JPH1123301A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of having a sense of incongruity, when spot- setting to be a reference for route search is performed near an unsearchable road. SOLUTION: In the case of setting a start spot 51 and a destination spot 50 for route search, a display is carried out by discriminating searchable road 52 from unsearchable road 53. As the result, it becomes possible to request users to perform spot setting near a searchable road 52. Since a user who performs spot setting near an unsearchable road 53 knows that the nearest road spot-set is an unsearchable road 53, he does not have a sense of incongruity, even if a searched result does not contain the unsearchable road 53. Discrimination between the searchable roads 52 and the unsearchable roads 53 can be performed by causing the kinds, breadths, or colors of their lines to differ, and it is also possible not to display the unsearchable roads 53.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device having a function of guiding a route on which an automobile travels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a navigation device, a CD is used.
A liquid crystal display element (hereinafter referred to as “L”) using road network information stored in a large-capacity storage medium such as a ROM in advance.
For example, a road map, a guide route, and the like are displayed on a screen such as a "CD" to provide route information to a driver such as an automobile. In the route search function provided in the navigation device, the departure point, destination point, and relay point in the middle are set in advance, and the optimal route from the departure to the destination point via the relay point is searched. And provide route guidance. In general, an optimal route is a route that can be reached in the shortest time, and therefore, various information must be available for a target road in a route search. On the other hand, when displaying a narrow range of roads, it is preferable that as many roads as possible can be displayed on the display screen. Therefore, although many roads are stored in the storage medium, not all roads are necessarily provided with the information to be subjected to the route search.

[0003]

In the navigation apparatus, when setting a point related to the route search, the setting is performed while displaying a road map near the point to be set. When a point is set on the road map displayed on the display screen with a cursor or the like, the road closest to the set point may be a road that cannot be searched. For example, a private road or a relatively short road. If you set a point on or near an unsearchable road and perform a route search based on the set point, a route that does not pass through the point set as the start point, destination point, or relay point will be searched May be done. Such a route search result distant from the set point gives the user a sense of discomfort.

An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device which can notify a user whether or not a road closest to a point can be a route search target when the user sets a point to search for a guidance route. To provide.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a map storage means for storing map data including road network information,
Display means for displaying map data stored in the map storage means, setting means for setting a point related to the guidance route, and a route for searching for a guidance route based on the set point by referring to road network information A navigation device having a search means; a determination means for determining whether a road closest to a point set in the setting means is a road searchable by the route search means; and When a point where an unsearchable road is the closest road is set in the setting means, a notifying means for notifying that the search is not possible is included.

According to the present invention, when it is determined by the determining means that the road closest to the point set by the setting means is not a searchable road by the route searching means, it is notified by the notifying means that the search is impossible. Is done. This makes it possible to prompt the user to set a spot near a searchable road when setting a spot. Also,
When a point is set near an unsearchable road, the user is notified that the search is not possible. Therefore, even if the set distant guide route is searched, there is a possibility that the user will not feel discomfort. Become smaller.

In the present invention, the notifying means does not display an unsearchable road on the display means.

According to the present invention, a road related to the guidance route set by the setting means is located closest to the unsearchable road and a road determined to be unsearchable is not displayed on the display screen. It is possible to notify the user that the search is not possible in an easy-to-understand manner.

Further, in the present invention, the notifying means includes a distinguishing display means for displaying an unsearchable road separately from a searchable road.

According to the present invention, when a point is set near a non-searchable road, the non-searchable road is displayed separately from the searchable road. It is possible to clearly show the user whether or not the vehicle is close to a possible road.

In the present invention, the distinction display means displays an unsearchable road in a different correspondence from a searchable road.

According to the present invention, unsearchable roads are displayed in a different line type from searchable roads. For example, searchable roads are displayed by solid lines, and unsearchable roads are displayed by broken lines. By changing the line type, the unsearchable road can be displayed in an easily understandable manner.

Further, in the present invention, the distinction display means displays an unsearchable road with a line width different from a searchable road.

According to the present invention, the searchable roads and the unsearchable roads are displayed on the display means with different line widths, so that the user can easily identify the unsearchable roads. it can.

Further, in the present invention, the distinction display means displays an unsearchable road in a color different from a searchable road.

According to the present invention, unsearchable roads are displayed on the display means in a different color from searchable roads, so that the user can easily identify them.

In the invention, it is preferable that the notifying means makes a sound notification that the search is impossible.

According to the present invention, when the user attempts to set a point near a road that cannot be searched, the notifying unit notifies the user that the search is not possible by sound. It can be recognized that it is possible.

In the present invention, when displaying the guidance route searched by the route searching means on the display means, the notifying means sets a road determined to be unsearchable by the determining means as a guidance route. It is characterized in that it is displayed separately from the included roads.

According to the present invention, when the guide route searched by the route searching means is displayed, if the road closest to the point set by the setting means is a road that cannot be searched, it is included in the guide route. Since the road closest to the display means is displayed in distinction from the searchable roads, the user who sees the image on the display means can easily recognize the guide route including the road on which the route search was not performed.

Further, the present invention is characterized by comprising control means for controlling whether or not to operate the discriminating means and the notifying means in accordance with a user's selection.

According to the present invention, the control means controls whether or not to operate the discriminating means and the notifying means according to the user's selection. Notifications can be given and the range of point setting can be expanded.

[0023]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic hardware configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the processing device 1, designation of an operation mode, point setting, and the like are performed from the input device 2. Map data storage device 3
Stores map data including road network information. The vehicle position search device 4 searches for the current position of the vehicle equipped with the navigation device. Output device 5
Displays the current position of the vehicle searched by the vehicle position search device 4 on a road map stored in the map data storage device 3 or displays a road map around a point set from the input device 2 The guidance of the route along the guidance route searched based on or the set point is performed. In the present embodiment, an alarm device 6 is further provided,
The processing device 1, the input device 2, the map data storage device 3, the vehicle position search device 4 and the output device 5 are connected to the system bus 7.

In the processing device 1, a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as "CPU") 10 of a microcomputer,
A read-only memory (hereinafter abbreviated as “ROM”) 11 in which the operation program and various data are stored in advance,
Alternatively, a readable / writable random access memory (hereinafter abbreviated as “RAM”) used for a temporary storage of a work area and various data during the operation of the CPU 10.
12 and the like. As the map data storage device 3,
CD-ROM 15, CD-ROM driver 16 and C
A D-ROM degoder 17 is included. CD-ROM15
Is a large-capacity storage medium in which map data including road network information is stored.
It is removable. The storage content of the CD-ROM 15 is C
With the CD-ROM 15 mounted on the D-ROM driver 16, the CPU 10
Read by The read data is stored in the RAM 12
Is stored once, and is referred to when searching for a route.

The host vehicle position search device 4 includes an azimuth sensor 2 connected to the system bus 7 via the interface 20.
1, angular velocity sensor 22, distance sensor 23 and GPS2
4 and the like. The direction sensor 21 detects the traveling direction of the vehicle as an absolute direction by, for example, a geomagnetic sensor. The angular velocity sensor 22 detects an angular velocity corresponding to a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle by, for example, a vibration gyro. The distance sensor 23 detects the traveling distance of the automobile. The GPS 24 receives radio waves from a plurality of artificial satellites and calculates the current position of the vehicle. CPU 10
A reference point based on a relative traveling direction based on a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle from the azimuth sensor 21 or a traveling direction detected by the angular velocity sensor 22 and a moving distance of the vehicle detected by the distance sensor 23. Can be calculated relative to the current position. Also, GP
From S24, information on the absolute current position can be known.

The output device 5 includes a display device 2 such as an LCD.
5, a display controller 26 for controlling the display, a graphic controller 27 for performing image processing for drawing an image to be displayed on the display device 25, and a graphic memory 28 for storing an image processed by the graphic controller 27.

FIG. 2 shows a logical configuration when the navigation device shown in FIG. 1 performs a route search. The processing device 1 shown in FIG.
It operates as the route search device 30 and the route guidance device 31. The route search device 30 includes a point setting unit 32, a route search unit 33, and a search result storage unit 34.
In the route search device 30, the point setting means 32 sets a point related to the guidance route in accordance with an input from the input unit 42 realized by the input device 2. Route search means 33
Performs a route search of the guidance route based on the set points with reference to the map data 43 from the map data storage device 3. The searched guidance route is stored in the search result storage means 34. The route guidance means 33 is based on the route search device 30 and the map data 43, and the vehicle position search device 4
The route guidance based on the own vehicle position searched by is performed. When performing route guidance to the output unit 45 realized by the output device 5 of FIG. 1, the contents stored in the search result storage unit 34 and the search results of the host vehicle position search device 4 are combined.
Display is performed by a display device 25 such as an LCD.

FIG. 3 shows a display screen in a state where a point is set for a route search in this embodiment. In the route guidance, a route search is performed so as to reach the destination point 50 indicated by "goal" and the departure point 51 indicated by "start" through the most preferable route. In the present embodiment, a searchable road 52 that can be a target of a route search and a target non-acceptable road 53 that is not a target of a route search are displayed with their line widths distinguished. Such an operation is performed by the processing device 1
Is performed as distinction display means realized by a program operation. At the time of setting the points as shown in FIG. 3, the searchable road 52 and the non-searchable road 53 are not particularly distinguished, and the stored map data itself may be displayed.

The CD-ROM 15 in FIG. 1 stores whether or not a search is possible as an attribute of each road data. The road data is stored together with various attribute data as a set of “nodes” and “links” that are information for forming a road network. A road having an unsearchable attribute may be, for example, an insufficient width, a short length, or a private road.
The processing device 1 serves as a determination unit based on a program operation.
It is determined whether or not the search is possible.

FIG. 4 shows a result of performing a route search based on the point setting as shown in FIG. “Intersection A”, which is the starting point of the search result 54, is far from the starting point 51. The “intersection B” which is the end point of the search result 54 is also away from the destination point 50. This is because the nearest roads to the departure point 51 and the destination point 50 are unsearchable roads, and were not searched. Therefore, the search from the departure point 51 to “intersection A” In this example, the search to the point 50 cannot be performed, and the road is an unsearched road 55.

If the user recognizes that the road closest to the destination point 50 or the departure point 51 is the unsearchable road 53 when setting the point, the search result shown in FIG. 4 should be acceptable. . At the time of setting a point, it is possible to inform the user whether or not a point set as the destination point 50 or the departure point 51 or a road set as a relay point or a nearby road is a searchable road to be searched. preferable. However, as shown in FIG.
It is possible to perform route guidance that is more easily understood by displaying the unsearched road 55 separately from the search result 54 or the mere unsearchable road 53.

FIG. 5 shows a screen for hiding unsearchable roads when setting points. When the destination point 50 or the departure point 51 is displayed based on a screen on which no searchable road is not displayed, only the searchable road 52 is displayed, so that the user is prompted to set a point near the searchable road 52. be able to.

FIG. 6 shows an operation procedure for hiding the unsearchable road when the destination point 50 or the starting point 51 is set at a position near the unsearchable road by the method shown in FIG. The procedure starts from step a1, and it is determined in step a2 whether or not there is a point registration request. When it is determined that there is a point registration request, the map screen is cleared in step a3. Next, in step a4, it is determined whether or not the road to be displayed is a searchable road. If it is determined that the road is a searchable road, image data corresponding to the road is drawn as a set of line segments based on the link information representing the road in step a5. If it is determined in step a4 that the road is not a searchable road, the line segment is not drawn in step a5. Next, in step a6, it is determined whether or not the drawing data has been completed. If it is determined that the processing has not been completed, the flow returns to step a4 to draw the next road. The operation from step a4 to step a6 is repeated to draw only the searchable road. If it is determined in step a2 that there is no point registration request, or if it is determined in step a6 that the drawing data has ended, the entire procedure is ended in step a7.

In the embodiment described above, at the time of setting a point, the processing device 1 hides the unsearchable road as a distinguishing display means, but also displays the unsearchable road with a broken line.

The searchable roads are indicated by dotted lines.

The searchable roads are indicated by alternate long and short dash lines.

The searchable roads are indicated by two-dot chain lines.

The searchable road and the non-searchable road are displayed with different line widths.

The searchable road and the non-searchable road are displayed in different line colors.

For example, a searchable road and a non-searchable road can be displayed by distinguishing them by line type, line width, or color.

The alarm device 6 shown in FIG. 1 can generate an alarm sound to alert a user who wants to set a point near a non-searchable road with a sound. It is effective to notify the user that the vehicle is close to the unsearchable road by such a sound notification or the above-described distinction display in order to eliminate a sense of discomfort. Further, the processing device 1 is used as control means for performing control to switch whether to enable or disable search from the input device 2 or to notify the result of the search to enable or disable according to the user's selection. Program operation is also possible.

In the embodiment described above, the present invention is applied to the route guidance of the navigation device mounted on the vehicle. However, it is not always necessary to mount the device on the vehicle. The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus that performs route guidance by using the above-described method. For this reason, the vehicle position search device 4 is not always necessary for implementing the present invention.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, when setting a related point for searching for a guide route, if the nearest road to the set point cannot be searched, the notifying means is used. Since the notification is performed, the user can be prompted to set a point near a searchable road. In addition, even if a point is set near a road that cannot be searched for and a search for a guidance route based on a point distant from the set point is performed, the user does not feel uncomfortable because the user has already understood. be able to.

Further, according to the present invention, when the point setting means sets a point for a route search, when the determination means determines that the nearest road is an unsearchable road, the notification means performs the search. Since the road determined to be impossible is not displayed, the user can immediately recognize that the route search is impossible.

According to the present invention, when the road closest to the point set by the setting means is a non-searchable road, it is displayed separately from the searchable road, so that the user cannot immediately search. You can recognize that.

Further, according to the present invention, since the distinguishable display means displays the unsearchable road with a line type different from the searchable road, it is possible to easily recognize that the road is unsearchable. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, since the distinction display means displays the unsearchable road with a line width different from the searchable road, it is possible to easily recognize that the road is an unsearchable road. .

Further, according to the present invention, since the distinguishable display means displays the unsearchable road in a different color from the searchable road, it is possible to easily recognize that the road is an unsearchable road. .

Further, according to the present invention, when the road closest to the point to be set in relation to the guide route is set to a position where search is not possible, a sound is given, so that no sound is given. By prompting the user to change the setting to the point, a route search without a sense of incongruity can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, the guide route searched by the route search means is displayed on the road closest to the point on which the guide route is based, including the road on which the route search is impossible and the search target is not included. The unsearchable roads are displayed separately from the searchable roads to be searched, so that an easy-to-understand guide route can be displayed as a whole.

Further, according to the present invention, the operation of discriminating and notifying a road on which a route search is not possible and a possible road is controlled in accordance with a user's selection. Can be switched according to the user's selection, and the range of the point setting method can be expanded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of basic hardware of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a logical configuration of the navigation device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state where a point is set for route guidance in the navigation device of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a result of performing route guidance in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which an unsearchable road is not displayed when setting a point in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for performing a display as shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 processing device 2 input device 3 map data storage device 4 own vehicle position search device 5 output device 6 alarm device 10 CPU 11 ROM 12 RAM 15 CD-ROM 21 azimuth sensor 22 angular velocity sensor 23 distance sensor 24 GPS 25 display device 26 display controller 27 graphic controller 28 graphic memory 30 route search device 31 route guidance device 32 point setting means 33 route search means 34 search result storage means 42 input unit 43 map data 45 output unit 50 destination point 51 departure point 52 searchable road 53 searchable road 54 Search result 55 Unsearched road

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. Map storage means for storing map data including road network information; display means for displaying map data stored in the map storage means; setting means for setting a point related to a guidance route; A route searching means for searching for a guidance route based on a set point with reference to road network information, wherein a road closest to the point set in the setting means is a road searchable by the route searching means. Determining means for determining whether or not there is a vehicle, and responding to the determination result of the determining means, when the setting means sets a point where the unsearchable road is the closest road, it determines that the search is not possible. A navigation device comprising: a notifying unit for notifying. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit does not display an unsearchable road on a display unit. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit includes a distinction display unit that displays an unsearchable road separately from a searchable road. 4. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein the distinction display means displays an unsearchable road in a different correspondence from a searchable road. 5. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein the distinction display means displays the unsearchable road with a line width different from that of the searchable road. 6. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein the distinction display means displays the unsearchable road in a different color from the searchable road. 7. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies the user that the search is not possible by sound. 8. The display unit displays the guidance route searched by the route search unit on a display unit.
The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a road determined to be unsearchable by the determination unit is displayed separately from a road included in the guidance route. 9. The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling whether to operate said discriminating means and said notifying means in accordance with a user's selection.