Land vehicle navigation apparatus with guidance display image limiter for recognizability enhancement

• US 6,076,041 A
• Filed: 08/29/1997
• Issued: 06/13/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hernandez, Olga
• Application Number:
  US08/920,881
• Time in Patent Office: 1,019 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/211, 701/202, 340/988, 340/990, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3644 Landmark guidance, e.g. using POIs or conspicuous other objects
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

Land vehicle navigation apparatus for searching for a route to a destination and for providing guidance improves readability of intersection diagrams to thereby enable a vehicle operator to more easily recognize the travel path at a guidance intersection. The apparatus includes a storage device for storage of data representative of intersection diagrams and other data for use in performing route guidance. A display control device controls display of an intersection diagram by identifying that information necessary for route guidance from among the stored data items and depicts only that information so identified, i.e. the truly necessary information items. A present position detector detects the present vehicle location and the display controller causes the intersection diagram to be displayed responsive to an intersection display instruction automatically issued when the detected present vehicle position approaches to within a predefined distance from the guidance intersection.

Claims

1. A storage medium containing a program for providing guidance along a route to a destination, said program comprising the steps of:

retrieving intersection information, including guidance and road information for a guidance intersection, from storage on the basis of stored route information;

judging whether or not the retrieved road information satisfies at least one predetermined criterion;

limiting the retrieved road information to road information judged to satisfy the one predetermined criterion;

outputting road information limited to that judged to satisfy the one predetermined criterion; and

drawing an image of the guidance intersection according to the output road information.

2. A method for providing guidance along a route to a destination comprising:

retrieving intersection information, including guidance and road information for a guidance intersection, from storage on the basis of stored route information;

judging whether or not the retrieved road information satisfies at least one predetermined criterion;

limiting the retrieved road information to road information judged to satisfy the one predetermined criterion;

outputting road information limited to that judged to satisfy the one predetermined criterion; and

drawing an image of the guidance intersection according to the output road information.

3. A vehicle navigation apparatus for providing guidance along a route to a destination, said vehicle navigation apparatus comprising:

map information storage means for storing map information including road information and intersection information;

route storage means for temporarily storing route information pertaining to the route to the destination;

read means for retrieving map information limited to a single guidance intersection, from said map information storage means, based on the stored route information, into said route storage means;

control means for judging whether or not the limited map information temporarily stored in said route storage means satisfies at least one predetermined criterion, and for further limiting the retrieved map information in accordance with the judgement; and

intersection image generator means for drawing an intersection image of the guidance intersection based on the further limited map information.

4. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 3 wherein said one criterion relates to data for roads included within the map information and requires that the data be for a road included within the route or directly connected to the route.

5. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 3, wherein said route storage means is a random access memory and further comprising read means for reading map information specific to the guidance intersection from said map information storage means into said random access memory and wherein said control means judges the specific map information stored in said random access memory.

6. The vehicle navigation system of claim 3 wherein said intersection image generator means draws only the limited map information.

7. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 3 further comprising:

present location detecting means for detecting a present location of a vehicle; and

wherein said intersection image generator means draws the intersection image when the vehicle reaches a predetermined distance from the guidance intersection.

8. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 3 wherein said control means permits displaying of an intersection corresponding to instruction signal for drawing.

9. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 3 wherein said one criterion relates to data for roads included within the map information and requires that the data be for a road which is currently passable.

10. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 9 wherein said intersection drawing generator means drafts the features for which data does not satisfy said one criterion in the same color as a background color, with features for which data does satisfy said one criterion being prominently displayed in a color other than said background color.

11. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 3 wherein said control means judges whether or not road information included within the retrieved map information satisfies said one criterion.

12. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 11 wherein said one criterion is connection of a road, to which the included road information relates, to the guidance intersection.

13. The vehicle navigation apparatus of claim 11 wherein said one criterion is prohibition against entry from the guidance intersection onto a road to which the included road information relates.