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EP0579451A1
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Method of and apparatus for producing an animation having a series of road drawings to be watched from a driver's seat of a vehicle
Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd
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Filing: 1993-07-08
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2013-07-08
Abstract
Abstract A method of and an apparatus for producing an animation having a series of road drawings to be watched from a driver's seat of a vehicle during a travel between two predetermined positions in a road map. The road drawings are formed on the basis of road data indicative of roads and obtained through three-dimensional computer graphics. Road map data indicative of the road map are stored in a road map data base device (1) and includes node data indicative of nodes formed by intersections, corners and ends of the roads, link data indicative of links each connecting two of the nodes to define a road segment and road width data indicative of the widths of the road segments. The road map data covering a travel route between the predetermined positions are selected by a calculator (4) from the road map data base device (1). The road data are calculated by the calculator (4) on the basis of the selected road map data to produce the animation in such a manner that the roads are three-dimensionally shown in the road drawings.
Inventors
- 👤 Hiroshi c/o Osaka Works of Sumitomo Shimoura
- 👤 Kenji c/o Osaka Works of Sumitomo Tenmoku
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 23:04
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C21/00; G01C21/26; G06; G06T; G06T15/00; G06T15/10; G08; G08G; G08G1/00; G08G1/09; G08G1/0962; G08G1/0968; G08G1/0969; G09; G09B; G09B29/00; G09B29/10; G09B29/106
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
196 words
A method of producing an animation having a series of road drawings to be watched from a driver's seat of a vehicle during a travel between two predetermined positions in a road map, the road drawings being formed on the basis of road data obtained through three-dimensional computer graphics, and the road data being indicative of roads shown in the animation, comprising the steps of: preparing travel route data providing means (3) for providing travel route data indicative of a travel route between the predetermined positions, and road map data storing means (1) for storing road map data including node data indicative of nodes formed by intersections, corners and ends of roads, link data indicative of links each connecting two of the nodes to define a road segment, and road width data indicative of the widths of the road segments; selecting from the road map data storing means (1) the road map data covering the travel route based on the provided travel route data; and calculating the road data on the basis of the selected road map data to produce the animation in such a manner that the roads are three-dimensionally shown in the road drawings.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the travel route data include travel speed data indicative of the travel speed of the vehicle in the animation, the method further comprising the step of determining the advance speed of the animation on the basis of the travel speed data.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
244 words
A method of producing an animation having a series of road drawings to be watched from a driver's seat of a vehicle during a travel between two predetermined positions in a road map, the road drawings being formed on the basis of road data and background data obtained through three-dimensional computer graphics, and the road data and the background data being indicative of roads and backgrounds, respectively, shown in the animation, comprising the steps of: preparing travel route data providing means (3) for providing travel route data indicative of a travel route between the predetermined positions, road map data storing means (1) for storing road map data including node data indicative of nodes formed by intersections, corners and ends of roads, link data indicative of links each connecting two of the nodes to define a road segment and road width data indicative of the widths of the road segments, and random number generating means (4) for generating random numbers; selecting from the road map data storing means (17) the road map data covering the travel route based on the travel route data; calculating the road data on the basis of the selected road map data to produce the animation in such a manner that the roads are three-dimensionally shown in the road drawings; and calculating the background data on the basis of the generated random numbers to produce the animation in such a manner that the backgrounds are three-dimensionally shown in the road drawings.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the travel route data include travel speed data indicative of the travel speed of the vehicle in the animation, the method further comprising the step of determining the advance speed of the animation on the basis of the travel speed data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the background drawing data include architecture data indicative of architectures, traffic light data indicative of traffic lights, road sign data indicative of road signs, guardrail data indicative of guardrails and, tree and shrub data indicative of trees and shrubs.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
239 words
An apparatus for producing an animation having a series of road drawings to be watched from a driver's seat of a vehicle during a travel from the current position of the vehicle to a destination, the road drawings being formed on the basis of road data and background data obtained through three-dimensional computer graphics, and the road data and the background data being indicative of roads and backgrounds, respectively, shown in the animation, comprising: vehicle position detecting means (15) for detecting the current position of the vehicle; optimum travel route data calculating means (15) for calculating optimum travel route data indicative of an optimum travel route between the current position of the vehicle and the destination; road map data storing means (D2) for storing road map data to be referred to during the travel on the optimum travel route; road map data selecting means (17) for selecting from the road map data storing means (D2) the road map data covering the optimum travel route; road data calculating means (17) for calculating the road data on the basis of the selected road map data to produce the animation in such a manner that the roads are three-dimensionally shown in the road drawings; background data calculating means (17) for calculating the background data to produce the animation in such a manner that the backgrounds are three-dimensionally shown in the road drawings; and animation displaying means (22) for displaying the produced animation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
130 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further comprising random number generating means (17) for generating random numbers, the background data being calculated by the background data calculating means (17) on the basis of the generated random numbers and including architecture data indicative of architectures, traffic light data indicative of traffic lights, road sign data indicative of road signs, guardrail data indicative of guardrails, and tree and shrub data indicative of trees and shrubs, wherein the road map data stored in the road map storing means (D2) include node data indicative of nodes formed by intersections, corners and ends of roads, link data indicative of links each connecting two of the nodes to define a road segment, and road width data indicative of the widths of the road segments.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
186 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further comprising: background element data storing means (D2) for storing background element data including architecture data indicative of architectures, traffic light data indicative of traffic lights, road sign data indicative of road signs, guardrail data indicative of guardrails, tree and shrub data indicative of trees and shrubs, and geographical feature data indicative of geographical features, the background element data covering the whole area defined by the road map data stored in the road map data storing means (D2); and background element data selecting means (D2) for selecting from background element data storing means (D2) background element data covering the optimum travel route, the background data being calculated by the background data calculating means (17) on the basis of the selected background element data, wherein the road map data stored in the road data storing means (D2) include node data indicative of nodes formed by intersections, corners and ends of roads, link data indicative of links each connecting two of the nodes to define a road segment, and road width data indicative of the widths of the road segments.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
72 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein the animation displaying means (22) opens a window on its own screen showing the animation and displays the optimum travel route, the current position of the vehicle, and the road map covering the current position of the vehicle in the window in such a manner that the optimum travel route and the current position of the vehicle are overlaid upon the road map.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
72 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein the animation displaying means (22) opens a window showing the animation on its own screen and displays the optimum travel route, the current position of the vehicle, and the road map covering the current position of the vehicle on the screen in such a manner that the optimum travel route and the current position of the vehicle are overlaid upon the road map.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
133 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the vehicle position detecting means (15), the animation displaying means (22) displays the animation while the vehicle travels from a first position approaching toward each of the intersections on the optimum travel route to a second position departing from the intersection, and displays the optimum travel route, the current position of the vehicle, and the road map covering the current position of the vehicle while the vehicle travels from the second position departing from one of the intersections on the optimum travel route to the first position approaching toward the next intersection in such a manner that the optimum travel route and the current position of the vehicle are overlaid upon the road map.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
47 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 to 10 or 11, further comprising advance direction indicating means (25) for phonetically indicating an advance direction of the vehicle at each of the intersections on the basis of the travel route data before the vehicle reaches the intersection.
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JPH026713A
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