초록 ▼

A vehicle navigation system guides a driver along an optimal route from a starting point to a destination, either of which can be specified in categorical terms. That is, the starting point need not be on a road, and the categorical destination can be entered as “nearest gas station”or “closest hard

A vehicle navigation system guides a driver along an optimal route from a starting point to a destination, either of which can be specified in categorical terms. That is, the starting point need not be on a road, and the categorical destination can be entered as “nearest gas station”or “closest hardware store.”The system selects a number of possible destinations that conform to the driver\s specifications and computes, simultaneously for each particular area on a digitally-stored map, possible optimal routes from the vehicle\s current position to each possible destination. The optimal route is selected according to conditions of shortest distance, fastest time, or fewest turns set individually or in any combination by the driver, who is guided along the optimal route by messages on a display. A similar procedure, in which a plurality of possible starting points is proposed, yields the optimal route to a destination from an indefinitely specified starting point. A weighting equation gives a priority within a particular map area to each possible optimal route. Thus the navigation system of the present invention finds most efficiently a desired destination on an optimal route from the vehicle\s current position or from a starting point from which the vehicle\s current position may be reached.

대표청구항 ▼

A vehicle navigation system that displays continuously a direction of a vehicle\s motion, which comprises: means for determining a current position of said vehicle; means for storing and retrieving a plurality of map data; means for partitioning said map data into a plurality of map areas; means for

A vehicle navigation system that displays continuously a direction of a vehicle\s motion, which comprises: means for determining a current position of said vehicle; means for storing and retrieving a plurality of map data; means for partitioning said map data into a plurality of map areas; means for entering information about at least one categorical destination; means for selecting from one of a plurality of possible destinations in said storing means as said at least one proposed categorical destination in accordance with said information; means, responsive to said means for entering, for selecting from said plurality of map data proposed starting points of a route for said vehicle to travel; means, responsive to said means for selecting, for computing a plurality of proposed routes from said proposed starting points to said at least one categorical destination; means for comparing said plurality of proposed routes from each of said proposed starting points with each other in each partitioned map area; said means for computing being effective to choose a single one of said starting points and a single optimal one of said plurality of proposed routes therefrom such that said single starting point and said single optimal route satisfy a preselected criterion of optimality derived from at least one variable other than distance; and means, responsive to said means for computing, for displaying a plurality of navigational data to guide said vehicle along said single optimal route from said vehicle\s current position to said at least one categorical destination.