JPH10339647A - Navigation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To guide a car to a specified facility close to a guide course in actual travelling only by specifying a facility which you want to drop in without registration a passage point before departure. SOLUTION: With correspondence among facility name, kind of business, and position (facility database) is stored in advance, a nearest facility retrieving part 32 retrieves a facility close to a guide course among specified facilities, and a voice guiding part 16, when a car approaches the facility which was retrieved, reports of it in voice, while a near facility display part 34 displays positions of the facilities on a map for recognition together with a menu for selecting whether to drop in the facility or pass by, and when 'drop in' is indicated, a guide course control part 19 calculates a guide course from car's current position to the facility and displays it on the map.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation method, and in particular, by designating a facility to be visited, it is possible to make a driver recognize that the designated facility has approached during actual guidance route travel. Or,
The present invention relates to a navigation method capable of displaying a guidance route to the facility by a driver's selection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a navigation device which provides guidance of a vehicle to arrive at a desired destination,
The position of the vehicle is detected, the map data around the vehicle position is read from the CD-ROM, the map is displayed on the display screen, and the vehicle position mark (own vehicle position mark) is superimposed on a predetermined location on the map. Then, as the current position changes due to the movement of the vehicle, the own vehicle position mark on the screen is moved, or the own vehicle position mark is fixed at a predetermined position such as the center of the screen and the map is scrolled. The surrounding map information can be understood at a glance.

Such a vehicle-mounted navigation device has a route guidance function for inputting a destination, searching for a guidance route from a departure point to a destination, displaying a guidance route on a screen, and guiding a driver to travel. Also, the on-vehicle navigation device searches for designated facilities (convenience stores, facsimile restaurants, gas stations, etc.) existing within a predetermined distance from the vehicle position or any place, and displays a list of the searched facilities along with the distance and direction, There is a nearest search function for registering the location of the facility selected from the list as a destination, a passing point, or a current location, or registering a point.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a nearest search function. When the menu key is pressed using the remote control, the navigation control device displays the main menu MMN on the map MP.
And a submenu SMN are displayed. Next, when the item "search" of the main menu MMN is selected using the joystick key, the navigation control device displays a submenu SMN of the item "search" (FIG. 6).
(A)). Since this submenu SMN includes an item “nearest facility”, when the joystick key is used to select the item, the navigation control device returns to FIG.
As shown in (b), the genre (industry) name classified in advance is displayed. Note that genre names that cannot be displayed on one screen are displayed by scrolling. In this state, when a gas station is selected, the navigation control device searches the database for all gas stations existing within a range of, for example, 10 km from the vehicle position, and displays a list of search facilities along with the distance and direction (FIG. 6).
(C)). The remaining search facilities that cannot be displayed at one time are displayed by scrolling. In this state, when the gas station MG is selected, the navigation control device displays a map around the gas station as shown in FIG. 6D, displays the cursor CR on the gas station location, and The menu item MNA of destination / passing point / point registration / current location is displayed. In this state, when one of destination / passing point / point registration / current location is selected and the determination button is pressed, the location of the gas station is registered as destination / passing point / point / current location.

[0005]

With the above-described nearest search function, when a predetermined facility location is registered as a passing point,
The navigation control device calculates a guidance route from the departure point to the destination via the passing point, and displays the guidance route on the map so as to be identifiable. As described above, in order to guide the vehicle to the searched facility by the conventional nearest search function, it is necessary to register the location of the facility as a passing point or a destination. By the way, when a passing point is registered, there is a case where the driver passes through the facility without depending on the mood during the actual traveling or by accident. In such a case, the conventional navigation control device performs re-route calculation (guidance route search) of a route for guiding the vehicle to the passing point, and displays the searched route (guidance route).

For example, on the way to the destination DP shown in FIG. 7, a passing point of the Seven-Eleven a is registered at the departure point SP as a desire to stop by the Seven-Eleven a.
If you accidentally pass through Seven-Eleven a, the route guidance to Seven-Eleven a will be made even though Seven-Eleven actually exists ahead of it. The above-mentioned conventional route guidance function by waypoint registration is a useful function when it is necessary to always stop at a facility on the waypoint. However, if a similar facility at another location can be substituted without necessarily dropping in, it is a useless function.Instead, the guidance route to the facility that you no longer want to visit will be continued, so there is a problem. is there. That is, FIG.
In the example, even if the vehicle passes through the facility (Seven-Eleven a) on the registered passing point, Seven-Eleven b and Seven-Eleven c exist at other points to the destination, and these Seven-Eleven can be substituted. Therefore, it is not necessary to guide the route to the passing facility (Seven-Eleven a). The above conventional problem is caused by registering a passing point before departure.

[0007] From the above, it is an object of the present invention to specify a facility to be dropped off without registering a passing point before departure, and to direct a vehicle to a designated facility which is close to a guidance route during actual traveling. It is to be able to guide. or,
An object of the present invention is to allow a driver to be notified by voice or the like when there is only one designated facility between the current vehicle position and the destination.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a means for storing in advance correspondence between a facility name, a business type, and a location, and a guidance route among facilities corresponding to a specified business type or facility name. Means for searching for a facility that is close to the facility, and when a vehicle approaches the searched facility, a notification to that effect is provided by voice, and the location of the facility is identifiably displayed on a map. You. Further, according to the present invention, the present invention provides a means for displaying a menu for selecting whether to stop at or pass through the displayed facility, and to provide a guidance route from a current vehicle position to the facility when a stop is instructed. This is achieved by means of calculating and displaying on a map.

Further, according to the present invention, when the passage of the displayed facility is instructed or when the vehicle passes the facility, the identification of the location of the facility is stopped and the menu is displayed. Is achieved by means for eliminating. .
Further, according to the present invention, the above problem is detected by detecting that only one facility of the specified business type or facility name is present between the current vehicle position and the destination, and is notified by voice. Is achieved by means of:

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(A) Outline of the present invention FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the present invention. In FIG. 1A, SP is a departure place, DP is a destination, NVP is a guidance route,
In FIG. 1B, reference numerals 101 to 103 denote a facility (seven-eleven shop) existing near the guidance route, 104 denotes a display screen of the navigation device, 105 denotes a blinking display of the location of the designated facility, and 106 denotes a facility. Menu for choosing whether to stop by or pass through, Figure 1
(C) is an example of a guidance sound for notifying that a designated facility (seven-eleven shop) has approached, and FIG. 1 (d) is one designated facility (seven-eleven shop) between the vehicle position and the destination. This is an example of a guidance voice for notifying that no more exists.

The correspondence between the facility name, the type of business, and the location is stored in a database in advance, and when the type of business or the name of the facility (for example, Seven-Eleven) is input, the guidance route NV
A Seven-Eleven store near P is searched, and in actual driving, a Seven-Eleven store 101 in which a vehicle is searched is
When approaching, it will be notified by voice. For example, a voice message "Seven-Eleven is on the left side of @m" is given. In parallel with the above, the display screen 10
7-Eleven store 101 on the map displayed in 4
Is displayed by blinking 105, and a menu 106 for selecting whether to stop at or pass through the facility identified and displayed is displayed. When the menu item “stop” is instructed, a guidance route from the current vehicle position to the Seven-Eleven store 101 is calculated and displayed on a map.

However, when the menu item "pass" is instructed, or when the vehicle passes through the Seven-Eleven store without going to the Seven-Eleven store 101, the blinking display is stopped and the menu 106 is deleted. . Thereafter, the same processing is performed. When only one designated facility (seven-eleven shop) finally exists between the current vehicle position and the destination DP, the fact is notified by voice. For example, a voice message "Seven-Eleven at the end of the route is $ m ahead."

(B) Configuration of Navigation Device (b-1) Overall Configuration FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a navigation system.
1 is a navigation control device, 2 is an operation unit (for example, a remote controller) for inputting various commands to the navigation control device, setting a guidance route, setting various data, and the like;
3 is a display device for displaying maps, guidance routes, various menus, etc. 4 is a CD-ROM for storing map information and town page data 5 is a GPS for receiving radio waves from satellites and measuring the current position and direction of the vehicle A receiver 6, a sensor for self-contained navigation, and an audio unit 7, which outputs guidance voice for notifying that a designated facility has approached or guidance voice at an intersection. The GPS receiver 5 performs three-dimensional positioning or two-dimensional positioning processing to calculate the vehicle position and azimuth, and outputs these together with the positioning time. Although not shown, the self-contained navigation sensor 6 includes a relative azimuth sensor (angle sensor) such as a vibrating gyroscope that detects a vehicle rotation angle, and a distance sensor that generates one pulse every predetermined traveling distance.

The map information stored in the CD-ROM 4 is
(1) a road layer, (2) a background layer for displaying objects on a map, (3) a character layer for displaying characters such as city names, and (4) IIS (Integrated Infor
(II) layer storing information (mation Service) information, (5)
It consists of town page data and so on. As shown in FIG. 3, the town page data includes 52 genres, such as a facility name database 4a covering facility names in alphabetical order, a convenience store (convenience store), a family restaurant, a department store, an inn / hotel, a bank,. , A facility database 4c covering the names, tasks (genres), position data (coordinates) of each facility, and a telephone number database covering the correspondence between telephone numbers and facility names. is there.

(B-2) Navigation control device In the navigation control device 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a map readout control unit which, when a map movement operation or a map selection operation is performed, changes a cursor position (coordinate and latitude position at the center of the screen). Calculates the CD based on the vehicle position or the cursor position, etc.
Reading out predetermined map information from the ROM 4 and inputting it into the map buffer; reading out facility database information from the CD-ROM 4 and inputting it into the facility data buffer;

Reference numeral 12 denotes a map buffer for storing map information read from a CD-ROM. A plurality of map information (a plurality of units) around the own vehicle position or the focus position, for example, map information of 3 × 3 units is read out to the map buffer so that the map can be scrolled. A map drawing unit 13 generates a map image using map information stored in a map buffer. 14 is a VRAM for storing a map image, and 15 is a VRAM 1 based on a screen center position.
This is a readout control unit that changes the position of one screen cut out from 4 and scrolls and displays the map according to the movement of the vehicle position or the movement of the cursor.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a voice guidance unit for outputting a guidance voice for notifying that a designated facility has approached from the audio unit 7, reference numeral 17 a remote control control unit for receiving a signal corresponding to operation of a remote control and instructing each unit, and reference numeral 18 Is a vehicle position calculation unit that calculates the vehicle position based on the GPS data and the self-contained navigation sensor output, 19 is a guidance route control unit, 20 is a guidance route memory that stores a guidance route to the destination, and 21 is a guidance route drawing And 22, an image synthesizing unit. Guidance route control unit 19
Is the process of calculating the guidance route from the starting point to the destination,
A navigation control process (described later) to the designated facility when traveling on the guidance route is performed. The guidance route memory 20 stores the position data of all nodes on the guidance route calculated by the guidance route control unit 19 from the starting point to the destination. The guidance route drawing unit 21 reads the guidance route information (node sequence) from the guidance route memory 20 and draws the guidance route on the map so as to be identifiable.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a facility data buffer for storing facility database information read from the CD-ROM 4, reference numeral 32 denotes a nearest facility search unit for searching a designated facility within a predetermined distance from the guidance route from the facility database information, and reference numeral 33 denotes a nearest facility. A nearest facility list storage section 34 stores the name, longitude and latitude position, etc. of each facility searched by the search section, and a proximity facility display section 34 is provided when a vehicle approaches the facility searched by the nearest facility search section. Flash the location of the facility 10
5 (see FIG. 1B), and a menu 106 for selecting whether to drop in or pass through the facility.

(C) Navigation processing of the present invention FIG. 4 is a navigation processing flow of the present invention. After the process of searching for a guidance route from the departure place to the destination is completed, a facility to be stopped during traveling to the destination is specified.
The designation of such a facility is performed as follows. That is, the main menu is displayed on the display screen by operating the menu selection key on the remote controller 2. Since there is "specific genre guide" as a main menu item (see FIG. 5), when the item is selected, a list of various tasks (genres) is displayed on the display screen as a first submenu. Next, when a desired business type, for example, a convenience store is selected, a list of convenience stores is displayed as a second submenu. still,
Some industries do not have a second submenu, and this second submenu is not necessarily an essential menu. Further, the first and second submenus can be integrated as one submenu.

Next, by selecting “Seven-Eleven” from the second submenu, the facilities to be dropped in are selected.
As described above, when the drop-in facility is specified, the map reading control unit 11 transmits the CD-
The facility database information is read from the ROM 4 and stored in the buffer 31 (step 101). When the facility (Seven-Eleven) to drop in is specified, the nearest facility search unit 32 refers to the facility database information and the guide route information, has “Seven-Eleven” as the facility name, and is within a predetermined distance from the guide route. Search for 7-Eleven stores. The nearest facility search unit 32 searches for Seven-Eleven stores within a predetermined distance from the guidance route from the departure place to the destination, adds a number in the search order, and stores the number in the nearest facility list storage unit 33 (step 102). ).

Thereafter, the guidance route control unit 19 sets 1 → i (step 103), and after the start of traveling, executes control so that the vehicle travels along the guidance route (step 104). In addition, the distance L from the vehicle position to the i-th Seven-Eleven store is calculated, and the distance L is set to the set distance Ls.
It is checked whether it has become the following (step 105). L>
If it is Ls, the route guidance control after step 104 is continued. However, if L ≦ Ls, the guidance route control unit 1
Reference numeral 9 designates an identification display of the i-th facility (the i-th seven-eleven store) approaching to the adjacent facility display section 34. Thereby, the proximity facility display unit 34 displays the location of the i-th Seven-Eleven store by blinking 105 (see FIG. 1B), and
A menu 106 for selecting whether to stop at / pass through the i-th Seven-Eleven store is displayed (step 106).

Next, the guide route control unit 19 checks whether the i-th Seven-Eleven store is the last Seven-Eleven store existing between the vehicle position and the destination (step 10).
7) If it is not the last, the voice guidance unit 16 is controlled to
As shown in (c), a voice message "Seven-Eleven is on the left side of $ m" is issued (step 108).
On the other hand, if the i-th Seven-Eleven store is the last, the voice guidance unit 16 is controlled to notify by voice that "the last Seven-Eleven on the route is located at a distance of $ m ahead" as shown in FIG. (Step 109). In addition to the notification by voice, the similar content may be displayed on the screen by controlling the proximity facility display unit 34. Also, for a person who is listening to music and does not like the notification of a sound that disturbs the music, only the display on the screen may be performed.

After the voice notification, it is checked whether "stop" or "pass" has been selected on the menu 106 (step 1).
10) If none is selected, it is checked whether the own vehicle has started to leave the i-th eleven store, or has exceeded the set distance, in other words, has passed the i-seven eleven store (step 111). If not,
Return to step 110. However, if it passes, the blinking display of the location of the i-th Seven-Eleven store is stopped,
The display of the menu 106 ends (step 112).
Thereafter, i is incremented (i + 1 → i, step 113), and the processing from step 104 is repeated. Step 1
When "pass" is selected from the menu 106 in step 10, the blinking display of the location of the i-seventh store is stopped in step 112, and the menu 10 is turned off.
The display of No. 6 is completed, i is incremented, and the processing after step 104 is repeated.

In step 110, menu 10
When “stop” is selected by the user 6, the guidance route control unit 19 recalculates the guidance route from the own vehicle position to the destination via the i-th eleven store, and stores the new guidance route data in the guidance route memory 20. To memorize. Guide route drawing unit 21
Reads the guidance route data from the guidance route memory and displays it on the map so as to be identifiable (step 114). Thereafter, it is checked whether the vehicle has passed the i-th eleventh point (step 11).
5) If the vehicle has not passed, move the vehicle to the i-th position along the guidance route.
Guide to Seven-Eleven stores. On the other hand, if it passes, in step 113, i is advanced, and the processing of step 104 and thereafter is repeated. In the above, the facility was specified by entering the facility name, for example, Seven-Eleven.
It is also possible to input a convenience store and designate facilities (seven-Eleven / Lawson / ampm / ...) of the business type (convenience store) as designated facilities. As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention can be variously modified in accordance with the gist of the present invention described in the claims, and the present invention does not exclude these.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the correspondence between the name of the facility, the type of business and the location is stored in a database in advance, and the facilities which are close to the guidance route among the facilities corresponding to the specified type of business or the name of the facility. When a vehicle approaches the searched facility, the vehicle is notified by voice and the location of the facility is identifiably displayed on a map. Even without doing so, the vehicle can be guided to a designated facility that is close to the guidance route only by specifying the facility that the user wants to drop in by the facility name or the type of business.

Further, according to the present invention, a menu for selecting whether to stop at or pass through the facility identified and displayed is displayed, and when a stop is instructed by the menu, the distance from the current vehicle position to the facility is displayed. Since the guidance route is calculated and displayed on the map, the guidance route can be displayed without registering the passing point before departure, and the vehicle can be guided to the facility to be stopped along the guidance route. Further, according to the present invention, when only one designated facility is present between the current vehicle position and the destination, the fact is notified by voice or the like, so that this is the last facility. The driver can be notified of this fact and call attention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a navigation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a database.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a navigation process according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a menu for performing navigation according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a nearest search function.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a problem of conventional passing point registration.

[Explanation of symbols]

 19 Guide route control unit 20 Guide route memory 21 Guide route drawing unit 31 Facility data buffer 32 Nearest facility search unit 33 Nearest facility list storage unit 34 Nearby facility display unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ryoji Gamo 1-1-8, Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine Inc. (72) Inventor Manabu Goto 1-1-8, Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. Alpine, Inc. (72) Motohiro Yoshino, Inventor 1-1-8 Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine Inc. (72) Inventor, Tsuyoshi Yoshida 1-1-8, Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Within Alpine, Inc. (72) Inventor Kazu Aizawa Inside Alpine, Inc. 1-18 Nishi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Displaying a map around a vehicle position,
In a navigation method for displaying a guidance route to a destination on the map, correspondence between a facility name, a business type, and a location is stored in advance, and among the facilities corresponding to the specified business type or the facility name, the guidance route is stored. A navigation device that searches for a facility that is close to the vehicle, notifies when the vehicle approaches the searched facility by voice, and displays the location of the facility on a map in an identifiable manner. Method. 2. Displaying a menu for selecting whether to stop at or pass through the facility, and when a stop is instructed, search for a guidance route from a current vehicle position to the facility and display it on a map. The navigation method according to claim 1, wherein 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein when the passage is instructed or when the vehicle passes through the facility, the identification display of the location of the facility is stopped and the menu is deleted. Navigation method. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when only one designated facility is present between the current vehicle position and the destination, the fact is notified by voice or screen display. Navigation method.