Navigation apparatus for a vehicle and a recording medium for use in the same

• US 6,035,253 A
• Filed: 10/23/1996
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Nimura, Mitsuhiro, Hayashi, Seiji, Ito, Yasunobu
• Primary Examiner(s): ZANELLI, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US08/735,597
• Time in Patent Office: 1,231 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/208, 701/209, 701/213, 701/211, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

In a navigation apparatus for a vehicle, after the present position of a vehicle is obtained, a position on a map which corresponds to the present position of the vehicle is obtained. Subsequently, the heading direction of the vehicle is detected. When the vehicle is traveling on the left-hand lane, coordinate conversion is performed such that a present position mark is shifted leftward from the center of the road by 1/4 of the road width. This makes it possible to display a route while preventing the route from overlapping with the centerline of the road. In another navigation apparatus for a vehicle, a structure-profiled map on which a structure-representing shape and a road are drawn is displayed so as to provide road guidance, wherein a route is displayed on the structure-profiled map along a road which is displayed for guidance. The display of the route is performed such that the route is shifted from the center line of a road toward a lane on which the vehicle is traveling. The route is displayed by using a pattern having a width corresponding to the width of the road in accordance with the lane of the road to be guided.

Claims

1. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle in which an entire route from a start point to a designated destination is determined, the present position of the vehicle is detected, and route guidance processing is executed based on the detected present position, said navigation apparatus comprising:

(a) information storage means for storing data regarding a road-profiled map on which a road is displayed with a widthwise shape;

(b) present position detecting means for detecting the present position of the vehicle;

(c) matching means for comparing the track of the present position detected by said present position detecting means with the shape of a road, so as to judge whether they match; and

(d) display control means for shifting the present position onto a road which has been judged by said matching means to correspond to the track of the present position, and for displaying the present position on the road appearing on the road-profiled map.

2. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

said information storage means contains information regarding one-way traffic, and said display control means modifies the position of display of the present position based on the information regarding one-way traffic.

3. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said display control means is adapted to display the present position at the center of a road when the road is judged to be a one-way road, as well as to display the present position at a position shifted by a predetermined amount from the center of a road when the road is judged to not be a one-way road.

4. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle in which an entire route from a start point to a designated destination is determined, the present position of the vehicle is detected, and route guidance processing is executed based on the detected present position, said navigation apparatus comprising:

(a) storage means for storing data regarding a road map in which a road is represented using road data composed of data regarding nodes, as well as for storing data regarding a road-profiled map on which a road is displayed with a widthwise shape;

(b) map information switching means for switching the road map to and from the road-profiled map; and

(c) matching means for converting the detected present position of the vehicle to a coordinate on the road data, wherein

(d) said information storage means contains information regarding the width of each road,

(e) said matching means further shifts the converted coordinate by a predetermined amount in accordance with the width of a road on which the present position lies, thereby displaying the present position at the shifted coordinate, when the road-profiled map is displayed by said map information switching means.

5. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle which displays a structure-profiled map on which a structure-presenting shape and a road are drawn, so as to provide road guidance, said navigation apparatus comprising:

(a) recording-medium read out means for reading out a program and data from a recording medium so as to display for road guidance a structure-profiled map on which a structure-presenting shape and a road are drawn;

(b) nonvolatile recording means for recording the program;

(c) program read in means for reading into said nonvolatile recording means a program which is read out from the recording medium through said recording-medium read out means;

(d) display means for displaying the structure-profiled map; and

(e) processing means for executing a program, which is read in through said program read in means, so as to display the structure-profiled map on the display means based on data which is read out from the recording medium through said recording-medium read out means, and for thereby providing road guidance, wherein

(f) a route is displayed along a road which is displayed on the structure-profiled map for guidance.

6. A recording medium for use in a navigation apparatus in which is displayed a structure-profiled map on which a structure-representing shape and a road, displayed with sides spaced by a transverse dimension to define a widthwise shape, are drawn, so as to provide road guidance, said recording medium storing:

structure-profiled map data including information regarding the shape of various kinds of structures as well-as attribute information regarding the structures and widthwise shape of roads; and

a program for displaying the shape and name of each structure based on said structure-profiled map data as well as for displaying a route on a structure-profiled map along a road and for transversely positioning the route relative to the widthwise shape of the road, based on said structure-profiled map data.

7. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the transverse positioning of said route relative to the widthwise shape of the road is based on whether the road is a one-way road or a two-way road.

8. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the transverse positioning of said route relative to the widthwise shape of the road is in accordance with guidance information regarding right-turn/left-turn at an intersection located ahead of the present position and an associated change of lanes on which the vehicle is to travel.

9. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle in which an entire route from a start point to a designated destination is determined and the vehicle is guided to the destination in accordance with the determined route, said navigation apparatus comprising:

information storage means for storing data for road-profiled maps on which a road is displayed with sides spaced by a transverse dimension to define a widthwise shape;

present position detecting means for detecting the present position of the vehicle;

judging means for judging, on the basis of the present position detected by said present position detecting means, a road along which the vehicle is travelling;

display means for displaying a road-profiled map of a vicinity around the detected present position; and

display control means for reading out data from said information storage means for the road-profiled map of the vicinity inclusive of data for the judged road, for selecting a transverse position for a present position mark on the basis of the data read for the judged road to show the detected position of the vehicle relative to the spaced sides of the judged road, for outputting the road-profiled map of the vicinity to said display means with the judged road displayed with a widthwise shape together with the present position and for controlling the displayed position of the present position mark on the road-profiled map of the vicinity in accordance with the detected present position and the selected transverse position.

10. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein said determined route is displayed such that said determined route is shifted from the centerline of the judged road onto a lane of the judged road on which the vehicle is travelling.

11. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the display of said route is controlled by said display control means depending on whether or not the judged road is a one-way road.

12. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein said determined route is displayed using a pattern whose width corresponds to the width of the judged road on which the vehicle is traveling.

13. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the display of said determined route is performed depending on whether the judged road is a one-way road or a two-way road.

14. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the display of said route is controlled by said display control means to provide guidance information regarding right-turn/left-turn at an intersection located ahead of the present position and an associated change of lanes in which the vehicle is to travel.

15. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein said display control means controls display of the present position mark so that a driver of the vehicle can recognize the lane in which the vehicle is travelling.

16. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein said display control means is adapted to display the present position at the center of a road when the road is judged to be a one-way road, as well as to display the present position at a position shifted by a predetermined amount from the center of a road when the road is judged to not be a one-way road.

17. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein said display control means controls the display of the present position mark so that the present position mark is displayed in a travel lane in which the vehicle is travelling, said travel lane being displayed along with additional lanes of the judged road.

18. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle in which an entire route from a start point to a destination is calculated, and visual or voice guidance is provided as the present position of the vehicle moves, said navigation apparatus comprising:

(a) storage means for storing structure shape information which includes information regarding roads;

(b) range-of-display determining means for determining the range of display for a route which is calculated based on information regarding a road which is stored in said storage means; and

(c) display control means for superimposing a route on a road, based on the structure shape information stored in said storage means as well as the range of display determined by said range-of-display determining means, so as to create map information and to display the created information.

19. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display such that a guidance route is displayed in a state in which the guidance route is shifted from the centerline of a road onto a lane on which the vehicle is traveling.

20. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display depending on whether not the road is a one-way road.

21. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display using a pattern whose width corresponds to the width of a road on which the vehicle is traveling.

22. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display depending on whether the road is a one-way road or a two-way road and in accordance with guidance information regarding right-turn/left-turn at an intersection located ahead of the present position and an associated change of lanes on which the vehicle is to travel.

23. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the display of said route superimposed on a road is determined based on whether the road is a one-way road or a two-way road.

24. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the display of said route is superimposed on a road in accordance with guidance information regarding right-turn/left-turn at an intersection located ahead of the present position and an associated change of lanes on which the vehicle is to travel.

25. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

(a) present position detecting means for detecting the present position of the vehicle;

(b) route calculating means for calculating a route from a start point to a destination;

(c) storage means for storing structure shape information which includes information regarding roads;

(d) range-of-display determining means for determining the range of display for a route which is calculated by said route calculating means based on information regarding a road which is stored in said storage means;

(e) display means for displaying map information regarding an area in the vicinity of the present invention based on the present position detected by said present position detecting means and guidance information stored in said storage means; and

(f) display control means for controlling display information to be displayed on said display means, wherein

(g) said display control means controls display information such that the route is superimposed on a map displayed on said display means, based on the range of display determined by said range-of-display determining means.

26. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 25, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display such that a guidance route is displayed in a state in which the guidance route is shifted from the centerline of a road onto a lane on which the vehicle is traveling.

27. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 25, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display depending on whether not the road is a one-way road.

28. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 25, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display using a pattern whose width corresponds to the width of a road on which the vehicle is traveling.

29. A navigation apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 25, wherein said range-of-display determining means determines the range of display depending on whether the road is a one-way road or a two-way road and in accordance with guidance information regarding right-turn/left-turn at an intersection located ahead of the present position and an associated change of lanes on which the vehicle is to travel.