JPH0760479B2 - Vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a position input method for a navigation device that sets a travel route based on a designated starting point and destination and guides the user.

[Conventional technology]

When visiting a land for the first time by car, in order to reach the destination without getting lost, it is necessary to study a sufficient travel route in advance using a road map or the like. In this examination of the driving route, it is of course necessary to select the driving route first, but in order to drive the selected route without fail, there are landmarks such as intersections and features that turn right and left on the driving route, It is necessary to remember road information such as mileage up to. However, when the road network becomes complicated, you can forget the name of the intersection you should turn and the characteristic features that serve as landmarks on the route you are traveling for the first time, and it is not easy to check while driving, so the name of the intersection you should turn If you overlook a feature that is a landmark and lose your current position, you may not be able to smoothly follow the flow of the vehicle, and you may get stuck on the way.

The navigation device provides route guidance so that the first destination can be visited by car with peace of mind without worrying about the above, and various types of navigation devices have been proposed in recent years. Among them are those that set the route to the destination and display the set route on the display and the remaining distance, name, right turn left etc. regarding the intersection that should turn so that you can definitely drive on that route. Information is provided, and teaching of a characteristic object is performed so that a route during traveling can be confirmed, and further, not only display but also voice guidance is provided.

In such a navigation device, first, it is necessary to set a route. To set a route, it is necessary to input the starting point and the destination. When the starting point and the destination are determined by this input, the route search is performed from the road information data around the starting point and the destination and between them. Processing is performed, and an optimum route is set from a plurality of routes. Also,
In the method that the applicant has already proposed, there is also a method of setting a traveling road and a traveling direction to a destination at a specific point such as each intersection, instead of setting a specific route from a starting point to a destination. . In this case, traveling information such as traveling distance, steering angle, passing intersection, etc. is collected to recognize the current position, and information on the traveling road and traveling direction set at the current position is provided to guide the route. Is going.

As described above, in the navigation device, first, it is necessary to input each position information in order to go from the departure place to the destination, and to search and set the route. If the current location cannot be entered as the departure point of the navigation device, enter a specific registered location such as an intersection near it as the departure point, and enter a navigation start instruction when passing through the departure point. become. In that sense, the departure place input in the present specification means not only the current position but also a specific position in the vicinity of the current position,
Use that position as well.

The present applicant has already made some proposals regarding such a position input method for the starting point and the destination. For example, the target registration position such as the starting point or the destination is divided into genres such as tourism, parking lots, restaurants, etc. Also, it is divided into regions such as prefectures and cities and coded, and that code is also one of them. Is. In that case, in addition to directly entering the code number,
It also proposes a method of displaying a menu and sequentially selecting and inputting from the menu. We also propose a method that has node data, connects the node data to define a road network, and inputs the position by coordinate values of east longitude and north latitude.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, the conventional position input method such as the starting point and the destination, which is indispensable as an initial operation in the navigation device, has a problem that it is troublesome and difficult to input a desired position as described above.

For example, in the code input method, since each position is defined by a special code number, a codebook is required, and the position cannot be input unless the codebook is referred to one by one. Moreover, the codebook is enormous because it contains all the codes, and it must be carried.

Further, in the menu system, a desired position cannot be input on one screen, and a desired position cannot be input unless a plurality of screens are sequentially switched and a predetermined item is selected on each screen. That is, since the display device used for the navigation device is mounted in a relatively easy-to-see space near the driver's seat, a compact device is adopted, and the amount of information that can be displayed at one time is small. Therefore, there is a problem that the screens are finely classified and the number of menu screens increases, and the input operation takes time and labor accordingly.

The method of inputting by coordinates also has the trouble that the position cannot be input without the coordinate table and the coordinate value of the position to be input must be searched from the coordinate table.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a position input method for a navigation device in which the position of a destination or the like can be easily input by a telephone number that makes it easy to obtain information on a daily basis. It is a thing. Still another purpose is to enable input of an arbitrary position where a telephone is installed as a destination or the like even if an intersection, a feature or a name is not specified.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

To this end, the present invention relates to a vehicle navigation device that guides a travel route of a vehicle, and stores map data having position coordinates corresponding to a subscriber number of a telephone number, representative position coordinates corresponding to a station number, and position coordinates. Means, point setting means for setting at least one arbitrary point by inputting a telephone number, current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, and current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting means. And route guidance means for guiding to the set point based on the point set by the point setting means, or reading map data corresponding to the position coordinates of the set point from the storage means A route searching means for searching a route between the set points,
The vehicle includes a route guidance unit that performs route guidance based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detection unit and the searched route, and the storage unit stores position coordinates by latitude and longitude and sets the point. When the telephone number is input, the means retrieves the position coordinate corresponding to the subscriber number from the storage means, and if the position coordinate corresponding to the subscriber number of the input telephone number does not exist, stores the telephone number of the telephone number. It is characterized in that a representative position coordinate corresponding to a station number is searched and a point on the map data is set based on the position coordinate.

Further, map data having representative position coordinates and position coordinates corresponding to the telephone number of the telephone number is stored in the storage means, and in the same manner as above, when the telephone number of the telephone number is input, it corresponds to the telephone number from the storage means. It is characterized in that a representative position coordinate is searched for, a map centered on the representative position coordinate is displayed, and a point on the map is set.

[Operation and effect of the invention]

In the vehicle navigation device of the present invention, the position coordinates corresponding to the telephone number and the storage means for storing the map data having the position coordinate, and the position coordinate of at least one or a plurality of arbitrary points by inputting the telephone number. Point setting means for setting, further route search means for reading the map data corresponding to the set position coordinates from the storage means and searching for a route between the points set by the point setting means, and the current position of the vehicle Current position detecting means for detecting, guiding to the set point based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting means and the point set by the point setting means, or to the searched route A route guide means for guiding the route based on the above; the storage means stores position coordinates by latitude and longitude, and the point setting means, When the speech number is input, the position coordinates corresponding to the input telephone number are retrieved from the storage means, and the point on the map data is set based on the position coordinate. Therefore, by inputting the telephone number, the current position and It is possible to set position information of a plurality of arbitrary points such as a starting point to pass in the middle of traveling, a guidance start position such as a passing position, a passing position, a destination on the way, and a guidance ending position such as a final destination. Moreover,
The phone number can be easily obtained from travel information magazines, pamphlets, business cards, or phone books, and you can enter a numerical value of around 10 digits, so accurate location coordinates can be used without knowing the detailed location on the map. It becomes easy to set a point such as a ground or a place of departure, and it is possible to perform guidance guidance to the point set in this way. When the subscriber number of the input telephone number does not exist in the storage means, the representative position coordinates corresponding to the station number of the telephone number are set,
The vicinity of a desired point can be set as a point such as a destination or a departure point.

Further, the storage means is configured to have a telephone number list storing position data corresponding to telephone numbers and a position data list storing position coordinate data corresponding to the position data stored in the telephone number list. Therefore, the search for the position coordinates corresponding to the telephone number can be quickly processed from the input telephone number.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a navigation device according to the present invention, in which 100 is a point setting means, 101 is a display section, and 102 is
Is a display control unit, 103 is an input unit, 104 is an input mode recognition unit,
105 is a processing unit, 106 is a storage unit, 107 is a telephone number list, 108
Is position data, 109 is a route search unit, 110 is a code list, 200 is route search means, 300 is map data storage means, 40
Reference numeral 0 indicates a route guiding means, and 500 indicates a current position detecting means.

In FIG. 1 (a), the point setting means 100 sets the position coordinates of a plurality of arbitrary points, and stores the position coordinates corresponding to the telephone number as shown in FIG. 1 (b). It has a section 106. Then, when the telephone number is input, the corresponding position coordinates are retrieved from the storage unit 106 and the position coordinates are set. If there is no input telephone number,
The map data storage means 300 for setting the representative position coordinates of the area of the telephone number stores the map data of the target area for carrying out the route search, and the route search means 200 is
The map data corresponding to the position coordinates set by the point setting means 100 is read from the map data storage means 300 and the route between the points set by the point setting means 100 is searched. The current position detection means 500 detects the current position of the vehicle, and the route guidance means 400 performs route guidance based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detection means 500 and the searched route. It is a thing.

FIG. 1B shows an example of the configuration of the point setting means 100. In FIG. 1 (b), a display unit 101 is a liquid crystal display, a CRT display, or other display provided at a position easily visible near the driver's seat. For example, when a route is set, a departure place, a current position, and a destination are input. The menu for doing is displayed. Then, when the navigation is executed after the route is set, so-called navigation information such as course guidance information is displayed. The input unit 103 is
For example, it is provided on the screen of the display unit 101 to detect the touch position on the screen, and it goes without saying that another key panel may be combined. The display control unit 102 is
The input mode recognition unit 104 controls the display content of the display unit 101. Even if the touch position on the input unit 103 is the same, the input information differs depending on the screen. Therefore, conversion from a physical key to a logical key is performed. Input section 103 according to the display screen
The input information, the input mode, etc. are recognized. The storage unit 106 stores a telephone number list 107 and position data 108, and the telephone number list 107 stores telephone numbers (TEL N
o.) for each position data 108 block number (block N
o.) and the position number (position No.) of the position data 108, and the position data 108 has specific position information such as a name and a position for each position number (position No.). Processing unit 105
Has an internal memory and appropriately reads data in block units from the storage unit 106 to perform processing of input data and processing of display data according to a display screen, input information, and an input mode. In the navigation device of the present invention, when the telephone number is input in the position input mode, the telephone number list 107 is read to perform the telephone number matching process, and the block of the position data 108 is obtained from the block number (block No.). Position information that matches the position number (position number) that is read is stored. In this way the storage unit 10
6 is a CD (compact disc) or the like that stores necessary data, and is loaded into the internal memory of the processing unit 105 and held and processed as necessary to improve processing speed and reduce the internal memory size. We are trying to increase the capacity.

In addition, data can be stored as "phone number-position number", "position number-
If it is separately configured like "position", the search processing speed can be increased, and the data of "position number-position" can be applied to another position search method. The so-called guidance start position and guidance end position are the starting point, the current position, the destination, and the positions in the vicinity thereof, but multiple destinations are set on the way to the final destination, and each of the destinations on the way is called. You may input by a number and may set each position or its vicinity position in order as a guidance start position and a guidance end position.

Note that, as the navigation device, intersection information, road information, road network data including node information defining roads, guidance data, and the like are stored in the storage unit 106 as map data,
Further, a distance detection unit and a steering angle detection unit, etc. for tracking the current position while traveling are under the processing unit 105, and after setting the point and performing the route search, the processing unit 105 processes and displays this information. The route guidance information may be output through the unit 101, and not only the display unit but also the voice output unit may be used as the route guidance information output unit.

In addition, the display control unit 102 is configured to read a peripheral map including a point corresponding to the input telephone number from the map data and display it on the display unit 101, and set an arbitrary point on the map as a destination. You may. In this case, the input unit 10
Based on the telephone number input from 3, the necessary information is read from the storage unit, the corresponding position coordinates are searched, the peripheral map including the position coordinates corresponding to the position coordinates is read, and the input phone number is If it does not exist, the representative position coordinates of the area of the telephone number may be searched and the peripheral map may be read out from the map data and displayed.

If the point is set as described above and the current position of the vehicle can be detected by the current position detection means, route search and route guidance can be performed by setting at least only the destination. The route search unit 109 is a route search means 200 shown in FIG.
When the starting point or the current position and the position information of the destination are held, the route is searched and the optimum route to the destination is set.

Next, an example of specific processing will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing in the position input mode, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of position input on the display screen, and FIG.
The figure is a diagram showing a configuration example of a telephone number.

When the navigation device enters an input mode for a starting point or a destination, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), a position input mode screen as shown in FIG. 3 (a) is displayed. At this point, the entire phone number "0566-99-1111" has not been entered, and "Cancel"
Is a key to be used when there is an input error, and "genre input" is a key to be used when inputting codes classified by genre, not in the mode of telephone number input "TEL NO". FIG. 2B shows an example in which the area code, the local area code, and the individual telephone number are continuously input without using "-" for inputting the telephone number. Operate the "End" key after input. In the former case, the end may be automatically recognized on the condition that the total number of digits is 9 or more and a four-digit numerical value is input after "-".

It is determined whether or not the input mode is the telephone number input mode "TEL". If YES, the next telephone number input process is performed, and if NO, the position input process is performed in another mode.

The mode judgment in the case of the screen of FIG. 3 (a) is YES when the numeric keypad is operated without operating the "genre input" key, and NO when the "genre input" key is operated. . Of course, a key to select each mode is provided on the screen, and it is configured to always select the mode.
It goes without saying that the screen configuration and operation mode can be changed in various ways.

When the phone number input process or the input process in another mode is performed and the position data is read, the confirmed position information is registered as a departure place or a destination.

Then, in the above-mentioned telephone number input processing, as shown in FIG. 2B, first, group recognition is performed. This is a case in which the telephone number list 107 of the storage unit 106 shown in FIG. 1 is divided into a plurality of groups, and each group is divided in advance from "area code-local code-individual telephone number". Is to recognize. Further, in the input method in which "-" is inserted as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the area code, the local code, and the individual telephone number can be distinguished by the recognition of "-". But,
As shown in Fig. 3 (b), the area code without "-" is used.
When entering the local area code and telephone number in sequence, enter the individual telephone number "1111" and confirm the entered number on condition that the "End" key is operated. , It is necessary to distinguish the local area code and telephone number. In particular, the area code and city code are, for example, 2 digits and 3 digits in Tokyo, 4 digits and 2 digits in Tokyo, 3 digits in Yokohama and 3 digits.
It varies from region to region, like digits. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the classification for each area. Fig. 4 shows an example of Hokkaido, but in the example shown in Fig. 4, if the numerical value input after "011" is "3", then continue with "01137".
Up to "011" is set as the station number. Further, the division of individual telephone numbers can be performed by extracting a 4-digit numerical value from the end.

The telephone number list corresponding to the recognized group is read from the recording unit 106 to the processing unit 105.

Performs matching processing with the telephone numbers input in the read telephone number list.

A block of position data is read from the storage unit 106 based on the block number of the telephone number list, and the position information of the corresponding position number is held.

The position information held as described above is used as the position information of the starting point and the destination. Then, when the position input of the departure point and the destination is completed, the navigation device normally shifts to the route search (route search) processing as described above.

"Navigation device to which the present invention is applied" Further, an example of the entire configuration of the navigation device to which the present invention is applied, including the current position detecting means and the route guiding means, will be described in more detail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a system configuration of one embodiment of a navigation device having a current position calculation function.

In FIG. 5, the input unit 1 is composed of input means by hard keys, touch input means from a display screen, etc., and is used for destination input, current position input, start input and the like. The distance sensor 2 detects the traveling distance of the vehicle, and the steering angle sensor 3 detects the steering angle of the operated vehicle. The output unit 5 includes a display, a voice output device, and the like, and displays a menu necessary for inputting a destination or a current position and outputs course guidance information. Road network data 5
Is composed of information on intersections, roads connecting the intersections, and data such as node strings forming the roads. The navigation data 7 is composed of course guide information, set course information and other data necessary for navigation, and the navigation data generated by the navigation processing unit 4 is stored therein. The flag table 8 is a table for registering flags required for navigation, is accessed from the navigation processing unit 4 according to the processing status, and is appropriately updated. The navigation processing unit 4 is composed of, for example, a computer, and has road network data 6, navigation data 7, and a flag table 8.
To process the data and information input from the input unit 1 and the detection signals of the distance sensor 2 and the steering angle sensor 3.

The navigation processing unit 4 is an input data processing module 1 that analyzes data and information input from the input unit 1.
1, a distance data processing module 12 for processing the detection signal of the distance sensor 2, and a steering angle data processing module 13 for processing the detection signal of the steering angle sensor 3, and based on the data and information input from these processing units. In addition, it has a plurality of processing modules that perform processing necessary for navigation.

The processing control module 14 controls the processing of the entire navigation processing unit 4 according to the instruction information input from the input unit 1, refers to the flag table 8 as necessary, and searches the route search module 15 and the current position input. module
16, control the current position tracking module 17.

When the destination is input from the input unit 1, the route search module 15 searches for an optimum route for guiding to the destination while accessing the road network data 6, and the road network data that is the target of navigation. Set the optimum direction of travel to the destination at all 6 intersections. Then, the searched data is stored in the navigation data 7. in this case,
Focusing on an intersection, select a road according to the traveling direction set at that intersection and drive, and then select a road according to the traveling direction set repeatedly at the next intersection and the next intersection as well. By doing so, it is set so that the destination can be reached on the optimum route.
Here, the meaning of the optimum rather than the shortest is that in the route search, considering the width of the road, the number of passing intersections, the traffic volume and other running conditions, etc.,
This is because the absolute distance is not necessarily the shortest, but it also includes the search that is the shortest when converted by the traveling time. When the present invention is applied to the method of performing route search and navigation focusing on intersections as described above, it is sufficient to perform a route end node sequence creation process described later to connect the input position to a nearby intersection. Hereinafter, such processing is added to the current position and the destination. Therefore, in the following description, it is assumed that the intersection is reached.

When the current position is input from the input unit 1, the current position input module 16 recognizes the current position from the road network data 6 and the navigation data 7, and recognizes the corresponding intersection shape and direction, mark, intersection name, and traveling direction road. Etc. are drawn and displayed on the screen of the output unit 5, and data necessary for navigation is set. Then, a flag required for starting the tracking of the current position is set by the start input.

The current position tracking module 17 is activated when a route search is performed, navigation data is set, and the current position is input, and based on the signals of the distance sensor 2, the steering angle sensor 3, the navigation data 7, and the road data 6, The current position is tracked while repeatedly detecting the current position for each intersection and detecting the intersection. The state at that time is appropriately set in the flag table 8 as a flag, and the shift to each processing step is determined by referring to this flag. Therefore, it further includes sub-modules such as initial position setting 18, sensor detection 19, remaining distance calculation 20, bending point detection 21, road selection 22, and distance error correction 23.

The remaining distance calculation 20 is to always calculate the remaining distance to the intersection in order to detect the current position at the intersection, and perform the recognition processing of the intersection when the remaining distance to the intersection reaches a predetermined value. The bending point detection 21 is for performing the recognition process of the intersection, and the bending start point in the error range of the intersection,
The bending end point is detected and the bending point position corresponding to the intersection position is detected. The road selection 22 is to detect a road that actually passes through the intersection regardless of whether or not the guided traveling road is selected. We are trying to provide guidance in the direction of travel. Then, the distance error correction 23 corrects the distance error based on the detected bending point position and the selected traveling road, and obtains the current position on the traveling road. That is, here, the remaining distance to the end point intersection on the current position road is obtained.

In this way, by detecting the current position at an intersection and recognizing the advancing road, even if the guidance regarding the ending intersection of the road is given, the selection is made even if the intersection does not proceed as instructed. Guidance can be provided based on the roads that have been taken, and navigation continues. In other words, guidance in the direction of travel at each intersection is just guidance,
Even if the road is not set as the traveling direction, the navigation can be continued.

As described above, in the navigation device shown in FIG. 5, the input unit 1 corresponds to the input unit 103 shown in FIG. 1 (b), and the input data processing unit 11 has the input mode identification unit shown in FIG. 1 (b).
Corresponding to 104, the output unit 5 has a display unit 103 shown in FIG.
And the display control unit 102, the processing control module 14, the current position input module 16, and the current position tracking module 17 correspond to the processing unit 105 shown in FIG.
The steering angle sensor 3, the distance data processing unit 12, the steering angle data processing unit 13, and the current position tracking module 17 correspond to the current position detecting means 500 shown in FIG.
Corresponds to the route searching means 200 shown in FIG. 1A and the route searching unit 200 shown in FIG.
Storage means 300 shown in FIG. 3A, storage unit 1 shown in FIG.
Corresponding to 06, the processing control module 14 corresponds to the point setting means 100 and the route guiding means 400 shown in FIG.

Next, the processing contents of the navigation device having the current position calculation function will be described in more detail. First, prior to the description of the processing content, an example of the data structure prepared by the navigation device having the current position calculation function will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure example of a road network, intersection data, road data, and node string data.

Now, for example, as shown in FIG.
If there is a road network consisting of VII and road numbers, the intersection data has a data structure as shown in FIG. 2B, the road data has a data structure as shown in FIG. 3C, and the node data has a data structure as shown in FIG.

The intersection data is the intersection number I as shown in FIG.
Corresponding to VII, at least the smallest road number among the roads starting from the intersection, the smallest road number among the roads ending in the intersection, the position of the intersection (east longitude, north latitude) , I have information about intersection names.

Further, the road data is based on the next road number among roads having at least the same start point, the next road number among roads having the same end point, and the intersection number corresponding to the road numbers ~ as shown in FIG. Start point, end point, node column pointer,
Have information on road length. As is clear from the figure, the next road number among roads with the same start point and the next road number among roads with the same end point should be generated by searching for the same number from the start point and end point by the intersection number. You can Further, the road length can also be calculated by integrating the position information of the next node string data.

The node string data has a node number at the head pointed by the node string pointer of the road data, as shown in FIG. 3D, and node position (east longitude, north latitude) information is then provided for the nodes corresponding to that number. have. That is, a node string is formed for each road data. The illustrated example shows a node sequence with road numbers.

As is clear from the above data structure, the unit of road number consists of a plurality of nodes. That is, the node sequence data is a set of data relating to one point on the road, and when connecting the nodes is called an arc, the road is represented by connecting the arcs between the plurality of node sequences. . For example, regarding the road number, it is possible to access the node sequence data A000 from the node sequence pointer of the road data, and it can be recognized that the road number includes 15 nodes.

Further, for example, in the case of paying attention to the intersection number V, in the course having the intersection as the starting point, first, the road number is obtained from the information of the road where the intersection data appears, and then the “next road number having the same starting point” in the road data related to this road number. The road number is searched from the information ". Then, the road number and then the road number are searched from the similar information about the road number. Here, since the road number is the first road number, it can be determined that there is no other road number as the surrounding road. This also applies to the end point. In this way, by using the intersection data and the road data, it is possible to search the road numbers entering and leaving each intersection, and also it is possible to obtain the distance of the route connecting each intersection. further,
By adding entry prohibition, right / left turn prohibition, traveling conditions such as road width, etc. to these data, it is possible to use them as information for carrying out a detailed route search to be described later, for example.

Next, the flow of the entire processing will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the overall processing flow by the navigation device having the present position calculation method according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of route search output, and FIG. 9 is a guide. It is a figure which shows the example of an output.

FIG. 6 shows the processing flow of the processing control module 14 of the navigation device described with reference to FIG. 5, step S1 corresponds to the point setting means 100 shown in FIG. 1 (a), and step S8 corresponds to 1 Route guidance means 400 shown in FIG.
It corresponds to.

(S1) First, enter the destination. The destination is displayed by displaying the menu screen as described above, and the numeric part is used as a numeric keypad, for example, the telephone number "0566-99-1111".
Is touch input.

(S2) Next, enter the route search mode, first search the route from the position entered by the telephone number to the nearby intersection (destined intersection), and then at each intersection, optimally reach the destination (destined intersection). The route direction is set. For example, in the road network shown in FIG. 7 (a), if the intersection I is the destination, as shown in FIG.
The direction of travel to the destination is set for each. An example of the data is shown in FIG. In this route search, the traveling direction of each intersection is set by sequentially obtaining, for example, the shortest distance to the destination from the intersections close to the destination.

(S3) Enter the current location as the departure point. Although a detailed description will be given later with reference to FIG. 10, in this process, the “current position tracking failure flag”, the “destination guidance flag” and the like are turned off.

(S4) When the input processing of the current position is performed, it is possible to guide the traveling direction at that position, and the signals of the distance sensor and the steering angle sensor are processed according to the traveling to track the current position. Although a detailed description will be given later with reference to FIG. 11, in this process, first, the “intersection arrival flag” is turned off at the initial stage, and the current position is recognized by recognizing information such as the length of the road, the end point intersection, and the node sequence. When the vehicle arrives at the guided intersection, the "intersection arrival flag" is turned on, and if the guided intersection cannot be detected, the "current position tracking failure flag" is turned on. To

(S5) "Traffic arrival flag" after tracking the current position
Check if is on or off.

(S6) Then, if the "intersection arrival flag" is off, it is further checked whether the "current position tracking failure flag" is on or off. If the "current position tracking failure flag" is off, the road network data in the road network data is checked. Since it can be determined that the vehicle is traveling on the road, the process returns to step S4 to continue tracking the current position again,
When the "current position tracking failure flag" is on, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a road other than the road in the road network data, the process returns to step S3, and the current position as the starting point is input again.

(S7) If the "intersection arrival flag" is on, then it is checked whether the "destination guidance flag" is on. The "destination guidance flag" is a processing step S1 described later.
At 0, it is turned on when the ending intersection of the current position road becomes the destination intersection. This "Destination Guidance Flag"
If is turned on, it means that the guidance to the destination intersection has been completed, and the process returns to the first destination input process.

(S8) However, if the "destination guidance flag" is still off, it means that the destination intersection is further ahead of the next intersection. As shown in FIG. 9, the shape of the intersection, the features of the intersection, the landmarks, the traveling direction at the intersection, etc. are drawn on the screen and displayed together with the name of the intersection and the remaining distance to the intersection, thereby outputting the guidance of the intersection. Also,
At this time, the "intersection arrival flag" is also turned off.

(S9) Then, it is checked whether or not the ending intersection of the current position road is the destination intersection. If it is not the destination intersection, the process returns to the current position tracking in step S4.

(S10) If the ending intersection of the current position road is the destination intersection, turn on the "destination guidance flag" and step
Return to S4 current position tracking.

The above is the flow of the overall processing.

Next, the main processing routine of the above steps will be described in more detail.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a current position input processing routine.
In the processing routine of the current location input S3, when the intersection number is first input, the intersection data, road data,
The direction of the intersection, the shape of the intersection, the name of the intersection, the landmarks of the intersection, etc. are recognized from the node sequence data, and the intersection name, the characteristics of the intersection, and the traveling direction are drawn and displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 10A (S31). , S32). Then, the traveling direction data at the intersection number inputted based on the traveling direction data shown in FIG. 8 (b) is stored as the road number of the current position road, and the traveling direction road is shown in FIG. 10 (a). Draw with an arrow (S33, S34). After that, wait until there is a start input,
When the driver inputs start at the time of passing an intersection, the "current position tracking flag" is turned on, and the "current position tracking failure flag", "destination guidance flag", and "intersection arrival flag" are turned off ( S35, S36).

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for tracking the current position,
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for initial position setting.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for sensor detection, FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for remaining distance calculation, FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining calculation processing of a vehicle direction and trajectory, and FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a bending point detection processing routine, FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a road selection processing routine, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a distance error correction processing routine, and FIG. 19 is a distance. It is a figure for demonstrating the processing content of an error correction.

As shown in FIG. 11 (S411), the current position tracking processing routine first checks whether or not the "current position tracking initialization flag" is turned on. If only the current position has been input and the initial data for tracking the current position has not been set, it is ON, so the initial position setting shown in FIG. 12 is performed. When this setting is performed, the "current position tracking initialization flag" is turned off, and thereafter, the process directly proceeds to the next step.

In the initial position setting, as shown in Fig. 12, the road length, the ending intersection, and the node string are read from the road data and node string data according to the "road number of the current position road", and these are read as "current position road length". , “End point intersection of current position road”, “Node line of current position road”. Furthermore, the signal of the distance sensor is read and the value is set to the “current distance sensor value”. Then, the "current position tracking initialization flag", "error range flag", "error range passage flag", "bending end wait flag", "bending point detection flag", "bending detection flag", etc. are turned off. Set the "current location road length" to the "remaining distance to the intersection."

(S412) Next, the sensor detection process shown in FIG. 13 is performed. In this process, first, the current sensor values for the distance and the steering angle are set as the previous sensor values, and then the sensor values are read and used as the current sensor values. Then, the amount of change in the steering angle corresponding to the distance traveled is calculated, and the steering angle at the current position is calculated.
Ask for Sta.

(S413) After the loop counter i is set to 0, the process after the remaining distance calculation is repeated while incrementing the loop counter i until the loop counter i reaches the advanced distance. In the remaining distance calculation, as shown in Fig. 14, the remaining distance to the intersection is sequentially subtracted and updated, and it is judged whether or not the distance is within the intersection error range distance. Until the distance is within the range, the “within error range flag” is turned off and the remaining distance calculation is repeated. When the remaining distance to the intersection falls within the intersection error range distance, the "within error range flag" is turned on. Then, after turning on the "within error range flag" and then leaving the intersection within the error range distance, the "error range passage flag" is turned on.

(S414) When the “within error range flag” is turned on, the vehicle azimuth and the trajectory are calculated and the bending point detection shown in FIG. 16 is performed.

The calculation of the vehicle azimuth and the trajectory is performed by sampling the traveling distance and the steering angle Sta for each traveling of the constant distance d as shown in FIG.
The new vehicle direction and trajectory are calculated from the previous vehicle direction Ang and the trajectory (X, Y) and stored in the memory. For example, the vehicle azimuth Ang (i) is calculated as Ang (i) = θ (Sta (i) from the steering angle Sta (i) read from the sensor at a constant distance and the vehicle rotation angle θ (st) with respect to the steering angle stored in advance. ) + Ang (i-1) Further, the vehicle trajectory (X (i), Y (i)) is (X (i), Y (i)) = (X (i-1) + dx, Y (i-1) ) + Dy) dx = d * cos ([pi] -Ang (i)) dy = d * sin ([pi] -Ang (i)).

In the bending point detection, as shown in FIG. 16, <S421> First, it is determined whether the “bending end waiting flag” and the “bending detection flag” are off and the steering angle is larger than the threshold value. , YES (beginning to bend), the “bending start point” is set to the current distance (“previous distance sensor value” + i), and the “bending detection flag” is turned on. That is, since the steering angle becomes larger than the threshold value for the first time, the bending detection processing state is entered. However, in the case of NO (during bending detection, or so-called straight line traveling when the steering angle is less than the threshold), <S422> is followed by whether the "bending detection flag" is ON and the steering angle is smaller than the threshold. If YES (bending is detected last time and bending is done this time), the rotation angle is set to the difference between the current bearing and the bearing at the bending start point. And
Check whether the rotation angle is greater than a predetermined minimum detected rotation error.If the rotation angle is less than the predetermined minimum detected rotation error, it cannot be determined that the intersection is bent, so the "bending detection flag" is set. Although it is turned back off, if the rotation angle is larger than the predetermined minimum detected rotation error, it can be judged that the intersection has been bent, so here the "bending point detecting flag" is turned off and the "bending end wait flag" is turned on. And set the "end point for bending" to the current distance. This is used to calculate the inflection point position. In addition, in the case of NO (end of bending, still detecting bending, or running straight), <S423> Furthermore, the “end point for waiting for bending point” is ON,
It is judged whether or not (“Waiting point end waiting position” + 10m) is smaller than the current distance, and YES (10m after the end of bending)
In the case of, the rotation angle is set to the difference between the current azimuth and the azimuth at the bending start point. Then, it is checked whether the rotation angle is larger than a predetermined minimum detected rotation error, and if the rotation angle is equal to or smaller than the predetermined minimum detected rotation error, the "bending point end wait flag" is turned off. The rotation angle is
If it is larger than 20 °, the "bending point detection flag" is turned on, the "bending end waiting flag" is turned off, the "bending end point" is set to the current distance, and the bending point position calculation is performed.

(S415) It is checked whether or not the "bending point detection flag" is on, and if it is off, the counter i is incremented and the same processing is repeated, but if it is on, a road is selected.

Also, when the "inside error range flag" is turned on once inside the intersection error range distance, the inflection point is not detected and the "inflection point detection flag" remains off and goes out of the intersection error range distance. Then, as described above in S413, the "error range flag" is turned off and the "error range passage flag" is turned on. Since this includes the case where the vehicle passes through the intersection without turning, the next road is selected in this case as well.

In selecting a road, the bending angle of the vehicle is first calculated as shown in FIG. Then, the road exiting from the intersection is read, the bending angle of each connecting road is calculated, and the minimum difference between the connecting road bending angle and the vehicle bending angle is obtained. When the minimum value is smaller than the predetermined maximum allowable angle difference, the road number is set to the "road number of the current position road", and when the minimum value is equal to or larger than the predetermined maximum allowable angle difference. For this, it is determined that the corresponding road has not been detected, and the "current position tracking failure flag" is turned on. That is,
The road closest to the vehicle bending angle is selected as the traveling road for all connected roads, but if the error between them is large, the current position cannot be calculated and the current position is reset. .

(S416) It is checked whether or not the "current position tracking failure flag" is on, and if it is on, steps S5 and S6 in FIG.
To S3, and if it remains off, the distance error is corrected continuously.

In the distance error correction, as shown in FIG. 18, first, as in the case of the initial position setting, according to the “road number of the current position road”, the road length, the end intersection, and the node string are set as road data,
It is read from the node string data, and these are set in the "current position road length", the "current position road end intersection", and the "current position road node string". Then, it is checked whether or not the "bending point detection flag" is turned on, the difference D between the current distance ("previous distance sensor value" + i) and the bending point position is obtained, and this value D is calculated as the "current position road length". It is subtracted from "sa" and the result is set to "remaining distance to the intersection". In other words, here, by turning the intersection and entering the next road,
The process of correcting the error up to that point to the new road by the length is performed. However, if the "bending point detection flag" is off, the value obtained by adding the "length of the current position road" to the "remaining distance to the intersection" is updated as a new "remaining distance to the intersection". This is a process corresponding to the case where the vehicle passes through an intersection without turning. For example, if the "remaining distance to the intersection" is 0 at that intersection, the "current position road length" remains unchanged to the new "intersection". "Remaining distance". FIG. 19 shows the result of error correction when the bending point is detected and when it is not detected. Assuming that the difference between the bending point position and the intersection position is ed as shown in FIG. 9A, the remaining distance to the next intersection is the bending point position as the intersection position as shown in FIG. Is corrected to D.

(S417) The "intersection arrival flag" is turned on, the loop counter i is incremented, and the same processing is repeated.

Next, the calculation processing of the bending point at the intersection will be described.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a bending position calculation processing routine,
FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for calculating a vehicle bending angle,
FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a rudder angle, a bending start point, a bending point position, and a bending end point, FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a road reading processing routine that exits from an intersection, and FIG. 24 is a processing of connecting road bending angle calculation. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a routine, and FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining how to obtain the bending angle of the connecting road.

In the bending point position calculation processing in the bending point detection processing (FIG. 16), as shown in FIG. 20, an intermediate distance B ₀ between the bending start point A and the bending end point C, and an intermediate bearing d of the vehicle heading Ang are obtained. When the loop counter j is set to 1 and B is set to the average distance B ₀ , the vehicle direction Ang (B) at the distance B, and further, when the loop counter j is incremented and B ₀ ± j is set to B, the vehicle direction Ang ( Regarding B), a point that coincides with the intermediate direction d is searched for, and the coincident point B is set at the bending point position. Then, the distance D _up from the bending start point A to the bending point position B,
Find the distance D _down from the bending point position B to the bending end point C. FIG. 22 shows these relationships. The bending start point A and the bending end point C are set to the bending start point A when the steering angle exceeds a threshold value as shown in FIG. 22 (a), and when the steering angle returns to within the threshold value, A point is set at the bending end waiting position C ', and a point which has traveled 10 m from that point is set as the bending end point C.

Further, in the vehicle bending angle calculation processing in the road selection processing (FIG. 17), it is checked whether or not the “bending point detection flag” is off as shown in FIG. 21, and if it is on, the bending ends. The point, the bending point position, and the bending start point have been found in the bending point detection process (Fig. 16), but when these are off, these values have not been found, so the next value is set. It That is, the bending end point is the current distance (“previous distance sensor value” + i), the bending point position is the current distance minus the intersection error range distance, and the bending start point is the current distance from the intersection error range. The value should be the value obtained by subtracting twice the distance. Then, from the coordinates of these three points, shown in Figure 22 / ABC
Is calculated as the vehicle bending angle.

When the vehicle bending angle calculation is completed, the road that goes out from the intersection is read next. In this process, as shown in Fig. 23, the road number at the end point of the current position road is read from the intersection data and the road is read. Set the numbers to "road number" and "first road number", respectively. And
The loop counter j is set to 0. Next, while incrementing the loop counter j, all road numbers are read by sequentially reading from the road data until the next road number having the same start point becomes the "first road number", and the number is read as "the number of exit roads." ”.

In the road selection process (Fig. 17) for connecting road bending angle calculation, as shown in Fig. 24, first, the node sequence of the road number of the current position road is read from the road data and the node sequence data, and its end point is read. Coordinates of point A at a distance D _up from (x _A ,
Calculate y _A ). Then, the end point B of the node example is set as the coordinates (x _A , y _A ). Next, the node sequence of the road exiting from the intersection is read from the road data and the node sequence data, and the coordinates (x _A , y _A ) of the point C at the distance D _down from the starting point are calculated. Furthermore, from these coordinates, points A'and C'on the circles inscribed on these straight lines AB and BC and inscribed in these straight lines are transformed into arcs (A '
Assuming an inscribed circle so that the length of C ′) is D _up + D _down , calculate the coordinates of points A ′ and C ′, and find the intersection of the inscribed circle and the line that bisects / ABC. Obtain as point B '. The resulting / A'B'C 'is set to the "connecting road bend angle". Figure 25 shows these relationships.

As described above, the navigation device having the current position calculation function uses various flags for processing information, and the main ones are summarized as follows.

“Intersection arrival flag”; when it is on, guidance output of the next intersection is performed, and it is turned off when inputting the current position and turned on when passing the intersection.

"Destination guidance flag": If it is on when an intersection arrives, it is judged that the destination has arrived, and the main routine is returned to the beginning (destination input processing). If the next intersection is the destination when the guidance is output, turn it on.

"Current position tracking failure flag"; If it is on, the current position tracking process returns, and the main routine branches to input the current position again. It is turned off during the current position input process to select the road. When there is no road to select, turn it on.

"Current position tracking initialization flag"; When it is turned on, it calls an initial position setting routine, which is turned off when the initial position is set and turned on when the current position is input.

“In-error-range flag”: When it is on, the trajectory is calculated, the bending point is detected, and so on. If it is within the intersection error range, it is turned on, and if not, it is turned off.

"Error range passage flag": If it is on, the road is selected. If it passes the intersection error range, it is turned on, otherwise it is turned off.

"Bending point detection flag": When on, the road is selected by tracking the current position, and the current position is reset by correcting the distance error. When it is off, the bending start point and bending are calculated by the vehicle bending angle calculation. The end point and the bending point position are set, and turned off when the initial position is set, turned on when the bending point is detected, and turned off after the distance error is corrected.

“Bending detection flag” and “bending end wait flag”: Bending detection and bending end point detection are performed, and are turned off at the initial position setting. The "bending detection flag" is turned on when the steering angle exceeds a threshold value, and these on / off are controlled depending on whether or not the rotation angle exceeds the minimum detection rotation angle.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a current position tracking processing routine in another embodiment of the navigation device having the current position calculation function, and FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining bending point detection.

In the above embodiment, the current position is tracked by the remaining distance from the road number and the end point intersection of the road number.
The embodiment shown in FIG. 26 recognizes an intersection by coordinates and tracks the current position. Therefore, in the process of tracking the current position, the procedure up to the detection of the bending point is the same as that in the above-mentioned embodiment, but instead of the process from the road selection to the distance error correction performed in the above-described embodiment, the process at the time of passing an intersection It is designed to perform processing for approaching an intersection, comparing bending angles, and correcting current position.

According to the example shown in FIG. 27, when entering the circle having a constant radius from the intersection, it is recognized that the intersection is within the error range of the intersection. For example, if the distance within the error range of the intersection coordinates (x _C , y _C ) is r, the coordinates (x _O , y _O ) of the current position (vehicle position) is (x _C −x _O ) ² + (y _c − When y _O) 2 ^<reaches the position that satisfies the conditions of the r ^2, and has entered the circle shown in FIG. 26 (a). Then, as shown in (b) of the figure, bending detection is performed to detect the bending start position and the bending end position, and the azimuths of these positions are set to -20 ° and -100 °, respectively. Bend end position azimuth)-(Bend start position azimuth) = -100 °-(-20 °) = -80 °, and further detect the bending point position, and D _up = | Bending point position-Bending start position | D _down = | bending end position-bending point position |.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining the intersection approach direction and bending angle comparison process, FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine corresponding to the process of FIG. 28, and FIG. 30 is a road reading process for entering the intersection. FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a routine, FIG. 31 is a diagram for continuing the current position correction process, and FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of a process routine corresponding to the process of FIG.

In the intersection approach direction and bending angle comparison processing, Fig. 28 (a)
As shown in, the road entering the intersection number IV is read from the road that contains the intersection data and the road that has the same end point in the road data, and the direction when entering from this road is D _Obtained as the azimuth of the _up position. For example, as shown in FIG. Then, in the example shown in FIG. 27 (b), the road number having the approach direction closest to the bending start position direction (−20 °) is set as the approach road.

When the approach road is obtained, the road having the same starting point is read out from the road exiting from the intersection number IV and the road data, and the direction change when these roads proceed from the approach road is obtained. In this processing, it is determined as a change between the direction at the position D _down from the intersection position on the node sequence of the exit road and the bend start position direction on the approach road. Therefore, when we look at the relationship between the approach road and each exit road ,, Becomes Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 27 (b), since the trajectory bending accuracy is -80 °, the road → with the bending angle closest to this is determined as the traveling direction.

FIG. 29 shows the processing routine for comparing the intersection approach direction and bending angle. In the processing routine shown in FIG. 29, first, the process of reading the road entering an intersection is performed.

In this process, as shown in FIG. 30, the road number at which the end point intersection of the current position road enters is read from the intersection data, and this number is set to the "road number" and the "first road number", respectively. Then, the loop counter j is set to 0. Next, while incrementing the loop counter j, by sequentially reading from the road data until the next road number having the same end point becomes the “first road number”,
All the road numbers are read and the number is set in the "number of roads to enter". That is, the processing corresponding to the processing for reading the road number exiting from the intersection described above with reference to FIG. 23 is performed.

Similarly, the process of reading the road number from the intersection described in FIG. 23 is performed, and the loop counter j is set to 0.

Then, first, while the loop counter j is incremented to the number of entering roads, the approach road shown in FIG. 28 (b) is determined, then the loop counter k is set to 0, and the number of roads exiting this is incremented. Meanwhile, the bending angle is calculated and the traveling direction road shown in FIG. 28 (c) is determined. Then, the traveling direction road obtained here is set as the road number of the current position road.

The current position correction is performed after obtaining the road number of the current position road. In this process, the current position coordinates are set as the bending end coordinates on the node row of the road as shown in FIG. The position and orientation is the bending end position and orientation (-
120 °). Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the end point intersection V of the road number is read from the road data as the next intersection, the intersection coordinates are read from the intersection data, and the vehicle enters within the error range of the intersection V. To monitor.

FIG. 32 shows the above-mentioned processing routine for correcting the current position. In the processing routine shown in FIG. 32, first, the end point intersection of the road number of the current position road and the node string are read from the road data, and these are set as the “current position road end point intersection” and the “node string”, respectively.

Further, the coordinates of the east longitude and the north latitude of the "end point intersection of the current position road" are read from the intersection data and set as "the coordinates of the next intersection east longitude and north latitude".

Then, the coordinates on the node sequence at the distance D _down from the start point of the “node sequence” are set to the coordinates of the current position (X [“previous distance sensor value” + i], Y [“previous distance sensor value” + i]). ,
The azimuth between the nodes at the distance D _down from the start point of the “node sequence” is the azimuth of the current position.

[Route End Node Sequence Creation and Route Search] Next, a route end node sequence creation process for creating a node sequence from the position input by the telephone number to a nearby intersection and a route search process from the intersection will be described. In the above route search, an example of inputting the destination and setting the traveling direction to the destination at each intersection has been described, but in the following example,
An example of searching for the optimum route from the starting point to the destination will be described.

Figure 33 shows the destination setting and its data structure,
FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a configuration example of intersection row and node row data.

This route end node sequence creation process creates a node sequence from the departure value and destination obtained from the position data by inputting the telephone number to the nearest intersection, and the position information of the departure point or destination from the nearest intersection. The node sequence is created by sequentially searching the nodes up to the node closest to. FIG. 33 shows an example in which the destination is set between the intersections. For example, as shown in FIG. 33 (a), when the destination A is given from the position data by the coordinates which are not directly related to the road between the intersections I and II, the destination data is the same as that shown in FIG. At intersections I and II, the coordinates are expressed as 135 ° E east and 35 ° N latitude as shown in. In addition, as shown in FIG.
When given by the distance from one of the intersections I and II, the destination data is expressed as the distance 50m from the connection intersection I at the connection intersections I and II as shown in FIG. It Therefore, in the route end node sequence creation process, a node sequence from the connecting intersection to the node of the destination A or the closest node is created.

In the route search process, a surrounding road search subroutine that searches for surrounding roads from intersections except for prohibited roads such as prohibiting right and left turns, width of roads, necessity of guidance, and other necessary conditions for calculating an optimum route are set. It has an optimum route condition setting subroutine and an end condition subroutine for judging the end of the route search, and searches for the optimum route from the designated departure point to the destination between the nearest intersections. Then, when the optimum route is searched by the route search process, intersection row and node row data between the nearest intersections from the departure point to the destination are created along the route. The intersection sequence and the node sequence data are obtained by connecting the node sequence created by the route end node sequence creation process to both ends of this data, and FIG. 34 shows the data configuration example.

The flow of the route end node sequence creation processing for the destination input setting as shown in FIG. 34 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, it is checked whether or not the input setting of the destination is the coordinate designation as shown in FIG. 33 (b). If YES, the next coordinate designation processing is performed, and if NO, the coordinate designation is performed as shown in FIG. Since the input setting for specifying the distance is as shown in (d), the processing for specifying the distance described later is performed.

(A) Processing for designating coordinates; FIG. 35 (a) Let N be the node at the connecting intersection I.

Assuming that the destination node is N ₀ , the straight line distance D = NN ₀ between the connecting intersection I and the destination is calculated, and the distance D is stored in the memory.

 Store the distance D in memory.

 It is checked whether the node N is the connecting intersection II.

If YES, it means that the destination was the connecting intersection II, so the node N is stored and the process ends. This determination cannot be the first process, and is the time when the process of to is repeated for the nodes up to the connecting intersection II and the end condition is not reached. If NO, perform the following processing.

 The node next to the node N is N '.

 The division constant t is set to 0.

Coordinates N _x node N, for N _y and _{N x = (1-t)} N x + tN x 'N y = (1-t) N y + tN y'.

Distance NN using coordinates calculated by distance D
_It is checked whether or not _0, that is, the distance from the point obtained by dividing the node N and the next node N ′ by the division constant t to the destination node N ₀ .

If YES, perform the following processing. In this case, since the current point is closer to the destination than the previous point, the point is further shifted. If NO, coordinates N _x , N _y
Is stored in the memory and the process ends. That is, in the case of NO, it means that the destination has been approached up to the previous point, but this time point is farther from the destination than the previous point. Therefore, the node N at this time and the next node N ′ are Since this is the closest to the destination, it is sufficient to create a node sequence from here to the connecting intersection.

Replace the distance D with NN ₀ .

Add 0.1 to the division constant t. That is, the dividing point is 10
Shift by%.

 It is checked whether or not the division constant t exceeds 1.

If YES, the following process is performed to replace the node N with the next node N ', and the process returns. That is, YES means that the division point has reached the node N ′ by 0.1 from the node N to the next node N ′, and therefore the process shifts the node by one. If NO, the process returns to the process. That is, in this case, since the division point is between the node N and the next node N ', the processes after the process are repeated.

(B) Distance designation processing: FIG. 35 (b) Let N be the node at the intersection I.

 The distance D is 0.

 Store the distance D in memory.

It is checked whether or not the node N stored in the memory is the connecting intersection II.

If YES, the node N of the connecting intersection II is stored and the process ends. If NO, perform the following processing.

 The node next to the node N is N '.

 The division position constant t is set to 0.

Node N and 'coordinates N _x division points by dividing position constant t between _{", N y" N x "} = (1-t) N x + tN x' the next node N N _y" = (1- t) Find N _y + tN _y ′.

Coordinates calculated by processing from node N to distance D
It is checked whether or not the distance obtained by adding the distance NN ″ to the point N ″ of N _x ″, N _y ″ is larger than the distance from the input destination to the connecting intersection I.

In the case of YES, the coordinates N _x and N _y are stored in the memory and the process ends. That is, in the case of YES, it means that the destination has been approached up to the previous point, but this time point is farther from the destination than the previous point. Therefore, the node N at this time and the next node N ′ are Since this is the closest to the destination, it is sufficient to create a node sequence from here to the connecting intersection. If NO, perform the following processing. In this case, since the current point is closer to the destination than the previous point, the point is further shifted.

Add 0.1 to the division constant t. That is, the dividing point is 10
Shift by%.

 It is checked whether or not the division constant t exceeds 1.

In the case of YES, the following processing is performed to replace the node N with the next node N ′, and the distance obtained by adding the distance NN ″ to the distance D is replaced as the new distance D, and the process returns. This means that the division point has reached the node N ′ by 0.1 from N to the next node N ′, so that the process shifts the node by 1. If NO, the process returns to the process. In this case, since the dividing point is between the node N and the next node N ', the processes after the process are repeated.

Next, the flow of processing when a route search is performed using the above network data will be described with reference to FIG. Where L (c)
Is a distance, F (c) is a flag, R (c) is a passing road number, s ₀ and s ₁ are intersection numbers on both sides of the departure point, and e ₀ and e ₁ are intersection numbers on both sides of the destination. Is. Further, c is an intersection number, flag F (c) is “0” not searched, “1” is searching, and “2” is searching completed.

All intersections are set to infinity (∞) for distance L (c) and "0" (not searched) for flag F (c). With this initial setting, all intersections will be unsearched first, and the distance from the departure point will be infinite.

The distance from the departure point is added to the distances L (s ₀ ), L (s ₁ ) corresponding to the intersection numbers s ₀ , s ₁ on both sides of the departure point, and the intersection numbers s ₀ , s on both sides of the departure point are added. Flag F (s corresponding to _1
0 ) and F (s ₁ ) are set to “1”, and the road number R (c) that has passed is set to the road number from the departure point.

An intersection number c ₀ where the flag F is not “2” and the distance L (c) is the smallest is searched.

Execute the surrounding road search subroutine to find the intersection number c ₀
Search for surrounding roads starting from.

 Check whether there is a surrounding road.

If YES, move to the next process, and if NO, move to the process.

The optimum route condition setting subroutine is executed to set road conditions and other conditions for searching for the optimum route.

The intersection number at the end of the road is c ₁ , and the length of the road is l
And

 The distance P to the intersection at the end of the road is calculated.

Calculate P = L (c ₀ ) +1.

Here, L (c ₀ ) is the distance from the departure point to the intersection number c ₀ , and P is the intersection number c ₀ to the road (road under search).
The distance to the intersection number c ₁ at the end point.

It is checked whether P <L (c ₁ ) and F (c ₁ ) ≠ 2.

If YES, the process moves to the next process, and if NO, the process returns.

Distance L from the departure point to the intersection number c _{1 being} searched
The (c ₁₎ P, the intersection number flag F (c ₁₎ to "1" in the c _1, the intersection number c ₁ road number has been passed up to the R (c ₁₎ and a road number of the search in To do.

If NO in the process, F (c ₀ ) is set to “2”.

 Execute the termination condition confirmation subroutine.

It is checked whether or not the process is finished. If NO, the process returns to the process, and if YES, the process ends.

By performing the above processing, the road number of the optimum course from the departure place to the intersection number is set corresponding to each intersection number for each intersection number.

The surrounding road search subroutine of the above processing is for performing the processing shown in FIG. That is, it is checked whether or not the surrounding road is searched for the first time.

If YES, go to the process, and if NO, go to the process.

The road number starting from the current intersection c ₀ is extracted from the intersection data and stored.

By referring to the road data, the prohibited road at the road number coming to the intersection c ₀ under search is extracted.

 Check whether the road just taken out is a prohibited road.

If YES, move to the process, and if NO, move to the next process.

The road just taken out is stored as a surrounding road, and the process returns (moves to the process of FIG. 36 (a)).

The road number having the same starting point as the previously searched road and the next road number is extracted from the road data.

Check whether the road searched first and the road just retrieved are the same.

If YES, the process moves to the next process, and if NO, the process returns.

 It is judged that there is no surrounding road and the process returns.

Further, the optimum route condition setting subroutine of the processing shown in FIG. 36 above carries out the processing shown in FIG. That is, the size W and the length l of the surrounding road are read from the road data.

It is checked whether the size W of the surrounding road is 1 or less.

If YES, move to the next process, and if NO, move to the process.

Let l be the length obtained by multiplying the length l by a. That is, if a road having D greater than 1 is a normal wide road and a road having a D of 1 or less is a thin road, the thin road is a
The distance is doubled. Therefore, a is a number greater than 1.

From the road data, the guidance unnecessary data of the road that has passed to the intersection currently searched is read.

Check whether there is a surrounding road that matches the guidance-free data.

If YES, the process returns, and if NO, the next process starts.

Further, a value obtained by adding bm to the length l is set as a new length l and the process is returned. That is, for intersections that do not require guidance,
For intersections that require guidance such as turning right or left, the distance is converted to distance and bm is added.

In the termination condition confirmation subroutine, as shown in FIG. 39, the intersection number c ₀ of the search target and the intersection numbers on both sides of the target etc. are checked for coincidence, and the termination flag is set on the condition that they coincide.

As described above, in the route search of the present invention, the shortest route is searched by weighting the distance between the intersections in consideration of the size of the surrounding road and the traveling conditions such as whether or not the road should be guided. As a result, road number information along the optimum course corresponding to each intersection is obtained. Therefore, the data of the intersection row and the node row can be created according to the processing flow shown in FIG. 40 according to the search result.

 The intersection number for which the search is completed is stored in the memory.

The starting point of the road number at the intersection is stored in the memory.

Check whether the intersection is on either side of the departure point.

If YES, the process moves to the next process, and if NO, the process returns.

A starting point number and a destination number are added before and after the stored intersection number sequence to form an intersection sequence.

The node string between the intersections is extracted by referring to the road data, and the node string is created.

Exclude intersections that do not require guidance from the intersection sequence using guidance-free data.

FIG. 34 shows an example of the intersection sequence and node sequence data generated from the result of the route search in this way. For example, as shown in FIG. 34 (a), the intersection sequence data is made up of information such as intersection names, intersection numbers, photograph numbers of characteristic landscapes of the intersections, turning angles, distances, etc.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the node string data is composed of information such as east longitude, north latitude, intersection number, attribute, angle, distance, etc. indicating the node position. Moreover, these data consist of only the intersections that require guidance, excluding the intersections that do not require guidance. Therefore, in navigation, this data may be sequentially read and output corresponding to a predetermined position.

As described above, at the time of route search, a search is made while checking the right / left turn prohibition data, and a course in which the right / left turn prohibition is not included.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the navigation course from the starting point to the destination is created by the data sequence consisting of the node sequence and the intersection sequence, but only one of the node sequence and the intersection sequence is used as the data sequence for the navigation. But it's okay. In the case of the intersection row only, it goes without saying that each data of the intersection row is provided with a photograph for navigation, guidance information and other necessary information. Further, when performing navigation using the data in the intersection row, for example, a push button switch is simply provided, and when the driver operates the push button switch every time when passing the intersection, the next intersection data is read out. By doing so, it is possible to execute navigation by a simple operation.

In the above embodiment, the route search is started from the departure place, but the route search may be started from the destination place. Also, the route search is started from the departure point and the processing is ended when the destination is reached.
The route search may be performed until (c) becomes 2, that is, for all intersections. In particular, if this route search is performed from the destination, optimum course information from all intersections to the destination will be created as in the example shown in Fig. 5 above. Also, the intersection sequence and the node sequence can be created from the nearest intersection without performing the route search again.

For example, in the above embodiment, the telephone number list 7 is changed to TEL N
However, the TEL No., the block No., and the position No. may be listed for each group, for example, each suburb or local number. in this case,
For the telephone numbers other than the so-called subscriber numbers registered in the group, TEL No. is registered which means that there is no corresponding number, and the block No. and position No. are representative positions of the area limited by the area code. You may make it have a representative position coordinate as information of. In this way, even when a telephone number that is not in the telephone number list is input, the information on the representative position and the surrounding map information can be similarly used for the position input.

There is not always a telephone at the place of departure, the current position, or the position of the destination like a park or a tourist spot. Therefore,
If there is no telephone number or if the telephone number is unknown, it is of course possible to use it together with other input methods so that the position can be entered by inputting other than the telephone number. For example, as described above. In addition to code input method and menu input method,
It can be used in combination with a coordinate input method, a voice input method, a card input method, etc. by numerical input or touch input on the displayed map. For example, when using with the code input method,
The code list 10 may be separately provided as shown in FIG. 1, or may be merged with the telephone number list. If the former code list 10 is separately provided, the block No. of the telephone number list and the position No. may be replaced with the code No. of the code list 10, or if the latter is merged,
In particular, a mode switching key may not be provided, and the telephone number may be entered when the beginning of the entered number is "0" and the code may be entered when the number is other than "0".

Alternatively, the telephone number may be input by voice. Especially in the case of voice input, there are some cases in which recognition accuracy becomes a problem and voice registration is performed, but in the case of telephone numbers, "0-9"
Since it is only necessary to register the voices up to, even if voice registration is required, the number of registered voices is small and the misrecognition rate can be reduced.

In addition, when entering the telephone number, set the telephone number of the station and other typical facilities, expressway interchanges, gas stations along the national road, etc., which are particularly easy to target, as a specific abbreviated number. The abbreviated number may be used for input, or in this case, not only the position may be set as the target, but also a map in the vicinity thereof may be displayed so that the destination can be input on the map. This makes it easy to input the destination when the telephone number is unknown but a representative facility is nearby.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the position can be input by the telephone number, the place of departure or the destination is not limited to a specific position such as a named point or an intersection, but also a telephone number. The position can be set freely.

Therefore, for example, even if you get lost while driving and you can not find the position at all, you can easily enter the current position into the navigation device by entering the telephone number displayed on the nearby gas station, shop, signboard, etc. , The travel route can be set again with the departure place as the departure place, and new route guidance can be received by the navigation device.

Further, according to the present invention, since the destination, the place of departure, etc. are set by a publicly available telephone number, it is possible to refer to a codebook, a coordinate table, etc. or switch a plurality of menu screens as in the conventional method. Compared with the manual input method, it is only necessary to enter a numerical value of around 10 digits on one screen, so the input operation can be completed quickly. In particular, code input and coordinate input cannot be directly connected to the position to be input, but in the case of a telephone number, since it is consciously recorded as information unique to that position on a daily basis, the connection with the position is deep. The advantage is that it is used as effective and convenient information. In addition, when switching and inputting multiple menu screens, for example, when switching from a wide area map to a detailed map one by one and setting a destination such as a destination or a starting point on a somewhat detailed map, know the telephone number. Even if it is, it has a problem that it is impossible to set the point unless you know in detail where the position is on the map, but as in the present invention, if you know the telephone number on the map Even if the detailed position is not known, it has a peculiar effect that the destination and the point of departure can be quickly set by a simple operation with accurate position coordinates.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a navigation device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing in a position input mode, and FIG. 3 is a position input example on a display screen. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a telephone number, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a system configuration of one embodiment of a navigation device having a current position calculation function to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 6 is a current position calculation FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the overall flow of processing by a navigation device having a function, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure example of road network and intersection data, road data and node sequence data, and FIG. 8 is a route search output. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of guidance output, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing routine of current position input, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine of current position tracking. Figure 12 shows an example of the initial position setting processing routine. FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a sensor detection processing routine, FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a remaining distance calculation processing routine, and FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the vehicle azimuth and trajectory calculation processing. , FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for detecting a bending point, FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for selecting a road, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for correcting a distance error, FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the processing contents of distance error correction, FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for calculating a bending position, and FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine for calculating a vehicle bending angle. Figure 22 shows the rudder angle, bending start point, bending point position, and bending end point. Figure 23 shows an example of the road reading processing routine that exits from the intersection. Figure 24 shows the connecting road bending angle calculation processing routine. Fig. 25 shows an example of Fig. 25 is a diagram for explaining how to obtain the connecting road bending angle, and Fig. 26 is The figure which shows the example of the processing routine of present position tracking in the other execution example of the navigation device which possesses the present position calculation system which relates to invention, Figure 27 is the figure in order to explain bending point detection, Figure 28 is the intersection approach direction FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining a bending angle comparison process, FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a process routine corresponding to the process of FIG. 28, FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a road reading process routine entering an intersection, FIG. 31 is a diagram for performing the current position correction process, FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of a processing routine corresponding to the process of FIG. 31, and FIG. 33 is a destination setting and its data configuration example. FIG. 34, FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of intersection sequence and node sequence data, FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining the flow of route end node sequence creation processing, and FIG. 36 is a flow of route search processing. FIG. 37 is an explanatory diagram, and FIG. 37 is a processing flow of a peripheral road search subroutine. FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of the optimum route condition setting subroutine, FIG. 39 is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of the end condition confirmation subroutine, and FIG. It is a figure for explaining the flow of intersection sequence and node sequence extraction processing. 100 ... point setting means, 101 ... display section, 102 ... display control section, 103 ... input section, 104 ... input mode recognition section, 105
…… Processing unit, 106 …… Storage unit, 107 …… Telephone number list,
108 ... position data, 109 ... route search unit, 110 ... code list, 200 ... route search means, 300 ... map data storage means, 400 ... route guidance means, 500 ... current position detection means.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koji Sumiya, 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, Aisin AW Co., Ltd. (72) Shoji Yokoyama, 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture・ AW Co., Ltd. (56) References JP 62-5123 (JP, A) JP 64-10383 (JP, A)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle navigation device for guiding a travel route of a vehicle, a storage means for storing map data having position coordinates corresponding to a subscriber number of a telephone number, representative position coordinates corresponding to a station number, and position coordinates. A point setting means for setting at least one arbitrary point by inputting a telephone number; a current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle; and a current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting means. And a route guidance means for guiding to the set point based on the point set by the point setting means, the storage means stores position coordinates by latitude and longitude, the point setting means, When the telephone number is input, the storage unit is searched for the position coordinate corresponding to the subscriber number, and the position coordinate corresponding to the subscriber number of the input telephone number is obtained. Representative position coordinates searching, vehicle navigation apparatus characterized by setting a point on the map data based on the position coordinates corresponding to the station number of the telephone number when household. 2. The storage means has a telephone number list storing position data corresponding to telephone numbers and a position data list storing position coordinate data corresponding to the position data stored in the telephone number list. The vehicular navigation device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A vehicle navigation device for guiding a travel route of a vehicle, a storage means for storing map data having position coordinates corresponding to a subscriber number of a telephone number, representative position coordinates corresponding to a station number, and position coordinates. And point setting means for setting a plurality of arbitrary points by inputting a telephone number, and map data corresponding to the position coordinates of the set points are read out from the storage means to set a route between the set points. Route searching means for searching, current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, and route guiding means for guiding the route based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting means and the searched route. The storage means stores position coordinates by latitude and longitude, and the point setting means stores the subscriber number from the storage means when a telephone number is input. The position coordinate corresponding to the number is searched, and if there is no position coordinate corresponding to the subscriber number of the input telephone number, the representative position coordinate corresponding to the station number of the telephone number is searched, and based on the position coordinate. A vehicle navigation device, characterized in that a point on the map data is set. 4. The storage means has a telephone number list storing position data corresponding to telephone numbers and a position data list storing position coordinate data corresponding to the position data stored in the telephone number list. The vehicular navigation device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A navigation device for a vehicle for guiding a travel route of a vehicle, wherein storage means for storing map data having representative position coordinates and position coordinates corresponding to a station number of a telephone number and a station number of a telephone number are input. By this, at least one arbitrary point setting means, a current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, a current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting means and the current point setting means are set. A route guide means for guiding the user to the set point based on the set point, the storage means stores the position coordinates by latitude and longitude, and the point setting means inputs the area code of the telephone number. Then, a representative position coordinate corresponding to the station number is retrieved from the storage means, a map centered on the representative position coordinate is displayed, and a point on the map is set. Vehicle navigation device that. 6. A vehicle navigation device for guiding a traveling route of a vehicle, wherein storage means for storing representative position coordinates corresponding to a station number of a telephone number and map data having the position coordinates and a station number of the telephone number are input. Point setting means for setting a plurality of arbitrary points by means, route search means for reading the map data corresponding to the position coordinates of the set point from the storage means, and searching the route between the set points, And a route guidance unit that performs route guidance based on the searched current route and the current position of the vehicle detected by the current position detection unit. , The position coordinates are stored by latitude and longitude, and the point setting means, when the area code of the telephone number is inputted, the representative position coordinates corresponding to the area number from the storage means. A vehicle navigation device characterized by searching a mark, displaying a map centered on the representative position coordinates, and setting a point on the map.