Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Other

Seiichi Ishizaka, President of Kogyo Gijutsuin

Yukinobu Nakamura

Akira Iihoshi

Tsuneo Takahashi

Katsutoshi Tagami

Yoshiyuki Matsumoto

Shinichiro Yasui

Tomoyuki Nishio

Junichi Shimada

Yoshinobu Mitsuhashi

Kenjiro Sakurai

Akira Ichikawa

Kunitaka Sakai

Toru Atsumi

Tsuneo Nakajima

Disclosed is a travel path displaying apparatus for indicating the current position of an automobile running on a selected road in a road map appearing on an associated screen. A cumulation of errors in estimating sequential current positions will cause an incorrect indication of the automobile's position on the screen and the automobile will depart from all the roads appearing on the screen. In order to find the correct road on which the automobile is traveling it is necessary to carry out pattern matching between the travel trace and each of a number of selected roads, thereby determining which road is closest to the travel trace in shape. The apparatus permits selection of the least possible number of roads for pattern matching, thus permitting quick determination as to the road on which the automobile is traveling and as to the direction in which it is traveling.

Apparatus for displaying travel path

An apparatus for displaying a travel path of a running body, such as a vehicle in which a constantly changing location of the running body is successively computed and the current location of said running body is displayed successively, in accordance with the data thus computed, on a display screen having a map previously displayed thereon, which comprises means for dividing patterns of roads on said map and the path of travel of the running body into line segments to effect pattern recognition according to the polygonal approximation and means for producing a display of the travel path in accordance with the line segments of the road to which the matching of the pattern recognition has been attained.

There is disclosed an apparatus for displaying a current location of a running body in which a constantly changing location of the running body on a two-dimensional coordinates is successively computed, while detecting a running distance of the running body and a running direction of the same, and the current location of said running body is displayed renewally, in accordance with the data thus computed, on a display screen having a map previously displayed thereon. The apparatus comprises means for extracting a linear running portion from current location of the running body obtained by storing data of the current location, means for extracting a linear road portion from adjoining roads on the map which corresponds to the linear running portion extracted from the current location means for effecting matching between the extracted linear running portion and linear road portion, depending on their positional relationship and means for putting the current location, onto the road to which the matching has been effected.

Apparatus for displaying current location

There is disclosed an apparatus for displaying a travel path of a running body in which a constantly changing location of the running body on a two-dimensional coordinates is successively computed and the current location of said running body is displayed successively, in accordance with the data thus computed, on a display screen having a map previously displayed thereon. According to this apparatus, longitude and latitude values of a reference point in a mesh consisting of lines of longitude and latitude in each map of divided areas are registered as known factors and the current location of the running body on the two-dimensional coordinates thus computed is converted to a location on longitude-latitude coordinates, whereby the current location on the map is calculated from the known longitude and latitude values of the reference point displayed on the display screen.

An apparatus for displaying a travel path of a running body which apparatus includes sensors and a central processing unit (a) for calculating a distance of approach of the running body relative to a target to produce data concerning the approach, (b) for comparing the old and new data and thus successively, renewing the data concerning the approach, thereby obtaining a closest distance of the running body relative to the target, and (c) for deciding that the running body has passed the target when said closest distance is within a predetermined range.

An apparatus for displaying a travel path of a running body in which a direction detector includes a geomagnetism sensor as well as a rate-type sensor, such as a gyroscope or gas rate sensor (which includes a flow sensor for detecting a degree of displacement of a gas flow produced by an angular velocity applied thereto) for detecting an angular volocity of change of yawing direction of the moving body, in which a difference in angle between directions detected by the rate-type sensor and the geomagnetism sensor is found and temporarily stored when a power source is temporarily turned OFF during operation of the running path displaying apparatus, and then a declination of the direction detected by the geomagnetism sensor is corrected, depending upon the stored difference in angle, when the power source is turned ON again.

A current location indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle which comprises a current travel distance detection unit adapted to detect a current cumulated travel distance of the automotive vehicle, a bearing detection unit adapted to detect a current bearing or heading of the vehicle following the current travel distance of the vehicle, a signal processing unit adapted to obtain a current locational point in terms of two-dimensional coordinates of the moving vehicle in accordance with the outputs from the detection unit and control the entire system, a path of travel store unit adapted to sequentially store the locational data in terms of the two-dimensional coordinates varying from time to time which are obtained from the signal processing unit and hold the contents thereof as current continuous locational information on the moving vehicle, a map or geographic image information store medium unit adapted to preliminarily store the map information prepared pixel by pixel in the raster mode, a store medium regeneration unit adapted to read out the required map information from the store medium unit, a display unit adapted to visually indicate a map or geographic image in accordance with the current read-out map information and display with a marking showing the state of travel of the vehicle on the same display screen in accordance with the locational data stored in the path of travel store unit, and a manual operating unit adapted to selectively specify an area map desired to be shown on the display screen of the display means and properly initialize the marking of indication on the display.

Current location indication apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle

A current location indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle wherein a current location of the vehicle is arithmetically obtained in terms of two-dimensional coordinates by a signal processing unit on the basis of the outputs from a travel distance detecting unit and a bearing detecting unit, and the current location of the vehicle is visually indicated on the screen of a display unit from the thus-obtained data in connection with the current location of the vehicle. The apparatus comprises a first bearing detecting unit comprising a rate type gyroscope as a main unit, and a second detecting unit comprising an earth magnetism sensor. The signal processing unit is adapted to monitor the outputs from the first and second bearing detecting means in comparison with each other to determine whether or not the first bearing detecting unit is under the influence of any disturbances, whereby the output of the first bearing detecting unit can be corrected so as to be free from any substantial disturbances during operation.

Apparatus for visually indicating the current location of an automotive

A current location indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle wherein a current location of the automotive vehicle is arithmetically obtained in terms of two-dimensional coordinates by a signal processing unit on the basis of the outputs from a travel distance detecting unit and a bearing detecting unit, and the current location of the vehicle is visually indicated on the screen of a display from the thus-obtained data in connection with the current location thereof. The apparatus comprises, in operative combination, a first bearing detecting unit employing an earth magnetism sensor as a primary component, a second auxiliary detecting unit employing a rate type gyroscope or the like, and a signal processing unit adapted to monitor the output from the first bearing detecting unit in comparison with the operating state of the second auxiliary bearing detecting unit to determine whether or not the earth magnetism sensor of the first bearing detecting unit is under the influence of any external disturbances for a short period so that the output of the first bearing detecting means can be corrected accordingly.

A current location indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle wherein a current location of the automotive vehicle is arithmetically obtained in terms of two-dimensional coordinates by a signal processing unit on the basis of the output from a distance detecting unit and the output from a bearing detecting unit, and the current location of the vehicle is visually indicated on the screen of a display from the thus-obtained data in connection with the current location thereof. The apparatus comprises, in operative combination, two different types of bearing detecting units, one being of a rate gyroscope type and the other being of an earth magnetism sensor type, and a bearing signal switching unit providing a selective switching function of the outputs from the two types of bearing detecting units.

A semiconductor ring laser apparatus is provided which comprises a semiconductor laser element having electrical terminals and optical terminals. An electrical power supply means is coupled to the electrical terminals for applying a voltage thereto and optical means are optically coupled to the optical terminals of the semiconductor laser element. The optical means form resonant ring optical paths in clockwise and counterclockwise directions for the light which is emitted by the semiconductor. Detector means are provided which are coupled to said electrical terminals for detecting voltage variations thereon caused by the rotation of the apparatus.

Laser angular speed detector employing non-optical output

A semiconductor ring laser apparatus is provided which comprises a semiconductor laser element having a waveguide region therein and parallel cleavage planes formed between the waveguide region and the medium adjacent thereto. The waveguide region is inclined at a Brewster angle with respect to the normal to the cleavage planes in relation to the medium of the waveguide region and the adjacent medium, and optical means which have a ring-formed optical path are optically coupled to the waveguide region for receiving light therefrom through one of the cleavage planes. These optical means return at least a portion of the light from one of the cleavage planes to the other of the cleavage planes, with the semiconductor laser element and the optical means thereby forming a ring laser oscillator.

Semiconductor ring laser apparatus

An automatic temperature control system for a vehicle air conditioner including a cool air supply mechanism having an air flow control device, an air flow dividing device for dividing a cool air flow supplied from the cool air supply mechanism into a primary flow and a secondary flow, a heat source for heating the primary flow, and a mixing mechanism for mixing the primary flow as warmed past the heat source, and the secondary air which remains cool, with each other. The control system comprises a first circuit for sensing for output as a first signal an air temperature within the interior of a vehicle, a second circuit for sensing for output as a second signal an air temperature outside the vehicle interior, a third circuit for providing a third signal corresponding to a preset temperature, a fourth circuit interlocked with the flow dividing device so as to output as a fourth signal the flow-dividing ratio thereof, a fifth circuit for providing a fifth signal upon a comparison of the first signal with the third signal, a sixth circuit for providing a sixth signal upon a comparison of the second signal with the third signal, and a seventh circuit for providing a seventh signal to determine the mixing ratio of the primary flow and the secondary flow upon a comparison among the fourth, fifth and sixth signals, the air flow control device being controlled by the fifth signal, and the air flow dividing device being controlled by the seventh signal. The automatic temperature control system is of low noise and adequately counteracts temperature changes within the vehicle interior.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Yukinobu Nakamura