JPWO2013005249A1 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

The GUI control unit 13 displays a surrounding facility display switching button on the map. When the button is pressed, the map element display control unit 14 displays the peripheral facility symbol of the facility genre corresponding to the button in a display manner different from the facility symbol along the route that is the target along the guidance route.

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that displays a symbol indicating the presence of a facility on a map.

First, the terms used in this specification are defined.
“Facilities” are commercial facilities such as convenience stores (hereinafter referred to as convenience stores), public facilities such as schools, tourist facilities such as zoos, road structures such as interchanges, etc., which are displayed on the map as landmarks and point symbols Building and structure. POI (Point Of Interest) is synonymous with facility.
The “peripheral facility” is a facility in an area that is not along the target route (that is, the periphery) and does not face the route. A facility along the route is referred to as a facility along the route.
The “facility genre” is an item for classifying the facility by type. For example, the facility genre of a commercial facility is a convenience store, a bank, a family restaurant, a clothing store, or the like.
The “symbol” is an image that is converted into an icon for displaying a map element such as a facility on the map.

In a conventional navigation device, there is a technology that enables switching of the display by selecting an arbitrary symbol according to a user operation from among facility symbols superimposed on a map.
For example, the navigation apparatus according to Patent Document 1 receives in advance a facility operation switching display of facility symbols and a facility genre that is always displayed by a user operation. When the map displaying the guidance route to the destination is displayed, if the switching display is set to OFF, all facility symbols having display coordinates within the display range of the map are displayed. On the other hand, when the switching display is set to ON, all the facility symbols having display coordinates are displayed in the detailed display area set around the current position, and the user always displays outside the area. The facility symbol of the genre that is set is displayed.

Further, for example, the navigation apparatus according to Patent Document 2 displays a facility symbol switching button on a map, and switches the facility symbol display to the following three methods each time this button is selected by the user. When the switching button is first pressed, all types of facility symbols are hidden. Next, when the switch button is pressed, only one kind of facility symbol A (for example, a facility symbol of a parking lot) is displayed.
Next, when the switch button is pressed, only one kind of facility symbol B (for example, a facility symbol of a convenience store) different from the already displayed facility symbol A is displayed. At this time, whether or not to display the facility symbol for each facility genre is set in advance, and each time the switching button is operated by the user, the facility symbols of the preset genre are sequentially ordered one by one, for example, the facility symbol After B, facility symbols C, D,... Can be displayed. Alternatively, the facility genres set in advance can be displayed one by one in order, except for the types of facility symbols that do not exist within the display range of the map.

JP 2005-214783 A JP 2007-17269 A

In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there is no distinction between display forms of facility symbols along the route and surrounding facility symbols. Therefore, the facility symbols along the route are not easily noticeable when they are simply superimposed on the same map, and the facility symbols along the route cannot be effectively used as the target. As described above, there has been a problem that the ease of viewing the facility symbols along the route has not been considered.
In addition, since it is necessary to set the display and non-display of the facility symbol in advance, if the setting is made to display the peripheral facility symbol, the entire map screen will display the facility symbol when the facility along the route is enriched while driving. The display is crowded. At this time, even if the user temporarily switches the surrounding facility symbol to non-display and congestion is alleviated, it is necessary to perform an operation such as switching to the setting screen even if the user tries to return to the display again, and cannot be easily switched to non-display. . In addition, when the surrounding facility symbols are set not to be displayed, the facility symbols are extremely reduced on the map screen in a place where there is no facility along the route while traveling. At this time, even if the user temporarily switches the display of the surrounding facility symbol to the non-display again after confirmation, it cannot be easily switched.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, a switching button is displayed on the map so that the facility genre can be easily displayed and switched one by one. However, the point that there is no distinction in the display form of the facility symbol along the route and the surrounding facility symbol is the same as in Patent Document 1, and the display priority is not set for the facility symbol along or around the route. The ease of viewing the facility symbol along the route was not considered, and the facility symbol along the route could not be used effectively as a target.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can easily switch between display and non-display of surrounding facility symbols, and even when the surrounding facility symbols are displayed, The purpose is to provide a highly visible map that highlights facility symbols.

  The navigation device according to the present invention includes a map generation unit that generates a map for screen display using map data including road position information and facility position information and guidance route information to a destination, and the map data. Based on the location information of the facility, on the map generated by the map generation unit, the facility symbol along the route representing the facility existing along the guidance route is not overlapped with the guidance route, and the facility symbols along the route do not overlap each other. A map element display control unit to be arranged, a GUI control unit for generating a peripheral facility display switching button for switching between display and non-display of a peripheral facility symbol representing a facility existing around the guidance route, and a map On the map generated by the generation unit, the facility symbol along the route arranged by the map element display control unit and the peripheral facility display switching button generated by the GUI control unit are displayed. Display unit, a touch panel integrated with the screen of the display unit, an input unit for accepting a user operation on a peripheral facility switching display button on the map displayed by the display unit, and a type of facility included in the map data Based on the information to be displayed, a display mode determination unit that determines a display mode different from the facility symbol along the route for the type of the peripheral facility symbol corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button that has received a user operation in the input unit, and an input unit When switching between the display and non-display of the peripheral facility symbol of the type according to the peripheral facility display switching button that has received the user operation, the display mode determination unit determines the display facility determination unit of the peripheral facility symbol of the corresponding type, A display control unit arranged on the map generated by the map generation unit.

  According to this invention, since the button for switching the display of the peripheral facility symbols is arranged on the map, the operability can be improved. In addition, the peripheral facility symbols that are displayed in response to user operations are displayed separately from the facility symbols along the route that are the target along the guidance route. Can provide.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and is the state in which the surrounding facility symbol was displayed. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation by a map element display control unit of the navigation device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and is the state in which two types of surrounding facility symbols were displayed. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the GUI control part of the navigation apparatus concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. In the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2, it is a figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of a surrounding facility display switching button. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the map element display control part of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display screen example of the navigation device according to the third embodiment.

Hereinafter, in order to explain the present invention in more detail, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
The navigation device shown in FIG. 1 includes a simple map generation device 1, a map database (hereinafter referred to as DB) 2 in which map data is stored, an input unit 3 including a touch panel integrated with a display, and a GPS (Global Positioning System). The simple map generation device 1 includes a vehicle position determination unit (position determination unit) 4 that receives a signal and determines the current position of the vehicle, a route calculation unit 5 that searches for a route to the destination, and the display. The display unit 6 displays the generated simple map on the screen and the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 acquires vehicle speed information detected by the vehicle speed sensor from the vehicle side. The navigation device acquires information from the external server 8 outside the vehicle by communication.
Here, the simple map is a map in which facilities as target objects along the route are extracted and displayed so that the facility symbols do not overlap with each other and the facility symbols do not overlap each other.

The map data stored in the map DB 2 includes a map image and information such as roads and facilities (so-called POI) existing in the map image. This road information is constituted by position information of a start point and an end point (node) and a line (road link) connecting these nodes, and a cost (link cost) when traveling on this road link is given. The facility information includes location information of the facility, genre information indicating the type of facility, and the like, and each facility information is associated with image (facility symbol) data that is iconized to display the facility on the map. It has been.
Note that the navigation device may not include the map DB 2 and may acquire map data by communication from the map DB outside the vehicle.

  The route calculation unit 5 acquires the destination received by the input unit 3 by a user operation, acquires the current position from the vehicle position determination unit 4, and obtains map data including the departure point (current position) and the destination. Obtained from the map DB2. Subsequently, the route calculation unit 5 executes a predetermined route calculation algorithm using the road information of the acquired map data. For example, when a route with a short distance is preferentially searched, the length of the road link (that is, A value corresponding to the distance of the road is assigned to each link cost, and the route with the lowest link cost connecting from the departure point to the destination is calculated and used as a guidance route. Road information such as position information of road links constituting the guide route and information (such as road names) attached to the road links is output to the guide data management unit 11.

  The simple map generation apparatus 1 includes a simple map generation unit (map generation unit) 12, a guidance data management unit 11, a graphical user interface (hereinafter, GUI) control unit 13, a map element display control unit 14, and a condition update. The unit 15 and the image generation unit 16 are configured.

  The guidance data management unit 11 acquires road information of the guidance route from the route calculation unit 5 and outputs it to the simple map generation unit 12, the GUI control unit 13, and the map element display control unit 14 as necessary. More specifically, the guidance data management unit 11 performs road information (position information such as nodes and links, and road names), information on passing intersections (coordinates of intersections, whether to be guidance intersections, intersections, Name, presence / absence of signal, etc.) are managed and held in the order of traveling on the guidance route from the vehicle position side, and the information is output as necessary.

  The simple map generation unit 12 generates display information for displaying the topography (green space, water system, etc.) and road among the elements constituting the simple map, and outputs the display information to the image generation unit 16. For the road, the simple map generation unit 12 acquires map data of a predetermined range including the guidance route from the map DB 2 in accordance with the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11, and selects the road corresponding to the guidance route other than that. The display mode is set so that it can be distinguished from the road.

  The GUI control unit 13 acquires facility information included in a predetermined range of map data including the guidance route from the map DB 2 according to the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11. Then, using the acquired facility information, the GUI control unit 13 generates display information of a peripheral facility display switching button that switches whether to display the facility symbol on the simple map, and outputs the display information to the image generation unit 16. The GUI control unit 13 will be described in detail in the second embodiment below.

The map element display control unit 14 selects facility information that is a target along the guidance route from among the facility information included in the map data in a predetermined range including the guidance route according to the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11. The symbols associated with the extracted facility information are extracted and arranged so that the symbols do not overlap each other at a position that does not overlap the guidance route. This symbol is referred to as a facility symbol along the route. Then, the map element display control unit 14 outputs to the image generation unit 16 display information including symbol image data necessary to display the facility symbol along the route on the simple map, a display position, and the like.
The map element display control unit 14 may determine whether or not the facility is along the route by using the facility location information and the guidance route location information. For example, the map element display control unit 14 determines the facility existing within the predetermined range from the guidance route along the route. It is determined as a facility, and a facility existing outside the predetermined range is determined as a peripheral facility.
Further, the map element display control unit 14 does not need to display all facilities determined as facilities along the route on the simple map as facility symbols along the route. For example, when the identification information as to whether or not to use the target object is set in advance in the facility information, only the facility along the route having the identification information may be displayed as the facility symbol along the route.

  Moreover, the map element display control part 14 will acquire the facility information corresponding to the pressed down periphery facility display switching button, if the pressing of the surrounding facility display switch button which the input part 3 received by user operation is acquired via the GUI control part 13. Are extracted from the map DB2. Then, the display mode determination unit 141 determines the facility symbol to be displayed on the simple map based on the display mode determination condition stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, and further displays the size, position, and overlapping order. The display mode is determined. The display mode determination condition storage unit 142 stores a condition for determining a facility symbol to be displayed and information (a facility genre priority, an overlap determination region, etc.) serving as a condition for determining a display mode. . The display control unit 143 outputs the display information of the peripheral facility symbols to the image generation unit 16 according to the determination result of the display mode determination unit 141.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a display screen of the navigation device. The simple map 100 displays a guide route 101 and a vehicle position 102, and three facility symbols A along the route are arranged and displayed so as not to overlap the guide route 101. Further, in this simple map 100, three types of peripheral facility display switching buttons B are displayed in order of a convenience store, a gas station (hereinafter referred to as GS), and a bank. For example, the peripheral facility display switching button B of “convenience store” is a button for switching between display and non-display of the facility symbol of the facility genre “convenience store”, and when this button is pressed, the peripheral facility symbol representing the convenience store is displayed on the map. Is done.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a display screen on which a peripheral facility symbol C of a convenience store is displayed. Next, when this button is pressed, the peripheral facility symbols of the displayed convenience store are hidden.
The GUI control unit 13 determines the facility genre, the display position, the number of displays, and the like displayed as the peripheral facility display switching button B. The map element display control unit 14 performs control to switch between display and non-display of the corresponding peripheral facility symbol in response to pressing of the peripheral facility display switching button B.

The condition update unit 15 includes an operation history storage unit 151 that stores a history of user operations accepted by the input unit 3 as history information. The condition update unit 15 uses the history information of the operation history storage unit 151 as the aptitude display determination condition for determining the facility genre, display position, display number, and the like displayed by the GUI control unit 13 as the peripheral facility display switching button B. Update based on.
In addition, the condition updating unit 15 determines a display mode when the map element display control unit 14 determines a corresponding peripheral facility symbol in response to pressing of the peripheral facility display switching button B and displays the symbol. The determination condition is updated based on the history information in the operation history storage unit 151.

  The image generation unit 16 superimposes a peripheral facility display switching button on the map based on the display information input from the simple map generation unit 12 in accordance with the display information input from the GUI control unit 13 and controls the map element display. According to the display information input from the unit 14, image data of a simple map in which map elements such as facility symbols along the route and surrounding facility symbols are superimposed and generated is generated and output to the display unit 6.

Next, the operation of the map element display control unit 14 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, as in the display screen shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral facility display switching button B for switching the display of the peripheral facility symbols within this display range is displayed on the simple map 100 for guiding the guidance route 101. It shall be. Further, it is assumed that the map element display control unit 14 has acquired all the facility information within this display range from the map DB 2 regardless of whether it is along or around the route.
When the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genre “convenience store” displayed on the touch display of the display unit 6, the input unit 3 accepts the pressing of this button and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. Then, the GUI control unit 13 outputs information indicating that the convenience store peripheral facility display switching button is pressed to the map element display control unit 14.

In step ST1, when the map element display control unit 14 receives information indicating that the peripheral facility display switching button of the facility genre “convenience store” is pressed from the GUI control unit 13 (step ST1 “YES”), the display mode determination is performed in the subsequent step ST2. The unit 141 selects one facility symbol in which “convenience store” is set in the genre information from among the facility symbols already extracted from the map DB 2. Then, according to the display mode determination conditions stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, the display mode determination unit 141 has already displayed the target facility symbol on the simple map 100 as a target (that is, a facility symbol along the route). Judgment is made.
Note that the display mode determination conditions stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 are branch conditions from steps ST2 to ST10.

If the target facility symbol is already displayed as a facility symbol along the route (step ST2 “YES”), the process proceeds to step ST12 without performing the subsequent processing for the target facility symbol. If there is another facility symbol in which “convenience store” is set in the genre information in step ST12 (step ST12 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 returns to step ST2. If there is no facility symbol for which “Convenience Store” is set in the genre information (“YES” in step ST12), the series of processing ends.
On the other hand, when the target facility symbol is not displayed as a facility symbol along the route (step ST2 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 continues to determine whether the target facility symbol and the guidance route overlap according to the display mode determination condition. (Step ST3).

When it is determined that the target facility symbol overlaps the guidance route (step ST4 “YES”), the display mode determination unit 141 determines that the target facility symbol is not displayed (step ST11). This is because the simplicity of the map and the visibility of the guidance route are not impaired.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the target facility symbol does not overlap with the guidance route (step ST4 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 continues with the target facility symbol and other existing facility symbols (along the route according to the display mode determination condition). The overlap determination with the facility symbol and the surrounding facility symbol is performed (step ST5). As the overlap determination, for example, it is determined whether or not the target facility symbol is included in the display area of the facility symbol along the route already displayed or the peripheral facility symbol determined to be displayed in step ST10 described later.

When it is determined that the target facility symbol does not overlap with the existing facility symbol (“NO” in step ST6), the display mode determination unit 141 determines to display the target facility symbol (step ST10).
On the other hand, when it is determined that the target facility symbol overlaps with the existing facility symbol (“YES” in step ST6), the display mode determination unit 141 continues to include the facility symbol along the route in the existing facility symbol that is the overlapping partner. It is determined whether or not (step ST7). If it is determined that the facility symbol along the route overlaps the facility symbol along the target facility symbol (step ST7 “YES”), the display mode determination unit 141 determines that the target facility symbol is not displayed (step ST11). This is because the simplicity of the map and the visibility of the target are not impaired.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the facility symbol along the route is not included in the overlapping partner of the target facility symbol (step ST7 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 compares the priority with the overlapping partner (step ST8). The priority of the facility symbol may be given in advance to the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, for example, and the priority is set according to the genre of the peripheral facility symbol (here, the priority of the convenience store is increased, and the GS In the genre, priorities are set according to the brand.
For example, if it is determined in step ST6 that the target facility symbol (convenience store) overlaps with a GS or bank peripheral facility symbol, the priority of the target facility symbol is higher in the priority comparison in step ST8. (Step ST9 “YES”), the target facility symbol (convenience store) is determined to be displayed (step ST10). On the other hand, if the target facility symbol is GS and the overlapping partner is a peripheral facility symbol of a convenience store, the priority of the target facility symbol is lower in the priority comparison in step ST8 (step ST9 “NO”). The target facility symbol (GS) is determined not to be displayed (step ST11).

  When the display mode determination unit 141 determines to display the target facility symbol in step ST10, the display mode determination unit 141 notifies the display control unit 143 of the target facility symbol. The display control unit 143 changes the display format for displaying the notified target facility symbol as a peripheral facility symbol on the simple map 100 and outputs it to the image generation unit 16. As a display mode, for example, the display size of the peripheral facility symbol is made smaller than the facility symbol along the route so that the user can distinguish between the facility symbol along the route and the peripheral facility symbol and the facility symbol along the route is conspicuous. This size may be given to the display control unit 143 in advance. The display control unit 143 outputs display information such as image data, display size, and display position of the surrounding facility symbol to the image generation unit 16, and the image generation unit 16 uses the display information to display the surrounding facility symbol on the simple map 100. Overlay display.

  In subsequent step ST12, display mode determination unit 141 ends the series of processes when the above process is completed for all facility symbols for which “convenience store” is set in the genre information (step ST12 “YES”). As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, four convenience store peripheral facility symbols C are displayed on the simple map 100 on which the guide route 101 and the three facility symbols A along the route are displayed. According to FIG. 3, the peripheral facility symbol C overlapping the guide route 101 is not displayed, so that the guide route 101 can be displayed in an easily understandable manner. Further, since the peripheral facility symbol C is displayed smaller than the facility symbol A along the route, the facility symbol A along the route serving as the mark of the guidance route 101 can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner.

  This process is performed for each facility symbol of the facility genre corresponding to the pressed button every time the image generated by the image generation unit 16 is updated.

Further, when the “convenience store” peripheral facility display switching button B is pressed again from the state shown in FIG. 3, the map element display control unit 14 stops outputting the display information of the displayed convenience facility symbol C of the convenience store. To hide.
When the peripheral facility display switching button B of “GS” is pressed from the state shown in FIG. 3, the map element display control unit 14 performs the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. Thereby, the peripheral facility symbol D of GS is displayed on the simple map 100 like the example of a display screen shown in FIG.

In the above description, when the display control unit 143 determines the display mode of the surrounding facility symbols in step ST10, the display size is simply made smaller than the facility symbol along the route, but other display modes may be used. Good. For example, the display mode is changed by making a difference in saturation, making a distinction between shaded and non-shadowed, or making a difference in transparency. Thereby, the facility symbol along the route can be made conspicuous with respect to the peripheral facility symbol.
In the example of FIGS. 3 and 5, the facility symbol A along the route is arranged at a position away from the guidance route 101 and is blown out, but the position of the surrounding facility symbols C and D is not moved, and There is no blowout. Whether or not the surrounding facility symbol is blown out does not affect the visibility of the guide route 101 by this display mode, but in this example, the location facility symbol does not move in order to reduce the processing load. And there is no blowing.

  In addition, the display size of the peripheral facility symbols is given to the display control unit 143 in advance, but the display size may be made variable according to the congestion degree of the facility symbols displayed on the simple map. Visibility can be ensured by making the display size smaller as it gets crowded.

  In step ST10, the display control unit 143 displays only the peripheral facility symbols with the highest priority. However, the facility symbol with the highest priority is displayed on the near side, and the facility symbol with the lower priority is displayed on the back side. You may do it. In the case of this configuration, the display mode determination unit 141 compares the target facility symbol with the priority of the surrounding facility symbol of the other party (step ST8, ST9 "YES"), and displays these facility symbols according to the priority level. Is notified to the display control unit 143. Upon receiving this notification, the display control unit 143 displays the facility symbols in the overlapping order corresponding to the priority level.

Further, the priority of facility symbols along the route is set higher in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 than the priority of surrounding facility symbols, and the display mode determination unit 141 proceeds directly to step ST8 without performing step ST7. It may be determined that the priority of the target facility symbol (that is, the surrounding facility symbol) is lower than that of the facility symbol along the route (“NO” in steps ST8 and ST9) and determined to be hidden (step ST11). ).
Even in this configuration, instead of displaying only the facility symbols along the route with high priority, the facility symbol with high priority is displayed on the near side and the facility symbol with low priority is displayed on the back side, as described above. Also good. In this case, the facility symbol along the route is displayed on the foremost side, and the peripheral facility symbols are displayed on the back side in an order of priority.

Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the display mode determination condition that makes a difference in the display mode depending on whether the facility symbol is along or around the route is used, but the present invention is not limited to this condition.
For example, the display mode may be such that it is not as noticeable as the surrounding facility symbols that are far from the guidance route or difficult to reach. FIG. 6 is an example of a display screen in a display mode in which peripheral facility symbols farther from the guide route 101 are less conspicuous. In this case, the guidance data management unit 11 calculates the distance from the guidance route to each road link within the display range. Then, the display control unit 143 sets a display mode in which the saturation of the target facility symbol close to the guidance route is increased based on the road link distance close to the target facility symbol, and the saturation is decreased as the distance is increased.

Alternatively, the guidance data management unit 11 calculates the number of branches from the guidance route to each road link within the display range. Then, the display control unit 143 increases the saturation of the target facility symbol in a place where the number of branching is small and decreases the saturation as the number increases according to the number of branches to the road link close to the target facility symbol. To.
Alternatively, the guidance data management unit 11 weights the link cost using the width information attached to the road link, and calculates the cost from the guidance route to each road link within the display range. That is, the link cost decreases as the road width from the road link constituting the guide route to a certain road link is wider (easier to travel), and the link cost increases as the road width is narrower (hard to travel). And the display control part 143 makes it the display mode which makes the saturation of the object facility symbol of the place where link cost is low high, and makes a saturation low as it becomes large.

  In addition, for example, the display control unit 143 acquires vehicle speed information through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7, and when the vehicle is stopped (or less than a predetermined speed), the surrounding facility symbols are displayed in a predetermined display mode, and the vehicle is traveling (or more than the predetermined speed). ) May be transparent to surrounding facility symbols. Thereby, the visibility of the guidance route can be secured during traveling.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the priority of the facility symbol is given in advance to the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, but the priority may be made variable by learning. For example, the operation history storage unit 151 acquires the user operation history from the input unit 3, and stores the number of times the peripheral facility display switching button is pressed, the destination, the name of the peripheral facility for the peripheral facility search, and the like. Then, the condition update unit 15 refers to the history information in the operation history storage unit 151 and increases the priority of the facility genre that is frequently selected by the user. Thereby, when a surrounding facility symbol overlaps, the surrounding facility symbol which a user presses many can be displayed preferentially.
Not only the priority of the facility genre but also the priority of the brand in the facility genre may be made variable based on the history information.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the navigation device includes the map DB 2 storing map data including road position information and facility position information, and the own vehicle position determination unit 4 that acquires the own vehicle position. The route calculation unit 5 that calculates the guidance route from the vehicle position to the destination, the guidance data management unit 11 that manages the road information of the guidance route, the map data of the map DB 2 and the output of the guidance data management unit 11 A simple map generation unit 12 that generates a map for screen display using information on the guide route to be displayed, and a facility symbol along the route that represents a facility that exists along the guide route on the map generated by the simple map generation unit 12 A map element display control unit 14 arranged so as not to overlap the guidance route and the facility symbols along the route do not overlap each other, and a peripheral facility system representing a facility existing around the guidance route. A route arranged by the map element display control unit 14 on the map generated by the GUI control unit 13 and the simple map generation unit 12 that generate a peripheral facility display switching button for switching between display and non-display of the bols for each type of facility. The peripheral facility on the map displayed by the display unit 6 having a display unit 6 that displays the along facility symbol and the peripheral facility display switching button generated by the GUI control unit 13 and a touch panel integrated with the screen of the display unit 6 Based on information indicating the type of facility included in the map data and the input unit 3 that receives a user operation on the display switching button, the peripheral facility symbol of the type corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button that has received the user operation in the input unit 3 Display mode determination unit 141 that determines a display mode different from the facility symbol along the route, and peripheral facility display switching that has received a user operation at the input unit 3 When switching between display and non-display of the peripheral facility symbols of the type corresponding to the tongue, the simple map generation unit 12 generates the peripheral facility symbols of the corresponding type in the display mode determined by the display mode determination unit 141. A display control unit 143 arranged on the map is provided. For this reason, the user can easily switch between display and non-display by the peripheral facility display switching button arranged on the simple map, and the operability can be improved. In addition, even when a peripheral facility symbol is displayed in response to a user operation, the facility symbol along the route is easy to understand, and the user can easily confirm the target along the route.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the display mode determination unit 141 changes the display size of the facility symbol along the route and the surrounding facility symbol, so that the route facility symbol displayed as the target along the route is conspicuous. And can provide a highly visible map.

Further, according to the first embodiment, the map element display control unit 14 includes the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 that stores information on the priority according to the type of facility, and the display mode determination unit 141 includes the facility When the symbols overlap each other, the facility symbol having a high priority is preferentially displayed based on the genre information indicating the type of the facility symbol included in the map data. For this reason, the map which made the content to display into the optimal state for a user can be provided.
Furthermore, if the priority of the facility symbol along the route is set higher than that of the peripheral facility symbol, the symbol along the route is not hidden by the peripheral facility symbol.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the navigation device stores the operation history storage unit 151 that stores the history information of the operation performed by the user, and the facility type with a large number of operations based on the history information of the operation history storage unit 151. The display mode determination condition storage unit 142 updates the priority stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 so that the display mode determination unit 141 updates the priority information updated by the condition update unit 15. It was configured to determine the overlap between neighboring facility symbols. For this reason, the map which made the content to display into the optimal state for a user can be provided.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The navigation device according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the navigation device shown in FIG. 1 and will be described below with reference to FIG.
In the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 that displays a peripheral facility display switching button on a simple map will be mainly described. The GUI control unit 13 acquires facility information included in the map data in a predetermined display range including the guidance route from the map DB 2 according to the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11. Then, the appropriate display determination unit 131 determines the facility genre to be assigned to the peripheral facility display switching button, the number of buttons displayed, the arrangement order, and the like based on the appropriate display determination condition stored in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132. The appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 stores information (condition priority of facility genre, user setting information, determination standard of symbol density on the display screen, etc.) as conditions for determining the display suitability of the button. Yes. The display control unit 133 outputs GUI display information such as a peripheral facility display switching button to the image generation unit 16 according to the determination result of the appropriate display determination unit 131.

Next, the operation of the GUI control unit 13 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the route calculation unit 5 sets the guidance route, a notification is issued via the guidance data management unit 11, and the appropriate display determination unit 131 is stored in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 in step ST21. Read user setting information. This user setting information is information set in advance by the user via the input unit 3, and represents the number of surrounding facility display switching buttons displayed on the simple map, the facility genre of the surrounding facility assigned to the button, and the like. It is.
FIG. 8 shows an example of the screen display. According to the user setting information in this example, three peripheral facility display switching buttons B are automatically displayed on the simple map 100 after the series of processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. Will be. Also, the facility genre with the largest number of peripheral facility symbols is displayed at the position “a”, and the facility genre with the smaller number of symbols is displayed as “i” and “c” move downward in the screen. Furthermore, it is assumed that a convenience store, GS, bank, or the like is set as the facility genre of display candidates. In addition to the facility genre buttons, buttons for switching between display and non-display of map elements such as station names, place names, large buildings, railway names, and road names may be included in the options.

  Then, the GUI control unit 13 determines which button “A”, “I”, and “U” is assigned to the user-set display candidate facility genre according to the flowchart of FIG. In this example, as the appropriate display determination conditions in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132, the top three types of facility genres with a large number of peripheral facility symbols are displayed as “A”, “I”, “ It is assumed that the condition of arranging in the order of “c” is set.

  In subsequent step ST22, according to the read user setting information, the appropriate display determination unit 131 sets one of the facility genres selected and set for the peripheral facility display switching button as the target facility genre, and sets the facility information of this target facility genre as a map. Extract from DB2. Then, the appropriate display determination unit 131 counts the number of peripheral facility symbols of the target facility genre in the passing area of the guidance route 101. The passing area of the guide route 101 is a screen display range, and is within a predetermined distance (for example, 1 km) from the entire route of the guide route, or within a parcel through which the guide route passes in units of parcels that are a partition of the map image.

  The appropriate display determination unit 131 repeats the process of counting the number of surrounding facility symbols using the next facility genre selected and set by the user setting information as the target facility genre (steps ST22 and ST23 “YES”). When counting the number of surrounding facility symbols for all facility genres (step ST23 “YES”), the appropriate display determination unit 131 subsequently compares the counted number of surrounding facility symbols (step ST24).

  As a result of the comparison, the appropriate display determination unit 131 determines the display position of the facility genre having the largest number of peripheral facility symbols as “A” (step ST25 “YES”, ST26). Further, the appropriate display determination unit 131 determines the display position of the facility genre having the second largest number of peripheral facility symbols as “a” (steps ST25 “NO”, ST27 “YES”, ST28). Further, the appropriate display determining unit 131 determines the display position of the facility genre having the smallest number of surrounding facility symbols as “U” (steps ST25 “NO”, ST27 “NO”, ST29).

  The display control unit 133 receives the determination result from the appropriate display determination unit 131 and displays the display positions of “A”, “I”, “U”, and the name or mark of the facility genre determined for each display position. And the data for output to the image generation unit 16 as display information. Then, the image generation unit 16 causes the surrounding facility display switching button B to be superimposed and displayed on the simple map 100, for example, as shown in FIG. In addition, on the surrounding facility display switching button, not only the facility genre name but also the number of surrounding facility symbols counted by the appropriate display determination unit 131 may be displayed. Further, the arrangement is not limited to the arrangement of buttons in the vertical direction of the screen, and the buttons may be arranged in the horizontal direction.

  For example, when there are extremely few peripheral facility symbols displayed on the simple map, or when there is an excessively large amount of information congestion, there are cases where the user wants to temporarily change the peripheral display of the guidance route. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, since the peripheral facility display switching button B is arranged on the simple map 100, the display of the peripheral facility symbols is immediately switched without the user performing an operation such as changing the display screen. It can be performed.

In the above description, the display switching button displayed on the simple map is a function for switching between display and non-display of the peripheral facility symbols for each facility genre, but is not limited to this, and is as follows. The display switching button to which the function is assigned may be displayed according to the appropriate display determination condition.
For example, a display switching button for switching between display and non-display of all surrounding facility symbols regardless of the facility genre, a display switching button for switching between display and non-display of facility symbols along the route, a button for changing the display size of the facility symbols, and road names In addition, there is a display switching button for switching display and non-display of map elements other than facility symbols such as name character strings such as intersection names and traffic congestion lines.
These buttons are displayed when it is determined that the map screen is congested when the amount of information on the simple map exceeds a predetermined threshold, or the road conditions around the guidance route are determined to be important. This makes it easier to see the map.

The road conditions near the guidance route can be important, for example, in densely populated buildings, where the target is difficult to see, and the road that crosses the route and the name of the intersection that passes through are more important than the facility symbol along the route. It is a case where it is judged as effective. The fact that crowded buildings are crowded, and that the store of the facility symbol displayed as the target is a tenant of the building (that is, a guideline for determining whether or not it is a crowded building) is that the map DB 2 and the guidance data Information may be obtained from the management unit 11 and the appropriate display determination unit 131 may determine.
In addition, for example, when there is a traffic jam on or around the route, that is, when it is necessary to inform the user of the traffic situation around the route rather than the facility symbol along the route as the target, the road condition around the guidance route is Can be important. Whether or not there is a traffic jam is determined by the appropriate display judgment unit 131 based on the traffic jam information received from the external server 8 (Vehicle Information and Communication System; VICS center, etc.) and the route coordinate information of the guidance data management unit 11. do it.

In the example of the display screen shown in FIG. 9, in addition to the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genres “convenience store”, “GS”, and “bank”, the “all” peripherals that switch between display and non-display of all peripheral facility symbols A facility display switching button E and a “target” display switching button F for changing the display and non-display of the facility symbol along the route are displayed.
However, in order to ensure the usefulness of the map, it is preferable to display the facility symbols along the route. Accordingly, the display control unit 133 hides the facility symbol along the route in response to the pressing of the “target” display switching button F, and displays the facility symbol along the route again after a certain period of time. Hiding alongside facility symbols should be temporary.

In the flowchart of FIG. 7, the aptitude display determination condition for giving a high priority to a facility genre having a large number of surrounding facility symbols is used, but the present invention is not limited to this condition.
For example, the number of user selections may be acquired for each facility genre, and a high priority may be given to a facility genre with a large number of user selections. In this case, the operation history storage unit 151 acquires the user operation history from the input unit 3, and stores the number of times the peripheral facility display switching button (facility genre) is pressed, the destination, the name of the peripheral facility for the peripheral facility search, and the like. Then, the condition update unit 15 refers to the history information in the operation history storage unit 151 to obtain the number of user selections for each facility genre, and increases the priority of the facility genre with a large number of user selections. Thereby, the peripheral facility display switching button of the facility genre that is often displayed by the user can be displayed at a position that is easy to press on the simple map, and the button layout can be automatically generated in the user's favorite state. For example, when a user who often displays convenience store peripheral facility symbols feels that the screen is congested with the convenience store symbols displayed, the user presses the convenience store display switch button on the simple map. Thus, it is possible to easily switch to non-display temporarily and to perform simple display.

Further, the priority of the facility genre may be determined based on real-time information that can be acquired through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and the external server 8.
For example, when the GUI control unit 13 acquires the gasoline remaining amount through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and the gasoline remaining amount is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 changes the suitability display determination condition to change the facility genre Increase the priority of “GS”. Thereby, when the gasoline remaining amount is low, the peripheral facility display switching button of the GS can be displayed at a position that is easy to press.
When the navigation device is mounted on an electric vehicle, the GUI control unit 13 may acquire the in-vehicle battery remaining amount through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and increase the priority of the facility genre of the charging station.
Also, for example, the GUI control unit 13 acquires traffic information indicating the degree of traffic congestion around the current position through communication with the external server 8, and the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 changes the aptitude display determination condition to display the traffic information. Increase the priority of the function to be performed. Thus, when the surrounding road is congested, a display switching button for displaying the traffic information on the screen can be displayed at a position that is easy to press.
Alternatively, when the remaining amount of gasoline is equal to or less than the threshold value, the display switching button may be displayed when traffic jam information is acquired. Thereby, the display switching button can be displayed on the simple map only when the user needs it, and the display switching button can be prevented from being displayed by giving priority to the visibility of the map in a scene that is not required.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 7, a series of processing is started when the guidance route is set and the peripheral facility display switching button is displayed. However, the display timing is not limited to this. For example, when the GUI control unit 13 acquires vehicle speed information through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and stops (or less than a predetermined speed), the above-described processing is started and a peripheral facility display switching button is displayed to travel (or exceed a predetermined speed). In the meantime, the peripheral facility display switching button may be hidden.

Further, for example, the button display may be updated by executing the flowchart of FIG. 7 at a predetermined timing such as when the user setting value is changed every time a certain time elapses.
Further, for example, when the surrounding facility display switching button is not displayed on the simple map at all times, the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed in response to the peripheral facility display switching button being called by the user's operation. May be. For example, when the user touches the touch display, the input unit 3 receives this operation and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. Alternatively, a menu button is displayed on a simple map, and the input unit 3 accepts the user pressing the menu button and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. This menu button may be generated by the GUI control unit 13 and output to the image generation unit 16.

  Further, the display control unit 133 may hide the display switching buttons such as the peripheral facility symbols displayed on the simple map after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 counts the number of surrounding facility symbols existing within a predetermined map range including the guidance route for each facility type, and displays the surrounding facility in order of the facility type having the largest number of counts. The switch buttons are arranged side by side. For this reason, before the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button, the user can easily determine which button is pressed to easily congest the map screen. Therefore, it becomes easy to change the amount of information displayed on the map to an optimum state for the user, and a map with high visibility can be provided.

  In addition, according to the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 includes the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 that stores information on the priority according to the type of facility, and displays neighboring facilities in order of the facility type with the highest priority. The switch buttons are arranged side by side. For this reason, it becomes easy for the user to change the content displayed on the map to the optimum state for the user by setting the priority in advance.

  In addition, according to the second embodiment, the navigation device stores the operation history storage unit 151 that stores the history information of the operation performed by the user, and the facility type having a large number of operations based on the history information of the operation history storage unit 151. And the condition update unit 15 that updates the priority stored in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 so that the priority is higher, and the GUI control unit 13 stores the priority information updated by the condition update unit 15. Used to determine the arrangement of the peripheral facility display switching button. For this reason, the button arrangement to be displayed can be changed to the user's favorite state, and the operability can be improved.

  Further, according to the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 sets the priority set based on the priority information acquired from the external server 8 or the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 through communication or using the acquired information. Based on the information, the arrangement of the peripheral facility display switching button is determined. For this reason, button arrangement can be changed based on real-time information.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first embodiment, when the peripheral facility display switching button is pressed by the user, the peripheral facility symbol of the facility genre corresponding to the button is displayed on the simple map, but the facility of this facility genre is near the current position. If no exists, the surrounding facility symbol will not be displayed even if the button is pressed. Therefore, in the navigation device according to the third embodiment, the reason why the peripheral facility symbol is not displayed even though the button is pressed is notified to the user by, for example, displaying a telop.
The navigation device according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as that of the navigation device shown in FIG. 1, and therefore will be described below with the aid of FIG.

Next, the operation of the map element display control unit 14 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, as in the display screen shown in FIG. 3, a peripheral facility display switching button B for switching the display of facility symbols of peripheral facilities within the display range is displayed on the simple map 100 for guiding the guidance route 101. Assume that it is displayed. In addition, it is assumed that the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genre “convenience store” is pressed and the peripheral facility symbol C of the convenience store corresponding to this button is displayed.
When the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genre “GS” displayed on the touch display of the display unit 6, the input unit 3 accepts the pressing of this button and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. Then, the GUI control unit 13 outputs information indicating that the GS peripheral facility display switching button is pressed to the map element display control unit 14.

  In step ST31, when the map element display control unit 14 receives information from the GUI control unit 13 that the peripheral facility display switching button for the facility genre “GS” is pressed (“YES” in step ST31), the display mode determination is performed in the subsequent step ST32. The unit 141 refers to the map DB 2 and searches for facility information of the facility genre “GS” in the predetermined range (at least within the screen display range) along the guidance route 101 from the current location corresponding to the vehicle position 102.

  If there is no facility information as a result of the search (step ST33 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 notifies the display control unit 143 that the telop is displayed. In the subsequent step ST34, the display control unit 143 that has received the notification displays display information for displaying the telop such as “There is no gas station within the range of ○ m from the current location” and “There is no gas station around the route for a while”. Is output to the image generation unit 16, and the image generation unit 16 displays the telop on the simple map 100 using the display information.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a screen displaying telop G. As a result, the user does not display the peripheral facility symbol even if the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button B of the desired facility genre (whether the symbol is not displayed to maintain the simplicity of the map or does not really exist) ) Can be easily determined when the button is pressed.
Needless to say, the size and display position of the telop G may be other than those shown in this example.

  Further, when a certain time has elapsed after the telop display (step ST35 “YES”), the display control unit 143 stops the display information output to the image generation unit 16 and hides it (step ST36).

On the other hand, if there is one or more facility information as a result of the search (step ST33 “YES”), the display mode determination unit 141 notifies the display control unit 143 that the telop is not displayed. In subsequent step ST36, the display control unit 143 that has received the notification ends the process as it is.
When there is facility information (step ST33 “YES”), the map element display control unit 14 subsequently performs the processing of the flowchart (steps ST2 to ST13) shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment.

  This process is performed every time the image generated by the image generation unit 16 is updated.

In addition to displaying the telop G as shown in FIG. 11 in step ST34, or in addition to the display of the telop G, the following display may be performed.
For example, in step ST34, the display mode determination unit 141 acquires from the map DB 2 the facility information outside the predetermined range searched in step ST32 from the facility DB corresponding to the pressed button, and the display control unit 143 To notify. The display control unit 143 displays the location of the nearest facility information instead of or in addition to the telop. The location of the facility information may be displayed on a half-screen map different from the simple map, or may be displayed as an address using a character string.
Further, for example, the display mode determination unit 141 may acquire the nearest facility information and issue an instruction to the GUI control unit 13 to display a button for displaying the location of the nearest facility information.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, the display mode determination unit 141 includes a predetermined map range in which the peripheral facility symbol of the facility type corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button for which the user operation is received by the input unit 3 includes the guidance route. If not, the notification that the surrounding facility symbol of the facility type is not displayed is output through the display unit 6. For this reason, it is possible to easily determine the reason why the peripheral facility symbol is not displayed even when the user presses the facility peripheral display switching button when the button is pressed.

  In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, any combination of the embodiments, or any modification of any component in each embodiment, or omission of any component in each embodiment is possible. .

  As described above, since the navigation device according to the present invention makes the target along the route stand out, it is suitable for use in a navigation device that is mounted on a vehicle or brought into the vehicle. Further, the present invention can be applied to a navigation device for a moving body including not only a vehicle but also a person, a railway, a ship, an aircraft, or the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Simple map production | generation apparatus, 2 map DB, 3 input part, 4 own vehicle position determination part, 5 route calculation part, 6 display part, 7 vehicle information acquisition part, 8 external server, 11 guidance data management part, 12 simple map Generation unit, 13 GUI control unit, 14 Map element display control unit, 15 Condition update unit, 16 Image generation unit, 100 Simple map, 101 Guide route, 102 Own vehicle position, 131 Appropriate display determination unit, 132 Appropriate display determination condition storage Unit, 133 display control unit, 141 display mode determination unit, 142 display mode determination condition storage unit, 143 display control unit, 151 operation history storage unit.

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that displays a symbol indicating the presence of a facility on a map.

First, the terms used in this specification are defined.
“Facilities” are commercial facilities such as convenience stores (hereinafter referred to as convenience stores), public facilities such as schools, tourist facilities such as zoos, road structures such as interchanges, etc., and are displayed on the map as landmarks and point symbols Building and structure. POI (Point Of Interest) is synonymous with facility.
The “peripheral facility” is a facility in an area that is not along the target route (that is, the periphery) and does not face the route. A facility along the route is referred to as a facility along the route.
The “facility genre” is an item for classifying the facility by type. For example, the facility genre of a commercial facility is a convenience store, a bank, a family restaurant, a clothing store, or the like.
The “symbol” is an image that is converted into an icon for displaying a map element such as a facility on the map.

In a conventional navigation device, there is a technology that enables switching of the display by selecting an arbitrary symbol according to a user operation from among facility symbols superimposed on a map.
For example, the navigation apparatus according to Patent Document 1 receives in advance a facility operation switching display of facility symbols and a facility genre that is always displayed by a user operation. When the map displaying the guidance route to the destination is displayed, if the switching display is set to OFF, all facility symbols having display coordinates within the display range of the map are displayed. On the other hand, when the switching display is set to ON, all the facility symbols having display coordinates are displayed in the detailed display area set around the current position, and the user always displays outside the area. The facility symbol of the genre that is set is displayed.

Further, for example, the navigation apparatus according to Patent Document 2 displays a facility symbol switching button on a map, and switches the facility symbol display to the following three methods each time this button is selected by the user. When the switching button is first pressed, all types of facility symbols are hidden. Next, when the switch button is pressed, only one kind of facility symbol A (for example, a facility symbol of a parking lot) is displayed.
Next, when the switch button is pressed, only one kind of facility symbol B (for example, a facility symbol of a convenience store) different from the already displayed facility symbol A is displayed. At this time, whether or not to display the facility symbol for each facility genre is set in advance, and each time the switching button is operated by the user, the facility symbols of the preset genre are sequentially ordered one by one, for example, the facility symbol After B, facility symbols C, D,... Can be displayed. Alternatively, the facility genres set in advance can be displayed one by one in order, except for the types of facility symbols that do not exist within the display range of the map.

JP 2005-214783 A JP 2007-17269 A

In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there is no distinction between display forms of facility symbols along the route and surrounding facility symbols. Therefore, the facility symbols along the route are not easily noticeable when they are simply superimposed on the same map, and the facility symbols along the route cannot be effectively used as the target. As described above, there has been a problem that the ease of viewing the facility symbols along the route has not been considered.
In addition, since it is necessary to set the display and non-display of the facility symbol in advance, if the setting is made to display the peripheral facility symbol, the entire map screen will display the facility symbol when the facility along the route is enriched while driving. The display is crowded. At this time, even if the user temporarily switches the surrounding facility symbol to non-display and congestion is alleviated, it is necessary to perform an operation such as switching to the setting screen even if the user tries to return to the display again, and cannot be easily switched to non-display. . In addition, when the surrounding facility symbols are set not to be displayed, the facility symbols are extremely reduced on the map screen in a place where there is no facility along the route while traveling. At this time, even if the user temporarily switches the display of the surrounding facility symbol to the non-display again after confirmation, it cannot be easily switched.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, a switching button is displayed on the map so that the facility genre can be easily displayed and switched one by one. However, the point that there is no distinction in the display form of the facility symbol along the route and the surrounding facility symbol is the same as in Patent Document 1, and the display priority is not set for the facility symbol along or around the route. The ease of viewing the facility symbol along the route was not considered, and the facility symbol along the route could not be used effectively as a target.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can easily switch between display and non-display of surrounding facility symbols, and even when the surrounding facility symbols are displayed, The purpose is to provide a highly visible map that highlights facility symbols.

A navigation apparatus according to the present invention includes a map generation unit that generates a map for screen display using map data including road position information and position information of facilities having a plurality of types, and information on a guide route to a destination. , on a map mAP generating unit has generated, and a path along the facility symbols representing facilities which are located along the guidance route, the surrounding facilities symbols representing facilities which are located around the guidance route, the surrounding facilities symbol display or hide and Table Shimesuru display unit and a peripheral facility display switching button for switching for each type, and based on the surrounding facilities display switching button of the operation, when it is determined to display the surrounding facilities symbols of at least one type has been determined When it is decided not to display the surrounding facility symbol of the type in a display mode different from the facility symbol along the route, it is determined with the facility symbol along the route being displayed. In which and a map element display control unit that performs control so as to hide the surrounding facilities symbol type is.

  According to this invention, since the button for switching the display of the peripheral facility symbols is arranged on the map, the operability can be improved. In addition, the peripheral facility symbols that are displayed in response to user operations are displayed separately from the facility symbols along the route that are the target along the guidance route. Can provide.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and is the state in which the surrounding facility symbol was displayed. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation by a map element display control unit of the navigation device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and is the state in which two types of surrounding facility symbols were displayed. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the GUI control part of the navigation apparatus concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. In the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2, it is a figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of a surrounding facility display switching button. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the map element display control part of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display screen example of the navigation device according to the third embodiment.

Hereinafter, in order to explain the present invention in more detail, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
The navigation device shown in FIG. 1 includes a simple map generation device 1, a map database (hereinafter referred to as DB) 2 in which map data is stored, an input unit 3 including a touch panel integrated with a display, and a GPS (Global Positioning System). The simple map generation device 1 includes a vehicle position determination unit (position determination unit) 4 that receives a signal and determines the current position of the vehicle, a route calculation unit 5 that searches for a route to the destination, and the display. The display unit 6 displays the generated simple map on the screen and the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 acquires vehicle speed information detected by the vehicle speed sensor from the vehicle side. The navigation device acquires information from the external server 8 outside the vehicle by communication.
Here, the simple map is a map in which facilities as target objects along the route are extracted and displayed so that the facility symbols do not overlap with each other and the facility symbols do not overlap each other.

The map data stored in the map DB 2 includes a map image and information such as roads and facilities (so-called POI) existing in the map image. This road information is constituted by position information of a start point and an end point (node) and a line (road link) connecting these nodes, and a cost (link cost) when traveling on this road link is given. The facility information includes location information of the facility, genre information indicating the type of facility, and the like, and each facility information is associated with image (facility symbol) data that is iconized to display the facility on the map. It has been.
Note that the navigation device may not include the map DB 2 and may acquire map data by communication from the map DB outside the vehicle.

  The route calculation unit 5 acquires the destination received by the input unit 3 by a user operation, acquires the current position from the vehicle position determination unit 4, and obtains map data including the departure point (current position) and the destination. Obtained from the map DB2. Subsequently, the route calculation unit 5 executes a predetermined route calculation algorithm using the road information of the acquired map data. For example, when a route with a short distance is preferentially searched, the length of the road link (that is, A value corresponding to the distance of the road is assigned to each link cost, and the route with the lowest link cost connecting from the departure point to the destination is calculated and used as a guidance route. Road information such as position information of road links constituting the guide route and information (such as road names) attached to the road links is output to the guide data management unit 11.

  The simple map generation apparatus 1 includes a simple map generation unit (map generation unit) 12, a guidance data management unit 11, a graphical user interface (hereinafter, GUI) control unit 13, a map element display control unit 14, and a condition update. The unit 15 and the image generation unit 16 are configured.

  The guidance data management unit 11 acquires road information of the guidance route from the route calculation unit 5 and outputs it to the simple map generation unit 12, the GUI control unit 13, and the map element display control unit 14 as necessary. More specifically, the guidance data management unit 11 performs road information (position information such as nodes and links, and road names), information on passing intersections (coordinates of intersections, whether to be guidance intersections, intersections, Name, presence / absence of signal, etc.) are managed and held in the order of traveling on the guidance route from the vehicle position side, and the information is output as necessary.

  The simple map generation unit 12 generates display information for displaying the topography (green space, water system, etc.) and road among the elements constituting the simple map, and outputs the display information to the image generation unit 16. For the road, the simple map generation unit 12 acquires map data of a predetermined range including the guidance route from the map DB 2 in accordance with the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11, and selects the road corresponding to the guidance route other than that. The display mode is set so that it can be distinguished from the road.

  The GUI control unit 13 acquires facility information included in a predetermined range of map data including the guidance route from the map DB 2 according to the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11. Then, using the acquired facility information, the GUI control unit 13 generates display information of a peripheral facility display switching button that switches whether to display the facility symbol on the simple map, and outputs the display information to the image generation unit 16. The GUI control unit 13 will be described in detail in the second embodiment below.

The map element display control unit 14 selects facility information that is a target along the guidance route from among the facility information included in the map data in a predetermined range including the guidance route according to the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11. The symbols associated with the extracted facility information are extracted and arranged so that the symbols do not overlap each other at a position that does not overlap the guidance route. This symbol is referred to as a facility symbol along the route. Then, the map element display control unit 14 outputs to the image generation unit 16 display information including symbol image data necessary to display the facility symbol along the route on the simple map, a display position, and the like.
The map element display control unit 14 may determine whether or not the facility is along the route by using the facility location information and the guidance route location information. For example, the map element display control unit 14 determines the facility existing within the predetermined range from the guidance route along the route. It is determined as a facility, and a facility existing outside the predetermined range is determined as a peripheral facility.
Further, the map element display control unit 14 does not need to display all facilities determined as facilities along the route on the simple map as facility symbols along the route. For example, when the identification information as to whether or not to use the target object is set in advance in the facility information, only the facility along the route having the identification information may be displayed as the facility symbol along the route.

  Moreover, the map element display control part 14 will acquire the facility information corresponding to the pressed down periphery facility display switching button, if the pressing of the surrounding facility display switch button which the input part 3 received by user operation is acquired via the GUI control part 13. Are extracted from the map DB2. Then, the display mode determination unit 141 determines the facility symbol to be displayed on the simple map based on the display mode determination condition stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, and further displays the size, position, and overlapping order. The display mode is determined. The display mode determination condition storage unit 142 stores a condition for determining a facility symbol to be displayed and information (a facility genre priority, an overlap determination region, etc.) serving as a condition for determining a display mode. . The display control unit 143 outputs the display information of the peripheral facility symbols to the image generation unit 16 according to the determination result of the display mode determination unit 141.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a display screen of the navigation device. The simple map 100 displays a guide route 101 and a vehicle position 102, and three facility symbols A along the route are arranged and displayed so as not to overlap the guide route 101. Further, in this simple map 100, three types of peripheral facility display switching buttons B are displayed in order of a convenience store, a gas station (hereinafter referred to as GS), and a bank. For example, the peripheral facility display switching button B of “convenience store” is a button for switching between display and non-display of the facility symbol of the facility genre “convenience store”, and when this button is pressed, the peripheral facility symbol representing the convenience store is displayed on the map. Is done.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a display screen on which a peripheral facility symbol C of a convenience store is displayed. Next, when this button is pressed, the peripheral facility symbols of the displayed convenience store are hidden.
The GUI control unit 13 determines the facility genre, the display position, the number of displays, and the like displayed as the peripheral facility display switching button B. The map element display control unit 14 performs control to switch between display and non-display of the corresponding peripheral facility symbol in response to pressing of the peripheral facility display switching button B.

The condition update unit 15 includes an operation history storage unit 151 that stores a history of user operations accepted by the input unit 3 as history information. The condition update unit 15 uses the history information of the operation history storage unit 151 as the aptitude display determination condition for determining the facility genre, display position, display number, and the like displayed by the GUI control unit 13 as the peripheral facility display switching button B. Update based on.
In addition, the condition updating unit 15 determines a display mode when the map element display control unit 14 determines a corresponding peripheral facility symbol in response to pressing of the peripheral facility display switching button B and displays the symbol. The determination condition is updated based on the history information in the operation history storage unit 151.

  The image generation unit 16 superimposes a peripheral facility display switching button on the map based on the display information input from the simple map generation unit 12 in accordance with the display information input from the GUI control unit 13 and controls the map element display. According to the display information input from the unit 14, image data of a simple map in which map elements such as facility symbols along the route and surrounding facility symbols are superimposed and generated is generated and output to the display unit 6.

Next, the operation of the map element display control unit 14 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, as in the display screen shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral facility display switching button B for switching the display of the peripheral facility symbols within this display range is displayed on the simple map 100 for guiding the guidance route 101. It shall be. Further, it is assumed that the map element display control unit 14 has acquired all the facility information within this display range from the map DB 2 regardless of whether it is along or around the route.
When the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genre “convenience store” displayed on the touch display of the display unit 6, the input unit 3 accepts the pressing of this button and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. Then, the GUI control unit 13 outputs information indicating that the convenience store peripheral facility display switching button is pressed to the map element display control unit 14.

In step ST1, when the map element display control unit 14 receives information indicating that the peripheral facility display switching button of the facility genre “convenience store” is pressed from the GUI control unit 13 (step ST1 “YES”), the display mode determination is performed in the subsequent step ST2. The unit 141 selects one facility symbol in which “convenience store” is set in the genre information from among the facility symbols already extracted from the map DB 2. Then, according to the display mode determination conditions stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, the display mode determination unit 141 has already displayed the target facility symbol on the simple map 100 as a target (that is, a facility symbol along the route). Judgment is made.
Note that the display mode determination conditions stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 are branch conditions from steps ST2 to ST10.

If the target facility symbol is already displayed as a facility symbol along the route (step ST2 “YES”), the process proceeds to step ST12 without performing the subsequent processing for the target facility symbol. If there is another facility symbol in which “convenience store” is set in the genre information in step ST12 (step ST12 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 returns to step ST2. If there is no facility symbol for which “Convenience Store” is set in the genre information (“YES” in step ST12), the series of processing ends.
On the other hand, when the target facility symbol is not displayed as a facility symbol along the route (step ST2 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 continues to determine whether the target facility symbol and the guidance route overlap according to the display mode determination condition. (Step ST3).

When it is determined that the target facility symbol overlaps the guidance route (step ST4 “YES”), the display mode determination unit 141 determines that the target facility symbol is not displayed (step ST11). This is because the simplicity of the map and the visibility of the guidance route are not impaired.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the target facility symbol does not overlap with the guidance route (step ST4 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 continues with the target facility symbol and other existing facility symbols (along the route according to the display mode determination condition). The overlap determination with the facility symbol and the surrounding facility symbol is performed (step ST5). As the overlap determination, for example, it is determined whether or not the target facility symbol is included in the display area of the facility symbol along the route already displayed or the peripheral facility symbol determined to be displayed in step ST10 described later.

When it is determined that the target facility symbol does not overlap with the existing facility symbol (“NO” in step ST6), the display mode determination unit 141 determines to display the target facility symbol (step ST10).
On the other hand, when it is determined that the target facility symbol overlaps with the existing facility symbol (“YES” in step ST6), the display mode determination unit 141 continues to include the facility symbol along the route in the existing facility symbol that is the overlapping partner. It is determined whether or not (step ST7). If it is determined that the facility symbol along the route overlaps the facility symbol along the target facility symbol (step ST7 “YES”), the display mode determination unit 141 determines that the target facility symbol is not displayed (step ST11). This is because the simplicity of the map and the visibility of the target are not impaired.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the facility symbol along the route is not included in the overlapping partner of the target facility symbol (step ST7 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 compares the priority with the overlapping partner (step ST8). The priority of the facility symbol may be given in advance to the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, for example, and the priority is set according to the genre of the peripheral facility symbol (here, the priority of the convenience store is increased, and the GS In the genre, priorities are set according to the brand.
For example, if it is determined in step ST6 that the target facility symbol (convenience store) overlaps with a GS or bank peripheral facility symbol, the priority of the target facility symbol is higher in the priority comparison in step ST8. (Step ST9 “YES”), the target facility symbol (convenience store) is determined to be displayed (step ST10). On the other hand, if the target facility symbol is GS and the overlapping partner is a peripheral facility symbol of a convenience store, the priority of the target facility symbol is lower in the priority comparison in step ST8 (step ST9 “NO”). The target facility symbol (GS) is determined not to be displayed (step ST11).

  When the display mode determination unit 141 determines to display the target facility symbol in step ST10, the display mode determination unit 141 notifies the display control unit 143 of the target facility symbol. The display control unit 143 changes the display format for displaying the notified target facility symbol as a peripheral facility symbol on the simple map 100 and outputs it to the image generation unit 16. As a display mode, for example, the display size of the peripheral facility symbol is made smaller than the facility symbol along the route so that the user can distinguish between the facility symbol along the route and the peripheral facility symbol and the facility symbol along the route is conspicuous. This size may be given to the display control unit 143 in advance. The display control unit 143 outputs display information such as image data, display size, and display position of the surrounding facility symbol to the image generation unit 16, and the image generation unit 16 uses the display information to display the surrounding facility symbol on the simple map 100. Overlay display.

  In subsequent step ST12, display mode determination unit 141 ends the series of processes when the above process is completed for all facility symbols for which “convenience store” is set in the genre information (step ST12 “YES”). As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, four convenience store peripheral facility symbols C are displayed on the simple map 100 on which the guide route 101 and the three facility symbols A along the route are displayed. According to FIG. 3, the peripheral facility symbol C overlapping the guide route 101 is not displayed, so that the guide route 101 can be displayed in an easily understandable manner. Further, since the peripheral facility symbol C is displayed smaller than the facility symbol A along the route, the facility symbol A along the route serving as the mark of the guidance route 101 can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner.

  This process is performed for each facility symbol of the facility genre corresponding to the pressed button every time the image generated by the image generation unit 16 is updated.

Further, when the “convenience store” peripheral facility display switching button B is pressed again from the state shown in FIG. 3, the map element display control unit 14 stops outputting the display information of the displayed convenience facility symbol C of the convenience store. To hide.
When the peripheral facility display switching button B of “GS” is pressed from the state shown in FIG. 3, the map element display control unit 14 performs the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. Thereby, the peripheral facility symbol D of GS is displayed on the simple map 100 like the example of a display screen shown in FIG.

In the above description, when the display control unit 143 determines the display mode of the surrounding facility symbols in step ST10, the display size is simply made smaller than the facility symbol along the route, but other display modes may be used. Good. For example, the display mode is changed by making a difference in saturation, making a distinction between shaded and non-shadowed, or making a difference in transparency. Thereby, the facility symbol along the route can be made conspicuous with respect to the peripheral facility symbol.
In the example of FIGS. 3 and 5, the facility symbol A along the route is arranged at a position away from the guidance route 101 and is blown out, but the position of the surrounding facility symbols C and D is not moved, and There is no blowout. Whether or not the surrounding facility symbol is blown out does not affect the visibility of the guide route 101 by this display mode, but in this example, the location facility symbol does not move in order to reduce the processing load. And there is no blowing.

  In addition, the display size of the peripheral facility symbols is given to the display control unit 143 in advance, but the display size may be made variable according to the congestion degree of the facility symbols displayed on the simple map. Visibility can be ensured by making the display size smaller as it gets crowded.

  In step ST10, the display control unit 143 displays only the peripheral facility symbols with the highest priority. However, the facility symbol with the highest priority is displayed on the near side, and the facility symbol with the lower priority is displayed on the back side. You may do it. In the case of this configuration, the display mode determination unit 141 compares the target facility symbol with the priority of the surrounding facility symbol of the other party (step ST8, ST9 "YES"), and displays these facility symbols according to the priority level. Is notified to the display control unit 143. Upon receiving this notification, the display control unit 143 displays the facility symbols in the overlapping order corresponding to the priority level.

Further, the priority of facility symbols along the route is set higher in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 than the priority of surrounding facility symbols, and the display mode determination unit 141 proceeds directly to step ST8 without performing step ST7. It may be determined that the priority of the target facility symbol (that is, the surrounding facility symbol) is lower than that of the facility symbol along the route (“NO” in steps ST8 and ST9) and determined to be hidden (step ST11). ).
Even in this configuration, instead of displaying only the facility symbols along the route with high priority, the facility symbol with high priority is displayed on the near side and the facility symbol with low priority is displayed on the back side, as described above. Also good. In this case, the facility symbol along the route is displayed on the foremost side, and the peripheral facility symbols are displayed on the back side in an order of priority.

Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the display mode determination condition that makes a difference in the display mode depending on whether the facility symbol is along or around the route is used, but the present invention is not limited to this condition.
For example, the display mode may be such that it is not as noticeable as the surrounding facility symbols that are far from the guidance route or difficult to reach. FIG. 6 is an example of a display screen in a display mode in which peripheral facility symbols farther from the guide route 101 are less conspicuous. In this case, the guidance data management unit 11 calculates the distance from the guidance route to each road link within the display range. Then, the display control unit 143 sets a display mode in which the saturation of the target facility symbol close to the guidance route is increased based on the road link distance close to the target facility symbol, and the saturation is decreased as the distance is increased.

Alternatively, the guidance data management unit 11 calculates the number of branches from the guidance route to each road link within the display range. Then, the display control unit 143 increases the saturation of the target facility symbol in a place where the number of branching is small and decreases the saturation as the number increases according to the number of branches to the road link close to the target facility symbol. To.
Alternatively, the guidance data management unit 11 weights the link cost using the width information attached to the road link, and calculates the cost from the guidance route to each road link within the display range. That is, the link cost decreases as the road width from the road link constituting the guide route to a certain road link is wider (easier to travel), and the link cost increases as the road width is narrower (hard to travel). And the display control part 143 makes it the display mode which makes the saturation of the object facility symbol of the place where link cost is low high, and makes a saturation low as it becomes large.

  In addition, for example, the display control unit 143 acquires vehicle speed information through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7, and when the vehicle is stopped (or less than a predetermined speed), the surrounding facility symbols are displayed in a predetermined display mode, and the vehicle is traveling (or more than the predetermined speed). ) May be transparent to surrounding facility symbols. Thereby, the visibility of the guidance route can be secured during traveling.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the priority of the facility symbol is given in advance to the display mode determination condition storage unit 142, but the priority may be made variable by learning. For example, the operation history storage unit 151 acquires the user operation history from the input unit 3, and stores the number of times the peripheral facility display switching button is pressed, the destination, the name of the peripheral facility for the peripheral facility search, and the like. Then, the condition update unit 15 refers to the history information in the operation history storage unit 151 and increases the priority of the facility genre that is frequently selected by the user. Thereby, when a surrounding facility symbol overlaps, the surrounding facility symbol which a user presses many can be displayed preferentially.
Not only the priority of the facility genre but also the priority of the brand in the facility genre may be made variable based on the history information.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the navigation device includes the map DB 2 storing map data including road position information and facility position information, and the own vehicle position determination unit 4 that acquires the own vehicle position. The route calculation unit 5 that calculates the guidance route from the vehicle position to the destination, the guidance data management unit 11 that manages the road information of the guidance route, the map data of the map DB 2 and the output of the guidance data management unit 11 A simple map generation unit 12 that generates a map for screen display using information on the guide route to be displayed, and a facility symbol along the route that represents a facility that exists along the guide route on the map generated by the simple map generation unit 12 A map element display control unit 14 arranged so as not to overlap the guidance route and the facility symbols along the route do not overlap each other, and a peripheral facility system representing a facility existing around the guidance route. A route arranged by the map element display control unit 14 on the map generated by the GUI control unit 13 and the simple map generation unit 12 that generate a peripheral facility display switching button for switching between display and non-display of the bols for each type of facility. The peripheral facility on the map displayed by the display unit 6 having a display unit 6 that displays the along facility symbol and the peripheral facility display switching button generated by the GUI control unit 13 and a touch panel integrated with the screen of the display unit 6 Based on information indicating the type of facility included in the map data and the input unit 3 that receives a user operation on the display switching button, the peripheral facility symbol of the type corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button that has received the user operation in the input unit 3 Display mode determination unit 141 that determines a display mode different from the facility symbol along the route, and peripheral facility display switching that has received a user operation at the input unit 3 When switching between display and non-display of the peripheral facility symbols of the type corresponding to the tongue, the simple map generation unit 12 generates the peripheral facility symbols of the corresponding type in the display mode determined by the display mode determination unit 141. A display control unit 143 arranged on the map is provided. For this reason, the user can easily switch between display and non-display by the peripheral facility display switching button arranged on the simple map, and the operability can be improved. In addition, even when a peripheral facility symbol is displayed in response to a user operation, the facility symbol along the route is easy to understand, and the user can easily confirm the target along the route.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the display mode determination unit 141 changes the display size of the facility symbol along the route and the surrounding facility symbol, so that the route facility symbol displayed as the target along the route is conspicuous. And can provide a highly visible map.

Further, according to the first embodiment, the map element display control unit 14 includes the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 that stores information on the priority according to the type of facility, and the display mode determination unit 141 includes the facility When the symbols overlap each other, the facility symbol having a high priority is preferentially displayed based on the genre information indicating the type of the facility symbol included in the map data. For this reason, the map which made the content to display into the optimal state for a user can be provided.
Furthermore, if the priority of the facility symbol along the route is set higher than that of the peripheral facility symbol, the symbol along the route is not hidden by the peripheral facility symbol.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the navigation device stores the operation history storage unit 151 that stores the history information of the operation performed by the user, and the facility type with a large number of operations based on the history information of the operation history storage unit 151. The display mode determination condition storage unit 142 updates the priority stored in the display mode determination condition storage unit 142 so that the display mode determination unit 141 updates the priority information updated by the condition update unit 15. It was configured to determine the overlap between neighboring facility symbols. For this reason, the map which made the content to display into the optimal state for a user can be provided.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The navigation device according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the navigation device shown in FIG. 1 and will be described below with reference to FIG.
In the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 that displays a peripheral facility display switching button on a simple map will be mainly described. The GUI control unit 13 acquires facility information included in the map data in a predetermined display range including the guidance route from the map DB 2 according to the road information input from the guidance data management unit 11. Then, the appropriate display determination unit 131 determines the facility genre to be assigned to the peripheral facility display switching button, the number of buttons displayed, the arrangement order, and the like based on the appropriate display determination condition stored in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132. The appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 stores information (condition priority of facility genre, user setting information, determination standard of symbol density on the display screen, etc.) as conditions for determining the display suitability of the button. Yes. The display control unit 133 outputs GUI display information such as a peripheral facility display switching button to the image generation unit 16 according to the determination result of the appropriate display determination unit 131.

Next, the operation of the GUI control unit 13 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the route calculation unit 5 sets the guidance route, a notification is issued via the guidance data management unit 11, and the appropriate display determination unit 131 is stored in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 in step ST21. Read user setting information. This user setting information is information set in advance by the user via the input unit 3, and represents the number of surrounding facility display switching buttons displayed on the simple map, the facility genre of the surrounding facility assigned to the button, and the like. It is.
FIG. 8 shows an example of the screen display. According to the user setting information in this example, three peripheral facility display switching buttons B are automatically displayed on the simple map 100 after the series of processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. Will be. Also, the facility genre with the largest number of peripheral facility symbols is displayed at the position “a”, and the facility genre with the smaller number of symbols is displayed as “i” and “c” move downward in the screen. Furthermore, it is assumed that a convenience store, GS, bank, or the like is set as the facility genre of display candidates. In addition to the facility genre buttons, buttons for switching between display and non-display of map elements such as station names, place names, large buildings, railway names, and road names may be included in the options.

  Then, the GUI control unit 13 determines which button “A”, “I”, and “U” is assigned to the user-set display candidate facility genre according to the flowchart of FIG. In this example, as the appropriate display determination conditions in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132, the top three types of facility genres with a large number of peripheral facility symbols are displayed as “A”, “I”, “ It is assumed that the condition of arranging in the order of “c” is set.

  In subsequent step ST22, according to the read user setting information, the appropriate display determination unit 131 sets one of the facility genres selected and set for the peripheral facility display switching button as the target facility genre, and sets the facility information of this target facility genre as a map. Extract from DB2. Then, the appropriate display determination unit 131 counts the number of peripheral facility symbols of the target facility genre in the passing area of the guidance route 101. The passing area of the guide route 101 is a screen display range, and is within a predetermined distance (for example, 1 km) from the entire route of the guide route, or within a parcel through which the guide route passes in units of parcels that are a partition of the map image.

  The appropriate display determination unit 131 repeats the process of counting the number of surrounding facility symbols using the next facility genre selected and set by the user setting information as the target facility genre (steps ST22 and ST23 “YES”). When counting the number of surrounding facility symbols for all facility genres (step ST23 “YES”), the appropriate display determination unit 131 subsequently compares the counted number of surrounding facility symbols (step ST24).

  As a result of the comparison, the appropriate display determination unit 131 determines the display position of the facility genre having the largest number of peripheral facility symbols as “A” (step ST25 “YES”, ST26). Further, the appropriate display determination unit 131 determines the display position of the facility genre having the second largest number of peripheral facility symbols as “a” (steps ST25 “NO”, ST27 “YES”, ST28). Further, the appropriate display determining unit 131 determines the display position of the facility genre having the smallest number of surrounding facility symbols as “U” (steps ST25 “NO”, ST27 “NO”, ST29).

  The display control unit 133 receives the determination result from the appropriate display determination unit 131 and displays the display positions of “A”, “I”, “U”, and the name or mark of the facility genre determined for each display position. And the data for output to the image generation unit 16 as display information. Then, the image generation unit 16 causes the surrounding facility display switching button B to be superimposed and displayed on the simple map 100, for example, as shown in FIG. In addition, on the surrounding facility display switching button, not only the facility genre name but also the number of surrounding facility symbols counted by the appropriate display determination unit 131 may be displayed. Further, the arrangement is not limited to the arrangement of buttons in the vertical direction of the screen, and the buttons may be arranged in the horizontal direction.

  For example, when there are extremely few peripheral facility symbols displayed on the simple map, or when there is an excessively large amount of information congestion, there are cases where the user wants to temporarily change the peripheral display of the guidance route. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, since the peripheral facility display switching button B is arranged on the simple map 100, the display of the peripheral facility symbols is immediately switched without the user performing an operation such as changing the display screen. It can be performed.

In the above description, the display switching button displayed on the simple map is a function for switching between display and non-display of the peripheral facility symbols for each facility genre, but is not limited to this, and is as follows. The display switching button to which the function is assigned may be displayed according to the appropriate display determination condition.
For example, a display switching button for switching between display and non-display of all surrounding facility symbols regardless of the facility genre, a display switching button for switching between display and non-display of facility symbols along the route, a button for changing the display size of the facility symbols, and road names In addition, there is a display switching button for switching display and non-display of map elements other than facility symbols such as name character strings such as intersection names and traffic congestion lines.
These buttons are displayed when it is determined that the map screen is congested when the amount of information on the simple map exceeds a predetermined threshold, or the road conditions around the guidance route are determined to be important. This makes it easier to see the map.

The road conditions near the guidance route can be important, for example, in densely populated buildings, where the target is difficult to see, and the road that crosses the route and the name of the intersection that passes through are more important than the facility symbol along the route. It is a case where it is judged as effective. The fact that crowded buildings are crowded, and that the store of the facility symbol displayed as the target is a tenant of the building (that is, a guideline for determining whether or not it is a crowded building) is that the map DB 2 and the guidance data Information may be obtained from the management unit 11 and the appropriate display determination unit 131 may determine.
In addition, for example, when there is a traffic jam on or around the route, that is, when it is necessary to inform the user of the traffic situation around the route rather than the facility symbol along the route as the target, the road condition around the guidance route is Can be important. Whether or not there is a traffic jam is determined by the appropriate display judgment unit 131 based on the traffic jam information received from the external server 8 (Vehicle Information and Communication System; VICS center, etc.) and the route coordinate information of the guidance data management unit 11. do it.

In the example of the display screen shown in FIG. 9, in addition to the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genres “convenience store”, “GS”, and “bank”, the “all” peripherals that switch between display and non-display of all peripheral facility symbols A facility display switching button E and a “target” display switching button F for changing the display and non-display of the facility symbol along the route are displayed.
However, in order to ensure the usefulness of the map, it is preferable to display the facility symbols along the route. Accordingly, the display control unit 133 hides the facility symbol along the route in response to the pressing of the “target” display switching button F, and displays the facility symbol along the route again after a certain period of time. Hiding alongside facility symbols should be temporary.

In the flowchart of FIG. 7, the aptitude display determination condition for giving a high priority to a facility genre having a large number of surrounding facility symbols is used, but the present invention is not limited to this condition.
For example, the number of user selections may be acquired for each facility genre, and a high priority may be given to a facility genre with a large number of user selections. In this case, the operation history storage unit 151 acquires the user operation history from the input unit 3, and stores the number of times the peripheral facility display switching button (facility genre) is pressed, the destination, the name of the peripheral facility for the peripheral facility search, and the like. Then, the condition update unit 15 refers to the history information in the operation history storage unit 151 to obtain the number of user selections for each facility genre, and increases the priority of the facility genre with a large number of user selections. Thereby, the peripheral facility display switching button of the facility genre that is often displayed by the user can be displayed at a position that is easy to press on the simple map, and the button layout can be automatically generated in the user's favorite state. For example, when a user who often displays convenience store peripheral facility symbols feels that the screen is congested with the convenience store symbols displayed, the user presses the convenience store display switch button on the simple map. Thus, it is possible to easily switch to non-display temporarily and to perform simple display.

Further, the priority of the facility genre may be determined based on real-time information that can be acquired through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and the external server 8.
For example, when the GUI control unit 13 acquires the gasoline remaining amount through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and the gasoline remaining amount is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 changes the suitability display determination condition to change the facility genre Increase the priority of “GS”. Thereby, when the gasoline remaining amount is low, the peripheral facility display switching button of the GS can be displayed at a position that is easy to press.
When the navigation device is mounted on an electric vehicle, the GUI control unit 13 may acquire the in-vehicle battery remaining amount through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and increase the priority of the facility genre of the charging station.
Also, for example, the GUI control unit 13 acquires traffic information indicating the degree of traffic congestion around the current position through communication with the external server 8, and the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 changes the aptitude display determination condition to display the traffic information. Increase the priority of the function to be performed. Thus, when the surrounding road is congested, a display switching button for displaying the traffic information on the screen can be displayed at a position that is easy to press.
Alternatively, when the remaining amount of gasoline is equal to or less than the threshold value, the display switching button may be displayed when traffic jam information is acquired. Thereby, the display switching button can be displayed on the simple map only when the user needs it, and the display switching button can be prevented from being displayed by giving priority to the visibility of the map in a scene that is not required.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 7, a series of processing is started when the guidance route is set and the peripheral facility display switching button is displayed. However, the display timing is not limited to this. For example, when the GUI control unit 13 acquires vehicle speed information through the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 and stops (or less than a predetermined speed), the above-described processing is started and a peripheral facility display switching button is displayed to travel (or exceed a predetermined speed). In the meantime, the peripheral facility display switching button may be hidden.

Further, for example, the button display may be updated by executing the flowchart of FIG. 7 at a predetermined timing such as when the user setting value is changed every time a certain time elapses.
Further, for example, when the surrounding facility display switching button is not displayed on the simple map at all times, the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed in response to the peripheral facility display switching button being called by the user's operation. May be. For example, when the user touches the touch display, the input unit 3 receives this operation and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. Alternatively, a menu button is displayed on a simple map, and the input unit 3 accepts the user pressing the menu button and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. This menu button may be generated by the GUI control unit 13 and output to the image generation unit 16.

  Further, the display control unit 133 may hide the display switching buttons such as the peripheral facility symbols displayed on the simple map after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 counts the number of surrounding facility symbols existing within a predetermined map range including the guidance route for each facility type, and displays the surrounding facility in order of the facility type having the largest number of counts. The switch buttons are arranged side by side. For this reason, before the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button, the user can easily determine which button is pressed to easily congest the map screen. Therefore, it becomes easy to change the amount of information displayed on the map to an optimum state for the user, and a map with high visibility can be provided.

  In addition, according to the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 includes the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 that stores information on the priority according to the type of facility, and displays neighboring facilities in order of the facility type with the highest priority. The switch buttons are arranged side by side. For this reason, it becomes easy for the user to change the content displayed on the map to the optimum state for the user by setting the priority in advance.

  In addition, according to the second embodiment, the navigation device stores the operation history storage unit 151 that stores the history information of the operation performed by the user, and the facility type having a large number of operations based on the history information of the operation history storage unit 151. And the condition update unit 15 that updates the priority stored in the appropriate display determination condition storage unit 132 so that the priority is higher, and the GUI control unit 13 stores the priority information updated by the condition update unit 15. Used to determine the arrangement of the peripheral facility display switching button. For this reason, the button arrangement to be displayed can be changed to the user's favorite state, and the operability can be improved.

  Further, according to the second embodiment, the GUI control unit 13 sets the priority set based on the priority information acquired from the external server 8 or the vehicle information acquisition unit 7 through communication or using the acquired information. Based on the information, the arrangement of the peripheral facility display switching button is determined. For this reason, button arrangement can be changed based on real-time information.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first embodiment, when the peripheral facility display switching button is pressed by the user, the peripheral facility symbol of the facility genre corresponding to the button is displayed on the simple map, but the facility of this facility genre is near the current position. If no exists, the surrounding facility symbol will not be displayed even if the button is pressed. Therefore, in the navigation device according to the third embodiment, the reason why the peripheral facility symbol is not displayed even though the button is pressed is notified to the user by, for example, displaying a telop.
The navigation device according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as that of the navigation device shown in FIG. 1, and therefore will be described below with the aid of FIG.

Next, the operation of the map element display control unit 14 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, as in the display screen shown in FIG. 3, a peripheral facility display switching button B for switching the display of facility symbols of peripheral facilities within the display range is displayed on the simple map 100 for guiding the guidance route 101. Assume that it is displayed. In addition, it is assumed that the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genre “convenience store” is pressed and the peripheral facility symbol C of the convenience store corresponding to this button is displayed.
When the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button B of the facility genre “GS” displayed on the touch display of the display unit 6, the input unit 3 accepts the pressing of this button and outputs it to the GUI control unit 13. Then, the GUI control unit 13 outputs information indicating that the GS peripheral facility display switching button is pressed to the map element display control unit 14.

  In step ST31, when the map element display control unit 14 receives information from the GUI control unit 13 that the peripheral facility display switching button for the facility genre “GS” is pressed (“YES” in step ST31), the display mode determination is performed in the subsequent step ST32. The unit 141 refers to the map DB 2 and searches for facility information of the facility genre “GS” in the predetermined range (at least within the screen display range) along the guidance route 101 from the current location corresponding to the vehicle position 102.

  If there is no facility information as a result of the search (step ST33 “NO”), the display mode determination unit 141 notifies the display control unit 143 that the telop is displayed. In the subsequent step ST34, the display control unit 143 that has received the notification displays display information for displaying the telop such as “There is no gas station within the range of ○ m from the current location” and “There is no gas station around the route for a while”. Is output to the image generation unit 16, and the image generation unit 16 displays the telop on the simple map 100 using the display information.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a screen displaying telop G. As a result, the user does not display the peripheral facility symbol even if the user presses the peripheral facility display switching button B of the desired facility genre (whether the symbol is not displayed to maintain the simplicity of the map or does not really exist) ) Can be easily determined when the button is pressed.
Needless to say, the size and display position of the telop G may be other than those shown in this example.

  Further, when a certain time has elapsed after the telop display (step ST35 “YES”), the display control unit 143 stops the display information output to the image generation unit 16 and hides it (step ST36).

On the other hand, if there is one or more facility information as a result of the search (step ST33 “YES”), the display mode determination unit 141 notifies the display control unit 143 that the telop is not displayed. In subsequent step ST36, the display control unit 143 that has received the notification ends the process as it is.
When there is facility information (step ST33 “YES”), the map element display control unit 14 subsequently performs the processing of the flowchart (steps ST2 to ST13) shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment.

  This process is performed every time the image generated by the image generation unit 16 is updated.

In addition to displaying the telop G as shown in FIG. 11 in step ST34, or in addition to the display of the telop G, the following display may be performed.
For example, in step ST34, the display mode determination unit 141 acquires from the map DB 2 the facility information outside the predetermined range searched in step ST32 from the facility DB corresponding to the pressed button, and the display control unit 143 To notify. The display control unit 143 displays the location of the nearest facility information instead of or in addition to the telop. The location of the facility information may be displayed on a half-screen map different from the simple map, or may be displayed as an address using a character string.
Further, for example, the display mode determination unit 141 may acquire the nearest facility information and issue an instruction to the GUI control unit 13 to display a button for displaying the location of the nearest facility information.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, the display mode determination unit 141 includes a predetermined map range in which the peripheral facility symbol of the facility type corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button for which the user operation is received by the input unit 3 includes the guidance route. If not, the notification that the surrounding facility symbol of the facility type is not displayed is output through the display unit 6. For this reason, it is possible to easily determine the reason why the peripheral facility symbol is not displayed even when the user presses the facility peripheral display switching button when the button is pressed.

  In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, any combination of the embodiments, or any modification of any component in each embodiment, or omission of any component in each embodiment is possible. .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Simple map production | generation apparatus, 2 map DB, 3 input part, 4 own vehicle position determination part, 5 route calculation part, 6 display part, 7 vehicle information acquisition part, 8 external server, 11 guidance data management part, 12 simple map Generation unit, 13 GUI control unit, 14 Map element display control unit, 15 Condition update unit, 16 Image generation unit, 100 Simple map, 101 Guide route, 102 Own vehicle position, 131 Appropriate display determination unit, 132 Appropriate display determination condition storage Unit, 133 display control unit, 141 display mode determination unit, 142 display mode determination condition storage unit, 143 display control unit, 151 operation history storage unit.

Claims (9)

A map generating unit that generates a map for screen display using map data including road position information and facility position information and information on a guide route to the destination;
Based on the location information of the facility included in the map data, on the map generated by the map generation unit, a facility symbol along the route representing a facility existing along the guide route is not overlapped with the guide route, and A map element display control unit arranged so that facility symbols along the route do not overlap,
A GUI control unit that generates a peripheral facility display switching button for switching between display and non-display of a peripheral facility symbol representing a facility existing around the guidance route;
A display unit for displaying the facility symbol along the route arranged by the map element display control unit on the map generated by the map generation unit, and the peripheral facility display switching button generated by the GUI control unit;
An input unit that has a touch panel integrated with the screen of the display unit, and that receives a user operation on the peripheral facility switching display button on the map displayed by the display unit;
Based on the information indicating the type of the facility included in the map data, the peripheral facility symbol of the type corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button that has received a user operation at the input unit is different from the facility symbol along the route. A display mode determination unit to be determined,
In the case where the surrounding facility symbol of the type corresponding to the surrounding facility display switching button that has received a user operation at the input unit is switched between display and non-display, the display mode determination unit determines the corresponding type of the peripheral facility symbol. A navigation apparatus comprising a display control unit arranged on the map generated by the map generation unit in the display mode.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display mode determination unit changes a display size of the facility symbol along the route and the surrounding facility symbol.   The display mode determination unit has information on the priority according to the type of facility, and when the facility symbols overlap, the facility symbol having a high priority is based on the information indicating the type of the facility symbol included in the map data. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device is preferentially displayed. An operation history storage unit that stores history information of operations performed by the user;
Based on the history information of the operation history storage unit, a condition update unit that updates the priority so that the facility type with a large number of operations has a high priority, and
4. The navigation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display mode determination unit determines the overlap between the neighboring facility symbols using the priority information updated by the condition update unit.   The GUI control unit counts the number of surrounding facility symbols existing within a predetermined map range including the guidance route for each facility type, and arranges the surrounding facility display switching buttons in order of the facility type having the largest number of counts. The navigation device according to 1.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the GUI control unit has priority information corresponding to a facility type, and arranges the peripheral facility display switching buttons in order of the facility type having the highest priority. An operation history storage unit that stores history information of operations performed by the user;
Based on the history information of the operation history storage unit, a condition update unit that updates the priority so that the facility type with a large number of operations has a high priority, and
The navigation device according to claim 6, wherein the GUI control unit determines the arrangement of the peripheral facility display switching buttons using the priority information updated by the condition update unit.   The GUI control unit determines the arrangement of the peripheral facility display switching button based on the priority information acquired from the outside through communication or based on the priority information set using the information acquired from outside through communication. The navigation device according to claim 6.   If the facility type peripheral facility symbol corresponding to the peripheral facility display switching button for which the user operation has been received by the input unit is not within the predetermined map range including the guide route, the display mode determination unit includes the facility type peripheral facility symbol. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein a notification that the message is not displayed is output through a display unit.

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