JPH0822247A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to further improve the usability of a user in a navigation device. [Structure] Distances between a position of a moving body and a position of a destination obtained from GPS radio waves are calculated for a plurality of time points, and an average moving speed of the moving body toward a destination is calculated based on a change amount of the distance within a predetermined period. To calculate. By providing the approximate time required for the moving body to move to the destination based on the average moving speed calculated in this way, a navigation device that is more convenient than the conventional one can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device, and is suitable for application to, for example, an on-vehicle navigation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, GPS (Global Positionig Syst)
A navigation device that displays the current position (latitude and longitude) and the direction of travel in a superimposed manner on a map using radio waves from a satellite has been put into practical use.

[0003]

However, in the case of this navigation device, there is one that obtains the moving speed in the moving direction and displays or informs the moving speed toward the set destination. Absent. Therefore, it was impossible to know how long it would take to reach the destination or at what time when the current speed was maintained.

However, the time required to reach the destination and the time at which the destination can be reached are often more important and more useful information than knowing the distance to the destination. For example, it is very useful when you are caught in a traffic jam.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and proposes a navigation device capable of providing an approximate time required to move to a destination and an approximate time to arrive at the destination. It is what

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, GPS receiving means (2), (3), (4) for receiving GPS radio waves to measure the position of a moving body.
And an input means (9) for inputting the position of the destination, and a distance between the moving body and the destination at a plurality of time points (T ₀ , T ₁ , T ₂ ...), and a predetermined period (for example, T _0). the average traveling speed of the through T _n) to the destination direction of the moving body based on a change in distance in the (v _nt) calculating means (5 for calculating a), moving on the basis of the average moving velocity (v _nt) body Information providing means (8) and (12) for providing the approximate time required for the vehicle to move to the destination.

In the present invention, GPS receiving means (2) for receiving GPS radio waves to measure the position of the moving body,
(3), (4), input means (9) for inputting the position of the destination, and distances between the moving body and the destination at a plurality of time points (T ₀ , T ₁ , T ₂ ...). , A calculation means (5) for calculating an average moving speed (v _nt ) of the moving body toward the destination based on the amount of change in the distance within a predetermined period (for example, T _{0 to} T _n ), and an average moving speed (v _nt ) and information providing means (8), (12) for providing the approximate time at which the mobile body arrives at the destination based on the current time.

[0008]

The distance between the position of the moving body and the position of the destination obtained from GPS radio waves is calculated at a plurality of time points (T ₀ , T ₁ , T ₂ ...).
Then, the average moving speed (v _nt ) of the moving body toward the destination is calculated based on the change amount of the distance within a predetermined period (for example, T _{0 to} T _n ). Then, based on the average moving speed (v _nt ), it provides an approximate time required for the moving body to move to the destination or an approximate time to arrive at the destination.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The navigation device described in this embodiment calculates an average velocity vector from the current position obtained from GPS radio waves to the destination, and calculates the required time from the calculated velocity vector to the arrival at the destination. It is characterized by having a function of calculating and a function of notifying the user of this. A system configuration that realizes these functions will be described with reference to FIG.

The car navigation system 1 transmits GPS radio waves received by the antenna 2 to an intermediate frequency (IF: interm).
ediate frequency) G by giving to converter 3
The carrier frequency of PS radio waves is converted into an intermediate frequency, and this is given to the GPS decoder 4. GPS
The decoder 4 calculates the speed in the moving direction of the moving body from various data sent by GPS radio waves by the arithmetic processing,
The current time and position (longitudinal coordinates) are obtained and given to the graphics processing microcomputer 5. Incidentally, these data are obtained about every 1 second.

Graphic processing micro computer 5
Operates according to a program stored in the read-only memory (ROM) 6, and displays a map specified by the user on the display 8 based on the map data read from the CD-ROM device 7. Has been done.

The map displayed on the display 8 can be freely selected using the input device 9. The input device 9 can be used to give the coordinates (x _t , y _t ) of the destination to the graphics processing microcomputer 5 by moving the cursor to a point on the map.

The graphics processing microcomputer 5 also receives the coordinates (x _t ,
y _t ) and the coordinates (x _p , y _p ), (x _q , y _q ), etc. of the current position obtained from GPS radio waves, so that the distance from the current position to the destination is regularly measured. Has been done. Then, the average velocity vector toward the destination is calculated by averaging the velocity vectors toward the destination obtained at each measurement time point.

Graphic processing micro computer 5
Calculates the time required to reach the destination at the current average speed by dividing the distance between the destination and the moving body by the average speed vector thus obtained, Digital signal processor 1 for time information
It is designed to output to 0.

The digital signal processor 10 converts the remaining time information into audio data based on the data stored in the audio data read-only memory (not shown), and supplies it to the digital / analog conversion circuit 11. Has been done. Digital / analog conversion circuit 1
Reference numeral 1 converts this voice data into an analog voice signal and gives it to the speaker 12. The approximate time required to reach the destination from the speaker 12 is notified to the driver as a voice. Speaker 1 at this time
From 2, for example, the content of "I will arrive at the destination in XX minutes later" is output.

An example of the use of the car navigation system 1 having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. Here, an arrow indicated by a thin line indicates a movement locus of the moving body, and an outline bold arrow indicates a velocity vector toward the destination. First, the driver uses the input device 9 to select a map including the destination from the map data stored in the CD-ROM device 7,
The target point t is set by specifying the position on the map displayed on the display 8. The graphics processing microcomputer 5 takes in the coordinates (x _t , y _t ) of the target point t thus set.

When the destination t is set in this way,
The graphics processing micro computer 5 periodically (at each time point T ₀ , T ₁ , T ₂ , T ₃ ...) GPs the current position.
Uptake from S decoder 4, to calculate the velocity vector _{v 1, v 2, v 3} , v 4 ...... to the desired value direction at each measurement time point. The state of this process will be described below by taking the process at the time point T ₁ as an example.

Graphic processing micro computer 5
Is the moving distance ΔL ₁ in the direction of the destination, which has moved from time T ₀ to time T _1.

[Equation 1] To ask.

Next, this moving distance ΔL ₁ is calculated by the following equation.

[Equation 2] As shown in, the time required for movement ΔT (= T ₁ −T ₀ ).
The velocity vector v ₁ toward the destination at this time T ₁ is obtained by dividing by.

Similarly, for each time point T ₂ , time point T _3, ..., the moving distance ΔL ₂ moved toward the destination from the time point T ₁ to the time point T ₂ , and to the destination direction from the time point T ₂ to the time point T _3. the moving distance was moved to ΔL ₃ ...... look in order, each time point T _2,
The velocity vector v ₂ , v toward the destination at T ₃ ...
₃ Ask for.

As described above, the velocity vector v is obtained for each time point.
_{When 1} , v ₂ , v ₃ ... _Are obtained, the average velocity vector v _nt is calculated by

(Equation 3) To ask.

When the average velocity vector v _nt is obtained for n sample points in this way, the graphics processing microcomputer 5 divides the distance to the destination t by the average velocity vector v _nt, and Determines the approximate time it will take to reach the destination t at the current speed and provides this to the digital signal processor 10. _Incidentally , the accuracy of the average velocity vector v _nt can be arbitrarily set by appropriately adjusting the sample amount.

The digital signal processor 10 converts the remaining distance thus obtained into voice data, and the digital data is converted into voice data through the digital / analog conversion circuit 11.
Output from 2 as voice.

With the above arrangement, the time required to reach the destination t can be predicted almost accurately, and the usability for the driver can be further improved. For example, it is easy to make or change a plan after arrival based on the estimated time. Further, when traveling at a substantially constant speed, it is possible to know whether or not the driver is approaching the destination. For example, when traveling around the destination, no matter how fast the vehicle travels, it does not approach the destination, so the time required for arrival does not decrease.

In the above embodiment, the case where the time required to reach the destination is notified by voice is described. However, the present invention replaces this with the display 8
The text may be displayed on the top. For example, these pieces of information may be displayed in characters on the display 8 displaying a map or the like. Further, the characters may be displayed as characters on a small liquid crystal display used for displaying the reception frequency and time of the radio receiver. Further, not only the information may be notified by voice, or the information may be displayed only by characters, and the information may be provided to the driver by using them together.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the time required to reach the destination is notified by voice is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to reach from the movement start point to the destination. It may also be possible to display the state of how the distance is reduced. For example, in FIG.
As shown in (B) and (C), the entire display surface of the display 15 is defined as the remaining distance at the start of movement, and the decrease in the distance toward the target location with respect to this distance is represented by the length of the diagonal line in the figure. Is also good. In the case of this figure, FIG. 3 (A) shows the state immediately after the start of movement, and FIG. 3 (C) shows the state of approaching the destination.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the car navigation device has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other navigation devices. Further, in the embodiment, the CD-ROM 7 and the audio circuits 10 and 11 are used.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a system excluding them as shown in FIG. 4, for example, a portable simple navigation device. In this case, the user may directly input the latitude and longitude of the destination using the input device 9.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case of notifying or displaying the expected time required to reach the destination has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present time is shown by information such as GPS radio waves. If is known, the estimated time of arrival at the destination is estimated by using the scheduled time and the current time.
It will arrive in the minute. "

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where only the time required to reach the destination is notified or displayed has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and when the user suddenly increases the speed. For example, a message such as "It is dangerous to hurry too much" may be notified or displayed. Further, if the traveling speed is very slow due to traffic jam, etc., it may be displayed such as "It will not arrive until it stays as it is" or "It will take more than a day if it stays as it is".

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the distance between the position of the moving body and the position of the destination obtained from the GPS radio wave is calculated for a plurality of time points, and based on the amount of change in the distance within a predetermined period. By calculating the average moving speed of the moving body to the destination and providing the approximate time required for the moving body to move to the destination or the approximate time to arrive at the destination based on the average moving speed. As a result, it is possible to realize a navigation device which is more convenient than the conventional one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a navigation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram used for explaining calculation of a velocity vector toward a destination.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a remaining distance that decreases as a user moves from a movement start position to a destination.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an application example to another navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 20 ... Navigation device, 2 ... Antenna, 3
...... IF converter, 4 ... GPS decoder, 5 ... Graphic processing micro computer, 7 ... CD-R
OM device, 8 ... Display device, 9 ... Input device.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G10L 3/00 Q

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A GPS receiving means for receiving GPS radio waves to measure the position of a moving body, an input means for inputting a position of a destination, and a distance between the moving body and the destination at a plurality of time points. Then, calculating means for calculating an average moving speed of the moving body toward the destination based on the amount of change in the distance within a predetermined period, and the moving body moving to the destination based on the average moving speed. A navigation device comprising an information providing means for providing an approximate time required to do. 2. A GPS receiving means for receiving GPS radio waves to measure the position of a moving body, an input means for inputting a position of a destination, and a distance between the moving body and the destination at a plurality of time points. Then, a calculating means for calculating an average moving speed of the moving body in the direction of the destination based on the amount of change in the distance within a predetermined period, and the moving body having the object based on the average moving speed and the current time. A navigation device comprising an information providing means for providing an approximate time of arrival at the ground. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information providing means provides information by voice. 4. The information providing means provides the information by means of characters or charts.
The navigation device described in.