JPH08201089A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Establish a waypoint where the evaluation range can be set freely and enable automatic setting of recommended routes. [Configuration] When setting a waypoint as a condition in automatic setting of the optimum recommended route connecting the departure point and the destination point as in (A), by freely setting the evaluation range of the waypoint, (B) It is possible to automatically set an optimum route that passes through the vicinity of the waypoint, as shown in (C), instead of the route that necessarily passes through the waypoint as shown in FIG.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention makes it possible to automatically calculate a recommended route connecting an arbitrary starting point and an arbitrary destination via a plurality of transit points from road traffic information in a map information storage medium. The present invention relates to a navigation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A navigation device is available which can utilize a radio wave from a satellite to determine the present location, display a map read on a screen from a map information storage medium such as a CD-ROM, and utilize it for route guidance to a destination point. It has begun to spread for in-vehicle use and personal mobile use.

The navigation device shown in FIG.
It has a CPU 11 to which a GPS receiver 2 for receiving radio waves from a satellite and outputting positioning data of the current location, a reader 4 for reading map information and road traffic information, and the like are connected. Set the starting point, destination point and waypoints on the CD-
It is read from the map information storage medium 5 such as a ROM via the reader 4, and is displayed by the CPU 11 in the display image memory 9
The location is specified by the map display which is drawn and displayed on the display 7 through the display controller 8 and is displayed by the key operation of the keyboard 3. The automatic route search collates the set starting point, destination point and waypoint with the road traffic information read from the map information storage medium 5 such as a CD-ROM via the reader 4,
The optimum recommended route is calculated and the result is stored in the non-volatile memory 10.

[0004]

In the conventional navigation device, the conditions set when processing the automatic route search are the starting point, the destination point and the passing point information,
The recommended route is automatically set based on these point information.

However, the passing point information is a condition for automatically setting a recommended route that passes through a set point, and therefore is suitable for the purpose of passing through a strictly set point, but an approximate passing direction is set. Since the condition to do is too strict, there is a problem that the recommended route may not be the optimum route due to the road shape or the like.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device that automatically sets a recommended route in a natural form that incorporates ambiguity close to human senses.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and displays map information read from a map information storage medium on a screen and executes map display processing in response to a display command from the outside. However, in the navigation device that displays the current location or searches the map based on the internal data accompanying the map display processing, based on the internal data, from any starting point through a near waypoint having an evaluation range to any destination point. It is characterized by comprising a CPU that automatically calculates a recommended route to the above and stores data indicating the recommended route in an internal memory.

In addition to the absolute waypoint passing through the conventional set point, the present invention provides a close waypoint which can arbitrarily change and set the evaluation range as the position information of the waypoint, and its condition. The feature is that an optimum route based on the above is automatically set as a recommended route.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a navigation device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows differences in evaluation results between an absolute waypoint and a near waypoint in automatic setting of a recommended route by the CPU shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining, FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the setting operation of the departure point, the destination point and the waypoint by the CPU shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the close waypoints by the CPU shown in FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an automatic route search processing operation when set.

The navigation device 1 shown in FIG.
G that receives radio waves from S satellite and outputs positioning data of the current location
It has a CPU 6 to which a PS receiver 2 and a reader 4 for reading map information and road traffic information are connected. The setting of the starting point, the destination point, and the waypoint is read from the map information storage medium 5 such as a CD-ROM via the reader 4, and the CPU 6 draws the image in the display image memory 9 and the display controller 8. The location is specified by the map display displayed on the display 7, and the key operation of the keyboard 3 is performed to display it. Automatic route search is based on the set starting point, destination point and waypoint, and C
The road traffic information read from the map information storage medium 5 such as a D-ROM via the reader 4 is collated to calculate an optimum recommended route, and the result is stored in the non-volatile memory 10. Has become.

The CPU 6 reads the road read from the map information storage medium 5 such as a CD-ROM via the reader 4 based on the position information of the starting point, the destination point and the waypoint set by the key operation of the keyboard 3. It is collated with the traffic information and associated with the node indicating the connection point of the nearest road network. The CPU 6 automatically calculates the optimum recommended route based on the link information indicating the connection between the nodes by the road traffic information including the nodes associated with the departure point, the destination point, the waypoints and other nodes, and the result thereof. Is stored in the non-volatile memory 10 in the operation program.

By the way, when a waypoint is set, the CPU 6 is stipulated in the operation program so that an optimum recommended route is calculated once with the waypoint as a target. At that time, if the condition of the waypoint is always an absolute waypoint that passes through that point, the operation is stipulated so that the optimum recommended route that connects to one node closest to the set position is obtained as the calculation result. , If the condition of the waypoint is a near waypoint that passes within the set arbitrary range, it is connected to one or more nodes existing in the range from the set position and the next waypoint or It also includes an operation program that calculates the recommended route that is the most suitable for the direction of the destination point.

Here, the difference between the absolute waypoint and the near waypoint will be described. The starting point, the destination point, and the waypoints are represented by symbols as shown in FIG. First, when the waypoint is not set, the optimum recommended route connecting the departure point and the destination point is calculated as shown in FIG. Here, when an absolute waypoint is set, an optimum recommended route that passes over the set waypoint is calculated as shown in FIG. Next, when the waypoint is a near waypoint, it does not always pass over the set waypoint as shown in (C) of FIG. 2 but within an arbitrarily set range from the set waypoint. The best recommended route through is calculated. In this way, by setting the close waypoints, a recommended route that the user can roughly pass through can be obtained as a result, and the intention of the user can be reflected in the automatic calculation.

The operation of the navigation device 1 for setting the automatic route under the condition including the near waypoint information will be described below. First, in step (101) of FIG. 3, the CPU 6 in the point registration state searches for and retrieves the node existing at the position closest to the designated point from the road traffic information of the map information storage medium 5 in step (110). . Judgment step (120), (1
30) and if the point registration is the registration of the departure point, the step (121) following the first determination step (120) sets the approach direction for the node of the departure point, and the information about the node in the subsequent step (122). And the set approach direction is used as the information of the departure point in the nonvolatile memory 10
To memorize. Next, in the case of registration of the destination point, the information about the node is stored in the non-volatile memory 10 as the information of the destination point in the step (131) following the determination step (130). Furthermore, in the case of registration of waypoints, step (14
In 0), information about the node is stored in the non-volatile memory 10 as information on the destination.

Next, in the case of performing the automatic route search process on condition that the registered departure point, destination point and waypoint are registered, first, for the node of the departure point, step (201) in FIG.
At, the evaluation is performed based on the road traffic information in the map information storage medium 5. Here, in the judgment step (210), it is checked whether or not the node of interest is a node existing in the position within the specified range from the waypoint. If the node of interest does not exist within the specified range from the waypoint,
In the following judgment step (211), it is judged whether or not there is unfocused link information. If there is any unfocused link information, then in step (212), the next focused node is determined from the remaining link information. And
In step (213), a node evaluation processing routine is called and processed. After the processing, the judgment step (211) is executed again. Here, the step (213) is the step (2
The processing from 01) will be called recursively. If it is determined in the judgment step (211) that there is no unfocused link information, the evaluation processing of the recursively called node is returned to the next step (214).
In the determination step (210), when it is determined that the node of interest is a node existing in the position within the specified range from the waypoint, the node is temporarily set as a temporary waypoint in the following step (220). Remember. Next, in step (230), an evaluation value of the temporary waypoint is calculated from the distance and the relative direction between the temporary waypoint and the waypoint, and the distance and the relative direction between the temporary waypoint and the destination point. . In the subsequent judgment step (240), the result of comprehensive evaluation of the evaluation value obtained in step (230) and the cost of the route under consideration is compared with the route candidates found up to that time, and the new route under consideration Is superior in optimality, in the subsequent step (250), the candidate route is replaced with the new route under consideration. On the contrary, if the route candidate is superior to the new route, step (250)
Is not executed and the route candidates are not replaced. Further, in the following judgment step (260), it is judged whether or not the node of interest is the node of the waypoint, and if it is the node of the waypoint, it is recursively called in the following step (261). Return the evaluation process of the node that has been opened. If the node of interest is not the waypoint node, the following judgment step (2
In 70), it is determined whether or not there is unfocused link information. If there is unfocused link information, then in step (280), the next focused node is determined from the remaining link information. Then, in step (290), the node evaluation processing routine is called and processed. After the processing, the judgment step (270) is executed again. Here, step (290) is to recursively call the process from step (201). When it is determined in the judgment step (270) that there is no unfocused link information, in the subsequent step (271), the evaluation processing of the recursively called node is further returned. When the processing from step (201) that is recursively called returns to the first stage, the route candidates are the recommended route connecting the departure point where the node that is the optimal waypoint is the end and the optimal cost. Become. It is possible to automatically set the recommended route from the departure point to the destination point by linking the recommended routes obtained by repeating this process and storing them in the non-volatile memory 10.

In this way, the navigation device 1 automatically sets a recommended route passing near the waypoint set in the non-volatile memory 10 attached to the CPU 6 by setting the departure point, the destination point, and the near waypoint. It is possible.

Further, in step (230) of FIG. 4, the navigation device 1 sets the next waypoint instead of the destination point as the object of evaluation value calculation, repeatedly evaluates the nodes between waypoints, and outputs the result. By combining, set multiple via points between the departure point and the destination,
It is possible to automatically set a recommended route passing through the vicinity of a waypoint set in the nonvolatile memory 10 attached to the CPU 6.

Further, the navigation device 1 arbitrarily changes the coordinate range determined in the determination step (210) of FIG.
It is possible to arbitrarily change the shape of the recommended route passing near the waypoint automatically set to 0.

Further, the navigation device 1 sets the coordinate range determined in the determination step (210) of FIG. 4 to a wide range on the map, thereby omitting the range setting for each waypoint setting and simplifying the setting. It is possible to set conditions necessary for automatic setting of recommended routes.

Further, the navigation device 1 sets the coordinate range of the near waypoint determined in the determination step (210) of FIG. 4 for each waypoint, so that the CPU 6 automatically sets the route range in the non-volatile memory 10 attached to the CPU 6. It is possible to arbitrarily change the shape of the recommended route that passes near the point.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Navigation for displaying the map information read from the map information storage medium on the screen, executing the map display process in response to a display command from the outside, and displaying the current location or searching the map based on the internal data accompanying the map display process. In the device, a CPU that automatically calculates a recommended route from an arbitrary starting point to an arbitrary destination point through an adjacent waypoint having an evaluation range based on the internal data, and stores data indicating the recommended route in an internal memory. Since it is configured with
It is possible to cause the CPU 6 to automatically set the recommended route reflecting the user's intention and store the result in the non-volatile memory 10. In addition, since it does not require the absolute passing condition as in the past, it is not necessary to set the transit point to a severe one, so it is sufficient to place it at an approximate position, and it is generally for people who want to reach the destination point through this direction. Since it is possible to set conditions with ambiguity close to thinking, users can easily set waypoints even on land that is unfamiliar with geography. In addition, drawing an unnatural line for the automatically set recommended route has an excellent effect of preventing the generation under most conditions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a difference between evaluation results of an absolute waypoint and a near waypoint in automatic setting of a recommended route by the CPU shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a setting operation of a starting point, a destination point, and a waypoint by the CPU shown in FIG.

4 is a flow chart for explaining an automatic route setting processing operation when a near waypoint is set by the CPU shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Navigation Device 2 GPS Receiver 3 Keyboard 4 Reader 5 Map Information Storage Medium 6 CPU 7 Display 8 Display Controller 9 Display Image Memory 10 Nonvolatile Memory 11 CPU (Conventional)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A map information read from a map information storage medium is displayed on a screen, a map display process is executed in response to a display command from the outside, and a current position is displayed or displayed based on internal data accompanying the map display process. In a navigation device that performs a map search, a recommended route from an arbitrary starting point to an arbitrary destination via a near waypoint having an evaluation range is automatically calculated based on the internal data, and data indicating the recommended route is internally calculated. A navigation device comprising a CPU for storing in a memory. 2. The CP for automatically setting the recommended route with a near waypoint having a plurality of evaluation ranges as a setting condition.
The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising U. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising: the CPU that arbitrarily changes the evaluation range of the near waypoints, deforms the shape of the recommended route, and automatically sets the CPU. 4. The C for automatically setting the recommended route by setting the evaluation range of the near waypoint to a wide range on the map.
The navigation device according to claim 3, further comprising a PU. 5. The navigation device according to claim 3, further comprising: the CPU that automatically sets the recommended route by setting an evaluation range of near waypoints for each waypoint.