JP2556622B2 - In-vehicle navigator - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigator,
In particular, the present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigator that guides a driver to a route toward a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a vehicle-mounted navigator which guides a vehicle so that a driver can easily reach a desired destination. In this vehicle-mounted navigator, the current location of the vehicle is detected, the map data (road layer, background layer, character symbol layer, etc.) around the current location is read from the CD-ROM, the map image is drawn in the V-RAM, and the map image is displayed. The current position mark is overlaid and drawn, and the V-RAM image is converted into a video signal and output to the CRT display and displayed on the screen. Then, as the current location changes due to the movement of the vehicle, the current location mark on the screen is moved, or the current location mark is fixed at the center of the screen and the map is scrolled so that map information around the current location is always visible at a glance. I understand it.

In some of such in-vehicle navigators, route guidance is displayed on a map screen so that it is possible to know which way the vehicle should go in which direction. In this route guidance type in-vehicle navigator, when the driver sets the departure point and the destination, the road data (road layer) stored in the CD-ROM is referred to, and for example, the shortest distance is used as an index from the departure point to the destination. The optimum driving guide route to the route is calculated by simulation calculation. Then, during traveling, for example, a leading guide mark is constantly displayed at a point on the traveling guide route which is a certain distance away from the current position toward the destination, and the route of the vehicle is guided.

FIG. 5 (1) is an example of a map display screen during route guidance. A circle A on the screen is a current position mark, an arrow B is a traveling direction mark of the vehicle at the current position, a circle C is a preceding guidance point mark, and an arrow D is a guidance direction mark at the preceding guidance point. When the vehicle moves and the current position mark and the traveling direction mark come to A'and B'as shown in FIG. 5B, the preceding guidance point mark and the guidance direction mark go to C'and D '. Therefore, the driver can easily reach the destination by following the preceding guidance mark (the preceding guidance point mark and the guidance direction mark).

The road data stored in the CD-ROM comprises a road layer including a road link list, a node list, an intersection list, etc. as shown in FIG. The road link list is for each road link on a map (one road is represented by a set of multiple vertices (called nodes)), the total number of nodes on the link (link size), and each node forming the link. It is a list of data such as numbers, road widths, road types (national roads, highways, other types) in order. The node list is a list of data such as position information (longitude / latitude), elevation, and an intersection identification flag indicating whether or not an intersection is present, in order for each node on the map. The intersection list is, for each intersection on the map, a set of nodes that are closest to the intersection on the link connecting the intersections (called intersection constituent nodes).
Are listed in order.

The above-mentioned optimum driving guide route is determined by simulating various routes from the starting point to the destination using the road link list, node list, intersection list, etc., and searching for the route with the shortest distance. Do it.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, when the departure place is on the HL side of Honshu and the destination is on an island ID which is not connected to Honshu by a road, and a ferry is used on the way, driving Even if the person sets the departure point and the destination, there is no road link connecting Honshu and the island, so that there is a problem that the route guidance cannot be obtained and the route guidance cannot be displayed.

Even if the departure place and the destination are continuous land, the ferry on the way may be shorter than going to the destination along the road. Therefore, the route guidance may not always be the optimal route guidance route.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION From the above, the object of the present invention is to provide a traffic route other than an actual road on which a vehicle can move. It is to provide an in-vehicle navigator that can reliably perform route guidance.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, the above-mentioned problem is obtained by referring to road data stored in a predetermined storage means to obtain a travel guidance route from a current location to a destination by the travel guidance route calculation means, In an in-vehicle navigator adapted to perform route guidance display on a map image, the road data of the storage means includes in advance a traffic route other than an actual road on which a vehicle can move as a pseudo road, and the traveling The guide route calculation means is achieved by obtaining the travel guide route for both the actual road and the pseudo road in the road data.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the travel guidance route is obtained for both the actual road and the pseudo road in the road data stored in the storage means, and the route guidance display is performed on the map image. As a result, if there is a traffic route on the way between the departure point and the destination where some kind of vehicle can move, a travel guidance route will be sought for this traffic route as well, so it is possible to reliably carry out route guidance by the optimum route. Convenience for people.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an in-vehicle navigator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a CD-ROM which stores map data. As the map data, a background layer (road, railway, river, etc.) and a character symbol layer used for drawing a map image, and an optimum travel guidance route are calculated. Road layers used for
An information list for providing various information to the driver is stored. Of these, in addition to the data on the actual roads, a ferry route, which is not an actual road but allows the vehicle to move, is also added to the road layer forming the road data as a pseudo road in advance.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, a node N _s on a certain road link RL _k on the Honshu side and a node N _p on a road link RL _{k + 1} on the island side are each ports of the ferry route FL. At this time, the ferry route FL is regarded as a road in a pseudo manner, and the road link RL _{k + 2} having the node N _s at one end and N _p at the other end is added to the road link list in the road layer of FIG. Set (type of road is ferry route as shown in Fig. 2 (b)). In the node list, nodes N _s and N _p
Set the intersection identification flag of node N in the intersection list
_The intersection data having _s-1 , N _{s + 1} , and N _p as the intersection constituent nodes regarding the node N _s is added, and the nodes N _p-1 and N _p are added.
Intersection data having _{p + 1} and N _s as intersection composing nodes regarding the node N _p is added.

In this way, the ferry route FL is added to the road data as a pseudo road (road link RL _{k + 2} ) in the same manner as the actual road.

In the information list, the port (N
_s , N _p ), the departure and arrival times and the required time of the ferry route may be added so that the driver can call them on the screen for reference.

Returning to FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 shows a map image on which a current position mark, a traveling direction mark at the current position, and a preceding guide mark (consisting of a preceding guide point mark and a guide direction mark at the preceding guide point) are overlaid. CRT display, 3
Is a current position detector that detects the current position and direction of the running vehicle and outputs current position data and traveling direction data. In this embodiment, the absolute current position is detected using GPS. Reference numeral 4 is an operation unit for performing operations such as setting of a departure place and a destination by operating a cursor or the like, and 5 is a map display control device having a microcomputer configuration, which refers to map data from the departure place and destination information to provide optimum travel guidance. Calculates the route, calculates the leading guide point at a certain distance L from the current position toward the destination on the traveling guide route and the guiding direction at the preceding guide point while traveling, and based on the map data, the current position and the preceding position The current position mark and the driving direction mark at the current position on the map image including the guide point,
Also, the mark images of the preceding guidance point mark and the guidance direction mark at the preceding guidance point are overlapped and displayed on the CRT display 2.

Reference numeral 5a refers to the road data (road layer) of the map data of the CD-ROM 1 based on the starting point and destination data set by the operation unit 4 before the start of running, for example, the optimum running using the shortest distance as an index. A traveling guidance route calculation unit 5b for calculating a guidance route inputs current position data during traveling, and a preceding guidance point and a preceding guidance point separated from the present position of the vehicle toward the destination by a certain distance L on the traveling guidance route. It is a preceding guidance point calculation unit that calculates the guidance direction in and outputs the guidance data (leading guidance point data and guidance direction data). In this embodiment, the constant distance L is measured along the traveling guidance route. However, it can also be measured by a straight line distance.

Reference numeral 5c is a navigation control section which causes the map data around the current location detected by the current location detection section 3 to be read from the CD-ROM 1 and to be used as a data buffer RA.
Transfer to M5d. A map image drawing unit 5e inputs map data from the navigation control unit 5c to draw a map image in the V-RAM 5f, and inputs current position data and traveling direction data to draw a current position mark and a traveling direction mark. . In addition, the map image drawing unit 5e
Inputs the preceding guidance data from the preceding guidance point calculation unit 5b and displays the preceding guidance point mark and the guidance direction mark in the V-RAM5.
draw on f. Reference numeral 5g is a cut-out portion, which follows the V-RAM 5 according to the window control of the navigation control portion 5c.
From the image drawn in f, the current position or one screen centered at the cursor is cut out. An image conversion unit 5h converts the image input from the cutout unit 5g into a predetermined image signal and outputs the image signal to the CRT display 2 to display a map image.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the map display operation of the map display control device 5, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the display screen.

Before the departure, the map data around the departure place is transferred from the CD-ROM 1 to the data buffer RAM 5d under the control of the navigation controller 5c.
Of these, map data for drawing is output to the map image drawing unit 5e and the map image is drawn in the V-RAM 5f,
It is assumed that the cutout portion 5g cuts out one screen with the starting point as the center, is output to the video conversion portion 5h, and is displayed on the CRT display 2.

First, before departure, a departure place and a destination are set by operating the cursor of the operation unit 4 or the like (step 101). If the departure point is previously located in the center of the screen, pressing the departure point key causes the navigation control unit 5c to output the longitude / latitude at the center of the screen at that time to the travel guidance route calculation unit 5a as the departure point data. Further, when the cursor is operated, the navigation control unit 5c performs window control based on the cursor on the cutout portion 5g and scrolls the map with the center of the screen as the cursor position. When the destination key is pressed when the center of the screen matches the destination, the longitude / latitude of the center of the screen at that time is output to the travel guidance route calculation unit 5a as destination data. At this time, the center of the screen is set as the starting point by the window control based on the starting point, and the current position data and the traveling direction data from the current position detection unit 3 are sent to the map image drawing unit 5e via the navigation control unit 5c, and the V A current location mark and a traveling direction mark are drawn at a location corresponding to the current location in the RAM 5f, and a current location mark is displayed in the center of the screen and a traveling direction mark is displayed next to it.

When the starting point and the destination are set, the traveling guidance route calculation unit 5a refers to the road data (road layer) in the map data of the data buffer RAM 5d from the starting point data and the destination data and makes various simulations. The calculation is performed, and the optimum travel guidance route is searched using, for example, the shortest distance as an index (step 102). Here, when the driver sets the starting point on the Honshu HL side and the island as the destination as shown in FIG. 2, the Honshu HL and the island I are previously set in the road data of the CD-ROM 1.
The ferry port connecting D is registered as nodes N _S and N _p (intersection node), and the ferry route FL is registered as road link RL _{k + 2} , so one or more routes connecting the departure point to the destination are established. Therefore, the travel guidance route calculation unit 5a can search for an optimum travel guidance route. Here, it is assumed that the route T of FIG. 2 is determined to be optimum as a result of the search.

Subsequently, the advance guidance point calculation unit 5b inputs the current position data (initially the same as the departure place) from the navigation control unit 5c and refers to the travel guidance route data calculated by the travel guidance route calculation unit 5a. On the other hand, the advance guidance data (preceding guidance point data and the guidance direction data) are calculated by calculating the advance guidance point and the guidance direction at the preceding guidance point which are separated from the current position toward the destination by a certain distance L on the travel guidance route. Output to the image drawing unit 5e (step 10)
3).

The map image drawing portion 5e draws a leading guide point mark image at a predetermined position indicated by the preceding guide point data, superimposing it on the map image drawn in the V-RAM 5f, and guiding the arrow in the direction indicated by the guiding direction data. The direction mark images are overlaid and drawn (step 104). Since one screen with the origin as the center is cut out and displayed from the V-RAM 5f, the screen is as shown in FIG. 4 (1). In addition, in FIG.
A is a present position mark, B is a traveling direction mark, C is a leading guide point mark, and D is a guide direction mark.

The navigation control unit 5c inputs the current position data from the current position detection unit 3 and determines whether or not the current position changes due to the movement of the vehicle (step 10).
5) If there is a change in the current location, then it is judged whether or not the destination has been reached (step 106). If the destination is reached, the processing ends, and if not, the current location data and traveling direction data are output to the map image drawing section 5e. Then, the current position mark and the traveling direction mark of the V-RAM 5f are rewritten so as to correspond to the change of the current position (step 107).

Next, the current position data is output to the advanced guide point calculation unit 5b, and the advanced guide point and the guide direction at the advanced guide point are separated from the new current position toward the destination on the traveling guide route by a certain distance L. Is calculated and the preceding guidance data (the preceding guidance point data and the guidance direction data) is output to the map image drawing unit 5e (step 108). The map image drawing unit 5e, which has input the new advance guidance data, rewrites the advance guidance point mark and the guidance direction mark of the V-RAM 5f so as to correspond to the change of the advance guidance point (step 10).
9).

Next, the navigation control section 5
c performs window control based on the current location, and V-RAM5
A single screen centered at the new current location is cut out from f (step 110).

As a result, the screen changes by the amount of movement of the vehicle. Thereafter, by repeating the same processing, the screen changes as shown in FIGS. 4 (2) and 4 (3), and the preceding guidance point mark and the guidance direction mark are always displayed closer to the destination than the current position by a certain distance L. Therefore, the destination can be easily reached only by traveling so as to follow this. When the current position can be detected by GPS even when getting on the ferry, the route guidance is continued as shown in FIG. 4 (4).

Although the ferry route is treated as a road in a pseudo manner in the above-mentioned embodiment, a car train carrying a vehicle by rail may be treated as a road in a similar manner. In the case of cart rain, for example, each reception station may be registered as a node, a railway line may be a road link, and the type of road may be registered as a car train in the road layer.
Then, by registering the arrival / departure time at each reception station, the required time, and the like in the information list, the information can be used as a reference for the driver. And even if you do not use a car train, you may be able to reach the destination only by the road, so when you search the driving guide route, include the car train,
The driver may select whether or not to include it.Furthermore, when searching the travel guide route including the car train using the shortest time as an index, for example, the time between the travel start time and the departure time at the nearest reception station. In consideration of the relationship, for example, the route may not be selected as a route candidate when the operation after the traveling start time is completed. These things about cartolein are exactly the same for ferries.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the road data of the storage means includes in advance a traffic route other than the actual road on which the vehicle can move as a pseudo road, and the travel guidance route calculation means , Since it is configured to obtain the driving guidance route for both the actual road and the pseudo road in the road data, some vehicle can move to other than the actual road in the middle of the starting point and the destination. If there is a road, this traffic road can also be a search target for travel route guidance, and route guidance can be reliably performed with an optimum route, which improves convenience for the driver.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an in-vehicle navigator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method of including a ferry route in road data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the map display control device in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen in a conventional route guidance vehicle-mounted navigator.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of road data in map data.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a case where a road on the way is interrupted between a departure place and a destination.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CD-ROM 2 CRT display 5 Map display control device 5a Driving guidance route calculation unit 5b Advance guidance point calculation unit 5c Navigation control unit 5e Map image drawing unit 5f V-RAM

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A route guidance display from a current position to a destination is obtained by a route guidance route calculation unit with reference to road data stored in a predetermined storage unit, and a route guidance display is displayed on a map image. In the vehicle-mounted navigator, the road data of the storage means includes in advance a traffic route other than the actual road on which the vehicle can move as a pseudo road, and the travel guidance route calculation means calculates the actual road of the road data. The vehicle-mounted navigator is characterized in that the driving guidance route is obtained for both the simulated road and the simulated road.