JP3217204B2 - Guide system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a guide system for tracking a current position and providing sightseeing guidance near a traveling road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various navigation devices have been proposed which specify an origin (current location) and a destination to select an optimal route and provide course guidance to the destination. Conventionally, navigation devices that have been mainly proposed provide only course guidance by turning right or left or instructing a traveling direction with a goal of an intersection or a feature according to a route to a destination. Has proposed a system that also provides sightseeing guidance using this function.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-290473,
JP-B-63-19005, JP-A-4-1520, etc. provide storage means for storing sightseeing guide information.
There has been proposed a device which detects a current position, displays a map, a current position of a vehicle, and a traveling direction on a display, and outputs sound together with sightseeing guide information. It also shows that guidance is provided by image display instead of audio output.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional guide device, a guide is provided by searching for a property existing at the current position and a place facing the road to be traveled from the detected current position. Therefore, it was not possible to guide a property other than a property existing at a place facing the road. In addition, it is not possible to guide a property existing near the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling or planned to be driven, and guidance is started when a point where the property exists is provided. If there is a variation in the sparseness of properties, there is a case where there is no guidance and there is a gap between the properties, especially when there is no guide property over a long distance.
In addition, guidance can be provided for a property that can have address information, but, for example, a description of a currently running road or a description of the area cannot be provided.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a guide system capable of providing appropriate sightseeing guides to various sightseeing properties in a wide range without a pause. It is assumed that.

[0006]

For that purpose, a guide system according to the present invention comprises: guide data storage means for categorizing and storing guide data for guiding articles and streets along roads; Guidance output means for outputting guidance, current position detection means for detecting and tracking the current position,
It has a plurality of search means for searching for guide data of the guided property for each category, and searches the guide data of the guided property by the plurality of search means from the guide data storage means based on the current position obtained by the current position detection means. Guide output means for extracting, guiding, and outputting the guide property, wherein the guide output means sets a priority order for the plurality of search means, outputs the guide in order from the search means having the highest priority, and extracts the extracted guide property. When there are a plurality of guide data, the guidance output is performed in order from the property closest to the current position.

[0007]

The guide system according to the present invention outputs guide data storing means for categorizing and guiding guide data for articles and streets along the road and articles in the area, and outputs guidance for articles to be guided. Guidance output means, current position detection means for detecting and tracking the current position, and a plurality of search means for searching the guide data of the guide article for each category, based on the current position obtained from the current position detection means A guide output means for searching and extracting guide data of the guide article from the guide data storage means by a plurality of search means and extracting and outputting the guide, and the plurality of search means to search the property for each category; When the search means is selected, information of the type desired by the user can be guided and output. Also, for example, when priorities are set in advance for a plurality of search means, guidance objects can be searched for, extracted and guided in ascending order of priority.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a guide system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a guide start condition, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a guide point for one property,
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the setting of a guided property, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a guided property.

In FIG. 1, the operation means 1 enlarges the map image displayed on the display output means 8 to a detailed view, reduces it to a wide area map, or changes the display direction with north to up and south to up. It has a key for operating when switching the map image so as to change the orientation to the desired direction and switching from the guide image being displayed to the map image, for example, has a manual key as shown in FIG. A remote control is used. The display output means 8 is for outputting and outputting a guidance video or a map image of the property to be guided, and the audio output means 9 is for outputting guidance voice for the property to be guided. The map image data storage means 2 stores map image data of mesh-divided roads and guide properties. Guide data storage means 3
Is for storing video and audio guide data for guiding a property or street along a road or a property in a region. Each property has a type and is stored. For the type of property,
For example, point properties that exist at a certain coordinate or around several tens of meters around them, line properties with a length such as highways, and wide zone properties such as municipalities, plains, basins, regions, and national parks Can be divided into The current position detecting means 5 detects the current position, approach azimuth, vehicle speed, etc. of the north latitude, east longitude, running road, etc., using a GPS (satellite navigation system) receiving device, a vehicle speed sensor, an angle sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and the like. And perform further tracking.
The map image output means 4 reads the map image data from the map image data storage means with the current position as the center, and outputs a map image and a display signal of the approach direction. Guide output means 6
Searches for and determines a guide property based on information such as the current position, approach direction, vehicle speed, and road, reads guide data from the guide data storage unit 3, converts the guide data into a video signal and a voice signal for guidance, and outputs the signal. And has a first search means 6a, a second search means 6b, and a third search means 6c having different search ranges. For example, the first search means 6a searches for the above-mentioned point property, the second search means 6b searches for the above-mentioned line property, and the third search means 6c searches for the above-mentioned zone property. Are used by deciding the priority order or switching between them according to the manual key operation of the operation means 1. The switching means 7 switches the display output of the display output means 8 to a map image by the map image output means 4 or a guide image by the guide output means 6, and displays the current position and the approach direction on the map image. When the guidance object is extracted during traveling and guidance by video and audio is started, switching from the display signal of the map image to the video signal of guidance by the guide output means 6 is performed. When the map display key is operated, switching from the guide video to the map image is performed. The guidance output means 10 shown in the present invention comprises a switching means 7, a display output means 8, and a voice output means 9.

In the guide system according to the present invention having the above configuration, the power is turned on by ACC-ON, a title image is displayed on the screen of the display output means, and the power is turned off by ACC-OFF. Then, when the power is turned on, the C storing the program
If the D-ROM is set, the program is started. If the CD-ROM is set after the power is turned on, the program is started by operating the operation unit 1.
When the guide program is started, the current position is sequentially detected and tracked as the vehicle travels, and a map image displaying an arrow in the approach direction with the north at the center of the current position is displayed on the display output means 8.
Will be displayed on the screen. Then, based on the current position, the traveling direction, and the vehicle speed, the guide property is searched for and the guide data storage means 3 is searched.
When the guide property is extracted from, guidance for the guide property is provided as appropriate.

As described above, guide properties include point properties such as facilities and buildings, monuments, line properties such as bridges and streets, lakes and other large-scale facilities, national parks and plains, It is divided into other regional zone properties. The point property is
Although the timing of the guidance start is restricted, line properties and zone properties can be selected within a certain range. Therefore, relatively, line properties and zone properties have priority over zone properties, and line properties and zone properties have sufficient room to output important point properties even after priority information is output. Can be made. Therefore, in the search for a guide property, first, a guide property is searched for from among point properties, and if there is no point property to guide, a line property is searched, and if there is no line property, a zone property is searched. In this case, it may be set that the line property and the zone property are searched when the state without the point property continues for a certain period of time. If there are no point properties, line properties,
Then, a zone property is searched and guided, and if a high-priority point property is searched during the guidance, setting is made so that line property and zone property guidance is interrupted and point property guidance is given priority. Alternatively, when an instruction of the manual guide is given by the operation means 1, a search for a line property or a zone property may be performed, and property guide may be selected.

For guidance, the first search means 6a in the guide output means 6 extracts information about the point property stored in the guide data storage means 3 from information such as the current position, approach direction, vehicle speed, etc. When the property approaches the guided property, the property must be an unguided property and no other property is being guided, and even if the property is being guided, there is a property with a higher priority than that and the guidance has been interrupted. Then, the guide output means 6 automatically outputs a guide video and a guide voice. In this search range, the vehicle traveling direction is within the guidance start point approach direction ± A ° as shown in FIG. 2A, and the vehicle position is determined from the guidance start point coordinates and the vehicle speed as shown in FIG. 2B. And within Bm. When the guide property is not extracted by the first search means 6a, the line property and the zone property stored in the guide data storage means 3 from the current position by the second search means 6b and the third search means 6c. The guide output unit 6 automatically outputs a guide video and a guide voice on the condition that the property is an unguided property and that no other property is being guided. The search range of the line property is, for example, recognizing the travel road from the current position, searching for the guide property from the travel road, and searching the zone property for the zone property including the coordinates of the current position. Therefore, for each zone property, the range is set with multiple coordinate values by operating the manual key,
be registered. Further, the first search means 6a further searches for a guide property of a point property in a wider area, and as shown in FIG. 2C, a search range (vehicle travel) for extracting a guide property close to the current position (vehicle). The direction is the guidance start point approach direction ±
A 'is within A' °, and the vehicle position is within B'm in consideration of the vehicle speed from the guidance start point coordinates: A '°> A °, B'
The property located in> B) may be extracted, and guidance may be provided from the extracted property, for example, from the property closest to the current position, or may be guided in order from the property closest to the guidance property. For this purpose, auxiliary search means 6a 'may be added. By setting a priority (priority) for each property, processing may be performed so as to guide the property with the highest priority.

The condition for ending the guidance is based on the fact that the guide data being output is output to the end. However, when the operation cancel switch is operated by the operating means 1 or when another property guidance point is reached. Then, the priority of the guide unit next to the currently guided property is compared with the priority of the first guide unit of the other property, and if the priority of the other property is higher, the operation is stopped up to the guided guide unit. In other words, the guide data is composed of a plurality of guide units including, for example, one image and a few seconds of sound, and execution / stop of the guidance is determined for each guide unit, and further, by setting priorities, When a plurality of guide properties satisfy the guide start condition, the selection of the execution of the guide, the adjustment of the length, and the stop of the guide may be determined based on the priority.

A plurality of guidance points for a point property are provided for one guidance property, for example, three guide points near a T-junction as shown in FIG. The approach direction of the vehicle is defined. Then, among the guided properties, the property that has been guided is stored as the already-guided property so that the same property is not repeatedly provided with guidance. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, a property for which guidance has been completed by one or more guide units may be set as a guided property, or a condition that a predetermined guide unit with a higher priority has completed guidance, or a guide unit may be used. It may be an existing property every time.

Next, a specific example of guidance will be briefly described. FIG. 5 shows a situation in which a vehicle passes near the Kaminarimon Gate in Asakusa. The Kaminarimon of the guide object is, for example, a guide video as shown in FIG.
Is stored in Therefore, the guide output unit 6 extracts a property that satisfies the above-described guidance start condition from the guide data storage unit 3 based on the current position, approach direction, and vehicle speed of the vehicle obtained from the current position detection unit 5. And
When Kaminarimon is extracted as a guide object, the guide data of the Kaminarimon guide video and guide voice is read, converted into signals, and output. When the guide image signal is output, the switching means 7 outputs the guide image as shown in the figure from the display output means 8 by switching the map image display signal from the map image output means 4 to the guide image signal, and A guidance voice such as "Edo emotion ..." is output to the output means 9. When such guidance is completed, the guide output means 6 stores the Kaminarimon as a previously-guided property, so that even if the person passes through Kaminarimon again from a different direction, repeated guidance can be prevented.

However, in FIG. 5, if a vehicle is searched for a property based on the current position and provided with guidance, only the guidance video and guidance voice of Kaminarimon are output when the vehicle passes straight from left to right in the figure. Not done. Even Senso-ji Temple main hall, five-storied pagoda, Denpo-in, Bentendo, Hanayashiki, and other properties that are not visible from the driving road are not widely included in Kaminarimon's guides. In order to provide guidance on important (high-priority) properties around the current position, the user operates the manual key of the operating means 1 and the guide data output means 6 extracts and guides properties near the current position. Output. As a process when there are a plurality of extracted properties, the extracted properties may be listed up and output by selecting a desired property from among the listed properties, or may be output in an order close to the current position, or The property near the current position may be guided, and then the property near the guided property may be guided. Alternatively, priorities may be added to the properties in advance, and the properties having the highest priority may be output in order. When automatically extracting a property facing the driving road from the current position and outputting the guidance, the guidance text such as "I see on the right hand is ..." When guiding a property that is not visible,
The guide text is divided into guide units so as to be a guide text such as "in the right hand direction, in the back,..." In the right hand direction in the vicinity.

Further, when the property guidance is started, the current position of the vehicle, the position of the property, and the surroundings of the property may not be known. In such a case, in the present invention, the operating means 1
When the map key is operated, the switching means 7 converts the guide image signal from the guide output means 6 into the map image output means 4.
, And a map image as shown in FIG. 5 can be displayed. During this time, the guidance voice is output. By doing in this way, it is possible to obtain information such as the position of the property and the surroundings of the property by switching to the map image even after the property guidance is started.

Further, a specific configuration example of the guide output means will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration showing the guide output means in detail, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of keys constituting the operation means, FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the property search and guide processing, FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a process of searching for a guided property employing a manual guide, FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the property search process, FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a process of setting the current position, FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the operation of switching the scale of the map image, FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the north-south determination operation of the map image, and FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the correction process of the current position.

In FIG. 6, a remote control sensor 21
For example, it receives start / stop or various operation signals transmitted by a wireless remote controller using an optical signal and converts the signal into an electric signal. The remote controller operation signals include a guidance initialization instruction, a guidance stop instruction, There are a manual guide command, a current position map image control command, and the like. The remote control reception processing unit 24 decodes the operation signal received by the remote control sensor 21 and converts the operation signal into a key code. The guidance initialization instruction is sent to the guidance information processing unit 34, and the guidance stop instruction is sent to the guidance control processing unit 35. The manual guide command is sent to the property search processing unit 33, and the current position map image control command is sent to the map image control processing unit 25. The map image control processing unit 25 converts the map image control command received by the remote control sensor 21 and processed by the remote control reception processing unit 24 into a communication format and sends it to the current position tracking unit 22. The scale of the map image displayed on the TV monitor 38 is changed (reduced or enlarged) or the direction is changed (north-south) by the map image control command.

The current position tracking unit 22 detects and tracks the current position of the vehicle. The current position tracking unit 22 has, for example, a GPS, a vehicle speed sensor, map data, and the like. The traveling direction) and the vehicle speed are detected and tracked, and together with these data, map image data of a predetermined azimuth and a scale around the current position are provided. Therefore, the conventional navigation device may be applied as the current position tracking unit 22 as it is. The current position information reception processing unit 26 includes the current position tracking unit 2
2, the current position information received from the server 2 is extracted, and the current position and the traveling road are sent to the CD information storage unit 30, and the current position, the approach direction, and the traveling speed are retrieved.
To be sent.

The CD drive 23 reads a plurality of guide CDs storing guide information.
The CD drive control processing unit 27 processes control information for controlling the reading of the guide CD by the CD drive 23 based on the CD / read command from the CD information storage unit 30 or the guidance control processing unit 35, and To give instructions. The CD data reception processing unit 28
The CD data read according to the read control information is received, the CD information is transmitted to the CD information storage unit 30, the property data is transmitted to the property data storage unit 32, and the guide video and audio compressed data are transmitted. It performs processing for sending to the video / audio output processing unit.

The CD information storage unit 30 issues a read command of the CD information of each guide CD to store CD information including a disk label of each guide CD, a guide property file, a guide point file, and the like, and stores them. A command for reading the property data near the current position is issued from the CD information and the current position, and a coordinate range for extracting the property point data is transmitted to the property point extraction processing unit 31.

The property data storage section 32 stores the property data of the CD data received and processed by the CD data reception processing section 28, of which the property point data is sent to the property point extraction processing section 31, and the property address is the guidance control. This is sent to the processing unit 35. The property point extraction processing unit 31 extracts the property point data around the current position by masking the already-guided information from the property point data stored in the property data storage unit 32. The property search processing unit 33 determines the property No. guided from the property point data by the current position, the approach direction, or the manual guide command. Is to explore.

The guidance control processing unit 35 receives the instruction to cancel the guidance of the remote control reception processing unit 24 and the property N of the property search processing unit 33.
o. The guidance control is performed based on the property No. and the property No. searched by the property search processing unit 33. Is selected from the property addresses stored in the property data storage unit 32, and the CD read command is sent to the CD drive control processing unit 27.
And issues a guidance command (guidance start / stop) to the video / audio output processing unit 36,
And sends it to the output control processing unit 37. In addition, a guidance flag of the guidance information processing unit 34 is set. The already-guided information processing unit 34 includes a guidance control processing unit 35
Is held until it is initialized by a guided initialization instruction of the remote control reception processing unit 24, and the guided information is sent to the property point extraction processing unit 31.

The video / audio output processing section 36 decodes the code data for guidance received through the CD data reception processing 28, and outputs the guidance video for output to the TV monitor 38 and the output to the speaker 39. Is decoded and output to the output control processing section 37 and the speaker 39, which output to the TV monitor 38, respectively. The output control processing unit 37 includes a TV monitor 38
In response to the map status sent from the current position tracking unit 22 in consideration of the guide status input from the guide control processing unit 35 and the map switching signal from the remote control reception processing unit 24, the video / audio output processing unit 36 This is to switch to the guide video sent from the company.

As described above, in FIG. 6, the remote control sensor 21, the remote control reception processing unit 24, and the map image control processing unit 25
Constitutes the operation means 1 of FIG.
2, the map image data storage means 2, the current position detection means 5, and the map image output means 4 of FIG. Then, the CD drive 23, the output control processing unit 37, the TV monitor 38, and the speaker 39 respectively correspond to the guide data storage unit 3 of FIG.
The switching means 7, the display output means 8, and the audio output means 9, and the other processing units (26 to 36) constitute the guide output means 6.

Next, an outline of the overall operation will be described. First,
When the system is started, the CD information storage unit 30 issues a read command to read and store CD information from each guide CD. Then, prepare for the start of the guide. When the current position information is obtained from the current position tracking unit 22, the CD information storage unit 30 issues a read command of the property data included in a predetermined area including the current position by referring to the CD information, and It is stored in the storage unit 32. Then, the property point extraction processing unit 31 extracts property point data obtained by removing the already-informed information from the property point data stored in the property data storage unit 32. Property Exploration Processing Department 3
3 is a property No. 3 to be guided based on the current position and the approach direction from the property point data extracted by the property point extraction processing unit 31. To explore.

The guidance control processing unit 35 transmits the property No. Then, an audio / video data read command is issued to the CD drive control processing unit 27 with reference to the address of the property data stored in the property data storage unit 32 based on. In accordance with this read command, guide video (compressed) and audio (compressed) data are transferred from the guide CD to the video / audio output processor 3.
6 is input. The video / audio output processing unit 36 receives the guidance command from the guidance control processing unit 35 and decodes the guidance video (compression) and audio (compression) data into a guidance video signal of the TV monitor 38 and a guidance audio signal of the speaker 39. And send it out. At the same time, a guidance status is sent to the guidance control processing unit 35. This guidance status is the guidance control processing unit 35
Is sent to the output control processing unit 37 through
In the output control processing unit 37, the video signal to the TV monitor 38 is switched from the map image from the current position tracking unit 22 to the guide video from the video / audio output processing unit 36. Then, when each guide unit is completed, the video / audio output processing unit 36 notifies the guidance control processing unit 35 of the completion. The guidance flag of the information that has already been provided is set in the already-guided information processing unit 34 by the guidance control processing unit 35.

The wireless remote controller is composed of, for example, keys as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the start / stop key is operated from the state where the title image is displayed on the CD-ROM.
Is a key to start the program stored in, or to stop the program when the map image is displayed,
The north-south key is a key for reversing the north-south direction of the map when the map image is displayed. This means that if the direction toward the north with respect to the east-west direction is the approach direction, a map image with the north facing up is displayed, but if the direction toward the south with respect to the east-west direction is the approach direction, Since the downward direction of the screen is the approach direction, the operation is performed when switching to a map image with south facing up or vice versa. The manual key is used to start manual guidance if there is a manual guidance property while displaying a map image or guidance video, or to start guidance for the next candidate guidance property during manual guidance. is there. The detail key and the wide area key are operated to switch the scale of the map image or to display the scale. The set key is operated when performing initialization or when correcting the current position in a map image. The stop key is a key operated in the case where the guidance is canceled in the automatic guidance screen or the manual guidance screen and the display is returned to the map image, the initialization is stopped, the correction of the current position is stopped, or the like, and the operation is interrupted. . Arrow keys
This key is operated to move the current position cursor when correcting the current position of the map image. The map key is a key operated when the map image is switched and displayed during the display of the guide video.

The operation of the manual key is constantly monitored as shown in FIG. 8 (step S1), and when the operation is performed, the manual mode flag MF is set to "1" (step S2). In the property exploration / guide processing, first, the guidance flag F which is set to “1” during guidance is set.
G is checked (step S11). This guidance flag FG
If is not "1", search for a guide property (step S1).
2) If there is a guide property, the guide data of the property is read from the CD, the reproduction of video and audio is started, and the guidance flag FG is set to "1" (steps S13 to S1).
5). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the guidance stop key has been operated, and if not, it is determined whether or not the guidance has ended (steps S16 to S17).

If the guiding flag FG is "1", it is checked whether the manual mode flag MF is "1" (step S21). If the manual mode flag MF is set to "1", the image is displayed. Stop the voice reproduction and reset the guidance flag FG to “0” (step S1)
8). However, when the manual mode flag MF is “0”, the property other than the guidance is searched (step S2).
2) If there is, the property is further checked whether the priority is equal to or higher than the property being guided (steps S23 to S24). If the priority is higher than that, the guide unit of the property being guided is separated. When the guidance ends (step S25), the next step S18 and subsequent steps are executed.

If it is determined in step S16 that the guidance stop key has been operated, the guidance has been terminated in step S17, the manual mode flag MF has been set to "1" in step S21, or step S25. If it is determined that the guidance has been completed up to the break of the guide unit of the property being guided, the reproduction of the video and audio is immediately terminated, and the guidance flag FG is reset to "0" (step S18). At this time, if one or more guide units have been guided, the already-guided flag of the property is set (steps S19 to S20).

In the search processing of the above step S12, FIG.
As shown in (1), a point property is searched (step S31). If there is no point property (step S32), furthermore, from the current position P, within a wide-area approach direction C °, and within a distance Dm to the property (C °> A °, D> B), a point property that satisfies the condition is searched (step S33), and it is checked whether there is a point property in a wide area (step S34). If there is a point property in a wide area, the process returns. This is because point objects are soon searched for while driving. However, if there is no point property in the wide area, there will be no guidance output of the point property for a while. Therefore, for example, a line property is searched from the road number information specified from the current position P (step S35), and the line property is also searched. If not (step S36), a zone property is searched from the current position information (step S37). As a result, if there are extracted properties, they are arranged in descending order of priority (step S39). Then, the processing from step S13 in FIG. 8 is performed.

In the point object search process in step S31, first, as shown in FIG. 10, it is checked whether or not the manual mode flag MF is "1" (step S41).
If the manual mode flag MF is "0", properties satisfying the conditions are extracted from the current position (step S4).
3) In the case of "1", a property that satisfies the condition within a wide range of approach direction A '° and within a distance B'm to the property is extracted (step S42), and the condition is satisfied and the priority is determined. The objects are arranged in descending order (step S44). If the manual mode flag MF is "1", the property with the next highest priority after the previous guidance is set as the guide property, and then reset to "0". If "0", the property with the highest priority is set. Is the guide property. Then, the processing from step S32 in FIG. 9 is performed.

[0035] Extraction of guide objects based on priority order,
In the above processing of the guidance output, a priority is assigned to each property data stored in advance in the guide CD, and the property No. is determined based on the priority based on the point data searched by the property search processing unit 33. May be extracted and guidance output may be performed. Alternatively, the property searched and the distance from the current position may be obtained based on the current position, and the guidance output may be performed with priority given to the shortest obtained distance. In this case, for example, if a plurality of guidance properties 1, 2, 3, and 4 are searched and extracted with respect to the current position of the vehicle, first,
The distance to the respective guide properties _{d 1, d 2, d 3} , d 4
Ask for. The result of comparing the distances is d ₄
If <d ₁ <d ₃ <d ₂ , first, guide property 4
Is output as guidance, and then guidance information 1, guidance object 3, and guidance object 2 are output in this order. In addition, the distance from the current position to the property is the current position and the position coordinates of the guide property, for example, east longitude,
It can be calculated by coordinates such as north latitude. Furthermore, among the properties searched based on the current position, first, select the guide property whose distance from the current position is the shortest, and then calculate the distance from this guide property to each property to find the property with the shortest distance between each property. The guidance output may be repeatedly performed in order. In this case, the guiding property 1,2,3,4 for the present position of the vehicle as above is extracted probed, firstly, the distance to the respective guide properties d _1, d _2, d ₃ ,
seek d _4. Then, if the result of comparing the distances is d ₄ <d ₁ <d ₃ <d ₂ , guidance information 4 is output first, and then guidance information 1, 2, 3 The distances d ₄₁ , d ₄₂ , and d ₄₃ are obtained, and as a result, if d ₄₁ <d ₄₃ <d ₄₂ , the guidance article 1 is guided and output. Similarly, the distances d ₁₂ and d ₁₃ from the guided property 1 to the guided properties 2 and 3 are obtained. If the result is d ₁₂ <d ₁₃ , the guidance output of the guided property 2 is performed.
Is output.

If the current position is not stored and the current position is not stored due to the initial state, removal of the battery, or other reasons, it is necessary to set the current position. In this case, the current position is set by using the arrow keys, the detail key, and the wide area key to move the current position on the map image and use the set key as shown in FIG.

In the automatic guidance mode, as described above, a map image is displayed when there is no guide object nearby and no guidance is being provided. In this case, the property is still being searched,
By operating the detail key and the wide area key, the scale of the map image can be changed as shown in FIG. 12, and by operating the north-south key, the north-south direction of the map image can be reversed as shown in FIG. The current position of the vehicle can be corrected as shown in FIG. 14 by operating the set key, the correction key, and the arrow keys.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the file structure of the guide CD. The file structure of the guide CD is, for example, as shown in FIG.
L, guide property file GLIST, guide point file PLIST, guide data DATA, direction data HOK
O and composed of a plurality of CDs. The disc label header DLABEL is made up of disc label attribute data and an applicable area table (East, North latitude) stored on the disc, whereby it can be determined whether the current position is within the applicable area of the disc. . The guided property file GLIST includes a guided property number, property attributes (point properties, line properties, zone properties, and width information in the case of a point property), the number of guidance start points, and guide unit attributes (audio / video, audio). Only the unit length information), a property name, a property position secondary mesh number, and a property property data table including property positions (East longitude, north latitude). The guide point file PLIST has a table of guide point data including a point attribute, a point position (East longitude, north latitude), an approach direction, and a direction voice number.

FIG. 16 is an external view of a vehicle equipped with the guide system according to the present invention.
2 is a vehicle speed sensor, 43 is a remote control sensor, 44 is a monitor TV, 45 is a current position tracking device, 46 is a remote control,
47 indicates a GPS antenna. This example is applied to a sightseeing bus, a remote controller 46 is installed, and a guide output device 41, a monitor TV 44, and a remote controller sensor 43 are provided behind the driver's seat.
Is installed so that the passenger can operate the remote controller 46 to instruct switching between the tourist guide screen and the map image.

As described above, according to the embodiment, properties such as point properties, line properties, and zone properties are categorized, and priorities are assigned to them to search for tourist properties from information such as the current position. Extraction is performed, and the property is guided using audio or video in a predetermined order, so that a description of a famous highway or a region can be given in a vacant time zone without guidance of a pointed property. Therefore, the time during which no guidance is provided is reduced, and it is possible to provide sightseeing guidance that does not bore tourists. In addition, if a property to be guided cannot be found as a result of exploring a sightseeing property under certain conditions while the vehicle is traveling, the manual key is operated to change the search range of the specified angle and distance and search for the guided property. It is configured to perform. Therefore, a property that could not be searched in the initial search range can be extracted by changing the search range, and guidance for that property can be provided. For example, in the case of the same course in a round trip, if the search range for the current position of the vehicle is the same in the forward and return routes, only the same property can be searched in the round trip, and the same guidance may be given in the forward and return routes. However, when you want to receive information on a property different from the one you received on the outbound route on the return trip, you can operate the manual key to change the search range, and you can search for a property different from the outbound travel on the return trip. It is possible to receive guidance different from the guidance received at the airport, and to provide satisfactory tourist information to passengers. Also, when searching for a guided property in the normal search range and outputting guidance of the searched guided property, for example, when the guided property is not searched for a long time, or when a passenger requests a sightseeing guide, the manual Since the search range is changed by the key to search for the guide property, the search and extraction of the sightseeing property can be reliably performed, and the property guide can be performed.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the guide property was searched by classifying and classifying the point property, the line property, and the zone property, and the guide property was searched. May be configured to search for a point property. In addition, the attributes of the guided property are classified into points, lines, and zones, but are not limited to this category.
Point and line properties may be classified as buildings, and zone properties may be classified into two categories, such as mountains and rivers, or natural properties such as mountains and rivers. Then, in the manual mode, the area may be further widened, the area may be widened in the traveling direction, the range may be freely selected, or the guided property may be selected so as to specify the type of the guided property. The search conditions may be changed as needed. That is,
In the first search condition, conditions may be set for buildings such as temples, and when the manual key is pressed, tourist attractions other than buildings may be changed as search conditions. Alternatively, a condition may be added such that only properties located ahead of the current position of the vehicle in the traveling direction are extracted and properties located behind the traveling direction are excluded from the guidance target. Further, the classification may be further refined or the priority may be changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of a guide system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a guidance start condition.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining guidance points for one property.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the setting of a previously announced property.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a guide property.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration showing a guide output unit in detail.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of keys constituting the operation means.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a property search / guide process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a search process for a guided property employing a manual guide.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a property search process.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a current position setting process.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an operation for switching the scale of a map image.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a north-south determination operation of a map image.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a current position correction process.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a file structure of a guide CD.

FIG. 16 is an external view of a vehicle equipped with the guide system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operation means, 2 ... Map image data storage means, 3 ... Guide data storage means, 4 ... Map image output means, 5 ... Current position detection means, 6 ... Guide output means, 6a ... First search means,
6b: second search means, 6c: third search means, 7: switching means, 8: display output means, 9: audio output means, 1
0 ... Guidance output means

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Shoji Yokoyama 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Equos Research Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-5-216404 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A guide data storing means for categorizing and storing guide data for guiding a property along a road or a street or a local property; a guide output means for outputting a guide for a property to be guided; , A current position detecting means for tracking, and a plurality of searching means for searching for guide data of the guide object for each category, and a plurality of searching means from the guide data storing means based on the current position obtained by the current position detecting means. And a guide output means for searching, extracting, and outputting guide data of the guide article. 2. The guide system according to claim 1, wherein the guide output means sets a priority order for the plurality of search means, and guides and outputs the search means in descending order of priority. 3. The guide system according to claim 1, wherein the guide output means, when there are a plurality of guide data of the extracted guide property, outputs the guide in order from the property closest to the current position. Guide system to do.