Navigation system for guiding a mobile body back and forth along the same route between two points

• US 6,167,346 A
• Filed: 01/12/1998
• Issued: 12/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tomtom Global Content B.V (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: Any Co. Ltd. (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Fukawa, Yasurou
• Primary Examiner(s): Issing, Gregory C.
• Application Number:
  US09/005,505
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• Field of Search: 701/208, 701/209, 701/213, 701/216, 342/357.08, 342/357.14, 342/357.13, 342/357.09
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled

Abstract

In a navigation system, a controller includes a time selecting circuit for selecting times output from a timepiece in response to a signal representing a time interval from an operation unit, a satellite navigation position detecting circuit for receiving a radio wave at the times selected by the time selecting circuit from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and for determining the position of a mobile body on the basis of the radio wave, and an autonomous navigation position detecting circuit for receiving the output of both a distance sensor and an azimuth sensor which are synchronous to the times selected, for determining a distance and an azimuth based on the outputs of the distance and azimuth sensors, for determining a track of movement of the mobile body based on the distance and azimuth, and for adding the track to the start point of the mobile body to thereby produce the current position of the mobile body.

Claims

1. A navigation system carried on a first mobile body, comprising:

a time generating means for consecutively generating time data representative of time;

a first storing means for storing start position data of a start point and destination data of a destination as title data on a movement of the first mobile body, wherein time data is generated at a desired time interval while the first mobile body moves from the start point to the destination, and position data of a position and direction of the first mobile body at the time represented by the time data;

a second storing means for storing bi-dimensional position data on a map;

an operating means, wherein said operating means includes;

a time interval inputting means to enable an operator to define the desired time interval at which the position data of the moving mobile body is stored, and

a first position inputting means to enable the operator to define start point and destination positions for the first mobile body so as to produce said first start position and destination data; and

a control means which is operative in response to both of said operating and time generating means for controlling said first and second storing means.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said control means further includes:

a time selecting means for receiving consecutive time data from said time generating means, along with the defined time interval from said time interval inputting means and the time data at the start point of the first mobile body, and for storing that time interval data defined as between the received time data at the start point from the consecutive time data to thereby consecutively output taken-in time data at the defined time interval;

a satellite navigation position detecting means

for consecutively receiving radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites, wherein each of the radio waves is a modulated signal resulting from a carrier wave modulated with GPS data in a corresponding one of said plurality of GPS satellites,

for consecutively demodulating the received signals to produce demodulated signals, for receiving the time data at the start point of the first mobile body,

for storing the demodulated signal corresponding to the time of the received time data at the start point from the consecutively demodulated signals,

for determining a distance between each of the satellites and the first mobile body on the basis of a propagation time of the radio wave from the stored demodulated signals, and

for providing the start position data of the first mobile body at the start point from the determined distance; and

an autonomous navigation position detecting means

for sensing a distance and an azimuth of the first mobile body to provide first sensor data and second sensor data for the receiving time data following the time data at the start point of the first mobile body from said time generating means,

for consecutively accepting the first and second sensor,

for producing distance data based on the movement of the first mobile body from the first sensor data, and azimuth data of the first mobile body from the second sensor data,

for determining a track of movement of the first mobile body on the basis of the distance data and the azimuth data, and

for adding the track of movement to the start position data to thereby output moving position data of the first mobile body representative of a position to which the first mobile body have moved.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said control means

consecutively receives the time data from said time generating means, the selected time data from said time selecting means at the defined time interval, and the first start position data and the first destination data from said first position inputting means,

stores the first start position data and the first destination data in said first storing means, as well as the time data at the first start point of the first mobile body from the time data consecutively received from said time generating means,

transfers the first start point time data to said time selecting means and said satellite navigation position detecting means,

subsequently receives the first start position data at the first starting point outputted from said satellite navigation position detecting means,

stores the received first start position data in said first storing means,

obtains the position data substantially close to the received first start position data from the bi-dimensional position data stored in said second storing means,

stores the obtained position data in said first storing means as second start position data, and

subsequently receives time after data corresponding to a time following the time represented by the first start point time data at the defined time interval from said time selecting means,

stores the received time after data in said first storing means,

transfers the time after data to said autonomous navigation position detecting means,

receives first moving position data and the first azimuth data at a moving point next to the first start point of the first start position data outputted from said autonomous navigation position detecting means in response to the time after data,

stores the received first moving position data and the first azimuth data in said first storing means,

obtains position data substantially close to the received first moving position data from the bi-dimensional position data stored in said second storing means, and

stores the obtained position data in said first storing means as second moving position data.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

a radio transmitting means for receiving data to be transmitted from said control means, for forming a signal modulated with the data to be transmitted, and for transmitting a resultant modulated signal;

wherein said operating means further includes;

an identification inputting means for allowing the operator to input an identification representative of another navigation system having the same structure as the earlier-said system and carried by a second mobile body, other than the first mobile body, to which guide route data stored in said first storing means are to be sent, the guide route data including the title data, time data, position data and azimuth data, and

a second position inputting means for allowing the operator to input second start position data representative of a second start point and second destination data representative of a second destination defining a section of the guide route data to be sent to said other navigation system.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said control means is operative in response to an operation of said second position inputting means to

receive the identification representative of said other navigation system from said identification input means and the position data representative of the second start point and the second destination from said second position inputting means, to access said first storing means to determine whether or not the title data corresponding to the received position data exist in said first storing means,

determine, if the second start position data are identical with the first start position data or the first destination data and if the second destination data are identical with the first destination data or the first start position data, the guide route data corresponding to the title data exist in said first storing means,

read out the determine d guide route data including the title data, time data, position data and first azimuth data from said first storing means,

form the data to be transmitted including the read-out guide route data and the identification of the second mobile body provided from said identification inputting means, and

transfer the data to be transmitted to said radio transmitting means.

6. A system in accordance with claim 2,

wherein said control means further includes data generating means for generating, based on said distance data corresponding to a time represented by said time data selected by said time selecting means and output from said autonomous navigation position detecting means, data representative of a distance of movement, data representative of a period of time needed for said distance, speed data, lap time data, split time data, and total time data,

said control means feeding and storing said data representative of the distance of movement and the period of time, respectively, said speed data, said lap time data, said split time data, and said total time data to and in said first storing means.

7. A system in accordance with claim 1,

wherein said operating means further comprises a guide position inputting means for allowing the operator to input position data of a start point and a destination for route guide,

said control means accessing, on receiving third position data representative of a position of a third start point and a third destination data representative of a third destination for route guide from said guide position inputting means,

said first storing means to determine whether or not the title data based upon said third start position data and said third destination data exist in said first storing means, determining, if the third start position data are identical with the first start position data and if the third destination data are identical with the first destination data, that the guide route data corresponding to the title exist in said first storing means, and reading said position data based on the movement of the first mobile body and the first azimuth data out of said first storing means in order of time represented by said time data stored in said first storing means and using said position data and said first azimuth data read-out for route guide, and determining, if the third start position data are identical with the first destination data and if the third destination data are identical with the first start position data, that data corresponding to the title exist in said first storing means, and reading said position data based on the movement of the mobile body and the first azimuth data out of said first storing means, oldest ones first with respect to time represented by said time data stored in said first storing means, and using said position data and the first azimuth data for route guide.

8. A system in accordance with claim 7, further comprising an alert displaying means for displaying an alert in response to an alert signal,

said control means further controlling said alert displaying means and feeding said alert signal to said alert displaying means when a current position of the first mobile body is deviated from a guide position for the route guide by more than a preselected distance.

9. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first storing means is selected from a group consisting of a hard disk, a magnetooptical disk and a semiconductor memory.

10. A system in accordance with claim 4, further comprising a radio receiving means for receiving the resulting modulated signal transmitted from a radio transmitting means included in said other navigation system and corresponding to said radio transmitting means, and for demodulating the resulting modulated signal received.