Image processing method and apparatus and storing medium

• US 6,266,611 B1
• Filed: 03/16/1998
• Issued: 07/24/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Matsubayashi, Kazuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US09/039,228
• Time in Patent Office: 1,226 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/202, 701/205, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/210, 701/211, 340/990, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/202
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles

Abstract

An operation by which an operator can select a desired route on a screen on which a road network is displayed is simplified, and the selected route can be promptly and accurately inputted. The invention is particularly well-suited in instances where the operator wants to manually select a route according to his or her personal preference, for example, where the operator wants to select a main road which he or she knows well or where he or she wants to pass a road that he or she would like to see. For this purpose, on a map displayed on the basis of road data which has previously been stored, the operator instructs a location near the desired route, and by dragging a pen, for example, sequentially selects the roads near the instructed locus, and thus enabling the instructed route to be determined.

Claims

1. An image processing method comprising the steps of:

(i) storing road data including data relating to branching points;

(ii) displaying an image showing a road on the basis of the road data;

(iii) inputting an instructing position on the displayed image;

(iv) selecting at least one road which is determined to be close to the instructing position and selecting a position on that road by comparing the inputted instructing position with the stored road data;

(v) inputting a next instructing position on the displayed image;

(vi) selecting at least one road which is determined to be close to the next instructing position and selecting a position on that road by comparing the inputted next instructing position with the stored road data;

(vii) determining a route on the selected road or roads in accordance with the next instructing position; and

(viii) repeating steps (v)-(vii) for a plurality of instructing positions continuously inputted.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of determining whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions continuously inputted,

wherein, when it is determined that there is a branching point of the road, one road is selected from all of the roads passing the branching point that were selected in step (iv) or (vi), the one road being close to an instructing position that is inputted after the branching point.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of determining whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions,

wherein, when it is determined that there is a branching point of the road, a section up to the branching point is determined as a route in step (vii), but a determination about a section after the branching point is not made until a next branching point is determined.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructing positions are obtained with coordinate values instructed at predetermined time intervals by a coordinate input device.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the inputted instructing position and the road data are compared and the road to be selected is set to a road located closest to the instructing position.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the road data shows a line specified by a plurality of position data.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the route is changed to a display format in which the route can distinguished from the other roads in accordance with the determination of the route.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the changed display format of the determined route comprises a change in color.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

discriminating whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions; and

when it is determined that there is a branching point of the road in said discriminating step, selecting in step (iv) or (vi) all of the roads passing the branching point,

wherein in step (iv) or (vi) a road closest to the next instructing position is selected from the selected roads.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the road selected in step (iv) or (vi) is changed to a display format in which the road can be distinguished from the other roads.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein information which can specify the determined route is formed and stored.

12. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the instructing posit-on is moving at a predetermined moving state from the plurality of instructing positions continuously inputted; and

deciding whether a determination about a branching point of the road between two instructing positions is executed in accordance with a result of the moving state determination.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined moving state is a predetermined speed.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein a moving route of a moving device is controlled in accordance with the determined route.

15. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determined route is compared with a moving route of a moving device and a message according to a result of the comparison is outputted.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determined route is compared with a moving of a moving device and a command according to a result of the comparison is outputted.

17. A method according to claim 1, wherein the image showing the road is displayed on a liquid crystal display.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein the image showing the road is displayed on a CRT.

19. A method according to claim 1, wherein the instructing position is inputted by coordinate input means overlaid integratedly on a display which displays the image showing the road.

20. A method according to claim 1, wherein the road data is constructed for each road by collecting data from a start point to an end point of the road, and the road from the start point to the end point is selected in step (iv) or (vi).

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein the route is determined in the determining step when a branching point is detected while the plurality of instructing positions are continuously inputted.

22. A method according to claim 1, wherein the selected road is changed to a display format in which the selected road can be distinguished from the other roads.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein the changed display format of the selected road comprises a change in color.

24. An image processing apparatus comprising:

storing means for storing road data including data relating to branching points;

display means for displaying an image showing a road on the basis of the road data;

input means for continuously inputting a plurality of instructing positions on the displayed image;

selecting means for selecting at least one road which is determined to be close to each instructing position and selecting a position on that road by comparing the inputted instructing position with the stored road data; and

determining means for determining a route on the selected road or roads in accordance with each successively inputted instructing position.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising branch discriminating means for discriminating whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions which are continuously inputted,

wherein when it is determined by said branch discriminating means that there is a branching point of the road, said determining means determines a route close to an instructing position that is inputted after the branching point from all of the roads passing the branching point that were selected by said selecting means.

26. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising discriminating means for discriminating whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions which are continuously inputted,

wherein when it is discriminated that there is a branching point branch of the road, the determining means determines a section up to the branching point as a route, but does not make a determination for a section after the branch until a next branching point is discriminated.

27. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the plurality of instructing positions which are inputted by said input means are obtained with coordinate values instructed at predetermined time intervals by a coordinate input device.

28. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said selecting means compares the inputted instructing position with the road data and selects a road located closest to the Instructing position.

29. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the road data shows a line which is specified by a plurality of position data.

30. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said display means changes the determined route to a display format in which roads in the route can be distinguished from the other roads in accordance with the determination of the route by said determining means and displays the changed route.

31. An apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the changed display format of the determined route comprises a change in color.

32. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising:

discriminating means for discriminating whether there is a branching point of the road between the instructing positions which are continuously inputted, wherein when it is discriminated by said discriminating means that there is a branching point of the road, said selecting means selects all of the roads passing the branching point and then selects one road closest to the next instructing position from the selected roads.

33. An apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said display means changes the road selected by said selecting means to a display format in which the road can be distinguished from the other roads and displays the changed road.

34. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising:

route information forming means for forming information which can specify the route determined by said determining means; and

storing means for storing the route information formed by said route information forming means.

35. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising:

moving state discriminating means for discriminating whether the instructing position is moving at a predetermined moving state from the plurality of instructing positions which are inputted by said input means; and

deciding means for deciding whether the discrimination about a branching point of the road between two instructing positions is executed in accordance with a discrimination result of said moving state discriminating means.

36. An apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the predetermined moving state is a predetermined speed.

37. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising control means for controlling a moving route of a moving device in accordance with the route determined by said determining means.

38. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising control means for comparing the route determined by said determining means with a moving route of a moving device and controlling so as to output a message according to a result of the comparison.

39. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising command generating means for comparing the route determined by said determining means with a moving route of a moving device and generating a command according to a result of the comparison.

40. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said display means comprises a liquid crystal display.

41. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said display means comprises a CRT.

42. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said input means comprises a coordinate input device overlaid integratedly on a display displaying the image showing the road.

43. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the road data is constructed for each road by collecting data from a start point to an end point of the road, and the selecting means selects the road from the start point to the end point.

44. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the determining means determines the route when a branching point is detected while the plurality of instructing positions are continuously inputted.

45. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the selected road is changed to a display format in which the selected road can be distinguished from the other roads.

46. An apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the changed display format of the selected road comprises a change in color.

47. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program for performing the steps of:

(i) storing road data including data relating to branching points;

(ii) displaying an image showing a road on the basis of the road data;

(iii) inputting an instructing position on the displayed image;

(iv) selecting at least one road which is determined to be close to the instructing position and selecting a position on that road by comparing the inputted instructing position with the stored road data;

(v) inputting a next instructing position on the displayed image;

(vi) selecting at least one road which is determined to be close to the next instructing position and selecting a position on that road by comparing the inputted next instructing position with the stored road data;

(vii) determining a route on the selected road or roads in accordance with the next instructing position; and

(viii) repeating steps (v)-(vii) for a plurality of instructing positions continuously inputted.

48. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, the program further performing the step of determining whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions continuously inputted,

wherein, when it is discriminated that there is a branching point of the road, one road is selected from all of the roads passing the branching point that were selected in step (iv) or (vi), the one road being close to an instructing position that is inputted after the branching point.

49. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, the program further performing the step of determining whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions,

wherein, when it is determined that there is a branching point of the road, a section up to the branching point is determined as a route in step (vii), but a determination about a section after the branching point is not made until a next branching point is determined.

50. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the plurality of instructing positions are obtained with coordinate values instructed at predetermined time intervals by a coordinate input device.

51. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the inputted instructing position and the road are compared and the road to be selected is set to a road located closest to the instructing position.

52. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the road data shows a line specified by a plurality of position data.

53. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the route is changed to a display format in which the route can be distinguished from the other roads in accordance with the determination of the route.

54. A computer-usable medium according to claim 53, wherein the changed display format of the decided route comprises a change in color.

55. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, the program further performing the steps of:

discriminating whether there is a branching point of the road between two instructing positions; and

when it is discriminated that there is a branching point of the road in said discriminating step, selecting in step (iv) or (vi) all of the roads passing the branching point,

wherein in step (iv) or (vi) a road closest the next instructing position is selected from the selected roads.

56. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 55, wherein the road selected in step (iv) or (vi) is changed to a display format in which the road can be distinguished from the other roads.

57. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein information which can specify the determined route is formed and stored.

58. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, the program further performing the steps of:

determining whether the instructing position is moving at a predetermined moving state from the plurality of instructing positions continuously inputted; and

deciding whether a determination about a branching point of the road between two instructing positions is executed in accordance with a result of the moving state determination.

59. A computer-usable-medium according to claim 58, wherein the predetermined moving state is a predetermined speed.

60. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein a moving route of a moving device is controlled in accordance with the determined route.

61. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the determined route is compared with a moving route of a moving device and a message according to a result of the comparison is outputted.

62. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the determined route is compared with a moving route of a moving device and a command according to a result of the comparison is outputted.

63. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the image showing the road is displayed on a liquid crystal display.

64. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the image showing the road is displayed on a CRT.

65. A computer-usable medium encoded with a program according to claim 47, wherein the instructing position is inputted by coordinate input means overlaid integratedly on a display which displays the image showing the road.

66. A computer-usable medium according to claim 47, wherein the road data is constructed for each road by collecting data from a start point to an end point of the road, and the road from the start point to the end point is selected in step (iv) or (vi).

67. A computer-usable medium according to claim 47, wherein the route is determined in the determining step when a branching point is detected while the plurality of instructing positions are continuously inputted.

68. A computer-usable medium according to claim 47, wherein the selected road is changed to a display format in which the selected road can be distinguished from the other roads.

69. A computer-usable medium according to claim 68, wherein the changed display format of the selected road comprises a change in color.