JP2001264098A - Navigation system input method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] In order to facilitate the operation of displaying a map of a destination on a navigation system, a simple map of a destination is automatically selected simply by showing a handwritten map. is there. However, the conventional one reads a place name written on a handwritten map or a specific symbol to determine a region.In a handwritten map that does not always write a place name or a building name accurately, Did not help. SOLUTION: A map input procedure S71 for capturing a handwritten map with a camera or the like, a destination road pattern extraction procedure S12 for extracting a line drawing written on the captured map as a destination road pattern, and storing the destination road pattern. And a map display procedure S14 for displaying a map of the identified area by comparing the data with the regular map data and identifying an area having a matching road pattern. You can display a regular map just by holding it up.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an input operation method for displaying a specific map in a navigation system having a map display function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a system having a function of displaying a map, such as a navigation system, an operation for displaying a map in which area and how to display the map is conventionally required.
To explain using a Japanese map as an example, generally, for example, a region (Kanto, Kansai, Hokkaido, etc.) is roughly specified by operating a button or a switch, and then the map is sequentially enlarged to include prefectures, cities, towns, etc. The operation of narrowing down to a detailed point is performed.

[0003] However, in such a method, it is easy to find when the target famous building (building) or topography (mountain, river) is close, but if not, for example, if the target address is temporarily, Finding the final target location on the map is not so easy for those unfamiliar with the operation, even if you know it clearly. Therefore, as a method for simplifying such an operation, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-11118
No. 9 incorporates inaccurate maps, such as handwritten maps and simplified maps, and recognizes the characters written on them to limit the necessary areas and search for detailed maps. Since this is disclosed, this will be described below.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a map display terminal device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-111189. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a map input unit which captures a simple map having an inaccurate scale such as a handwritten map, and has a communication processing function,
It has a telewriting function, a FAX function, and the like.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a recognition unit that extracts characters and symbols serving as markers for determining an area from the map captured by the map input unit 1 and performs recognition. Reference numeral 3 denotes a detailed map (for example, nationwide in Japan) that can correspond in advance to character / symbol information serving as a landmark in a map data storage unit.
I remember. Reference numeral 4 denotes an area determining unit which compares the character / symbol information of several places detected by the recognizing unit 2 with the data of the map data storage unit 3, determines a matching area, and determines an input simple map area. Reference numeral 5 denotes a map extraction unit which reads a map of the area determined by the area determination unit 4 from the map data storage unit 3 and outputs the map.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in order to read a simple map such as handwriting and take out a detailed map, first, in step S7
In step 1, a simple map is fetched and stored in the map input unit 1. At this time, a simple map can be directly input (created) using the communication processing function of the map input unit 1. Next, in step S72, the recognition unit 2 extracts characters and symbols (for example, station names and river names) from the input map and recognizes them. Then, in step S73, the area determination unit 4 compares the characters and symbols with the data stored in the map data storage unit 3 to determine the area of the map. As a result, in step S74, the map extraction unit 5 reads out the detailed map data of the area determined by the area determination unit 4 from the map data storage unit 3 and outputs it.

[0006] As described above, if only a handwritten map is input, and if this map includes several characters or symbols that can specify a location, a detailed map corresponding to the area can be output. Be transformed into

However, in general, when a person creates a handwritten map, it is not always necessary to enter a plurality of areas with characters, and even if they are entered, they are often omitted. For example, if there is a university, its name is often the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, etc. In many cases, it is fundamentally impossible to determine an area from characters written on a handwritten map, and there are many cases in which it fails. In addition, ordinary people who are not map specialists can use the symbols such as “〒 of the post office” and “ten of hospitals” to mark the handwritten map, so that the area can be identified from such symbols. In most cases, little information is available.

In a navigation system, it is necessary to register a destination in a displayed map. Conventionally, however, a person judges a destination on a displayed map, finds the destination, moves a cursor, and presses a registration button. Was registered by pressing. However, the operation of searching for a destination on a display map is not always easy and is very troublesome.

[0009]

Since the input method of the conventional navigation system is configured as described above, it is often impossible to determine the area from character information or symbol information entered on a handwritten map. There was a problem.

In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to register a point such as a destination point.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to specify and determine a region even from a handwritten map created by an ordinary person who is not a map expert, and to create a detailed map. An object of the present invention is to provide an input method of a navigation system which can be extracted and can easily perform a point registration operation.

[0012]

According to an input method of a navigation system according to the present invention, a map input procedure of fetching a map described on a sheet of paper and storing it as map information, and extracting a line drawing in the map information as road pattern information. A road pattern extraction procedure, an area identification procedure for comparing road pattern information and road pattern information of pre-stored detailed map information, and an area identification procedure for identifying an area having a matching road pattern, and a detailed map of the identified area And a map display procedure for reading and displaying the information.

Further, a map input procedure for taking in a map described on a paper surface and storing the map information as map information, and a point recognition procedure for recognizing a point indicated by a finger or a stick on the map as a target point and adding the point to the map information And a road pattern extraction procedure of extracting a line drawing described in the map information as road pattern information, and comparing road pattern information and road pattern information of detailed map information stored in advance, and determining an area having a matching road pattern. It includes a specified area specifying procedure, a map display procedure of reading and displaying a map of the specified area from the detailed map information, and a target point display procedure of displaying a target point on the displayed specific area map.

A map input procedure for taking in a map described on a sheet of paper and a predetermined area outside the map and storing it as map information having a blank area corresponding to the area outside the map; And a road pattern extraction procedure for recognizing a point indicated by a finger or a pointing stick as a target point and adding the point information to the map information, and a line pattern described in the map information as road pattern information. An area specifying procedure for comparing the road pattern information of the detailed map information with the road pattern information and specifying an area having a matching road pattern, and a map of the specified specific area and an area corresponding to a blank area outside the specific area And a map display procedure for reading and displaying from the detailed map information,
A target point display procedure for displaying the target point on the displayed map of the specific area or on the map of the area corresponding to the blank area.

Further, the method includes a procedure in which an operator expresses a place name specifying a region in voice, and a step in which the place name is voice-analyzed to specify at least one of a prefecture name and a municipal name.

The point recognition procedure includes a procedure of holding a paper map in front of the camera, and a point registration procedure of emitting a specific voice while pointing on the paper map with a finger or a pointing stick.

[0017] The present invention also includes a registered point erasing procedure for identifying whether to register a point or delete a registered point according to a specific type of voice in the point registering procedure.

In the area specifying procedure, a numerical value represents the degree of coincidence of the road patterns to be compared, and a predetermined weight is added to the numerical value when calculating the degree of coincidence of the area specified in the previous area specifying step. It includes a learning procedure.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows an input method of the navigation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a navigation system adopting this input method. In FIG. 2, reference numerals 1, 3, and 5 denote the same or corresponding parts as in the related art, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The map input unit 1 has the same configuration as that of a conventional map input unit, and is configured by a reading device such as a camera or a scanner. Can be read and stored.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a destination road pattern extraction unit, which extracts a line drawing described on the map read by the map input unit 1 as a pattern and stores it as a destination road pattern. Reference numeral 12 denotes a road pattern comparison unit which compares the extracted destination road pattern with the road pattern of the map data previously input to and stored in the map data storage unit 3 and finds the same pattern (detailed later). Things.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In order to retrieve a detailed map by simply reading a simple map such as handwriting, first, in step S7
In step 1, a simple map is fetched and stored in the map input unit 1. This is called a map input procedure, and specifically, is an operation of reading a handwritten map by holding it over a camera of the navigation system. In this case, the size of the captured image is automatically corrected to an appropriate size based on the outline. Next, in step S12, lines in the map are extracted from the stored map as destination road pattern information. This is called a destination road pattern extraction procedure.

In step S13, the extracted destination road pattern is compared with a detailed map road pattern stored in the map data storage unit 3 in advance, and an area having a matching road pattern is specified. This is called the area identification procedure. Here, the meaning of the "matched road pattern" will be described. In order to help understand the concept of the destination road pattern extracted from the handwritten map, an example of the destination road pattern of the handwritten map is shown in FIG.
3 shows an example of a detailed map read from the map data storage unit 3 corresponding to the above. The outer frame in the diagram of FIG. 3 indicates the outer frame of the display device. The "matched road pattern"
The pattern 100 and the pattern 101 are not exactly the same, but the pattern 101 including the same pattern as the 100 pattern. This is based on the premise that handwritten maps are originally incomplete and details are often omitted. In step S14, the detailed map of the area specified in S13 is read from the map data storage unit 3 and output (displayed). This is called a map display procedure. As described above, an accurate map of the area can be displayed only by the operation of the operator holding the handwritten map in front of the camera.

Although the configuration of FIG. 1 has been described as comparing only the road pattern, for example, it takes time to extract a matching road pattern from the entire map of Japan. When character information and symbol information are included in the map, a recognition procedure S72 performed using the recognition unit 2 for extracting character / symbol information described with reference to FIGS. It goes without saying that the area determination procedure S73 using the area determination unit 4 for determining the area may be used together.

Embodiment 2 FIG. An input method of the navigation system according to the second embodiment will be described. The present invention particularly describes an input method that facilitates a method of registering a point.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the navigation system according to the second embodiment, in which 21 is a voice input unit including a microphone, and 22 is a voice analysis unit that analyzes a sound read from the voice input unit 21 and recognizes a specific command. It is. Here, the specific command is, for example, a voice “here” issued by the operator while indicating a point on a handwritten map. 23 is a voice analysis unit 2
2 analyzes the voice of "here", and at the same time, the operator's finger on the map image input from the map input unit 1;
Alternatively, it is a point registration unit that records the point indicated by the tip of the pointer on the destination road pattern 100.

The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Steps S71, S12, and S13 in FIG. 5 are the same as the steps of the same reference numerals described in the conventional drawings and the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted. In step S51, S71
When reading the handwritten map at the same time, while simultaneously pointing at the handwritten map with a finger or a pointing stick and saying "here", the point indicated at the time when the voice command is detected is S1.
2 is registered on the road pattern 100 of the handwritten map read in. This is called a point recognition procedure. Step S54
Then, since the registered point is copied as it is on the read detailed map, the registration of the destination point on the detailed map is executed without a specific operation by the operator.

In the above description, since the voice input unit 21 and the voice analysis unit 22 are merely used to capture the timing of indicating a point, another method, for example, emitting light at the tip of a pointing rod is used. A method may be adopted in which when a command is issued by attaching a diode, a switch provided on the grip portion of the pointing rod is pressed and lit to recognize this as a command, and the destination road pattern extraction unit 11 recognizes a point.

When it is desired to cancel the registered point, the registration operation may be performed again, and when "here" is designated, "cancel" may be cancelled.

Embodiment 3 In step S51 of FIG. 5 according to the second embodiment, the destination is indicated on the handwritten map. However, the destination may not be included in the handwritten map. That is, the position of the destination point is described using a handwritten map used for another purpose in which the vicinity of the destination point is described, and the destination point is located near this outside of the paper. That is often the case.

An input method of the navigation system that can cope with such a case will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The configuration of this system is the same as that of the second embodiment shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, steps S12, S13,
Are the same as in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. In step S61, a handwritten map or the like described on a sheet of paper and an image of a predetermined area outside the map are fetched and stored as map information having a predetermined blank area corresponding to this area.
This is called a map input procedure. Step S12 is the same as in the second embodiment, and extracts a destination road pattern from the map information to which the target point is added. In step S62, a point indicated by a finger or a pointer is recognized as a target point on a handwritten map or in a predetermined area outside the handwritten map, and is added to the map information. This is called a point recognition procedure. Step S
13 is the same as that of the second embodiment, compares road pattern information of detailed map information stored in advance with the extracted destination road pattern information, and maps an area having a road pattern that matches the destination road pattern. This is a region specifying procedure read from the data storage unit 3.

In step S64, the specific area identified in S13 and a map of an area corresponding to the blank area outside the specific area are read out from the detailed map information in the map data storage unit 3 and displayed. The target point is displayed on a map of a region (including a region corresponding to a blank area). This is called a target point display procedure.

To facilitate understanding, an example of the handwritten map read in the third embodiment is shown at 103 in FIG. 7, and an example of a detailed map specified and displayed corresponding to the example is shown at 104 in FIG. Also,
In the figure, reference numeral 105 denotes a designated and registered target point.

Embodiment 4 In the second embodiment, when the operator holds the handwritten map in front of the camera and reads it, at the same time, the name of a prefecture and the name of a municipality or at least one of them may be input as audio information. . In this case, it is assumed that prefectural and district data based on voice data are registered in advance in the data stored in the map data storage unit 3. The input voice information is analyzed by the voice analysis unit 22 and collated with the stored voice data of the map data storage unit 3. If there is a match, the time required for the specific work of the area is reduced by using this information. Is done.

Embodiment 5 FIG. For a general user, the target area does not change so much each time, and the probability that an adjacent area is shown again is high. Therefore, since it is highly probable that the area around the area specified last time is the target area, it is effective to use this method when searching for the specific area this time. Therefore, the area specifying procedure (step S1)
The detailed execution procedure of 3) will be described in detail, and a method for further improving the efficiency of the work of the area identification procedure using the learning procedure will be described. Taking the case of FIG. 7 of the third embodiment as an example, first, the entire area of the image 104 is divided into as fine as possible, for example, 240,000 dots of 400 dots vertically and 600 dots horizontally. Next, the image 103 is divided at the same dot pitch. Image 103 is image 10
Because it is smaller than 4, for example, 6000 of 200 length, 300 width
It becomes 0 dots. Of the 60000 dots, the number of dots passing through the line of the road pattern is counted. Assume that this is an A dot.

Next, the number of dots passing through the road pattern within the same area overlapping the image 103 of the image 104 is counted. It is assumed that this is a B dot. In general, A <B because the image 103 of the handwritten map is abbreviated and described. Next, when the road pattern dots of the image 103 are subtracted from the image 104, the result is B-A. Here, (BA) / B = Y is defined as the degree of coincidence of the image patterns. If the degree of coincidence Y is plotted on the map data in the map data storage unit 3 while slightly shifting the position X (X means both vertical and horizontal) of the image 103, for example, as shown in FIG. Therefore, this peak point (X = X1) is a coincidence point, and the degree of coincidence at that time is Y1. The area of this peak point is the target area to be specified. In this way, once an area is specified, the degree of coincidence Y1 for this area, for example, 1
/ 10 is assigned (added) as a weight to this area. That is, at the time of the next area specifying operation, Y1 / 10 is automatically added to this area. In this manner, when the area is specified next, the matching degree at this point is higher by Y1 / 10 than in other areas, and the probability of being specified as the matching point is higher. That is, there is a learning effect that the once specified area is easily specified from the next time.

The amount of weighting described above (Y1 / 1
0) and the method of obtaining the number of dots are not limited to the method described above, and other known learning methods and image processing techniques may be used. Also, in the above description, a case where a map described on a sheet of paper is taken and used as map information has been described.
A map created by a computer using an input method similar to handwriting by screen input using a pen input or the like, or a commercially available somewhat accurate map deformed or omitted from an image map can be used in the same manner.

[0038]

According to the input method of the navigation system of the present invention, a detailed map can be displayed by reading a map written on paper such as a handwritten map and specifying an area that matches the road pattern of this map. The operator can display a detailed map of a target area without special operation only by holding a hand-drawn drawing over the map.

When a hand-drawn map or the like is held over, a target position on the map is indicated by a finger or a pointing stick.
Since the destination can be registered by inputting a predetermined command, the point registration input method becomes extremely easy.

Further, since the outer peripheral portion of the handwritten map or the like to be held upside down is read as a blank portion, and the designation of the destination can be also performed on the blank portion, the location registration input method of the navigation system becomes extremely easy.

Further, since the operator can input any one of the name of a prefecture or a city, a municipal name specifying a region by voice, the input method of the navigation system becomes extremely easy.

Since the predetermined command at the time of the point registration is a specific word, the operation becomes extremely easy.

Further, since the registered points can be erased by voice command at the time of point registration, the operation becomes extremely easy.

Further, the learning procedure has the effect of increasing the accuracy of specifying the same area from the second time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an input method of a navigation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a navigation system that performs the input method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a map for explaining the flowchart of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an apparatus configuration for implementing an input method of a navigation system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an input method of the navigation system in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an input method of the navigation system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an example of a map explaining the flowchart of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a learning effect of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a system adopting a conventional navigation system input method.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an input method of the navigation system in FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 map input section, 3 map data storage section, 5 map extraction section, 21 voice input section, 22 voice analysis section,
23 point registration unit, S12 destination road pattern extraction procedure, S13 area identification procedure, S14 map display procedure, S51 point recognition procedure, S54 target point display procedure, S71 map input procedure,

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09B 29/10 G09B 29/10 A F-term (Reference) 2C032 HA03 HB05 HC16 HC21 HD16 2F029 AA02 AB13 AC02 AC09 AC14 AC18 AC20 AD07 5B075 ND06 NK07 PP07 PP10 PP12 PP30 PQ02 PQ74 PR01 PR06 PR10 UU14 5H180 AA01 CC04 FF22 FF27 9A001 BB04 HH21 HH23 JJ11 JJ78

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A map input procedure for fetching a map written on a paper and storing it as map information, a destination road pattern extraction procedure for extracting a line drawing in the map information as destination road pattern information, Comparing the road pattern information of the detailed map information and the destination road pattern information, and specifying a region having a matching road pattern, and reading a map of the specified region from the detailed map information. And a map display procedure for displaying a map. 2. A map input procedure for taking in a map written on paper and storing it as map information, a destination road pattern extraction procedure for extracting a line drawing described in the map information as destination road pattern information, A point indicated by a finger or a pointing stick is recognized as a target point, and a point recognition procedure to be added to the map information is compared with road pattern information of detailed map information stored in advance and the destination road pattern information. And an area specifying procedure for specifying an area having a matching road pattern, and reading and displaying a map of the specified area from the detailed map information, and displaying the target point on the displayed map of the specific area. And an input method for a navigation system. 3. A map input procedure for taking in a map described on a sheet of paper and a predetermined area outside the map and storing the map information as map information having a blank area corresponding to the predetermined area on the outside. A destination road pattern extraction procedure for extracting the described line drawing as road pattern information, and a point recognition for recognizing a point indicated by a finger or a pointing stick on the map or the predetermined area as a target point and adding the point to the map information Procedure, comparing the road pattern information of the previously stored detailed map information and the road pattern information, an area specifying procedure of specifying an area having a matching road pattern, and the specified specific area and the specified specific area. A map display procedure for reading and displaying a map of an area corresponding to the blank area on the outside from the detailed map information; Or a target point display step of displaying the target point on a map of an area corresponding to the blank area. 4. A method in which an operator voicely expresses a place name specifying a region, and a voice analysis step of voice-analyzing the place name to specify at least one of a prefecture name and a municipal name. An input method for a navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the input method comprises the steps of: 5. The point recognition procedure includes a step of holding a paper map in front of a camera, and a step of registering a point that emits a specific voice while pointing on the paper map with a finger or a pointing stick. Item 5. The input method of the navigation system according to Item 4. 6. A registered point erasing procedure for identifying whether to register a point or delete a registered point according to a specific voice type of the point registering procedure.
The input method of the navigation system described in. 7. The area specifying procedure includes a step of expressing a degree of coincidence of a road pattern to be compared with a numerical value, and adding a predetermined weight to the numerical value when calculating a degree of coincidence of an area specified in a previous area specifying step. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a learning procedure.
The input method of the navigation system described in.