the image of the guide information is set to a color different from the color of the monochrome image, thereby making the guide information stand out. It is possible to display well.

According to the vehicle of the present invention, an image in front of the traveling direction photographed by a video camera mounted on the vehicle and an image of guidance information based on road network data are superimposed, and a display means in the vehicle is provided. In this case, the image in which the guidance information is displayed in the same image as the image of the actual traveling direction guides the driver or the like of the car on the actual road. Good route guidance or the like according to the state is made possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the device of the embodiment is mounted on an automobile.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of road data according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state viewed from a driver's seat according to one embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 navigation device, 11 arithmetic processing unit, 12
Control unit, 14 road data storage unit, 15 current position detection unit, 17 autonomous navigation unit, 19 video signal generation unit, 20
Voice signal generator, 22 traffic information receiver, 23 operation keys, 24 speakers, 30 video camera, 40 display device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for detecting a current position and a traveling direction of a moving body, determining guidance information at the detected position and the traveling direction, superimposing an image based on the guidance information on an image captured on the moving body, A navigation method, wherein the superimposed image is displayed. 2. The navigation method according to claim 1, wherein the guide information is travel route information to a preset destination, and an image indicating a travel position of the moving body toward the destination is provided. A navigating method for superimposing and displaying an image photographed on the moving object. 3. The navigation method according to claim 2, wherein the display of the image indicating the traveling position is performed from a predetermined distance before passing through a point at which the traveling direction is changed until the vehicle passes through this point. Method. 4. A positioning section for detecting a current position and a traveling direction of a moving body, a photographing means for photographing the front of the moving body in a traveling direction, a road network data reading section, and a position of a position measured by the positioning section. An image processing unit that reads nearby road network data from the reading unit and superimposes an image of guidance information based on the road network data on an image captured by the video camera; and an image that is superimposed by the image processing unit. A video signal output unit that outputs a video signal to be displayed on a predetermined display. 5. The navigation device according to claim 4, wherein the guide information is travel route information to a preset destination, and the image indicating a travel position of the moving body toward the destination is provided as the guide information. A navigation device that is generated based on road network data, and the generated image is superimposed on an image captured by the video camera by the image processing unit. 6. The navigation device according to claim 5, wherein the image processing unit superimposes the image indicating the traveling position in the image processing unit from a predetermined distance before passing through a point where the traveling direction is changed to a point before passing through this point. A navigation device designed to be used. 7. The navigation device according to claim 4, wherein the image taken by the video camera is a monochrome image as the image superimposed by the image processing unit, and the color of the image of the guide information is changed to the monochrome image. Navigation device with a different color from the color. 8. A display means arranged at a predetermined position in a vehicle,
In an automobile equipped with a device for displaying a guidance image, a positioning unit for detecting the current position and the traveling direction of the own vehicle, a video camera for photographing the front of the own vehicle in the traveling direction, a reading unit for road network data, The road network data near the position measured by the unit is read from the reading unit, and the image of the guidance information based on the road network data is superimposed on the image photographed by the video camera and displayed on the display unit. An automobile having a processing unit.