United States Patent
`Minami et al.
`[45] Date of Patent:
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`
`4,502,123
`
`[19]
`
`[54] NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR USE WITH AN
`AUTOMOBILE AND READING UNIT FOR
`THE SYSTEM
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Kazuaki Minami, Kariya; Shinzo
`Totani, Nagoya; Kunio Miura,
`Okazaki; Kazushi Akutsu; Shinji
`Ohyama, both of Kariya, all of Japan
`
`[73] Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd., Kariya, Japan
`[21] Appl. No.: 395,338
`
`[22] Filed:
`
`Jul. 6, 1982
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`[30]
`Jul. 7, 1981 [JP]
`Japan ................................ 56-106570
`
`Int. Cl.3 .............................................. G06F 15/50
`[51]
`[52] US. Cl. .................................... 364/424; 364/449;
`364/521; 340/990; 340/995; 73/178 R; 343/451
`[58] Field of Search ............... 364/424, 443, 444, 449,
`364/521; 353/11, 12; 343/450—453;
`340/988—990, 992, 995, 996; 73/178 R;
`358/104; 360/61, 79, 94, 132, 134
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`3,760,360 9/ 1973 Reynolds et a1.
`................... 340/990
`4,086,632 4/1978 Lions ..............
`.. 340/709
`
`4,109,115
`8/1978 Yamamoto ..
`.. 360/61
`
`4,139,889
`2/1979 Ingels ......
`. 364/424
`6/1979 Wood ........... 340/996
`4,159,490
`
`
`4,253,150 2/ 1981 Scovill ................. 343/451
`7/1981 Kashima et a1.
`.................... 360/132
`4,280,136
`
`4,291,373
`4,312,577
`4,398,300
`
`....................... 340/996
`9/1981 Mizote et a1.
`1/1982 Fitzgerald ............................. 353/12
`8/1983 D‘Alayer de Costemore D’Arc et
`a].
`.......................................... 360/94
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`55-159299 12/1980 Japan .
`
`Primary Examiner—Gary Chin
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Cushman, Darby & Cushman
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`
`In a navigation system arranged to display a road map
`in accordance with road map information from a cas-
`sette tape, and the present location of a motor vehicle
`equipped with the navigation system, a cassette tape
`distinguishing circuit
`is provided to a cassette tape
`player which picks up the road map information from a
`predetermined cassette having a window at given por»
`tion of the cassette housing. A switching circuit is re-
`sponsive to the cassette tape distinguishing circuit so
`that the output data of the cassette tape is processed to
`display a given map only when a cassette carrying road
`map information is loaded in the cassette tape player. In
`the case a normal cassette carrying audio signals, such
`as music, is loaded the picked up audio signal is trans-
`mitted to an amplifier so that sound reproduction is
`effected. Thus, a single cassette player can be used in
`common as both a part of the navigation system and a
`part of a sound reproduction system.
`
`9 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures
`
`
`
`CASSETTE
`
`TAPE
`DISTINGU ISH
`
`lNG CKT
`
` 35
`
`
`CONTROL CKT
`
`
`
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Feb.26, 1985
`
`Sheet] of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`F/G.
`
`/
`
`DIRECTION
`DETECTOR
`
`CTR CONTROLLER
`
`TOUCH-PANEL UNIT
`
`CURSOR
`
`CRT SCREEN '
`
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`Sheet20f9
`
`4,502,123
`
`CONTROI:LER
`
`CC
`
`’—
`U7
`
`gL
`
`I
`
`FIG2
`
`CONTROL-
`
`GRAPHICMEMORYifl
`MEMORY
`CTERll >.
`
`02L
`
`u
`
`ICHM
`
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`Sheet3of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`FIG. 3A
`
`FIG. 3C
`
`
`
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Feb.26, 1985
`
`Sheet4of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`
`
`
`CASSETTE
`
`TAPE
`
`DISTINGUISH-
`ING CKT
`
`34
`
`
`
`
`
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`Sheet50f9
`
`4,502,123
`
`TOUCH PANEL
`
`
`SELECT MAP
`
`AREA
`
`
`
`
`REGION
`
`SECTION
`
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`Sheet6of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`HQ 8
`
`
`
`INITIALIZE
`
`200
`
`MODE OPERATION
`ROUTINE
`
`PRESENT LOCATION
`
`300
`
`400
`
`
`
`
`
`
`OPERATION
`ROUTINE
`
`
`
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`US. Patent
`
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`Sheet7of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`IFVZ3.
`
`E9
`
`UNIT DISTANCE
`INTERRUPTION
`
`501
`
`INTEGRATION OF
`DISTANCE DATA D
`
`502
`
`/503
`
`@ “0
`
`YES
`
`50
`
`4
`
`INPUT DIRECTION DATA
`Xu 8. Ya
`
`X = (X0 + X0) /2
`
`Y = (Y0 +Ya)/2
`
`50
`
`5
`
`506
`
`
`
`Dx = 6.25X IVX2+Y2
`
`
`
`
`
`Dy: 6.25Y/‘I/X2+Y2
`
`507
`
`508
`
`509
`
`X Y
`
`a —- X0
`
`0 —> Y0
`
`SET DISTANCE FLAG
`
`L RETURN
`
`510
`
`‘
`
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`US. Patent
`
`Feb. 26, 1985
`
`Sheet8of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`/=YC?.
`
`/C7
`
`301
`
`302 @ NO
`
`NO
`
`YES
`
`YES
`
`303
`
`~o@
`
`309
`
`1310
`
`MAP TAPA
`SIGNAL?
`
`YES
`
`YES
`
`43O
`
`SET MAP MODE
`
`SET CHARACTER MODE
`
`305
`
`OUTPUT CHANGE-TO-
`CHARACTER SIGNAL
`
`311
`
`CO-ORDINATE
`TRANSFORMATION OF
`TRAVELLING DATA
`
`N0
`
`
`
`
`
`NO
`
`306
`
`OVE- CURSOR
`COM MAND
`'YES
`
`307
`
`
`
`
`
`OPFRATION FOR
`CURSOR MOVEMENT
`
`
`READ MAP DATA
`
`'312
`
`313
`
`OUTPUT CHANGE-TO-
`MAP SIGNAL
`
`/314
`
`
`
`
`OPERATION FOR
`
`
`SELECTING A MAP
`WITH CHARACTER
`PICTURE
`
`
`
`
`END
`
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Feb.26, 1985
`
`Sheet9of9
`
`4,502,123
`
`F/G. //
`
`401
`
`DISTANCE
`FLAG PRESENT
`
`YES
`
`402
`
`DX= DX+DX
`
`f403
`
`
`
`OX 2 DX- 50m
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`RENEW PRFSENT
`LOCATION DATA &
`TRAVELLING LOCUS
`DATA BY 50m
`
`NO
`
`DX = DX+ 50m
`
`@ ”0
`
`
`
`A
`
`RENEW PRFSENT
`
`LOCATION DATA 8
`
`TRAVELLING LOCUS
`DATA BY '50m
`
` SIMILAR PROCESS
`WITH RESPECT
`TO Y COMPONEN T
`
`
`
`
`410
`
`RESET DISTANCE FLAG 4“
`
`END
`
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`

`

`1
`
`4,502,123
`
`NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR USE WITH AN
`AUTOMOBILE AND READING UNIT FOR THE
`SYSTEM
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates generally to a navigation sys-
`tem for use with an automobile, which system indicates
`the present location of the automobile on a displayed
`road map.
`A prior art navigation system for use with an automo-
`bile is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publica-
`tion (Kokai) No. 55-159299. This prior art system, com-
`prises a distance sensor which measures the travelled
`distance of a motor vehile, and a direction sensor which
`detects the travelling diretion of the motor vehicle so
`that the present location of the motor vehicle is indi-
`cated on a road map associated with a display. This
`system, however, suffers from a drawback that it is
`troublesome to handle the same because various maps
`printed on transparent films have to be changed by
`taking one out of the display unit and inserting another
`one thereinto.
`In order to remove the above-mentioned disadvan-
`tage, the inventors of the present invention have divised
`a system using a tape player which reads road map
`information from a cassette tape. Namely, a plurality of
`pieces of information each indicating a road map of a
`predetermined region or section are prerecorded in a
`cassette tape so that a desired piece of information can
`be selectively read out to image a corresponding road
`map on a display.
`Stereophonic audio sound reproduction systems hav-
`ing a cassette tape player are widely used in motor
`vehicles nowadays. Therefore,
`if the cassette tape
`player or recorder used for such Stereophonic sound
`reproduction system in motor vehicles can be used as
`the cassette tape player for deriving road map informa-
`tion, the navigation system will be manufactured with
`less cost, while it would be convenient to the users
`because manipulation of cassette tape players is very
`simple.
`However, conventional cassette tape players, which
`are widely used for reproducing audio signals, cannot
`simply be adapted because it is necessary to detect
`whether the information derived from a cassette tape is
`either an audio signal, such as music, or data indicative
`of road map information. It is necessary to provide an
`arrangement for switching the output signal from the
`cassette player in accordance with the contents of a
`cassette tape loaded into the cassette player.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to
`provide a new and useful navigation system for use with
`an automobile, with which system a single cassette
`player can be used in common for reproducing both
`audio signals
`for
`the sound reproduction system
`mounted on a motor vehicle and data of road maps.
`According to a preferred embodiment of the present
`invention a cassette-sort detector is provided in a cas-
`sette tape player for detecting whether a cassette tape
`loaded into the player is either a normal audio cassette
`tape or a cassette tape carrying road map data. The
`output signal from the tape player will be switched by a
`detection signal from the cassette-sort detector. There-
`fore, when a cassette tape carrying road map data is
`loaded, the navigation system according to the present
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`2
`invention is energized to display a desired map on a
`display unit, while the present location of the motor
`vehicle is also indicated in the displayed map. In a pre-
`ferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to
`distinguish between the two different types of cassette
`tapes, a small window is made at a predetermined por-
`tion of a cassette of the type which carries road map
`data. When the presence of the window is detected by
`the cassette-sort detector, the cassette tape is regarded
`as carrying road map data. On the other hand, in the
`absence of such a window normal sound reproduction is
`effected in the conventional manner.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The object and features of the present invention will
`become more readily apparent from the following de-
`tailed description of the preferred embodiment taken in
`conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
`FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an
`embodiment of the navigation system according to the
`present invention;
`FIG. 2 is an electrical wiring diagram of the CRT
`controller shown in FIG: 1;
`FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are respectively a top plan
`view, a front view and a side view of a cassette tape
`carrying road map data;
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the reading unit shown
`in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing touch-
`areas of the touch-panel shown in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 6 is a front view of a portion of the tape of the
`cassette tape of FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, which front view
`shows a data region;
`FIG. 7 is an example of a picture displayed on the
`CRT screen shown in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the main routine for
`the operation of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an interrupt service
`routine for the operation of the microcomputer shown
`in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing steps included in the
`mode-operation routine of the main routine of FIG. 8;
`and
`
`FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing steps included in the
`present location operation routine of the main routine of
`FIG. 8.
`
`The same or corresponding elements and parts are
`designated at like reference numerals throughout the
`drawings.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
`
`Referring now to FIG. 1 a schematic diagram of an
`embodiment of the navigation system according to the
`present invenion is shown. The system comprises gener-
`ally a direction detector 1, a distance sensor 2, a reading
`unit 3, a microcomputer 4, a CRT controller 5, a CRT
`unit 6 and a touch-panel unit 7.
`The direction detector 1 comprises a direction sensor
`which detects X and Y co-ordinate components of the
`. earth magnetism in accordance with the travelling di-
`rection of a motor vehicle on which the navigation
`system is mounted, and an A/D converter which con-
`verts the output signal from the direction sensor into a
`digital signal. Therefore, the direction detector 1 gener~
`ates a digital signal indicative of X and Y components in
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`
`
`4,502,123
`
`3
`accordance with the travelling direction of the motor
`vehicle.
`The distance sensor 2 generates a pulse each time the
`motor vehicle travels a unit distance, such as 39.2 centi-
`meters. The reading unit 3 comprises a cassette tape
`player which reads prerecorded data or information
`from a loaded cassette tape 3a. Road map data of a
`plurality of geographical regions or sections are prere-
`corded or prewritten in the cassette tape 3a in a prede-
`termined sequence. Data of the absolute co-ordinates of
`a predetermined point, such as a point at the right top,
`of each map is also prerecorded in the cassette tape 3a
`so that desired data corresponding to a desired map can
`be selectively derived.
`The microcomputer 4 which is arranged to execute
`digital operations in accordance with a predetermined
`control program, comprises a CPU 40, a ROM 4b, a
`RAM 4c, an I/O unit 4d in the same manner as well-
`known microcomputer arrangement. The mircocom-
`puter 4 is supplied with electrical power of 5 volts from
`an unshown power regulating circuit which receives
`electrical power from a vehicle-mounted battery (not
`shown). The microcomputer 4 generates a display out-
`put signal with which a map of a specific region and
`information of trvelling route are displayed, by process-
`ing various data from the direction detector 1, the dis-
`tance sensor 2 and the reading unit 3. The RAM 4c of
`the microcomputer 4 is always supplied with electrical
`power from the vehicle-mounted battery so that data
`stored therein is not erased.
`The CRT controller 5 receives the display output
`signal from the microcomputer 4 to store a map data of
`a specific region, travelling route information and char-
`acter data respectively, and also generates a video sig-
`nal and a synchronous signal for displaying the stored
`map data, travelling information and the character data
`on the CRT unit 6. The CRT unit 6 displays the above-
`mentioned information in receipt of data from the CRT
`controller 5.
`The touch-panel unit 7 is attached to the outer surface
`of the screen of the CRT unit 6, and is divided into
`twelve (12) touch-areas. The touch panel unit 7 com-
`prises twelve switches associated with the touch-areas
`to produce a serial signal when a predetermined touch-
`area among the twelve touch-areas is touched by a
`finger of the user.
`FIG. 2 illustrates an electrical wiring diagram of the
`CRT controller 5. An oscillator 11 generates an oscilla-
`tion signal of 12.096 MHz, and this oscillation signal is
`fed to a dot counter 12 which generates dot timing
`clock pulses of 6.048 MHz and character timing clock
`pulses of 756 KHz by dividing the frequency of the
`oscillation signal. A display controller 13 generates
`horizontal and vertical synchronous signals, a display
`timing signal, refresh-memory address signal, and a
`raster address signal in response to a command from the
`microcomputer 4 and to the character timing clock
`pulses from the dot counter 12. A hold signal gnerating
`circuit 14 sends a hold signal to a hold terminal HOLD
`of the microcomputer 4 on the basis of the horizontal
`and vertical synchronous signals from the display con-
`troller 13, with which hold signal the microcomputer 4
`is caused to operate in a in hold state for a displaying
`interval. A multiplexer 15 switches an address signal
`from the microcomputer 4, the refresh-memory address
`signal and the raster address signal from the display
`controller 13 in accordance with a hold acknowledge
`signal HOLDA from the microcomputer 4. Bus drivers
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`4
`16, 17 and 18 change over the direction of data from the
`microcomputer 4 to display memories or vice versa,
`assuming tristate. A character memory 19 stores ASCII
`coded data to be displayed from the microcomputer 4,
`and outputs the contents of the refresh-memory address
`signal from the display controller 13 as an address. A
`character generator 20 outputs a display pattern in ac-
`cordance with display address from the character mer-
`mory 19 and the raster address signal from the display
`controller 13. A first graphic memory 21 stores therein
`map data from the microcomputer 4. A second graphic
`memory 22 stores therein travelling route inforamtion,
`such as the travelling locus and the present location
`data, fed from the microcomputer 4. Parallel-to-serial
`converters 23, 24 and 25 convert parallel signals from
`the character generator 20 and the first and second
`graphic memories 21 and 22 into serial data with the dot
`timing clock pulses from the dot counter 12. The paral-
`lel-to-serial coversion is referred to as P-S coversion. A
`video controller 26 generates a video signal with the
`display timing signal from the display controller 13 by
`switching the reception of the signals from the P-S
`converter 23 and P-S converters 24 and 25 so as to
`select one of graphic and character pictures by a
`change-picture signal from the microcomputer 4. The
`change-picture signal will be one of a change-to-charac-
`ter signal and a change-to-picture signal as will be de-
`scribed later. An EX-OR gate generates a synchronous
`signal from the horizontal and vertical synchronous
`signals from the display controller 13. The above-men-
`tioned character memory 19 and the first and second
`graphic memories 21 and 22 are always supplied with
`electrical power from the vehicle-mounted battery.
`Summarizing the operation of the CRT controller 5,
`character data, travelling locus data and present loca-
`tiOn data and map data from the microcomputer 4 are
`respectively stored in the character memory 19, the first
`graphic memory 21, and the second graphic memory 22
`for all the time, while one of the graphic picture and
`character picture is selected to generate a correspond-
`ing video signal so that a desired picture, which has
`been selected, can be displayed on the screen of CRT
`unit 6. In the above, with the words, graphic picture is
`meant a picture of a map on which travelling locus and
`present location are indicated (see FIG. 1), and with the
`words, character picture is meant a picture showing
`map-designation characters with which designation of a
`geographical region will be effected (see FIG. 7).
`FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C illustrate various views of the
`cassettte tape 30 arranged to be reproduced by the read-
`ing unit 3 of FIG. 1. Namely, the cassette tape 3a carries
`map data which will be displayed by the display unit 6.
`The cassette housing of the cassette tape 3a has the same
`size and configuration as widely used compact cassettes
`for recording and reproducing audio signals, such as
`music. However, the cassette housing differs from well-
`known compact cassettes in that a small window WD is
`provided on the rear side thereof as shown in FIG. 3B.
`The reference numerals T1 and T2 indicate breakable
`protect tabs used for preventing the recorded informa-
`tion from being erroneously erased. The window WD
`has the same size as the tabs T1 and T2, and is provided
`at a midway point between these two tabs T1 and T2.
`'This window WD will be detected, as will be described
`hereafter, to determine that a loaded cassette carries
`map information rather than audio signals.
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the reading unit 3 having
`a cassette tape distinguishing circuit 31 functioning as a
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`4,502,123
`
`5
`cassette-sort detector, a switching circuit 32, a repro-
`duce head 33, an arnpifier 34, a control circuit 35, and a
`driving motor 36. Namely, the reading unit 3 is substan-
`tially the same as well-known cassette player except for
`the casssette tape distinguishing circuit 31, the switch-
`ing ciruit 32 and the control circuit 35.
`The cassette tape distinguishing circuit 31 comprises
`a detector which detects the presence of the window
`WD of the cassette housing of FIG. 3B. The detector
`may be a mechanical switch having a movable pin
`which can be inserted into the window WD. Alterna-
`tively, an optical detector for the detection of the win-
`dow WD may be used. The cassette tape distinguishing
`circuit 31 thus produces an output signal, which will be
`referred to as a map tape signal, in the presence of the
`window WD on the rear side of the cassette housing.
`The switching circuit 32 is controlled by the map tape
`signal from the cassette tape distinguishing circuit 31 so
`that reproduced data fed from the reproduce head 33 is
`transmitted to either the amplifier 34 or the control
`circuit 35. In detail, when map data is picked up by the
`reproduce head 33, the reproduced data is fed to the
`control circuit 35, and on the other hand, audio signals
`from a different cassette tape are transmitted to the
`amplifier 34 to drive one or more speakers (not shown)
`of a sound reproduction system.
`The control circuit 35 comprises an amplifier, an
`A/D converter, an interface circuit connected to the
`microcomputer 4, and a drive circuit for driving the
`motor 36. In detail, the amplifier of the control circuit
`35 amplifies the signal picked up by the reproduce head
`33, and this signal is A/D converted to be fed via the
`interface circuit to the microcomputer 4. On the other
`hand, when a drive signal including a command of one
`of fast forward, rewind, reproduce, cancel of these
`commands, and stop is fed from the microcomputer 4 to
`the interface circuit, the drive circuit produces a corre-
`sponding driving output to control the drive motor 36
`so that the reeling and driving operation of the cassette
`tape 311 can be controlled.
`FIG. 5 shows the touch-panel unit 7 of FIG. 1. The
`touch-panel unit 7 comprises a pair of glass plates
`stacked with a predetermined space therebetween and a
`pair of transparent conductive films formed on the sur-
`face of the glass plates respectively so that the pair of
`conductive films face each other without coming into
`contact in the absence of an external force. Each of the
`conductive films is divided into twelve sections in the
`form of a matrix A1 to A4, B1 to B4, and C1 to C4 as
`shown in FIG. 5. The divided sections provide the
`aforementioned twelve touch-areas on the surface of
`one of the glass plates. The touch-panel unit 7 is dis-
`posed on the surface of the CRT screen of the CRT unit
`6, so that the touch areas A1 to A4, B1 to B4 and C1 to
`C4 on the surface of one of the glass plates can be de-
`pressed by a finger of the user. Assuming a given touch
`area is depressed, the depressed glass plate, which is
`exposed outside, sags under the depressing force to
`cause the facing conductive films to contact each other
`at the depressed point. An unshown touch signal gener-
`ating circuit is responsive to this electrical connection
`so that a serial signal indicative of the depressed or
`touched area is generated. Each of the serial signal
`includes a start signal and touch-area information,
`where the touch signal generating circuit is arranged to
`produce an output signal at an interval of 40 millisec-
`onds
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`6
`FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the
`tape of the cassette tape 3a for the explanation of the
`way of data storage, showing a region carrying map
`information of a single section. The reference A indi-
`cates a header portion in which data of the absolute
`co-ordinates of the right top point of a map of a given
`region is stored. The absolute co-ordinates mean the
`co-ordintates with respect to the North Pole. The refer-
`ence B indicates a map data portion in which the map
`data of the region is stored. Blank portions are indicated
`at the reference X. The recorded data in the portions A
`and B are read out by the reading unit 3 so that map data
`and absolute co-ordinates data of a specific region are
`derived and applied to the microcomputer 4.
`Hereafter will be described the operation of the navi-
`gation system with reference to a displayed picture of
`FIG. 7 and various flowcharts of FIGS. 8 to 11. FIG. 8
`is a flowchart showing the main routine for the opera-
`tion of the microcomputer 4; FIG. 9 is a flowchart
`showing an interrupt service routine for the operation
`of the microcomputer 4; FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing
`steps included in the mode-operation routine of the
`main routine of FIG. 8; and FIG. 11 is a flowchart
`showing steps included in the present location operation
`routine of the main routine of FIG. 8.
`Let us assume that the key switch of the motor vehi-
`cle equipped with the navigation system of FIG. 1 is
`turned on. Then electrical power is fed from the vehi-
`cle-mounted battery to the navigation sytem to put the
`same in operating condition. The microcomputer 4
`receives regulated 5 V voltage from the power regula-
`tor to start its operation. Namely, the microcomputer 4
`starts operating from a start step 100 of the main routine
`of FIG. 8. In a following initializing step 200, necessary
`initialization of unshown registers, counters and latches
`of the microcomputer 4 is effected to start its operation.
`After the initializing step 200, a mode operation routine
`300 and a present location operation routine 400 are
`repeatedly executed at an interval of several tens of
`milliseconds.
`
`In the mode operation routine 300, one of a map
`mode and a character mode is selected to display one of
`the aforementioned graphic picture and character pic-
`ture on the CRT screen. In the case of the map mode, an
`operation is executed so that a cursor indicative of the
`present location of the motor vehicle is made movable.
`On the other hand, in the case of the charcter mode, an
`operation is executed in which a specific area, region
`and section can be designated. Subsequent to one of
`these operations, the following present location opera-
`tion routine 400 takes place.
`In the present location operation routine 400, present
`location data and travelling locus data both stored in the
`second graphic memory 22 of the CRT controller 5 are
`renewed each time the motor vehicle traveles :50
`
`meters measured along the X and Y axes. After this
`operation the operational flow returns to the mode
`operation routine 300, and these two routines 300 and
`400 are repeatedly executed one after another.
`During execution of the main routine of FIG. 8 when
`the output pulse from the distance sensor 2 of FIG. 2 is
`applied to an interrupt terminal INT of the microcom-
`puter 4, the execution of the main routine is interrupted
`to start executing an interrupt service routine shown in
`FIG.‘ 9. Namely, the operation of the interrupt service
`routine is started from a start step 501, and in a follow-
`ing step 502 of distance integration, distance data D
`prestored in the RAM 4c is added with unit distance
`
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`4,502,123
`
`7
`data, which corresponds to approximately 39.2 centime-
`ters, to be renewed. In a following step 503 of distance
`decision, it is detected whether the distance data D has
`reached a value of 6.25 meters or not. If the distance
`data D is smaller than 6.25 meters, the answer of the
`step 503 becomes NO so that the operational flow goes
`to a return step 510. On the other hand, if the distance
`data D is equal to or greater than 6.25 meters, the an-
`swer of the step 503 becomes YES to execute a follow-
`ing step 504. The step 504 is for inputting the direction
`signal from the direction detector 1. Namely, the travel-
`ling direction of the motor vehicle is expressed by X
`and Y component digital signals Xa and Ya which as-
`sume a positive value for the East and North and a
`negative values for the West and South. In a following
`step 505 of calculating an average direction, average
`direction data X and Y are respectively obtained from
`the direction data Xa and Ya and their former data X0
`and Y0 obtained before the motor vehicle has travelled
`6.25 meters. Then in a following step 506 of distance
`calculation, distance components Dx and Dy in the di-
`rections of X axis and Y axes are obtained by using the
`following equations:
`
`D, = 6.25X/ ‘iXZ + Y2
`
`; D, = 6.25Y/ ‘ix2 + Y2
`
`In the above eguations, X/ V X2+Y2 corresponds to
`cos 0, and Y/ X2+Y2 corresponds to sin 0 when 9 is
`a counterclockwise angle measured from a reference
`direction oriented to the East.
`In a following step 507 of storing, the updated date
`Xa and Ya are stored as data X0 and Y0 for a next
`average data calculation. In a step 508 of resetting dis-
`tance data, the distance data D is reset to zero and then
`in a following step 509 of flag setting, a distance flag is
`set. After the completion of the step 509, the operational
`flow goes to the return step 510 so that execution of the
`intrrupted main routine will be effected from the point
`where interruption has occurred.
`Summarizing the operation in the interrupt service
`routine of FIG. 9, the distance data D is integrated to
`renew the same each time the motor vehicle travels the
`unit distance, and when the distance data D reaches 6.25
`meters, distance components Dx and Dy in the directions
`of the X and Y axes are calculated, and then the distance
`flag is set.
`Referring to FIG. 10, the mode operation routine 300
`of FIG. 8 will be described in detail. In a first step 301
`of the mode operation routine 300, touch-data from the
`touch-panel unit 7 is stored into the RAM 4c. In a fol-
`lowing step 302 of map mode detecting, it is detected
`whether the contents of a mode area in the RAM 4c are
`of the map mode or not. If the contents are of the map
`mode, the answer of the step 302 becomes YES to exe-
`cute a following step 303 of mode change detection to
`detect whether the touch-data stored in the RAM 4c
`indicates mode change. This touch-data indicative of
`mode change is a data previously generated by the
`touch-panel unit 7 when the right top area A4 of FIG.
`5 was depressed. If the prestored touch-data indcates
`mode change, the answer of the step 303 becomes YES
`to execute a step 304 in which the contents of the mode
`area in the RAM 4c are set to the character mode. Then
`in a following step 305 a change-to-character signal is
`sent to the video controller 26 of the CRT controller 5
`so that a character picture is displayed on the CRT
`screen. With the completion of the execution of the step
`
`8
`305, one cycle of the operation of the mode operation
`routine 300 terminates.
`On the other hand, if the above-mentioned prestored
`touch-data does not indicate mode change, namely,
`when touch-areas other than the right top area A4 of
`the touch-panel 7 has been depressed, or if none of the
`touch-areas has been depressed (for instance, in the case
`of data representing FF of sexadecimal notation), the
`answer of the mode change detecting step 303 becomes
`NO. In this case, a step 306 takes place in which it is
`detected whether the touch-data is one of data obtained
`when one of the touch-areas A2, A3, B1, B4, C2 and C3
`has been depressed or not. The touch-data obtained
`when one of the touch-areas A2, A3, B1, B4, C2 and C3
`has been depressed represents a move-cursor command.
`If the prestored touch-data is other than move-cursor
`data, the answer of the step 306 becomes NO to end one
`cycle of the mode operation routine 300. On the other
`hand, if the prestored data is move-cursor data, the
`answer of the same becomes YES to executeta follow-
`ing step 307 for move-cursor operation.
`The move-cursor data or command produced when
`one of the touch-areas A2, A3, B1, B4, C2 and C3 has
`been depressed is arranged such that touch-data ob-
`tained when the touch-area A2 or A3 is depressed rep-
`resents a command for moving the cursor on the CRT
`screen to the North by a predetemrined distance; touch-
`data obtained when the touch-area B1 is depressed rep-
`resents a command for moving the cursor to the West
`by the predetemrined distance;
`touch-data obtained
`when the touch-area B4 is depressed represents a com-
`mand for moving the cursor to the East by the prede-
`temrined distance; touch-data obtained when the touch-
`area C2 or C3 is depressed represents a command for
`moving the cursor to the South by the predetemrined
`distance. In response to such a move-cursor command
`among the touch-data the contents of the second
`graphic memory 22 of the CRT controller 5 are
`changed so that necessary movement of the cursor in
`one of the four directions is performed. After comple-
`tion of move-cursor operation 307, one cycle of the
`mode operation routine 300 terminates.
`Turning back to the above-mentioned map mode
`detecting step 302 of FIG. 10, if the answer of this step
`302 is NO, 21 step 308 takes place to detect whether the
`prestored touch-data indicates a mode change com-
`mand in the same manner as the step 303. If the pre-
`stored touch-data indicates a mode change command,
`the answer of the step 308 becomes YES to execute a
`following step 309 in which it is detected whether the
`map tape signal from the cassette tape distinguishing
`circuit 31 of FIG. 4 is present or not. The map tape
`signal
`is a signal
`indicating that
`the loaded casstte
`carries road map information as described with refer~
`ence to FIG. 4. In the presence of the map tape signal,
`the answer of the step