JPH01173821A - Input device using infrared touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately select an input by composing the input device of an input device on which a position is inputted by using the infrared touch panel, a storage means where guide information is stored, and a display device where the guide information is displayed and distinguishing a part which can be inputted from other parts visually. CONSTITUTION:A navigation device consists of the input device 1 which incorporates a keyboard 5 and the touch panel 6, the display device 3 composed of a CPU 2, a CRT or liquid crystal display, etc., and the storage device 4 which stores map data 10, an intersection list 11, a destination list 12, road data 13, and an area name list 14. Thus, the device is constituted and when a driver inputs a destination code, pieces of guide information on intersections present on the path to the destination are outputted in order to set the destination, and the road data and area name list are outputted to confirm the destination. At this time, every time the keyboard 5 or touch panel 6 is operated, desired data and lists in the storage device 4 are displayed in, for example, red differently; from others to make the passage securely visible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an input device using an infrared touch panel.

(Prior Art) Input devices using infrared touch panels are used in numerous fields such as office automation equipment and information equipment.

For example, in the field of the automobile industry, navigation devices are used as input devices for vehicle navigation devices to guide drivers who are unfamiliar with geography to their destinations, and in recent years, the development of navigation devices has been actively carried out. There is.

Conventional navigation devices use a route matching method, in which a course is set in advance from a starting point to a destination before driving, and guidance is provided according to the set course. case,
A map is displayed on the CRT screen and the course is superimposed on it. Further, when indicating the intersection to turn next according to a preset course, the distance to the intersection to turn next is displayed numerically or graphically.

In such a navigation device, when turning at an intersection, the driver looks at the course displayed on the map and decides which intersection to turn next, or looks at the numerical or graph display to determine the next intersection to turn at. Knowing the distance and determining the intersection.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-51000, the input method is to press a transparent operation panel attached to the front surface of the CRT with a fingertip to input information. Conventional transparent operation panels, such as infrared touch panels, have light-receiving elements and light-emitting elements mounted horizontally and vertically on the screen of a display device, and when the screen is pressed with a fingertip, the elements whose light is blocked can be detected in the horizontal and vertical directions, thereby detecting the position pressed by the fingertip.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the above-mentioned conventional infrared touch panel has a problem in that when a plurality of selection item positions are displayed on the display screen and a human being instructs them with a finger, it is not always possible to accurately indicate the selection position. For example, if you are viewing the screen from an angle, or if multiple selection positions are close to each other and you specify the boundary between them, the detection area of the selected item may not be large enough and the thickness of your finger may be ignored. In some cases, this is not possible, or because of the light shielding method, when a finger moves on the screen, it may not be possible to identify the detected position based on the position where the finger first touched the screen and the position where the finger touched the screen at a distance.

In addition, in navigation devices that automatically search for a route after selecting a destination and guide the driver in the direction of travel along this route, if the destination is selected incorrectly,
All (I have the problem of being guided to another destination.

By the way, as mentioned above, with conventional navigation devices, a course is set in advance from the departure point to the destination before driving, and the course guidance is performed according to the set course. There is a problem in that if the vehicle deviates from the course, it is impossible to continue driving according to the guidance of the navigation device unless the vehicle returns to the set course again. In addition, whether or not you have passed through a predetermined intersection according to the course guidance is based on the premise that distance sensors and steering angle sensors are used to detect travel distance, right turns, left turns, etc. However, in reality, these detection errors may occur. Another problem is that it can easily lead to large errors in judgment.

In order to solve this problem, the applicant proposed an explore method as an alternative to the route matching method described above.
We have filed an application for a new navigation device that can be called a system. This is a method in which the coordinates of multiple points (for example, intersections, characteristic objects) are set, and when a destination is input, a route is searched at each point to get to the destination and the guidance information is output. Navigation is possible even if the distance sensor, steering angle sensor, geomagnetic sensor, etc. are out of order, or even if these sensors are not provided. Therefore, even if you deviate from the course or change your destination, you will be guided to your destination easily, but in this method, it is especially important to solve a simple position input method such as the destination and current location. It has become a challenge.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems and problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an input device using an infrared touch panel that allows accurate selection input on the touch panel.

Furthermore, it can be applied to navigation devices that set the coordinates of multiple points (for example, intersections, characteristic objects), and when a destination is input, searches for a route to the destination at each point and outputs the guidance information. It is an object of the present invention to provide an input device using an infrared touch panel that is particularly effective in such cases.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, an input device using an infrared touch panel of the present invention includes an input device for inputting a position using an infrared touch panel, a storage device for storing guidance information, and a storage device for inputting a position by using the input information from the input device. The present invention is characterized by comprising a display device that outputs guidance information, and means for visually distinguishing an inputtable portion of the touch panel from other portions, and further includes a display device that outputs guidance information. A navigation device that outputs guidance information, comprising: an input device for inputting a position through an infrared touch panel; a storage device for storing guidance information; and a display device for outputting the guidance information based on input information from the input device; The present invention is characterized by having a means for visually distinguishing the inputtable portion of the touch panel from other portions.

[Action and effect of the invention]

In the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, "sightseeing", "accommodation", "meal", "souvenir", "code number manual", and "return" are displayed in red as selection items,
Select the genre using the touch panel input.
The screen shown in FIG. 12 (B) is displayed, and all input display sections are displayed in red. Next, when the desired parking lot is entered manually using the touch panel, the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 12 (C) is displayed. Here, the background of the selected item is, for example, blue, and the other items are dark blue for easy confirmation, and only the confirmation keys "Cancel" and rOKJ are displayed in red.

Therefore, according to the present invention, selection input can be performed accurately on the touch panel.

Furthermore, by always displaying a confirmation screen before selecting a destination, there is no risk of being guided to a different destination, and the destination can be entered accurately.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 are diagrams showing an example of a navigation device to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an input device, and 2 is a CPU.

Reference numeral 3 indicates a display device such as a CRT or liquid crystal display, and 4 indicates a storage device.The keyboard 5 is composed of a numeric keypad and function keys and can input a destination, current location, etc. using a predetermined code number; instead of the keyboard 5, An infrared touch panel 6 is used.

The storage device 4 is an external memory such as a CD-ROM that stores network data and information for each point serving as a destination or current location, and stores map data 101 intersection list 11, destination list 12, and road data, which will be described later. 13, region name list 14, etc. are stored.

When a destination is input and designated by the input means 1, the CPU 2 sets information for going to the destination by, for example, route searching, corresponding to each point stored in the storage device 4, and stores it in a memory such as a RAM. It is.

When the current location information is input through the input means 1, the display device 3 outputs guidance information for that point, and the guidance information includes, for example, a guidance point when only an intersection is targeted as a point. At an intersection, the information is used to make a right turn, left turn, etc. at the next intersection to reach the destination. In addition, if there is a second intersection to be approached immediately after turning at the next intersection, the first one may contain information such as the direction to turn and the lane to be taken at that time, or even two. It is of course possible to include information that guides you in the direction of turning with your eyes. For example, a, b, c shown in Figure 2.
, . . . guide information for the route to the destination is output according to the route order.

Next, the processing flow of the navigation device according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, when the destination code is input by the driver (step ■), the mode goes into route search mode, and information for going to the destination is set for all points outside the destination (step ■). When the current location code is input (step ■), the direction of travel at that point is output (step ■), and the intersection confirmation trigger is input manually (start input, step ■). Then, the information for going to the destination at the next intersection is output (step ■) 0 Next, the intersection confirmation trigger is input or the current position Kapotan signal is input (step ■), and the intersection value L2 trigger is activated. If the signal is received, the process returns to step (2), and if the current location Kapotan signal is received, the process returns to step (2). In other words, with this system, if you are driving according to the guidance, a trigger will be input every time you check an intersection, but if you notice that you have deviated from the guided course and have driven to another intersection. Currently, someone else's capotan is pressed. Therefore, each time the trigger is input, guidance information for intersections on the route to the destination is sequentially output, but if the current location capo button is pressed, the current location input mode is entered.

In the route search process in step ■, as shown in Figure 4+a+, when entering the route search mode, first, the destination is set in the work area (step ■), and then the direction of travel is set from the intersection closest to the destination. (Step @), this direction of travel is determined by setting the direction of travel d for the intersection in front of the destination, and then setting the direction of travel d for the intersection in front of the destination, as shown in Figure (b). It turns out. This route search may be performed after the process of step (2) in FIG. 3. In this case, the route search will be performed every time the current location is input. In addition, with manual triggering, guidance information is output according to the route set as a result of route search, so the intersections that can be targeted are limited.

Therefore, the guide information may be provided only for the intersection with the minimum silver.

Next, the method of inputting the destination and current location will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 11.

Figures 5 through 9 show the data structure of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a diagram to explain the basic concept of the data structure of a map.As shown in (a), the map is not captured only at intersections, but the guidance information that is effective at points between intersections ( For example, points with bridges, rivers, buildings, gas stations, etc.) are understood as nodes, and the points between nodes are understood as arcs. Therefore, a node represents point data in map coordinates and an intersection is part of a node, while an arc represents line data and represents a part of a road. With this configuration, at the intersection shown in FIG.
It is possible to have landmarks as data that serve as useful guide information.

Figure 6 shows the column data of the above nodes, and stores the east longitude and north latitude for the node number, that is, the coordinates of the point, and attributes that distinguish valid guidance information (for example, bridges, rivers, buildings, gas stations, etc.) as data. ing.

Figure 7 shows an example of an intersection list, with its code number,
It stores an intersection name, an intersection number (a number assigned only to an intersection among nodes), two connected intersection numbers as explained in FIG. 5(b), a landmark, and an attribute.

Figure 8 shows an example of a destination list, including the code number, destination name, parking lot number, numbers of two connecting intersections connecting the destinations, parking lot direction (right, left, straight on the road), and number of connecting intersections. It stores photo numbers, parking lot exit photo numbers, block data for each area, and coordinates (east longitude, north latitude). For destinations, make it possible to distinguish attributes by genre 0 For example, at the top of the code number, for example, O...Tourism, 1...Public institution, 2...Accommodation, 3...Meal, etc. 4...Sales office,
5... Gas station, 6... Intersection, 7...
Parking lot, 8... Souvenirs etc. may be attached, or separate attribute data may be provided.The above destination data represents a parking lot near the destination, and the destination is a parking lot. By that, its connected intersection number, parking lot direction (right of the road,
(Left, go straight?), the photo number of the connecting intersection, and the photo number of the parking lot exit, allowing you to reliably guide your vehicle to the arrival point.

Figure 9 shows an example of road data, and as shown in Figure (B), roads are given directional road numbers.
For each road number, the starting and ending intersection numbers, the following road numbers with the same starting point, the following road numbers with the same ending point, road thickness, road prohibition information, and guidance. Unnecessary information (for example, when you only need to go straight), photo number, number of nodes, start address of node string data, etc. are stored.

Next, the input method, which is a feature of the present invention, will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1O to 14.

FIG. 1O shows the structure of the infrared touch panel 6.
Light emitting elements a1, a! are arranged horizontally and vertically on the display screen. ,a
3,... a7 is arranged, and light receiving elements b1, b@, b@,... are placed in the horizontal and vertical directions of the display screen so as to face this.
-b, and when the fingertip touches the display screen, the position can be detected by detecting the position with a pair of elements in the horizontal and vertical directions.

FIG. 11 shows a processing flow when applied to destination input as an example of the input method. First, in step 101, the genre-specific screen shown in FIG. 12 (a) is displayed as destination input. Here, frequently asked items are displayed, such as "sightseeing", "accommodations", "meals", "souvenirs", "code number input", and "return" as selection items displayed in red, and the genre can be selected by touch panel input. Select 0. Next, in step 10.3, it is determined whether or not "return" on the screen of FIG. , in the case of YES, the process proceeds to step 112.

In step 106, if NO, step 10
Click C for the parking lot (destination) list for the item selected in 7.
When the data is read from the D-ROM, the screen shown in FIG. 12 (b) is displayed (step 108), and a voice message saying "Please select your favorite destination" is output. Here too, items are displayed in descending order of frequency, and by touching the previous page and next page keys, you can select and specify the desired parking lot, and the input display area is all displayed in red. Ru. Further, at the end of the item display, an item of "code number input" is displayed. Note that if "previous page" is input for the first page, the process returns to step 101.

Next, when the desired parking lot is input using the touch panel (step 109), the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 12(c) is displayed in step 110.

Here, the background of the selected item is, for example, blue, and the other items are dark blue to make it easier to confirm. Further, only the confirmation keys "Cancel" and "OK" are displayed in red. If it is “cancellation”, step 108
If the answer is "OK", it is determined in step 111 whether there is a parking lot name or a code number has been input, and if the parking lot name is the destination, the process proceeds to step 119 and the data corresponding to the parking lot name is entered. The destination data is read from the CD-ROM and set in the memory area of the CPU.

When changing to code number input in step ill or selecting code number input in step 106, the code number input screen shown in FIG. is displayed. Then, in step 113, if the desired parking lot code number is input on the touch panel, step 11
In step 4, it is determined whether or not the code number designation is incorrect. If it is, step 115 displays "The code number designation is incorrect" and the process returns to step 113, and the code number designation is correct. If so, it is determined in step 116 whether the code number is an intersection code. If it is not an intersection, proceed to step 118, and proceed to step 118, as shown in Fig. 13 (
The destination is automatically displayed as shown in e). On this screen, only the keys that can be entered next are displayed in red. If "OK", the process proceeds to step 119, and data corresponding to the parking lot name is read from the CD-ROM, and destination data is set in the memory area of the CPU; if "cancel", the process returns to step 113.

If the code number specified in step 116 is an intersection, in step 117 the message "Intersection code number cannot be entered" as shown in FIG.
Return to Then, execute the above routine and step 10
When "return" is input in step 1, steps 103 and 104
At this point, the screen shown in FIG. 12 (g) is displayed, and if it is OK, the initial departure point data is copied to the destination data area (step 105).

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

For example, although the above embodiment shows an example of inputting a destination, it can also be applied to inputting a departure point and current location, and can also be applied to displaying a map and performing various inputs on the map.

In addition, it is not limited to displaying red, but other colors,
Alternatively, they may be distinguished by blinking.

Furthermore, by combining the navigation device to which the present invention is applied with a conventional device equipped with a distance sensor and a steering angle sensor, the navigation device does not recognize the next point only when the driver operates a switch, but uses other means for navigation. The device may automatically recognize a predetermined point and change the guidance information to be output.

In a combination of the present invention and the conventional method, for example, the method using sensors and the method according to the present invention may be used for different areas of a monotonous road such as a single road and areas of a complex road. , it may be used as a backup when a conventional navigation device fails.

Alternatively, distance information between guide points may be provided, the distance may be determined using a distance sensor, and the user may be prompted to input instructions for the next point (manual trigger) using voice or display.

Furthermore, if you want to be able to set your favorite course, such as a back alley route or a main route, you should add information to each point as to whether it is applicable or not, and specify your preference in the guidance information settings. By doing so, the route search may be performed only at the target point.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a navigation device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of route order, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the flow of navigation processing.
Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining the route search process, Figures 5 to 9 are diagrams for explaining the data structure of the present invention, Figure 10 is a diagram showing the structure of the infrared touch panel, and Figure 11 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the infrared touch panel. A flowchart showing an example of a destination input method, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are diagrams showing examples of screen displays thereof. l...input device, 2...display device, 3...CPU
, 4... Storage device, 6... Infrared touch panel, l
O...Map data, 11...Intersection list, 12.
...Destination list, 13...Road data, 14...
Region name list. Applicant Aisin Warner Co., Ltd. (1 other person) Representative Patent Attorney Hiroki Shirai (3 others) Figure 1 Figure 3 (a) (b) Figure 5 (a) (b) Figure 6 Figure 7 Crossing 1) Stroke Figure 8 Objective Hole List Figure 10 Figure 12 Figure 131D'

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An input device for inputting a position using an infrared ray touch panel, a storage device for storing guidance information, and a display device for outputting the guidance information based on the input information from the input device, and the touch panel can be inputted. An input device using an infrared touch panel, characterized by having means for visually distinguishing one part from another part. (2) In a navigation device that outputs guidance information for going to a destination, an input device that inputs a position using an infrared touch panel, and a storage device that stores the guidance information;
and a display device that outputs the guidance information based on input information from the input device, and means for visually distinguishing an input-enabled portion of the touch panel from other portions. input device. (3) An input device using an infrared touch panel according to claim 2, wherein a destination is input using a touch panel. (4) An input device that inputs the position using an infrared touch panel in a navigation device that outputs guidance information for going to the destination at each point when a destination is input while the coordinates of multiple points are set. and a storage device that stores guidance information; and a display device that outputs the guidance information based on input information from the input device, and means for visually distinguishing inputtable portions of the touch panel from other portions. An input device using a touch panel, comprising: