How car navigation systems have been put into practical use

- Development management and commercialization process -

Abstract

Japanese manufacturers have played key roles in developing practical vehicle navigation systems (hereinafter “NAVS”). The NAVS have spread throughout the world and have become extremely useful. The market size in Japan alone is considered to exceed 5 hundred billion yen a year. This system could not have been achieved without the development of a scheme to create a nationwide digital road map, subsequent map creation, methodology to provide traffic information to vehicles, GPS development and its utilization in the United States. Much effort has been directed toward laying down infrastructure comprising these factors. Furthermore, it has been also necessary to develop the required software and hardware for the NAVS including location detection techniques such as map-matching, gyro sensors, displays, memory and microprocessors. The NAVS are presently evolving as onboard information communication systems. This report describes their development and commercialization, which started even before the requisites for the NAVS developed fully, from a development management perspective.