JP3170343B2 - Display device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device for a vehicle navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A display device of a vehicular navigation device which displays a road map around the position of a vehicle and guides an occupant to a destination is known (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 61-66920).
Reference). In this type of device, names such as a place name and a road name are set at appropriate locations on map coordinates, and when the coordinates enter a display range, the names are written on a map display screen.

[0003]

By the way, in order to easily display the positional relationship between the road map and the position of the vehicle on the display screen, it is necessary to display the map such that the position of the vehicle is substantially at the center of the screen. is there. When a complex map such as an urban area is displayed, the map may be changed in scale and enlarged.

However, in the conventional vehicle display device, the display range is changed so that the own vehicle position is substantially at the center of the display screen because the display position of the name such as the name of the place or the name of the road is fixed on the map coordinates. When displaying a map or enlarging a map, names such as a place name and a road name may not be displayed, and there is a problem that it is difficult to know where the vehicle is currently traveling.

In order to solve this problem, even if the display range of the map is arbitrarily set or enlarged display is performed, names such as place names and road names are always displayed on the display map.
It is conceivable to set many display positions with the same name on the map coordinates. For example, the place name sets the display position at predetermined intervals within the place name range on the map, and the road name sets the display position at predetermined intervals along the road on the map. In this way, even if the display range of the map is arbitrarily set or enlarged display is performed, those place names and road names are displayed on the map. However, in this case, when the map is displayed at a normal scale or when the map is displayed in a reduced scale, the same name is displayed many times on the display map,
The display screen is difficult to see, which is not preferable. Furthermore, in order to make the display map easier to see, the map screen is rotated so that the traveling direction of the own vehicle is on the display screen, and the display direction of the map is changed. Since the objects are close to each other, the names may overlap when the display direction of the map is changed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle display device in which names such as a place name and a road name are displayed at an optimum place even when a display range is arbitrarily set or a map scale is changed. is there.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 which is a claim correspondence diagram. The invention of claim 1 is an information storage means 1 for storing a map and a name on the map.
00 and a vehicle position detecting means 101 for detecting the vehicle position
And a display device 102 for displaying map information. Then, the information storage means 100
Selecting means 103 for selecting a name to be displayed according to the display form of the map from the names on the map stored in the
A display position determining means 104 for determining a display position of the name selected by the name selecting means 103; a map around the own vehicle position detected by the own vehicle position detecting means 101; Control means 105 for synthesizing the display name determined by the display position determining means 104 and displaying the name on the display means 102. The information storage means 100 stores the name on the map at an intersection,
Points indicated by dots on maps such as gas stations
Data and lines on maps such as roads and rivers
Line data and a certain area on the map, such as municipalities and lakes.
Display position determining means 10
4 first determines the display position of the name of the point data, and then
Make sure that the line data does not overlap with the display position of the data name.
Determine the display position of the name, and finally point data and line data.
Name of the surface data so that it does not overlap with the display position of the data name
Determine the display position of. The display device for a vehicle according to claim 2,
Belongs to a specific group on the map from the information storage means 100
Extraction means 106 for extracting the name
103 is in the name extracted by the extraction means 106
Select the name to be displayed according to the map display mode. Vehicle display device according to claim 3, the display range, scale and display
Select the name to be displayed according to the display format of the map including the direction
It is made to be done.

[0008]

According to the first aspect, the names on the map are represented by point data and line data.
Data is stored separately for point data and line data.
The display position is determined so that the names do not overlap with each other in the order of data and surface data . In claim 2, a specific glue on the map
Map names are extracted and a map is displayed from the extracted names.
Select the name to be displayed according to the form.

[0009]

2 and 3 are block diagrams showing the configuration of a vehicle navigation system according to one embodiment. This device is constituted by a microcomputer centered on a CPU 1 as shown in the figure. The CPU 1 exchanges data with various devices via the system bus 2 and performs various arithmetic processes. The direction sensor 3 is a sensor for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle, and includes an amplifier 4, an A / D converter 5, and an I / O
It is connected to the system bus 2 via the controller 6.
The distance sensor 7 is a sensor that detects the traveling distance of the vehicle, and is connected to the system bus 2 via the I / O controller 6. The key 8 is an operation member for inputting various commands and data to the apparatus, and is connected to the system bus 2 via the I / O controller 9. The audio output speaker 10 is connected to the system bus 2 via the sound generator 11 and the I / O controller 9.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a position detection system using a satellite (Global Positioning System).
m, hereinafter referred to as GPS) (hereinafter, referred to as GPS receiver), and connected to the system bus 2 via the extended I / O controller 13. Normally, the current position of the vehicle uses the current position information obtained by the GPS receiver 12. However, in places where radio waves cannot be received from satellites, such as urban areas and mountainous areas, the current position of the vehicle is calculated based on the traveling direction information from the direction sensor 3 and the traveling distance information from the distance sensor 7. The receiver 14 receives, via an antenna 15, road traffic information and position information such as traffic congestion, road works, and traffic regulations from road beacons installed at roads and intersections.

In FIG. 3, the CD-ROM 16 is
It stores road map data and map name data such as place names (prefecture names), road names, river names, lake and marsh names, and public facility names, and is connected to the system bus 2 via the interface SCSI controller 17. Is done. VD
T (Visual Display Termina)
The CRT 18 functioning as 1) is connected to the system bus 2 via the graphic controller 19, and displays a road map around the current position of the vehicle and various names on the display map. Further, the system bus 2 has C
An image storage V-RAM 20 of the RT 18, a ROM 21 for storing a control program to be described later, a D-RAM 22 for temporarily storing data, a kanji ROM 23, and a battery backup RAM 24 for storing information such as a current position when the ignition is turned off are connected. .

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing a control program stored in the ROM 21. The display processing operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to this flowchart. C
When an ignition key switch (not shown) is turned on, the PU 1 starts executing the control program. In step S1 after the start of execution, the vehicle position information from the GPS receiver 12 is input. As described above, when the vehicle position cannot be detected by the GPS receiver 12 in an urban area or a mountain area, the vehicle position is determined based on the traveling direction information of the vehicle from the direction sensor 3 and the traveling distance information from the distance sensor 7. Calculate. In a succeeding step S2, map data in a predetermined range centering on the own vehicle position is read from the CD-ROM 16 and temporarily stored in the D-RAM 22. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the map data in a predetermined range is divided into nine ranges, and each range is hereinafter referred to as a map management block. In step S 3, the name data of the range of the map data read in the above step is read from the CD-ROM 16 and temporarily stored in the D-RAM 22. The name data on the map is associated with the management block number of the map data on the CD.
-The corresponding name data stored in the ROM 16 is read in accordance with the management block number of the previously read map data. The contents of the name data will be described later.

Next, in step S4, priorities for displaying the read name data are determined. The priority is determined as follows. First, place names, road names, river names,
Priority is set for each item such as lake name. For example, roads are ranked in the order of expressways, national roads, prefectural roads, and city halls, roads are ranked in the order of first-grade rivers and second-grade rivers, and lakes and marshes are ranked in the order of their area. For public facilities such as places and parks, the size of the facilities, that is, the rank of accommodation capacity, area, etc., is used, and for place names, the rank of villages, towns, cities, and prefectures is used. Next, the priority of each item is set. For example, priority is given to facilities such as intersections, gas stations, hospitals, schools, etc., which are targets in route guidance, and the following is the order of roads, place names, rivers, and public facilities. Therefore, for example, a road having a second priority and a place name having the second priority have a higher priority than the place name.

The names of government facilities such as hospitals, police, government offices, and schools are selected and displayed in a search mode. That is, hospitals, police, government offices, schools, etc. are provided with a search switch in the key 8 for each item, and only the names belonging to the items set by these search switches in the search mode are selectively displayed. In addition, structure including facility, place name,
The names such as mountains occupy an area occupying a predetermined value or more on the display screen. However, the names of prefectures are restricted according to the scale of the display map. That is, the display is restricted in the descending order of the priority as the scale factor increases. For example, at a scale of 1/2500, all are displayed in the order of village, town, city, and prefecture. At a scale of 1/25000, town, town, city, and prefecture are displayed.
The village name is omitted as the order of city and prefecture. Further, at a scale of 1 / 50,000, the names of villages and towns are omitted as ranks of cities and prefectures, and at a scale of 1/100000, only the names of prefectures are displayed and the names of villages, towns and cities are omitted.

Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the description will be continued. In step S5, the name data that has been prioritized in the above steps are arranged in descending order of priority, and a name table shown in FIG.
Store it in M22. The name table includes a write data flag and name data read from the CD-ROM 16. The name data includes a name, an attribute, and a name point (display coordinates). The write data flag is a flag that is referred to when a display name is selected in a step described later, and the name for which the flag is set is displayed. The attribute indicates what shape characteristics each name data has on the display map, and includes point data, line data, and surface data. The point data is represented by points on a display map, and corresponds to name data of an intersection, a school, a police, and the like. The line data is represented by a line on the display map, and corresponds to name data of a river, a road, and the like. Further, the plane data occupies a certain area on the display map, and corresponds to name data such as a place name. The name point is a coordinate on the map indicating the display position of each name previously read from the CD-ROM 16, and as shown in FIG. 6, the position of the name to be displayed is one for each map management block. Is set.

In step S6, a name mesh indicating the display position of each name is created. As described above, the name point is set in each name data by the coordinates on the map. These map coordinates are coordinates used to store the data for each point by dividing the map into minute parts, and to draw the map as a set of data for each point, and are considerably finely divided. . Therefore, if the final display position of the name is indicated using the map coordinates, the division is too fine and the display processing becomes complicated. Therefore, another appropriately coarsely-coordinated coordinate is superimposed on the coordinate on the map, and the final display position of the name is indicated by the newly provided coordinate. This new coordinate is the name mesh.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which a name mesh is set around the own vehicle position as shown in FIG. Note that the map management block including the position of the vehicle and the setting range of the name mesh may be different as shown in FIG. 6, or they may be the same range. In this embodiment, a name mesh in which the length and width are divided into 16 and the minimum division (hereinafter referred to as the minimum mesh) is about 25 × 25 dots will be described as an example, but the number of divisions is limited to this embodiment. Not done. Also, the area of the name mesh can be set to an arbitrary size. As shown in FIG. 8, each of the minimum meshes includes (1, 1) to (16, 1) from the upper left to the lower right.
6) Set the address. Name writing mesh data as shown in FIG. 7B is set for each of the minimum meshes. This name write mesh data is composed of a write inhibit flag and a plurality of name flags. The write prohibition flag is a flag for prohibiting the writing of the name to the minimum mesh. When the flag is set (1), the writing is prohibited, and when the flag is cleared (0), the writing is permitted. The name flag is a flag corresponding to each name in the name table created in the above step, and is set (1) if there is data whose name is to be displayed in the minimum mesh in a step to be described later; ) Is done.

In step S7, name data is read from the name table created in the above step in descending order of priority, and in step S8, it is determined whether or not the attribute of the read name data is point data. If it is point data, the process proceeds to step S9; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S9, a minimum mesh including the name point of the point data is searched, and a name flag corresponding to the point data in the name writing mesh data corresponding to the searched minimum mesh is set. That is, point data is allocated to the minimum mesh. This allocation method will be described with reference to FIG. For example, assume that school A and hospital B are point data to be assigned to the minimum mesh. As is clear from the figure, school A has the address (1
Since the hospital B is included in the minimum mesh of the address (2,12), these point data are included in the addresses (13,2) and (2,1), respectively.
It is assigned to the minimum mesh of 2).

If it is determined in step S8 that the data is not point data, the flow advances to step S10 to determine whether the attribute of the read name data is line data. River,
If it is line data such as a road, the process proceeds to step S11. Otherwise, it is determined that the data is surface data such as a place name, and the process proceeds to step S12. In step S11, a minimum mesh including rivers, roads, and the like as line data is sequentially searched, and a name flag corresponding to the line data in the name writing mesh data is set. That is, line data such as rivers and roads is assigned to the minimum mesh. This allocation method will be described with reference to FIG. For example, roads C, D, and E are assumed to be line data to be allocated to the minimum mesh, and their name points are indicated by black points on each road. First, the minimum meshes (13, 6), (6, 10), (11,
12) is searched. Next, starting from these minimum meshes including the name point, each road is tracked along these roads in the upstream and downstream directions, and the minimum mesh including the road to be tracked is searched. Then, a name flag corresponding to each road in the name writing mesh data of the searched minimum mesh is set, and line data is assigned to the minimum mesh. In FIG. 9, the minimum mesh to which line data is assigned along each road is indicated by different symbols. In addition, a plurality of line data are assigned to the minimum mesh at the center where the roads C, D, and E intersect.

On the other hand, in step S12, a minimum mesh including a place name as surface data is sequentially searched,
A name flag corresponding to the surface data in the name writing mesh data is set. That is, surface data such as a place name is assigned to the minimum mesh. This allocation method will be described with reference to FIG. For example, it is assumed that there are plane data of the city F and the town G separated by the section boundary line H, and the respective name points are included in the minimum mesh of the addresses (6, 2) and (2, 14). First, each municipality F, G
Minimum mesh (6,2), (2,
14) is searched. Next, starting from these minimum meshes (6, 2) and (2, 14) including the name point, a search is made for the minimum mesh including the municipalities F and G until a partition boundary H appears on a radial or spiral basis. . Then, a name flag corresponding to each of the municipalities F and G in the name writing mesh data of the searched minimum mesh is set, and the surface data is assigned to the minimum mesh.

When the assignment of the read name data to the name mesh is completed, the process proceeds to step S13, where it is determined whether or not the name table has unassigned name data, and if so, the process returns to step S7. The above-described allocation process is performed in step S14. If not, the process proceeds to step S14 in FIG. It should be noted that point data, line data, and plane data may be allocated to the name mesh in this order according to the attribute of the name data. GPS receiver 1 in step S14 of FIG.
Then, in step S15, it is determined whether or not the display form of the map has been changed due to a change in the display range, the display direction, the scale, and the like. Figure 4 when changed
Returns to step S5, otherwise returns to step S16
Proceed to. In step S16, it is determined whether or not the position of the own vehicle has entered the other map management block beyond the map management block. If affirmative, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 4, and if negative, the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, a write-protected area with a name is set as shown in FIG.
The write inhibition flag of the minimum mesh in the inhibition area is set (1). In FIG. 10, even if a name is written on the right end of the screen, the name is interrupted in the middle, so that, for example, up to 80 dots from the right end of the screen are write-protected areas. When the name is written, the display of the own vehicle position overlaps with the display of the own vehicle position, so that the display of the own vehicle position cannot be understood.

After setting the map display range on the CRT 18 centering on the own vehicle position in step S18, the process proceeds to step S19, where the name data to be actually displayed on the CRT 18 is selected, and the write data flag of the selected name data is set. Set (1). The following methods can be considered as this selection method. For example, if the scale is large,
Only representative names such as national roads are selected, and when the scale is small, more detailed names such as municipal names, prefectural roads, and city roads are selected. Alternatively, the above-described search switch may be provided for each name item to arbitrarily select a target facility such as a school or a hospital, or an expressway.

Next, the process proceeds to step S20, in which a map within the display range set in the above step is drawn on the CRT 18, and in the following step S21, the write data flag in the name table having a higher priority is set. Read the name data. In step S22, it is determined whether or not unprocessed name data for which the write data flag is set remains. If the processing of all data has been completed, the process returns to step S14. If not completed, the process returns to step S23. Proceed to. In step S23, the name of the minimum mesh to be written is selected. In this selection method, the search is started from the minimum mesh including the position of the own vehicle, the minimum mesh is searched spirally or radially, the write inhibition flag of the minimum mesh is 0, and the target name flag is set. Search for meshes that are

Next, in step S24, as a result of the search, if the minimum mesh of the write destination is not found, the process returns to step S21 to read the next name data, and if there is a write destination, the process proceeds to step S25. Step S2
In step 5, the name is written from the selected minimum write destination mesh. In this embodiment, the name is written horizontally on the display screen. If the character amount of the name to be written is longer than the character amount in the horizontal direction of one minimum mesh, the minimum size on the right side of the minimum mesh of the selected writing destination is set. Write sequentially to the mesh. The name may be written vertically,
For example, names of line data such as rivers and roads may be written along rivers and roads. The character amount of the name written in step S26 is input, and the subsequent step S27
Based on the minimum mesh of the write destination selected in step 3 and the character amount of the name, the minimum mesh in which the character is written is detected, and the write inhibit flag of those minimum meshes is written in order to write another name and not overwrite. Is set.

FIG. 11 shows a display example of a map in a predetermined range in the nine map management blocks shown in FIG. The display example 1 shows a map in which the vicinity of the vehicle position indicated by the triangle mark is enlarged to the maximum, and the name written on the map. In such an enlarged map, only the names of the currently traveling road R01 and the city F, etc., which are most required by the occupants, are selected and displayed. That is, since many unnecessary names are not displayed, a road map around the own vehicle position is easy to see. At this time, a target name such as a school or a hospital may be selected by the above-mentioned name item selection switch, and only the name of the item may be displayed. Further, display example 2 shows a map of a normal scale around the position of the own vehicle and names written on the map. In such a normal scale map,
City F, highway, highway IC, road R01 around the vehicle location,
A name such as the road R02 is selected and displayed. At this time, only the name of the desired item may be displayed by the name item selection switch. Further, display example 3 shows a reduced map around the own vehicle position and the name written on the map. In such a reduced map, the city F, the town G, the highway,
Names such as a high-speed IC, a road R01, and a road R02 are selected and displayed.

As described above, from the names on the map stored in the CD-ROM 16, the map display range, scale,
Names to be displayed are selected according to the display form such as the display direction, and the display positions of those names are determined and displayed on the map on the CRT 18, so that the display range of the map, the scale of the display map, the display Even if the direction or the like is changed, the name on the map is displayed at the optimum place, and easy-to-understand map information can be displayed. Further, since the name of a desired item can be selected by a search switch as needed, map information required by the occupant can be provided accurately. Furthermore, since the display position of the name on the map is indicated by using the name mesh having a section coarser than the map coordinates, the display position determination processing is simplified.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the CD-RO
M16 constitutes information storage means, GPS receiver 12 constitutes own vehicle position detection means, CRT 18 constitutes display means, and CPU 1 constitutes name selection means, display position determination means, control means and extraction means.

[0028]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the names on the map are indicated by dots on the map.
Data, line data indicated by lines on the map, on the map
Area data indicating a certain area with
Names do not overlap in the order of data, line data, and surface data
The display position of the name is determined in this way, so even if the display range of the map, the scale of the displayed map, the display direction, etc. are changed, the name on the map is displayed at the optimum place, and the map information that is easy to understand is displayed can do. According to the invention of claim 2, a specific group is selected from the stored names on the map.
Extracted names belonging to the group, and from among those names
Select the name to be displayed according to the display format of the map
Therefore, the map information required by the occupant can be provided accurately . According to the third aspect of the present invention, the display range, reduction
Display according to the display format of the map including the scale and display direction
The best name for the occupant.
The name is displayed on the map.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a map display control program.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a map display control program.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a map around the own vehicle position read from a map storage device.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a name table and name writing mesh data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a name mesh.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a write-protected area.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing assignment of name data to a minimum mesh.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a display example of a map and names on the map.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 System bus 3 Orientation sensor 4 Amplifier 5 A / D converter 6, 9 I / O controller 7 Distance sensor 8 Key 10 Speaker 11 Sound generator 12 GPS receiver 13 Extended I / O 14 Receiver 15 Antenna 16 CD-ROM 17 SCSI controller 18 CRT 19 Graphic controller 20 V-RAM 21 ROM 22 D-RAM 23 Kanji ROM 24 Backup RAM 100 Information storage means 101 Own vehicle position detection means 102 Display means 103 Name selection means 104 Display position determination means 105 Control means 106 Extraction means

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-113750 (JP, A) JP-A-3-62084 (JP, A) JP-A-1-223490 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int) .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G09B 29/10 G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle display device comprising: an information storage means for storing a map and a name on the map; a vehicle position detection means for detecting a vehicle position; and a display means for displaying map information. Name selection means for selecting a name to be displayed according to the display form of the map from names on the map stored in the information storage means; and determining a display position of the name selected by the name selection means. A display position determining means, a map around the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detecting means, and a name selected by the name selecting means and whose display position is determined by the display position determining means. and a control means for displaying on the display means, and said information storage means, the names on the map, you on the map
And point data indicated by dots, and indicated by lines on the map.
Line data and surface data indicating a certain area on the map
The display position determining means firstly stores the display position of the name of the point data.
Position, and then overlap with the display position of the point data name.
Determine the display position of the line data name so that
And the display position of the name of the point data and the line data
Do not overlap vehicular display device comprising that you determine the display position of the name of the surface data as. 2. The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the information storage means belongs to a specific group on the map.
Extraction means for extracting a name to be extracted, wherein the name selection means
Names to be displayed according to the display form of the map
A display device for a vehicle, wherein the display device is selected. 3. The display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the display mode of the map includes a display range, a scale, and a display direction.
A display device for a vehicle , comprising: