Vehicle navigation system
DCFirst Claim
1. A vehicle navigation system comprising:
- means for storing map data representing a road network, said data comprising information about landmarks, said information comprising landmark identifiers, landmark location and landmark characteristics of said landmarks in said road network, map distances between said landmarks, and path characteristics between adjacent landmarks;
means for receiving start location data indicating vehicle start location;
means for receiving destination data indicating a desired destination;
means coupled to said map data storing means for establishing a route comprising sequence data, said sequence data indicating a sequence of landmark identifiers;
first processing means coupled to said route establishing means for receiving said sequence data and for computing sequence action data, said sequence action data comprising computed lineal distances between landmarks and status data related to an approached landmark;
distance measuring means for measuring distance travelled by said vehicle to provide measured distance data;
means for detecting vehicle movement in a distance window only around said approached landmark to provide movement data indicative of change in motion of said vehicle;
second processing means coupled at least to said first processing means, to said distance measuring means, and to said vehicle movement detecting means for receiving said movement data, said distance data and said sequence action data, for supplying output data indicative of current location or expected actions in sequence for aiding a driver of the vehicle to adhere to the route; and
output means for supplying the output data in a form discernible by the driver.
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Abstract
A vehicle navigation system is provided wherein a preselected route is established in terms of a sequence data and processing means computes sequence action data based on lineal distances between landmarks, such as junctions, and movement detecting means, such as a turn detection, for detecting movement only around an approached landmark in order to synchronize position with the landmark. In accordance with the invention, it is unnecessary to store all geographic data about a region to be traversed during a journey and further computation can be extremely efficient without reliance at any time on detection of direction with respect to magnetic north or other fixed, remote reference. All needed information is incorporated into data related only to distance travelled by the vehicle between landmarks and movement around (e.g., turns) an approached landmark. The system works on the assumption that the vehicle moves in one dimension between predetermined landmarks so that route information can be reduced to a sequence of indicators. The movements around landmarks, or more specifically junction or turns where deviations are expected from a straight line constant velocity path are used to synchronize vehicle location relative to the landmark. The accuracy of map distance between landmarks is assumed within an acceptable error so that synchronization can be obtained within a window distance during which the system seeks synchronization.
96 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A vehicle navigation system comprising:
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means for storing map data representing a road network, said data comprising information about landmarks, said information comprising landmark identifiers, landmark location and landmark characteristics of said landmarks in said road network, map distances between said landmarks, and path characteristics between adjacent landmarks; means for receiving start location data indicating vehicle start location; means for receiving destination data indicating a desired destination; means coupled to said map data storing means for establishing a route comprising sequence data, said sequence data indicating a sequence of landmark identifiers; first processing means coupled to said route establishing means for receiving said sequence data and for computing sequence action data, said sequence action data comprising computed lineal distances between landmarks and status data related to an approached landmark; distance measuring means for measuring distance travelled by said vehicle to provide measured distance data; means for detecting vehicle movement in a distance window only around said approached landmark to provide movement data indicative of change in motion of said vehicle; second processing means coupled at least to said first processing means, to said distance measuring means, and to said vehicle movement detecting means for receiving said movement data, said distance data and said sequence action data, for supplying output data indicative of current location or expected actions in sequence for aiding a driver of the vehicle to adhere to the route; and output means for supplying the output data in a form discernible by the driver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A vehicle navigation system comprising:
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means for storing distance data between landmarks; distance measuring means for measuring distance travelled by said vehicle from a know location to provide distance data; window enable means for defining a distance window around an approached landmark to provide window data indicative of vehicle location relative to said approached landmark; means for detecting vehicle movement only in a distance window around said approached landmark to obtain movement data indicative of change in motion of said vehicle; and processing means coupled to said distance measuring means, to said window enable means and to said vehicle movement detecting means for receiving from said vehicle movement detecting means said movement data, and from said window enable means said window data for synchronizing said stored distance data with actual vehicle location based on said vehicle movement data in said distance window around said approached landmark. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for navigating a vehicle comprising:
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storing map data representing a road network, said map data comprising information about landmarks, said information comprising landmark identifiers, landmark location and landmark characteristics of said landmarks in said road network, map distances between said landmarks and path characteristics between adjacent landmarks; receiving start location data indicating vehicle start location; receiving destination data indicating a desired destination; establishing a route comprising sequence data indicating a sequence of landmark identifiers; computing sequence action data from said sequence data, said sequence action data comprising computed lineal distances between landmarks and status data related to an approached landmark; measuring distance travelled by said vehicle to provide measured distance data; detecting vehicle movement in a distance window only around said approached landmark to provide movement data indicative of change in motion of said vehicle; comparing said movement data with said status data of said sequence action data and said measuring distance data with said computed lineal distances of said sequence action data and supplying output data indicative of expected actions in sequence for aiding a driver of the vehicle to adhere to the route; and supplying the output data in a form discernible by the driver.
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27. A navigation system for a vehicle comprising means for receiving data indicating an actual vehicle location;
- means for storing data representing a road network;
means for measuring distance travelled by said vehicle;
turn detecting means for detecting a turn by the vehicle and providing a turn signal in response thereto;
means for receiving destination data indicating a desired destination;
computing means for computing a route through said road network from the actual vehicle location to the desired destination;
processing means for receiving data from the distance measuring means, for computing the actual vehicle location therefrom and for preparing instruction data for aiding a driver of the vehicle to adhere to said route;
output means for supplying the instruction data in a form discernible by the driver;
window enable means for defining a distance window in which a significant turn will be made by the vehicle when following said route; and
synchronizing means operative to synchronize the computed route with actual vehicle location based on said turn detecting means producing a signal indicating a significant turn within said distance window. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
- means for storing data representing a road network;
Specification