JPH10301485A - Input-output controller in navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately move a display area of map data according to the intention of a user and to improve operability concerning the movement of the display area of the map data. SOLUTION: A controller for operating an on-vehicle navigation system from outside is provided with a transfer switch and a high speed switch for moving the map data to be displayed on a display, and the map data are moved at a low speed when only the transfer switch turns on, while the map data are moved at a high speed when both the transfer switch and high speed switch turn on.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for displaying the position and route of a moving body such as a vehicle together with map data.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an input / output control device in a navigation system having a function of variably controlling a moving speed of a display area of map data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A navigation system for assisting the movement of a moving body by displaying the position and route of the moving body such as a vehicle together with map data includes a display as a display unit for displaying map data; Is provided with a controller as an operation unit for operating the display state of the map data displayed in the.

Here, the controller has a display area of map data displayed on the display, for example,
A movement switch is provided for moving in a total of eight directions, such as upward, downward, leftward, rightward, or upper leftward.
By operating the movement switch, the user can move the display area of the map data on the screen in eight directions, and can view a wide range of map data beyond the range that can be displayed on the display at one time.

Further, the navigation system includes:
A function is provided for changing the moving speed of the display area of the map data by determining whether the movement switch of the controller is momentarily turned on or turned on for a long time.

More specifically, the navigation system is provided with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the controller, the display, and the like, and a moving switch provided in the controller by the CPU. Is to measure the time from turning on to turning off. And
If the time from when the movement switch is turned on to when it is turned off is shorter than a predetermined time, the display area of the map data is moved slowly. On the other hand, when the time from when the movement switch is turned on to when it is turned off is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, the display area of the map data is moved quickly.

Thus, the user can slowly move the display area of the map data displayed on the display by turning on the movement switch instantaneously. In addition, the user can quickly move the display area of the map data displayed on the display by holding down the movement switch.

[0007]

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, when the movement switch of the controller is momentarily turned on, the display area of the map data is slowly moved, and the movement switch of the controller is turned on for a predetermined time or more. When this is done, the display area of the map data is moved quickly.

However, in the above-described conventional technology, the display area of the map data moves slowly until a predetermined time elapses after the movement switch of the controller is turned on. As a result, the display area of the map data cannot be quickly moved immediately after the user turns on the movement switch of the controller. Further, in the above-described conventional technology, the display area of the map data cannot be moved slowly and continuously while the user keeps turning on the movement switch.

As a result, in the above-described prior art, there is a problem that the display area of the map data cannot be accurately moved according to the user's intention, and the operability is poor. In particular, since the navigation system needs to quickly check the map while the user is sitting in the driver's seat,
There is a great need to improve the operability of moving the display area of map data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the related art, and can move a map data display area accurately according to a user's intention. It is an object of the present invention to provide an input / output control device in a navigation system capable of improving the performance.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a display unit for displaying map data in a predetermined display area and a display area for map data displayed on the display unit are provided. An input / output control device in a navigation system including an operation unit for performing an operation for moving, a first switch provided on the operation unit, a second switch provided on the operation unit, and a first switch provided on the operation unit. Determining means for determining whether the switch is on or off and whether or not the second switch is on or off; and, as a result of the determination by the determining means, when the first switch is on and the second switch is off, The display area of the map data to be displayed is moved at a predetermined speed, and as a result of the determination by the determination means, when the first switch is on and the second switch is also on, the display is displayed on the display unit. The display area of Figure characterized in that a display area moving means for moving faster than the predetermined speed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when only the first switch is turned on, the display area of the map data displayed on the display unit moves at, for example, a predetermined low speed.
When the second switch is turned on while the first switch is turned on, the display area of the map data displayed on the display unit moves faster than the predetermined speed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first switch is constituted by a switch for determining a direction in which a display area of map data to be displayed on the display section is moved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the first switch is turned on to move the display area of the map data displayed on the display unit in a direction desired by the user, the display area of the map data is For example, at a predetermined low speed. Further, when the second switch is turned on while the first switch is turned on, the display area of the map data moves at a speed higher than the predetermined speed in a direction desired by the user.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, a case where the present invention is applied to a vehicle navigation system in an automobile will be described as an example.

First, the overall configuration of the vehicle navigation system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle navigation system 100 detects the angular velocity at the time of the direction change of the own vehicle,
An angular velocity sensor 10 that outputs angular velocity data, and the number of pulses per wheel rotation is calculated by counting the number of pulses of a pulse signal output with the rotation of the wheel,
A traveling distance sensor 20 that outputs traveling distance data based on the number of pulses per rotation, and a GPS (Glo) that receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs GPS positioning data.
bal Positioning System) receiving unit 30, angular velocity data, mileage data and GPS
Based on the positioning data and the like, the navigation system 10
0, a CD-ROM disk or a DV under the control of the system control unit 40.
A disk controller 50 for reading map data obtained by imaging information on roads, buildings, terrain and the like, various control programs for controlling the navigation system 100, and the like from a D-ROM disk or the like; Below, for example, an audio reproducing unit 60 that reproduces audio data or the like for guiding a route to a destination, and an input / output control device 90 including a controller 70 and a display unit 80 described below are provided.

The system control unit 40 includes an interface unit 41 that performs an interface operation with the angular velocity sensor 10, the traveling distance sensor 20, and the GPS receiving unit 30,
A CPU 42 for controlling the entire system control unit 40; a ROM (non-volatile memory) 43 for storing a control program for controlling the system control unit 40; and a RAM for rewritably storing various data such as map data (Volatile memory) 44. Further, an interface unit 41, a CPU 42, a ROM 43, and a RAM 44
Are connected to each other via a bus 45.

Further, the controller 70, which forms a part of the input / output control device 90, sends data for setting a destination, a route, etc., and a command for switching the display on a display 83, which will be described later, etc. Is to be entered.

Here, the detailed configuration of the controller 70 will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the controller 70 includes a case 71 constituting the outer shape of the controller 70, and a display 8.
3, a changeover switch 72 for switching the display mode, zoom switches 73 and 74 for changing the scale of the map data displayed on the display 83, and a joystick 75 for moving the display area of the map data displayed on the display 83. ing.

A movement switch 76,... As a first switch for determining a direction in which the display area of the map data is moved is provided inside the case 71.
For example, eight pieces are arranged around the number 5. As a result, when the joystick 75 is pushed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, the movement switch 76 corresponding to the pushed direction is turned on. For example, when the joystick 75 is pushed upward in FIG. 2, the moving switch 7 disposed on the upper side is moved.
6 turns on.

Further, inside the case 71 of the controller 70, there is provided a high-speed switch 77 as a second switch for moving the display area of the map data displayed on the display 83 at a high speed. The high-speed switch 77 is provided at a position corresponding to the position where the joystick 75 is provided. Thereby, the high-speed switch 77
Is turned on by pushing the joystick 75 to the far side in FIG.

The display unit 80 forming a part of the input / output control device 90 is connected to the CP via the bus 45.
A graphic control unit 81 for controlling the entire display unit 80 based on the control data and map data sent from the U42, and a VRAM (Video R).
AM) or the like, and a buffer memory 82 for temporarily storing image data that can be immediately displayed, and a display control unit for controlling display on a display 83 described later based on control data output from the graphic control unit 81. 84.

The display 83 is made of a liquid crystal or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or the like. As shown in FIG.
Is for displaying map data and the like. The display 83 is small, for example, because it is placed in the driver's cab of an automobile, and the area of the display area A is, for example, about 18 [cm] × 12 [cm].

The vehicle navigation system 100 according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and its operation will be described next.

When the vehicle navigation system 100 is started, the system control unit 40 first drives the disk control unit 50, and controls the C stored in the disk control unit 50 in advance.
A control program for controlling the vehicle navigation system 100 is read from the D-ROM disk or the DVD-ROM disk and stored in the RAM 44. Then, the travel distance data output from the travel distance sensor 20 is read, the travel distance of the own vehicle is calculated based on the read travel distance data, and the speed of the own vehicle is obtained based on the calculated travel distance.

Next, angular velocity data output from the angular velocity sensor 10 is read, and a traveling direction is calculated based on the read angular velocity data. Thereafter, the current position of the own vehicle is obtained based on the data on the traveling direction and the traveling distance data. Further, the current position of the vehicle is corrected based on the GPS positioning data and the speed data output from the GPS receiving unit 30.

The map data or the like corresponding to the current position of the vehicle is stored in a CD-ROM disc or DVD-RO.
The data is read from the M disk and stored in the RAM 44. Further, from the map data stored in the RAM 44, map data of a predetermined display area that can be displayed in the display area A of the display 83 is partially read, that is, a so-called “cutout process” is performed. The cut out map data is displayed on the display 8 via the graphic control unit 81 and the display control unit 84.
3 is displayed in the display area A.

Here, the cut-out processing of the map data will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
That is, the current position of the vehicle or an arbitrary position designated by the user is used as reference coordinates, and map data of a peripheral area around the reference coordinates is transferred to the RAM 44 of the system control unit 40 from a CD-ROM disk or the like. Is remembered. The area of the map data stored in the RAM 44 is
This area is wider than the displayable area of the display area A of the display 83. For example, FIG. 6 shows an example of map data stored in the RAM 44. The display area B1, B2 or B3 in FIG.
3 is an area that can be displayed in the display area A. That is, each area of the display areas B1, B2 and B3 is the same as the area of the display area A. In addition,
The reason that the map data of an area wider than the displayable area of the display area A of the display 83 is stored in the RAM 44 is that the display area of the map data displayed on the display area A can be quickly moved.

Then, after the map data is stored in the RAM 44 as described above, for example, a display area B1 is cut out from the map data stored in the RAM 44, and a process of displaying the display area B1 on the display area A of the display 83 is performed.
To perform this processing, first, the center coordinates P1 shown in FIG.
Is calculated based on the current position of the own vehicle or an arbitrary position specified by the user. Next, the display area B1 is set based on the center coordinates P1, the area of the display area A, and the scale of the map data. Then, the set display area B
The map data corresponding to 1 is transferred from the RAM 44 to the buffer memory 82 of the display unit 80. Thus, the map data of the display area B1 is displayed on the display area A of the display 83.

Next, the operation of moving the display area of the map data displayed in the display area A of the display 83 at two speeds will be described with reference to FIGS.

The display area of the map data is moved by operating the joystick 75 of the controller 70. That is, when the user operates the joystick 75 or the like of the controller 70, the movement processing program shown in FIG. 5 is started, and the movement processing for moving the display area of the map data displayed in the display area A at two levels of speed is performed. , The system control unit 40, the input / output control device 90, and the like.

Hereinafter, the moving process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, the controller 7
It is determined whether or not any one of the switches 72 to 77 of "0" is turned on. As a result, when any of the switches 72 to 77 is turned on, "YES" is determined, and the process proceeds to step S2. On the other hand, when all of the switches 72 to 77 are off, the current processing ends.

Then, in a step S2, it is determined whether or not the switch turned on is the moving switch 76.
When the user pushes and moves the joystick 75, the movement switch 76 provided in the direction in which the joystick 75 is pushed is turned on. At this time, "YES" is determined in the step S2,
Move to step S3. On the other hand, when each moving switch 76 is off and switches other than each moving switch 76 are on, “NO” is determined in the step S2, and the current process is ended.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the high-speed switch 77 has been turned on. In order to turn on the high-speed switch 77, the user must push and move the joystick 75 so that the movement switch 76 is turned on and the joystick 75 must be further pushed inward in FIG. Therefore, the joystick 75
The high-speed switch 77 is kept off when the power is slightly pushed with a normal force. As described above, when the moving switch 76 is on and the high-speed switch 77 is off, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, a low-speed set value is set as a set value for determining the amount of movement per predetermined time for moving the display area of the map data (hereinafter referred to as "movement amount setting value"). . Thereby, for example, when the display area of the map data currently displayed in the display area A is the display area B1 in FIG. 6, the center coordinate P1 is moved by the moving amount based on the low speed set value,
The center coordinate is P2. In step S6, a display area B2 is set based on the center coordinates P2, the area of the display area A, and the scale of the map data.
Then, the map data corresponding to the display area B2 is displayed in the display area A.

Further, by holding the state in which the joystick 75 is lightly pushed and moved with a normal force,
While the movement switch 76 is kept on, the processing of steps S1 to S3, S4, S6 and S7 is repeated at predetermined time intervals. Thereby, the display area A
The display area of the map data displayed in the area moves relatively finely by a moving amount per predetermined time based on the low-speed set value.
As a result, the display area of the map data displayed in the display area A moves relatively slowly in the direction specified by the user by pushing and moving the joystick 75.

Here, the low-speed set value is set, for example, to a value corresponding to one dot of a pixel of the map data. Thus, when the low speed setting value is set as the moving amount setting value, the display area of the map data moves by one dot per predetermined time.

On the other hand, when the joystick 75 is further pushed inward from the state where the user has pushed and moved the joystick 75, the high-speed switch 77 is turned on while the movement switch 76 is on. At this time, "YES" is determined in the step S3, and the process shifts to the step S5. In step S5, a high-speed set value is set as the moving amount set value.

Here, the high-speed set value is set to such a value that the display area of the map data is moved faster than when the low-speed set value is set as the movement amount set value. For example, the high-speed setting value is set to a value corresponding to 16 dots of pixels of the map data. Thus, when the high-speed setting value is set as the moving amount setting value, the display area of the map data moves by 16 dots per predetermined time.

Thus, for example, when the display area of the map data currently displayed in the display area A is the display area B1 in FIG. 6, the center coordinate P1 is moved by the moving amount based on the high-speed set value. The center coordinate is P3. In step S6, the display area B3 is set based on the center coordinates P3, the area of the display area A, and the scale of the map data. In step 7, the map data corresponding to the display area B3 is displayed on the display area A.

Further, while the state in which the joystick 75 is pushed to the rear side is maintained, and while both the movement switch 76 and the high-speed switch 77 are kept on, the processing of steps S1 to S3 and S5 to S7 is performed for a predetermined time. Repeat every other. As a result, the display area of the map data displayed in the display area A moves relatively large at predetermined time intervals with a movement amount based on the high-speed set value. As a result, the display area of the map data displayed in the display area A moves relatively quickly in the direction specified by the user by pushing and moving the joystick 75.

Thus, according to the vehicle navigation system of the present embodiment, the display area of the map data can be moved at two speeds only by operating the joystick 75 of the controller 70. In particular, when the display area of the map data is moved at a low speed, the joystick 75 may be pushed and moved with a normal power. On the other hand, when the display area of the map data is moved at a high speed, the joystick 75 may be pushed inward by slightly increasing the amount of force for pushing the joystick 75.

As described above, by adjusting the amount of power of the fingertip by the user, the moving speed of the display area of the map data can be switched between low speed and high speed very easily and quickly. Therefore, the display area of the map data can be accurately moved according to the user's intention, and the operability can be improved.

Further, each moving switch 76 for determining the direction in which the map data display area is moved and the high-speed switch 77 for moving the map data display area at high speed can be simultaneously turned on and off with one joystick 75. Therefore, the moving direction and the moving speed of the display area of the map data can be operated very easily with one fingertip, and the operability can be improved.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the case where the display area of the map data is moved in eight directions by the joystick 75 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 4 map data display areas
It is good also as a structure which can move to a direction, eight directions or more, and also every direction. This can be realized by increasing or decreasing the number of the movement switches 76 of the controller 70. The switch 76 and the switch 76 are provided so that the moving speed can be switched according to the inclination angle of the joystick 75.
It is also possible to arrange 77.

In the above embodiment, the case where the moving speed of the map data display area is set by changing the amount of movement of the map data display area in two steps has been described as an example. The present invention is not limited to this, and the moving amount of the display area of the map data may be fixed, and the time for repeatedly displaying the map data may be changed in two stages. For example, when the display area of the map data is moved at a low speed, the map data is updated and displayed four times per second while the movement amount of the display area of the map data is kept constant. On the other hand, when the display area of the map data is moved at high speed, the map data is updated and displayed 16 times per second with the movement amount of the display area of the map data kept constant.

[0049]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ON / OFF of the first switch provided on the operation unit and the ON / OFF of the second switch provided on the operation unit are controlled. When the first switch is on and the second switch is off, the display area of the map data displayed on the display unit is moved at a predetermined speed when the first switch is turned on and the second switch is turned off. When the first switch is on and the second switch is on, the display area of the map data displayed on the display unit is moved faster than the predetermined speed. , The operability of moving the display area of the map data can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the first switch is constituted by a switch for determining a direction in which the display area of the map data displayed on the display section is moved, the first switch and the second switch are provided. Accordingly, the direction in which the display area of the map data is moved and the speed at which the display area of the map data is moved can be simultaneously operated, and the operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a vehicle navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a controller of the vehicle navigation system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the inside of a controller in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a display of the vehicle navigation system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a movement process in the vehicle navigation system of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing map data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 70 controller (operation unit) 76 movement switch (first switch) 77 high-speed switch (second switch) 80 display unit (display unit) 83 display 90 input / output control device 100 vehicle navigation system

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An input / output control in a navigation system including a display unit for displaying map data in a predetermined display area, and an operation unit for performing an operation for moving a display area of the map data displayed on the display unit. An apparatus, wherein: a first switch provided on the operation unit; a second switch provided on the operation unit; on / off of the first switch and on / off of the second switch And a determination unit that determines the map data display area to be displayed on the display unit when the first switch is on and the second switch is off as a result of the determination by the determination unit. Move at a speed, and when the result of the determination by the determination means is that the first switch is on and the second switch is also on, display is made on the display unit. Serial output control apparatus in a navigation system, characterized in that the display area of the map data and a display area moving means for moving faster than the predetermined speed. 2. The input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the first switch comprises a switch for determining a direction of moving a display area of the map data displayed on the display unit. Control device.