DE19929440A1 - Route computation and navigation device has second memory for storing starting point, arrangement for selecting stored starting point as destination point for new route computation - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a second memory (60) for storing the starting point and an arrangement for selecting the stored starting point as the destination point for a new route computation. The second memory is set up as a list for storing a number of destination points and a starting point can be selected as a new destination point on the list. An Independent claim is also included for a method of computing a route from a starting point to a destination point.

Description

State of the art

The invention is based on a method and a Navigation device to calculate a route from a start to a destination according to the genre of the independent Claims from.

There are navigation devices, especially for operation in Motor vehicles known after entering a destination depending on a current location at A route using stored map information from a start to a destination and calculate one Vehicle driver by means of optically and / or acoustically Driving instructions issued along this route from Guide current location to the destination.

In a first group of known navigation devices an entry of the navigation destination Entry of the town or city name letter by letter, as well as at least one street name of the navigation destination, and if necessary, additional information such as of a district or a house number. At Navigation devices designed for installation in a 1-DIN Installation slot of a motor vehicle are provided whose front cap area is often not sufficient for  all letters of the alphabet have their own key to be provided, so that control elements for input as a rule of letters at least twice, often also many times are occupied. The letter-by-letter entry of a The navigation destination is designed for these devices comparatively tedious and time-consuming.

It is therefore another form of entering Navigation targets have been realized, in which the analog procedure described place and street name and if necessary, further information by letter can be entered, but also a list is generated in which only contain such navigation destinations on which the already entered Letter combinations fit, and being the one you want Navigation target can be selected by selecting from the list. This entry of navigation destinations is compared to the the former already relatively comfortable, however still due to the required letter input quite complex.

Such navigation devices are also known in which entering a navigation destination by marking the Target point using a controllable cursor on one the display unit of the navigation device shown map he follows. However, this is relatively detailed Knowledge of the exact location of the navigation destination on the Card required. Furthermore, it is before marking the actual navigation destination required, first one to choose the appropriate map section that the Contains navigation target and also a suitable one Map scale to choose using the navigation destination shows sufficiently high resolution.  

Advantages of the invention

The inventive method and the inventive Navigation device with the features of independent In contrast, claims have the advantage that after Determination of a route from a start to a destination a new route calculation to the original starting point with particularly low operating effort can be initiated.

It is also advantageous to have a plurality of starting points save previous route calculations, because with it the number of navigation targets that are particularly easy to enter increases. It is in the sense of simple operation further particularly advantageous for entering a Navigation target when the navigation device is switched on Show list of saved starting locations from which the new navigation destination can be selected. In addition, the Display of the saved starting points for or immediately This is also an advantage before entering the navigation destination, because the saved starting points for the driver Be brought to the knowledge, so that an elaborate conventional input may become unnecessary.

A particularly simple form of line selection enables one Movable cursor above the list using the cursor keys Marking a starting point in connection with a Confirmation key to select a marked starting point in the list as a new navigation destination.

drawings

Embodiments of the invention are in the figures shown and are explained in more detail below.  

Show it

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a navigation device according to the invention,

Fig. 2A schematically shows the second memory 70 with registered therein starting points at a first time and

FIG. 2B, the second memory 70 at a second later point in time.

Description of the embodiments

The subject matter of the present invention is described below using the example of a vehicle navigation device 10 , the block diagram of which is shown in FIG. 1.

Means 30 , 35 , 40 are connected to a device control 20 of the navigation device 10 , which also includes the actual navigation computer, among other things, which provide information about the location, the direction of movement and the state of movement of the vehicle.

The present exemplary embodiment is a rotation rate sensor 30 , with the aid of which the orientation of the vehicle in which the navigation device is installed with respect to the cardinal points is detected by integration via the detected rotation rate changes. Furthermore, it is a distance meter 35 which detects, for example, pulses emitted by wheel sensors of an anti-lock braking system for vehicle brakes and determines a distance traveled from the number of pulses determined and a known wheel circumference. Finally, it is a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 40 for receiving and evaluating radio signals emitted by GPS satellites, by means of which the position of the vehicle can be determined.

Furthermore, a first memory 60 is connected to the controller 20 , in which information from a country or road map, in particular traffic route information, such as information about motorways, federal, rural and district roads, as well as inner-city streets and furthermore at least place and street names, in stored in digital form. In the present exemplary embodiment, the first memory 60 is implemented in the form of a CD-ROM drive with an inserted CD-ROM as a data carrier for the map information. However, it can also be provided that the first memory 60 is implemented in the form of a ROM or RAM semiconductor memory. In the latter case of a RAM memory, the stored map information can be updated in a simple manner, for example via a radio link between the navigation device 10 and a control center or also by information transmitted by means of receivable radio signals.

Furthermore, an output unit 50 for displaying and / or acoustically outputting driving instructions is connected to the controller 20 . Driving instructions for the vehicle driver are shown on this during the actual route guidance process, for example in the form of an arrow indicating the forthcoming turning processes and a remaining distance display until the turning process. As an alternative or in addition to the visual output of the driving instructions, an acoustic reproduction of driving instructions is provided, for example in the form "turn right after 100 meters". To generate the driving instructions, the controller 20 has a corresponding generator, not shown and known per se, in the case of an acoustic output of the driving instructions, for example in the form of a speech synthesizer for converting a driving instruction into intelligible language.

Furthermore, an input unit 45 with control elements, such as pushbuttons 47 or other input means, such as, for example, is connected to the controller 20 . B. knobs, for entering a navigation destination and for operating other functions of the device. In the subject matter of the present invention, the input unit is preferably designed in the form of a cursor control with cursor keys 47 a, 47 b, 47 c, 47 d and a confirmation key 48 which, in particular, is preferably a particularly simple selection of a target point or another parameter value to be set from a selection list Mark the corresponding list entry using, a controllable cursor 49 and then confirm the marked list entry.

Finally, a second memory 70 is provided to the controller for storing a navigation starting point. In a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, the second memory 70 is designed in such a way that a single starting point 71 , that is to say a data set which characterizes a starting point, consists, for example, of information about coordinates of the starting point within the map stored in the first memory 60 , or of information The geographical longitude and latitude of the starting point, or consisting of at least a place name and a street name of the starting point and possibly additional information such as a house number or a number sequence that can be clearly assigned to the navigation destination, such as a telephone number, can be stored.

For this purpose, the control 20 is designed such that the start point is written into the second memory 70 at the start of a route guidance process, that is to say after the navigation device has been started up and the vehicle in which the navigation device is operated has been put into motion.

In contrast, in a second exemplary embodiment of the navigation device according to the invention, it is provided that a plurality of starting point data records 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 can be stored in the second memory 70 . For this purpose, the second memory 70 is preferably designed in the form of a memory usually referred to as LIFO (Last In First Out) memory, so that when the data records stored in the second memory 70 are accessed, the controller 20 initially accesses the data record stored last.

To store a plurality of starting point data records in the second memory 70 , the controller 20 is designed such that, at the beginning of the route calculation or, for example, immediately after the location has been determined or at the start of the route guidance process after the route calculation has ended, the corresponding starting point 74 , 75 comes first in the second memory 70 is written.

Alternatively, it is also possible that before saving of a starting point data record prompted by the vehicle driver will confirm the storage of the data record.

The described navigation device works as follows.

When the navigation device is switched on, the sensors 30 , 35 , 40 , namely the rotation rate sensor 30 , the odometer 35 and the GPS receiver 40 provide information about the state of motion, the orientation and the current position of the vehicle in which the navigation device 10 is operated. The navigation computer of the controller 20 calculates the current vehicle position from the signals from the sensors 30 and 35 and the satellite receiver 40 . If necessary, this is corrected by a comparison with the card information stored in the first memory 60 in the sense of a plausibility check. This method is generally known under the term "map matching".

Then or immediately after switching on the device, i.e. simultaneously with the position determination, the navigation driver enters the navigation destination, for example in a known manner by entering the location and street name of the navigation destination letter by letter and / or by selecting them from a destination list. Alternatively, the destination entry can also be provided in the form of a marking of the navigation destination on a map shown on the output unit 50 by means of a controllable cursor or by entering a number, for example a telephone number, which is clearly assigned to the navigation destination.

In addition, it is provided according to the invention that the entry of the navigation destination also by selecting, in the case of the first exemplary embodiment, the starting point stored in the second memory 70 , in the case of the second exemplary embodiment, one of the starting points 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 stored in the second memory 70 , can be done.

In the second exemplary embodiment, a list of the stored starting points 71 to 74 is displayed on the display 50 , for example when the navigation device is started up, the starting point 74 that was last stored preferably being noted in the first position in the list, and the other starting points 71 to 73, for example, in the reverse, if appropriate Order of their storage or according to another criterion, such as sorted alphabetically by city name. To select a stored starting point as the new target point, a cursor 49 which can be moved over the displayed list by means of cursor keys 47 a to 47 d is present and, when the list is first displayed when the navigation device 10 is started up, preferably initially marks the last stored starting point 74 . This can therefore be selected by simply confirming with a confirmation button. If an older starting point 71 to 73 is to be selected instead of the last stored starting point, the cursor 49 is moved using the cursor keys 47 a to 47 d to the corresponding list entry and the starting point marked in this way is selected using the confirmation key 48 ( FIG. 2A).

After the navigation destination has been entered and the current vehicle location has been determined, a route calculation from the current vehicle location to the user-defined destination, that is to say the navigation destination, with the aid of the map information stored in the first memory 60 is carried out in the navigation computer of the controller 20 , automatically or at the explicit request of the vehicle driver.

At the same time, ie when the route calculation begins, the current vehicle location is automatically written into the second memory 70 as the starting point 75 ( FIG. 2B). Alternatively, the starting point can be written into the second memory 70 only after the vehicle has been put into motion, that is to say with the start of the route guidance process, or immediately after the location has been determined after the navigation device 10 has been started up , or also at one of the times mentioned at the instigation of the user.

If the second memory 70 according to the first exemplary embodiment is a memory with storage space for only one starting point, a starting point that may already have been stored is overwritten.

If the second memory 70 according to the second exemplary embodiment is a memory for holding a plurality of starting point data records, the entries 71 to 74 which have already been stored are preferably shifted one place back in their ranking and the current starting point 75 in first place in the second memory 70 is written . Does the current vehicle location and thus the starting point match a starting location already stored in the second memory 70 ; so it is preferably not rewritten into the second memory 70 , but the memory content may be re-sorted such that the current location is again in the first position in the second memory 70 . If the capacity of the second memory 70 is exhausted by the number of entries, it is provided in the present embodiment that the oldest entry 71 is deleted in each case when a new starting point 75 is registered.

In another embodiment, it can also be provided be that all entries except the most current, or also all entries in predetermined or by the user predeterminable time intervals of, for example, one or several days or even one or more weeks Commissioning of the navigation device or even before it Shutdown can be deleted.  

After calculating the route from the current starting point 75 to the selected destination, the actual route guidance process begins when the journey begins, in the course of which the navigation device 10 guides the vehicle driver along the calculated route to the entered navigation destination by means of visual and / or acoustic driving instructions. If the vehicle driver deviates from the specified route, provision is made for a new route calculation to take place after the current vehicle location has been determined, the further driving instructions being based on the newly calculated route.

Claims (7)

1. A method for calculating a route from a start to a destination, characterized in that the start point is stored and that the stored start point can be selected as the destination for a new route calculation. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the starting point is stored in a list and that as Destination for a new route calculation is selectable from the list. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the list of starting points for entering navigation destinations is shown. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the navigation target by marking a starting point within the list, preferably by means of a cursor keys ( 47 a, 47 b, 47 c, 47 d) controllable cursor ( 48 ) and subsequent confirmation of the marked starting point is selectable. 5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized marked that the stored in the list  Starting points after a specified period of time to be deleted. 6. Navigation device for calculating a route from a start to a destination, characterized by
a second memory ( 70 ) for storing the starting point ( 74 , 75 ) and
Means ( 47 a, 47 b, 47 c, 47 d, 48 , 49 ) for selecting the stored starting point ( 74 , 75 ) as the destination for a new route calculation. 7. Navigation device according to claim 4, characterized in that the second memory 70 is in the form of a list for storing a plurality of destination points ( 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 ), and that a starting point can be selected from the list as a new destination is.