JPH11271070A - Navigation system for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a map database to simply and carefully correct an error from a present state without depending on the upgrade of a version, by displaying fixed map data being recorded in advance on a map with traveling road map data being actually traveled. SOLUTION: Based on a reception electronic wave from a satellite 10, a GPS 12 measures the current position of a vehicle in latitude and longitude. A data retrieval part 21 retrieves map data corresponding to current position information from the GPS 12 by a CD-ROM 31 and an IC card 41. A display control part 25 allows the read map data and the current position information to be subjected to position correspondence each other, and visually displays the current position of the vehicle on a map. A map data creation part 24 creates the traveling road map data of the vehicle based on the current position information for writing to the IC card 41, thus simply, carefully, individually correcting the error of the map database of the CD-ROM 31 as compared with a present state without depending on the expensive upgrade of a version.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation system and, more particularly, to a technology effective when applied to a vehicle navigation system for displaying a traveling position of a vehicle on a map. The present invention relates to a technology that is effective for providing road map information based on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Navigation systems for automobiles are G
The position information obtained by the position measurement system using the PS (global positioning system) is superimposed on map data recorded in advance on a CD-ROM, which is a read-only storage medium, and is displayed on the screen so that the driver of the vehicle can use the information. The present running position is visually grasped.

[0003] GPS is a position measurement system that determines the position of latitude and longitude based on radio waves from a satellite orbiting the earth in a predetermined orbit. By combining this position measurement system with a map database system,
A navigation system that visually displays the current traveling position of the vehicle on a map can be configured.

[0004] As a map database system, CD
-There is provided a system in which map data fixedly recorded in advance in a ROM is selectively read out based on position information from the GPS.

[0005] A car navigation system is described in, for example, "Nikkei Electronics December 5, 1994 (No. 623)" published by Nikkei BP, 13
The outline is described on pages 3 to 144 and the like.

[0006]

However, it has been clarified by the present inventors that the above-described technology has the following problems.

[0007] As described above, the navigation system for an automobile includes a position measurement system such as a GPS and a CD-ROM.
Although it is composed of a read-only map database system fixedly recorded in advance in a ROM, it has been found that this system causes the following problems.

That is, the contents of the map data fixedly recorded in advance on the CD-ROM gradually lose their accuracy due to the subsequent opening of a road or the like. That is,
The map information recorded on the CD-ROM is
The value of M as recorded at the time of recording, that is, before the time of production, becomes less useful as a map database over time.

On the other hand, in order to maintain the function of an automobile navigation system using the CD-ROM map database, it is necessary to always mount a CD-ROM in which the latest map database is stored. For this purpose, it is necessary to frequently upgrade the CD-ROM to exchange the latest version.

However, the amount of information of the map database stored on the CD-ROM is enormous, and even if the version is frequently updated, it is practically impossible to find details that match the current situation. Frequent version upgrades increase the cost of financial expenses, and the effect of the version upgrade is limited to the case where map data of a corrected portion due to the version upgrade is used. If the part corrected by the version upgrade is out of the range of use of the user, the expenditure for the version upgrade is wasted as a result.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automobile navigation system using a map database recorded in advance on a read-only storage medium such as a CD-ROM.
The error that the map database has with respect to the current situation can be easily and finely corrected according to individual purposes without depending on version upgrades that cost a great deal of money, so that the latest information is always available. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology that enables navigation based on the information.

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of a representative one will be briefly described.
It is as follows.

That is, a position measuring means (12) for measuring the current position of the vehicle, a storage and reading means (3) for reading fixed map data recorded in advance on a read-only storage medium (31), and the position measuring means ( 12) Map data creation means (24) for creating travel road map data on which the vehicle has actually traveled based on the position information provided from 12), and variable storage means (4, 41) for rewritably storing the created travel road map data. ) And control means (25) for displaying the road map data stored in the variable storage means (4, 41) on the screen together with the fixed map data.

According to the above-mentioned means, the map data corrected according to the current situation can be displayed on the screen without replacing the read-only storage medium such as the CD-ROM with the upgrade. Thereby, in a car navigation system using a map database recorded in advance on a read-only storage medium such as a CD-ROM,
Errors based on the current status of the map database can be easily and finely corrected for individual purposes without relying on version upgrades that cost a great deal of money, and navigation based on the latest information is always available. Is achieved.

Further, a GPS (12) for measuring the current position of the vehicle in the form of latitude and longitude using satellite radio waves,
Storage and reading means (3) for reading fixed map data previously recorded in the ROM; map data creating means (24) for creating travel road map data of the vehicle based on positional information given from the GPS (12); A variable storage means (4) for storing the created map data in a detachable and rewritable variable storage medium (41); and a road map data stored in the variable storage means (4) together with the fixed map data on a screen. A control means (25) for displaying is provided. As a result, it is possible to highly accurately correct an error that the map database of the CD-ROM has with respect to the current state.

Further, as the variable storage means (4),
An IC card having a built-in flash memory is used as a removable and rewritable variable storage medium (41).
The configuration is such that the road map data is written and read from the C card.

As a control means (25) for displaying the road map data on the screen together with the fixed map data, a screen composition for synthesizing the road map data and the fixed map data on the same screen while associating the positions with each other in latitude and longitude. Means (25) are provided.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an automobile navigation system to which the technology of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes an antenna for receiving a radio wave from a satellite 10, reference numeral 12 denotes a GPS for measuring the current position of a vehicle in the form of latitude and longitude based on a radio wave received from the satellite, and reference numeral 2 denotes a signal from the GPS 12. The main control unit 3 executes a process of superimposing the current position information of the vehicle to be displayed on the map data and visually displaying the current position information. The CD 3 reads a fixed data recorded in advance on a CD-ROM 31 which is a read-only storage medium. A ROM drive, 4 an IC card drive for writing and reading data to and from an IC card 41 as a variable storage medium, and 5 a display device 5
Reference numeral 53 denotes a wireless remote control (remote control) unit, which includes an operation panel unit 1 and an input device 52 such as a touch keyboard.

Here, the CD-ROM 31 is pre-recorded with a map database covering only the whole country or a range corresponding thereto. IC card 41
Is a flash memory, which is an electrically rewritable semiconductor memory element, built in a card together with an interface, and is configured to be detachably mounted and connected to a card drive 4 via a slot (not shown). Have been.

The main control unit 2 includes a data search unit 21, a data read unit 22, a data write unit 23, and a map data creation unit 2.
4, a display control unit 25 and the like. The main control unit 2 is centrally configured using a microcomputer or the like.

In this case, the data retrieving unit 21 uses the GPS 1
2, the current position information (latitude / longitude) is received, and map data corresponding to the current position information is searched from the CD-ROM 31 and the IC card 41. Data reading unit 2
2 is a CD-ROM based on the search by the data search unit 21
The map data is read from the IC card 31 and the IC card 41, respectively. The display control unit 25 includes a screen combining unit that combines the map data read by the data reading unit 22 and the current position information given from the GPS 12 on the same screen while associating the positions with each other in latitude and longitude. And a process of visually displaying the current position of the vehicle as a mark on the map.

The map data creation unit 24 creates travel road map data of the vehicle based on the current position information given from the GPS 12. This map data creation is automatically performed only by the user designating the starting point (creating the starting point) through the operation panel unit 5 by constantly sampling the current position information (latitude / longitude) given from the GPS 12. Can be done. The map data created in this way is
The data is written to the IC card 41 via the data writing unit 23 and the IC card drive 3 based on a user operation on the operation panel unit 5.

That is, when a road that is not included in the map database of the CD-ROM 31 actually exists, by actually driving the road, map data having the actual driving route as the road is created, and IC data is generated. It is written on the card 41.

The map data written on the IC card 41 is read out based on the current position information from the GPS 12, and is also displayed on the screen together with the map data in the CD-ROM 31 read out based on the current position information of the GPS 12. Is done. As a result, the map data corrected according to the current situation can be displayed on the screen without exchanging the CD-ROM 31 for upgrade.

As described above, the error which the map database of the CD-ROM 31 has with respect to the current state is automatically and simply and finely corrected individually without depending on the version upgrade accompanied by a large financial burden. be able to.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main part of the navigation system for an automobile described above.

In FIG. 3, when the system is started by an engine start or the like, after a predetermined system check, it is checked whether or not the CD-ROM 31 is loaded (S1).
1, S12).

If the CD-ROM 31 of the map database is not loaded, an error message is displayed and the operator is notified of the CD-RO.
The user is prompted to load M (S21).

If the regular CD-ROM 31 has been loaded, it is checked whether or not the IC card (memory card) 41 has been loaded (S13).

When the IC card 41 is not mounted, the CD-
Only the map data in the ROM 31 is displayed on the screen, and the navigation for displaying the road of the vehicle is executed on this display screen (S31, S16).

When the IC card 41 is mounted,
The user operation status on the operation panel unit 5 is checked, and it is checked whether or not the operation for setting the write mode is performed (S14).

When the writing mode setting operation has not been performed, the map data of the CD-ROM 31 and the map data of the IC card (memory card) 41 are read out based on the measurement information of the GPS 12, respectively, and the two data are mutually positioned. The corresponding screen is displayed on the same screen while corresponding, and the navigation for displaying the running path of the vehicle is executed on this display screen (S15, S16).

If the write mode setting operation has been performed in S14, an interactive process for inquiring the user whether to save the previous data is executed (S41).

When the user selects non-storing (erasing) in this interactive process, unnecessary storage contents for each starting point of the IC card (memory card) 41 are partially deleted (S51). Is selected, the process proceeds to the next step (S42) while leaving the previous data as it is.

In the next step (S42), it is checked whether or not there is a storage capacity for writing new data in the IC card 41.

If the storage capacity is insufficient, a process for deleting unnecessary data is executed in an interactive manner with the user (S52).

When the storage capacity is sufficient, the user information such as the condition of the traveling road is read from the operation panel unit 5 and the actual traveling road map data actually traveled based on the measurement of the GPS 12 is created. The data is sequentially written to the card 41 (S43, S44).

According to the processing procedure described above, the CD-RO
Correct the error between the M31 map database and the current situation,
Navigation based on correct map information according to the current situation can be performed.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of a navigation display by the above-described system.

In the figure, (A) shows the CD-ROM 31
(B) shows the map data contents written in the IC card (variable storage medium) 41, and (C) shows the map information based on the above two data and the GPS data. 5 shows a screen display example of the current position information according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the map data of the CD-ROM 31 is displayed on the screen in a form modified by the map data a1 and a2 of the IC card 41. At the same time, a mark po indicating the current position measured by the GPS 12 is displayed on the display screen.

In this case, a1 indicates the road map data automatically created based on the measurement of the GPS 12, and a2 indicates the impassable mark. The mark a2 can be input by, for example, disposing a transparent touch sensor on a system display line at the bottom of the screen and operating the transparent touch sensor.

Although the invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. Needless to say.

For example, a configuration using a floppy diskette, a magnetic diskette (magnetic storage device) or the like instead of the IC card as the variable storage means is also effective. In addition, these variable storage units may be used alone, or may be mounted simultaneously. Further, as the position measuring means, an inertial type using a high-accuracy accelerometer and a direction sensor such as a gyro can be used.

In the above description, mainly the case where the invention made by the present inventor is applied to an automobile navigation system, which is the field of use as the background, is not limited thereto. It can also be applied to portable navigation systems for walking.

[0050]

The effects obtained by typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

That is, in an automobile navigation system using a map database pre-recorded on a read-only storage medium such as a CD-ROM, an error of the map database with respect to the current state is accompanied by a large financial burden. Modifications can be made easily and finely according to individual purposes without depending on version upgrades, thereby providing an effect that navigation based on the latest information is always possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automobile navigation system to which the technology of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a main part of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a navigation display by the system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 GPS satellite 11 Satellite radio wave receiving antenna 12 GPS (global positioning system) 2 Main control unit 21 Data search unit 22 Data read unit 23 Data write unit 24 Map data creation unit 25 Display control unit 3 CD-ROM drive 31 CD-ROM (Read-only storage medium) 4 IC card drive 41 IC card (variable storage medium) 5 Operation panel unit 51 Display device 52 Input device 53 Wireless remote control (remote operation) unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A position measuring means for measuring a current position of a vehicle, a storage and reading means for reading fixed map data recorded in a read-only storage medium in advance, and the vehicle based on position information given from the position measuring means. Map data creating means for creating travel route map data actually traveled,
A variable storage means for rewritably storing the generated road map data; and a control means for displaying the road map data stored in the variable storage means together with the fixed map data on a screen. Navigation system. 2. GPS for measuring the current position of a vehicle in the form of latitude and longitude using satellite radio waves, storage and reading means for reading fixed map data recorded in advance on a CD-ROM, and a position provided by the GPS. Map data creating means for creating the road map data of the vehicle based on the information; variable storage means for storing the created map data in a removable and rewritable variable storage medium; The vehicle navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising control means for displaying runway map data on a screen together with the fixed map data. 3. The variable storage means is an IC having a built-in flash memory as a removable and rewritable variable storage medium.
3. The vehicle navigation system according to claim 1, wherein a card is used to write and read runway map data to and from the IC card. 4. The control means for displaying the road map data on the screen together with the fixed map data comprises a screen synthesizing means for synthesizing the road map data and the fixed map data on the same screen while associating the positions on the latitude and longitude with each other. The automobile navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: