METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANONYMIZING IMAGES OF RAILWAY LAND

FR3165734B1Active Publication Date: 2026-07-24SNCF VOYAGEURS
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
FR · FR
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
SNCF VOYAGEURS
Filing Date
2024-08-21
Publication Date
2026-07-24

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing video recording systems for railway vehicles face challenges in anonymizing captured images to protect privacy and personal data, as opaque frames do not conform to railway right-of-way geometries, potentially revealing private areas while obscuring essential track data.

Method used

An anonymization method using bounding boxes to define polygonal areas around catenary mast gantries, tracing masking polygons to anonymize private areas while retaining railway right-of-way data, employing machine learning for detection and classification.

Benefits of technology

Effectively anonymizes private areas while preserving all or almost all railway right-of-way data, minimizing resource and time costs, and adapting to different configurations in real or delayed time.

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Abstract

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANONYMIZING IMAGES OF RAILWAY RIGHTS OF WAY The invention relates to a method for anonymizing images of a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, the method comprising a step of receiving at least one image of the video stream, each image representing a scene of a railway right-of-way crossed by the railway vehicle, a step of detecting, on each received image, at least one catenary mast gantry arranged within the railway right-of-way, a step of creating, for each received image and from each catenary mast gantry detected on the received image, a bounding box defining a polygonal area globally surrounded by the catenary mast gantry, a step of drawing a masking polygon (70) for each received image, connecting at least one point of each bounding box and defining an anonymization zone on the image,a step of applying masking to the received image from the masking polygon (70) associated with said image. Figure for the abbreviation: figure 7,
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Description

Title of the invention: METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANONYMIZATION IMAGES OF RAILWAY LAND Technical field of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to a method for anonymizing images from a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, a computer program product, and an associated system. The invention relates in particular to the anonymization of images from the front of a railway vehicle, on which a railway right-of-way and elements located around the railway right-of-way are visible. Technological background

[0002] The need for audio and / or video data recording associated with the operation of a railway vehicle has increased in recent years, particularly to enable the monitoring of tracks and cabs, but also to provide data for investigations following incidents or accidents. One proposed system is the SEVAC (Cabin Audio Video Recording System), which allows for the recording of one, several, or all of the following data: - Voice interactions between the railway vehicle driver and railway infrastructure traffic management personnel, - voice interactions between the driver and passengers, - ambient sound in the driver's cab, - a video of the inside of the driver's cab - a video of the railway, in particular of the front of the railway in the direction of travel of the railway vehicle.

[0003] The railway track video can in particular be captured by a camera arranged at the front of the train, outside (for example on the nose of the railway vehicle or on the front windscreen of the driver's cab outside) and / or inside the driver's cab of the railway vehicle (on the front windscreen of the driver's cab inside, directed outwards).

[0004] The system is thus similar to a "black box", well known in the aeronautical field and to a lesser extent in the road transport field.

[0005] A major drawback of capturing video of the railway using such a system is the problem of anonymizing the processed data. In particular, capturing, storing, and recording images showing private areas or individuals can raise ethical and / or regulatory issues regarding the protection of privacy and personal data.

[0006] Solutions have therefore been sought to anonymize the captured videos in order to protect personal data. For example, one proposed solution is to place opaque frames on either side of the image, generally on the left and right sides, so as to retain only the central part of the image. However, these opaque frames do not conform to the geometries of the railway rights-of-way, and as a result, private areas may remain visible while areas of railway rights-of-way may be obscured.

[0007] The inventors sought to propose an alternative solution allowing a better definition of the anonymization zone in a way consistent with the classic geometries of railway rights-of-way and their representation on the captured images. Objectives of the invention

[0008] The invention thus aims to provide an anonymization method, an anonymization system and an anonymization computer program product which overcome at least some of the drawbacks of known methods.

[0009] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment of the invention, an anonymization method enabling the anonymization of all or almost all private areas on an image while retaining all or almost all of the areas corresponding to the railway right-of-way on the image.

[0010] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment of the invention, an anonymization method that can be executed in real time or in delayed time.

[0011] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment of the invention, an anonymization method adapted to different configurations of railway rights-of-way.

[0012] The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment of the invention, an anonymization method minimizing the resource and time cost of processing the images to be anonymized. Description of the invention

[0013] To this end, the invention relates to a method for anonymizing images from a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, the method comprising: - a stage of receiving at least one image from the video stream, each image representing a scene of a railway right-of-way crossed by the railway vehicle, - a detection step, on each received image, of at least one catenary mast gantry arranged within the railway right-of-way, - a creation step for each received image and from each catenary mast gantry detected on the received image, of a bounding box defining a polygonal area globally surrounded by the catenary mast gantry, - a step of tracing a masking polygon for each received image, connecting at least one point of each bounding box and defining an anonymization zone on the image, - a step of applying masking to the received image from the masking polygon associated with said image.

[0014] An anonymization method according to the invention thus allows the anonymization of an area of ​​the image while taking into account the reality of the railway right-of-way, in particular the presence of catenary mast gantries. In particular, the use of the masking polygon associated with bounding boxes representing the catenary mast gantries makes it possible to obtain a final anonymized image that retains almost all or all of the data of the image representing the railway right-of-way and anonymizes almost all or all of the data of the image representing the area outside the railway right-of-way, which may include private areas and individuals moving around the railway right-of-way.

[0015] A catenary mast "frame" is a generic term designating a generally roughly rectangular assembly consisting of one or more vertical posts fixed to the ground and one or more horizontal upper sections supporting the catenary. The frame is formed, for example: - a single pole associated with a horizontal upper section carrying the catenary, particularly on a single railway track, in which case the gantry simulates the presence of a second catenary pole arranged on the side of the track not equipped with a catenary pole to form a gantry surrounding the entire single railway track, - of two catenary masts associated with a common horizontal upper section carrying the catenary(ies), particularly on a double railway track, - of two catenary poles, each associated with a horizontal upper portion, each carrying a catenary, particularly on a double railway track.

[0016] Anonymization consists of removing data from the processed image through masking, which generally involves replacing the data of each anonymized pixel within the masking polygon with a neutral pixel containing no usable information, for example, replacing all anonymized pixels with a black pixel, a white pixel, a transparent pixel, etc. The anonymized image thus obtained It thus includes an area preserved with the pixels as originally present in the received image and representing the railway right-of-way, and an anonymized area filled with identical neutral pixels that no longer provide information on the elements visible in this area before processing.

[0017] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the masking polygon represents the masking area in which the pixels are made neutral.

[0018] According to another variant of the invention, the masking polygon can represent the area of ​​the image that is to be preserved, in which case the pixels made neutral in the masking application step are the pixels outside the masking polygon.

[0019] Advantageously and according to the invention, the masking polygon can also be used to create a binary mask, comprising a representative area of ​​the anonymization area and a representative area of ​​the area to be retained.

[0020] Advantageously and according to the invention, the method includes a step of classifying the bounding boxes according to each of their dimensions on the received image, and in that the tracing step connects at least one point of each bounding box according to said classification.

[0021] According to this aspect of the invention, the classification of the boxes simplifies the drawing of the masking polygon by connecting the points in the order of the presence of the catenary mast gantries. Indeed, a box representing a small catenary mast indicates the presence of a catenary mast gantry in the distance, and larger boxes indicate the presence of a catenary mast gantry increasingly closer to the railway vehicle.

[0022] Advantageously and according to the invention, the classification of the boxes is carried out from the dimensions and / or the area of ​​each encompassing box, and / or from characteristic data of the encompassing box (for example comparison of maximum heights, maximum widths, etc.).

[0023] Advantageously and according to the invention, each encompassing box is a quadrilateral representative of the catenary pole gantry.

[0024] According to this aspect of the invention, the use of a quadrilateral simplifies the number of points to be treated without impacting the consistency of the bounding box with respect to the general shape of a catenary pole frame, comprising overall one or two vertical portions, an upper horizontal portion carrying the catenary(ies) and the ground forming a lower horizontal portion.

[0025] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, each encompassing box is a rectangle.

[0026] Advantageously and according to the invention, the step of detecting at least one catenary mast gantry comprises: - a first sub-step of detecting the first catenary pole, - a first step of creating an initial encompassing sub-box defining a polygonal area generally surrounded by the first catenary mast, - a second sub-step for detecting a second catenary pole, - a second step of creating a second encompassing sub-box defining a polygonal area generally enclosed by the second catenary mast,

[0027] and in that the quadrilateral forming the bounding box is formed by combining two vertices of the first bounding sub-box and two vertices of the second bounding sub-box, so as to define an area surrounded by the catenary mast frame formed by the first catenary mast and the second catenary mast

[0028] According to this aspect of the invention, the method makes it possible to manage frames formed of two independent columns not connected by a common horizontal portion. The encompassing box is thus formed by a combination of vertices belonging to the encompassing sub-boxes, each associated with a catenary column.

[0029] Advantageously and according to the invention, the masking polygon comprises at least: - the four vertices of the encompassing box classified as having the smallest dimension, called the smallest box, - the lower right vertices and the lower left vertices of each encompassing box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, - the four vertices of the received image.

[0030] According to this aspect of the invention, the polygon thus formed makes it possible to follow lines naturally formed by the railway right-of-way as represented in the captured images. The small box encompasses the furthest portion of the box, and the lower right and lower left vertices make it possible to characterize the edges of the railway track as represented in the captured images.

[0031] Advantageously and according to the invention, the step of tracing the masking polygon comprises linking the following vertices successively, in this order or the reverse order, and from any starting point:

[0032] a) the lower left vertex of the smallest box,

[0033] b) the upper left vertex of the smaller box,

[0034] c) the upper right vertex of the smallest box,

[0035] d) the lower right vertex of the smallest box,

[0036] e) the lower right vertices of each bounding box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, in ascending order of the dimensions of the bounding boxes,

[0037] f) the lower right vertex of the received image,

[0038] g) the upper right vertex of the received image,

[0039] h) the upper left vertex of the received image,

[0040] i) the lower left vertex of the received image,

[0041] j) the lower left vertices of each bounding box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, in descending order of bounding boxes.

[0042] According to this aspect of the invention, the list of vertices forms the set of points of the masking polygon when they are connected to each other. The polygon is closed and the first vertex is connected to the last vertex.

[0043] The masking polygon may include vertices other than those stated in this list.

[0044] The term "successively" means that the vertices are connected in the order shown (a), b), c), d), e), ... j)) or the reverse order (j), i), h), g), f), e), .. .a)).

[0045] The term "from any starting point" means that the first vertex selected can be any one in the list, provided that all vertices are selected, in order or reverse order, for example: vertices a), b), c), d), ... j); vertices c), d), e), ... j), a), b); vertices j), i), h), ... b), a); vertices d), c), b), a), j), i) ..., f), e); etc.

[0046] Advantageously and according to the invention, the step of detecting at least one catenary pole gantry includes a substep of executing a machine learning model for detecting catenary poles and for detecting a gantry formed by one or more catenary poles, said learning model receiving as input each image received and providing as output information representative of the presence and location of a catenary pole and / or a gantry formed by one or more catenary poles, said learning model being pre-trained from a dataset comprising images representing one or more catenary poles and one or more gantries formed by one or more catenary poles.

[0047] According to this aspect of the invention, a pre-trained machine learning model can enable the detection of catenary pole gantries.

[0048] Advantageously and according to the invention, the learning model can also be trained to generate bounding boxes as output.

[0049] The invention also relates to a computer program product for anonymizing images of a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, said computer program product comprising program code instructions for executing, when said computer program product is executed on a computer, the steps of an anonymization process according to the invention.

[0050] The invention also relates to an image anonymization system for a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, comprising an image processing unit for the video stream including: - a module for receiving at least one image from the video stream, each image representing a scene of a railway right-of-way crossed by the railway vehicle, - a detection module, for each image received, of at least one catenary mast gantry arranged within the railway right-of-way, - a creation module for each received image and from each catenary mast gantry detected in the received image, of a bounding box defining a polygonal area globally surrounded by the catenary mast gantry, - a module for tracing a masking polygon for each received image, connecting at least one point of each bounding box and defining an anonymization zone on the image, - a module for applying masking to the received image from the masking polygon associated with said image.

[0051] Advantageously, the anonymization system according to the invention is configured to implement the anonymization process according to the invention.

[0052] Advantageously and according to the invention, the anonymization process according to the invention is configured to be implemented by an anonymization system according to the invention.

[0053] In particular, each step of the anonymization process can be implemented by an associated module of the anonymization system.

[0054] Throughout this text, the term "module" refers to a software element, a subset of a software program that can be compiled separately, either for independent use or for assembly with other program modules, or a hardware element, or a combination of a hardware element and a software subprogram. Such a hardware element may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a specialized microprocessor circuit. DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or any equivalent equipment or any combination thereof. Generally speaking, a module is therefore an element (software and / or hardware) that enables a function to be performed.

[0055] p of video stream acquisition, said camera being arranged at the front of a railway vehicle, so as to acquire images of the railway right-of-way located at the front of the railway vehicle in its direction of travel during normal operation

[0056] Advantageously and according to the invention, the processing unit system is mounted on a railway vehicle.

[0057] According to another variant of the invention, the system is an external processing unit to the railway vehicle, for example on a video stream reading unit.

[0058] The invention also relates to an anonymization method, an anonymization computer program product, and an anonymization system characterized in combination by all or part of the features mentioned above or below. List of figures

[0059] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, given by way of non-limiting example only, and which refers to the accompanying figures in which:

[0060] [Fig-1] is a schematic view of a railway vehicle equipped with a system anonymization according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0061] [Fig.2] is a schematic view of an anonymization process according to one embodiment of the invention,

[0062] [Fig.3] is a schematic view of a first image as received by an anonymization process according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0063] [Fig.4] is a schematic view of the first image as anonymized by a prior art process,

[0064] [Fig.5] is a schematic view of the first image as processed by a method according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0065] [Fig.6] is a schematic view of the bounding boxes and a masking polygon obtained by a process according to an embodiment of the invention from the first image,

[0066] [Fig.7] is a schematic view of the first image as anonymized by a process according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0067] [Fig.8] is a schematic view of a second image as processed by a method according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0068] [Fig.9] is a schematic view of the second image as anonymized by a process according to an embodiment of the invention

[0069] [Fig. 10] is a schematic view of a third image as processed by a method according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0070] [Fig. 11] is a schematic view of a fourth image as processed by a method according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0071] [Fig. 12] is a schematic view of a fifth image as processed by a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0072] Detailed description of embodiments of the invention

[0073] In the figures, the scales and proportions are not strictly respected and This is for illustrative and clarity purposes. Furthermore, identical, similar, or analogous elements are designated by the same reference numerals in all figures.

[0074] Fig. 1 schematically represents a railway vehicle 10 equipped with an anonymization system 12 according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0075] The railway vehicle 10 includes, in particular, a power car comprising a driver's cab at the front covered by a windshield 14. A nose 16 at the front of the railway vehicle includes a video acquisition camera 18 for acquiring images of the railway right-of-way located in front of the railway vehicle in its direction of travel during normal operation. If the vehicle can travel in both directions during normal operation, a camera is present at each end. The camera can also be arranged at the windshield 14, outside or inside the cab. The positioning of the camera depends on the structural, environmental, and regulatory constraints to which the railway vehicle is subject. The camera 18 is positioned to film longitudinally an area beginning a few meters in front of the nose 16 of the train.The 18 camera is adapted to the dynamics of the scene being filmed, particularly by its ability to compensate for sudden changes in brightness (when entering / exiting a tunnel, for example) and to capture images at high speed (adapted frame rate per second).

[0076] The camera transmits all or part of the video stream to a processing unit 20, comprising modules for implementing an anonymization process described below. The processing unit can also receive, process, and transmit data from and to complementary equipment 22, such as microphones, indoor cameras, communication devices, etc.

[0077] According to another embodiment not shown, the railway vehicle's processing unit stores only the video stream data and the anonymization process is implemented in an external processing unit, for example in a control or investigation center.

[0078] The processing unit integrated into the railway vehicle can be, for example, depending on the embodiment implemented and the computing power required, a conventional railway computer, a nano-computer or mini-computer of the Raspberry Pi type, a programmable electronic card of the FPGA or ASIC type, etc.

[0079] [Fig.3] schematically represents a first image 50 as received by an anonymization process according to an embodiment of the invention, and as captured by an acquisition camera of an anonymization system according to an embodiment of the invention, for example that of [Fig.1].

[0080] Image 50, captured from the front of the railway vehicle during its movement, represents a railway right-of-way comprising at least one first railway track 52a on which the railway vehicle travels, and here a second railway track 52b for railway vehicles generally traveling in the opposite direction. Image 50 also shows two catenary masts 54a, 54b forming a catenary mast gantry, each supporting a catenary cable 58a, 58b. The catenary cables are symbolized by a single line for clarity, without taking into account a carrier or conductor cable such as those present on a conventional railway catenary line.

[0081] Image 50 also represents private areas, here symbolized by houses 60, and individuals 62. The objective of anonymization is to remove the data from the captured image representing these private areas and these individuals for reasons of confidentiality.

[0082] Fig. 4 schematically represents the first image 50a as anonymized by a prior art process.

[0083] By applying only black frames 64 to the edge of the image, around the railway tracks, part of the railway track 52b is no longer visible and an individual 62 moving outside the railway right-of-way delimited by the tracks remains visible.

[0084] Fig. 2 schematically represents a method for anonymizing images from a video stream captured from a railway vehicle.

[0085] The anonymization process then includes a step 110 of receiving at least one image from the video stream, each image representing a scene of a railway right-of-way crossed by the railway vehicle. Among the images in the video stream captured by the camera, the process may process all or part of the images, for example at a predetermined frequency (one image out of two, one image out of ten, for example) to limit the amount of data to be processed.

[0086] The anonymization process then includes a step 112 of detecting, on each received image, at least one catenary mast gantry arranged within the railway right-of-way. A gantry generically refers to a substantially rectangular structure through which the railway vehicle passes during its movement. As can be seen in Figures 3 and 5 to 12, described in more detail below, the gantry is formed by one catenary mast on one side of the railway track or by two catenary masts, each on one side of the track, possibly connected by a common horizontal bar. Catenary poles support the catenary cables and the carrier cables, and are distributed along the railway track.

[0087] The anonymization process also includes a step 114 of creating, for each image received and from each catenary pole gantry detected on the received image, a bounding box defining a polygonal area globally surrounded by the catenary pole gantry.

[0088] The gantries are detected by a pattern recognition algorithm, for example an algorithm implementing a machine learning model, the architecture of which is specific or already used in the prior art for other applications and trained for this specific application, such as a Yolov8, Yolov5, Detection Transformer (DETR) type model, etc.

[0089] More generally, the machine learning model enables the detection of catenary poles and the detection of a gantry formed by one or more catenary poles, said learning model receiving as input each image received and providing as output information representative of the presence and location of a catenary pole and / or a gantry formed by one or more catenary poles, said learning model being pre-trained from a dataset comprising images representing one or more catenary poles and one or more gantries formed by one or more catenary poles.

[0090] The learning model is trained to detect the frames and / or determine the bounding boxes applied to the image from the frames.

[0091] The detection of the gates can also be implemented by a semantic segmentation algorithm.

[0092] The bounding boxes are preferably quadrilaterals, for example rectangles, whose four vertices best represent the general shape of the catenary pole frames.

[0093] Figures 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 schematically represent respectively the first image 50b, a second image 250, a third image 350, a fourth image 450 and a fifth image 550 as processed by a method according to an embodiment of the invention, in particular following said bounding box detection step.

[0094] Figure 5 represents bounding boxes applied to the frames formed by the independent catenary masts on either side of the railway track. Three bounding boxes are created: a first bounding box 156a relating to a first frame, a second bounding box 156b relating to a second frame, and a third bounding box 156c relating to a third frame.

[0095] Figure 8 represents encompassing boxes applied to the gantries formed by the independent catenary masts on either side of the railway track. Second image 250. Three bounding boxes are created: a first bounding box 256a relating to a first gantry, a second bounding box 256b relating to a second gantry, and a third bounding box 256c relating to a third gantry. This second image represents double railway tracks, and the railway tracks 252a and 252b are curved in this section.

[0096] Figure 10 represents bounding boxes applied to the frames formed by the independent catenary masts on either side of the railway track in the third image 350. According to this particular embodiment, the bounding boxes are formed of sub-boxes, each sub-box being associated with a catenary mast of the catenary mast frame, and the bounding box associated with the catenary mast frame is composed of two vertices of each bounding sub-box, in particular the two left vertices of the leftmost sub-box and the two right vertices of the rightmost sub-box. The third image 350 thus processed comprises a first box formed of two sub-boxes.

[0097] Fig. 11 represents bounding boxes applied to the frames formed by the catenary poles on either side of the railway track and connected to each other by a horizontal bar, of the fourth image 450. Three bounding boxes are created, a first bounding box 456a relating to a first frame, a second bounding box 456b relating to a second frame and a third bounding box 456c relating to a third frame.

[0098] Fig. 12 represents bounding boxes applied to the gantries each formed by a single catenary post 554a, 554b, 554c of a single railway track comprising a single traffic track 552, of the fifth image 450. Three bounding boxes are created, a first bounding box 556a relating to a first gantry, a second bounding box 556b relating to a second gantry and a third bounding box 556c relating to a third gantry. To form the gantries, the process takes into account each catenary 554a, 554b, 554c pole, each associated respectively with a simulated 555a, 555b, 555c pole, the 555a, 555b, 555c poles being considered as arranged on the other side of the 552 traffic track, so as to form a complete gantry surrounding the single railway track.

[0099] The anonymization process then includes a step 116 of classifying the bounding boxes according to each of their dimensions in the received image. The classification is carried out, for example, by calculating the Faire of each frame from the coordinates of the boxes in the image. The classification can be done in ascending or descending order depending on the embodiment implemented.

[0100] The anonymization process then includes a step 118 of tracing a masking polygon for each received image, connecting at least one point of each bounding box and defining an anonymization zone on the image. The step of tracing connects at least one point of each bounding box according to the classification of the bounding boxes.

[0101] Preferably, the masking polygon comprises at least: - the four vertices of the encompassing box classified as having the smallest dimension, called the smallest box, - the lower right vertices and the lower left vertices of each encompassing box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, - the four vertices of the received image.

[0102] Preferably, and as can be seen in [Fig.6] schematically representing the bounding boxes 156a, 156b, 156c and a masking polygon ABCDE1E2FGHIJ1J2 obtained by a process according to an embodiment of the invention from the first image, the step of tracing the masking polygon comprises linking the following vertices, successively, in this order or the reverse order, and from any starting point: - the lower left apex A of the smallest box 156c, - the upper left vertex B of the smallest box 156c, - the upper right vertex C of the smallest box 156c, - the lower right vertex D of the smallest box 156c, - the lower right vertices El and E2 of each encompassing box 156a, 156b classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box 156c, according to the increasing order of dimensions of the encompassing boxes, - the lower right vertex F of the first image 50b, - the upper right vertex G in the first image 50b, - the upper left vertex H in the first image 50b, - the lower left vertex I in the first image 50b, - the lower left vertices J1, J2 of each box 156a, 156b encompassing box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box 156c, according to the descending order of encompassing boxes.

[0103] The anonymization process then includes a step 120 of applying masking to the received image from the masking polygon associated with said image. The masking is applied, for example, by filling the pixels with a single color, for example with black pixels or white pixels.

[0104] Figure 7 schematically represents the first image 50c as anonymized by a process according to an embodiment of the invention. The anonymized area delimited by the masking polygon 70 is completely black and no private area or individual is visible, and almost all or even all of the railway right-of-way is visible, in particular railway tracks 52a and 52b.

[0105] Figure 9 schematically represents the second image 250c as anonymized by a process according to an embodiment of the invention. The anonymization thus also works with a curved section of track, the masking polygon 270 advantageously following the curvatures of the railway tracks 252a, 252b.

Claims

Demands

1. A method for anonymizing images from a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, the method comprising: - a step (110) of receiving at least one image from the video stream, each image representing a scene of a railway right-of-way crossed by the railway vehicle, - a step (112) of detecting, on each received image, at least one catenary mast gantry arranged within the railway right-of-way, - a step (114) of creating, for each received image and from each catenary mast gantry detected on the received image, a bounding box defining a polygonal area globally enclosed by the catenary mast gantry, - a step (118) of drawing a masking polygon for each received image, connecting at least one point of each bounding box and defining an anonymization zone on the image,- a step (120) of applying masking to the received image from the masking polygon associated with said image.

2. An anonymization method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a step (116) of classifying the bounding boxes according to each of their dimensions on the received image, and in that the tracing step (118) connects at least one point of each bounding box according to said classification.

3. An anonymization method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that each encompassing box is a quadrilateral representative of the catenary pole gantry.

4. An anonymization method according to claim 3, characterized in that the step (112) of detecting at least one catenary pole gantry comprises: - a first substep of detecting a first catenary pole, - a first step of creating an initial encompassing sub-box defining a polygonal area generally surrounded by the first catenary mast, - a second sub-step for detecting a second catenary pole, - a second step of creating a second encompassing sub-box defining a polygonal area generally surrounded by the second catenary mast, and in that the quadrilateral forming the bounding box is formed by combining two vertices of the first subbounding box and two vertices of the second encompassing sub-box, so as to define an area surrounded by the catenary pole frame formed by the first catenary pole and the second catenary pole.

5. An anonymization method according to a combination of claim 2 and any one of claims 3 to 4, characterized in that the masking polygon comprises at least: - the four vertices of the encompassing box classified as having the smallest dimension, called the smallest box, - the lower right vertices and the lower left vertices of each encompassing box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, - the four vertices of the received image.

6. An anonymization method according to claim 5, characterized in that step (118) of tracing the masking polygon comprises linking the following vertices, successively, in this order or the reverse order, and from any starting point: a. the lower left vertex of the smaller box, b. the upper left vertex of the smaller box, c. the upper right corner of the smallest box, d. the bottom right vertex of the smallest box, e. the bottom right vertices of each encompassing box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, in ascending order of the dimensions of the encompassing boxes, f. the lower right vertex of the received image, g. the upper right corner of the received image, h. the upper left vertex of the received image, i. the lower left vertex of the received image, j. the lower left vertices of each bounding box classified as having dimensions greater than the smallest box, in descending order of bounding boxes.

7. An anonymization method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the step (112) of detecting at least one catenary pole gantry comprises a substep of executing a machine learning model for detecting catenary poles and for detecting a gantry formed by one or more catenary poles, said learning model receiving as input each image received and providing as output information representative of the presence and location of a catenary pole and / or a gantry formed by one or more catenary poles, said learning model being pre-trained from a dataset comprising images representing one or more catenary poles and one or more gantries formed by one or more catenary poles.

8. Product computer program for anonymizing images of a video stream captured from a railway vehicle, said product computer program comprising program code instructions for executing, when said product computer program is executed on a computer, steps of an anonymization method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. An image anonymization system for a video stream captured from a railway vehicle (10), comprising a video stream image processing unit (20) including: - a module for receiving at least one image of the video stream, each image representing a scene of a railway right-of-way crossed by the railway vehicle, - a module for detecting, on each received image, at least one catenary mast gantry arranged within the railway right-of-way, - a module for creating, for each received image and from each catenary mast gantry detected on the received image, a bounding box defining an area - a polygon globally surrounded by the catenary pole gantry, - a module for tracing a masking polygon for each received image, connecting at least one point of each bounding box and defining an anonymization zone on the image, - a module for applying masking to the received image from the masking polygon associated with said image.

10. An anonymization system according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a video stream acquisition camera (18), said camera (18) being arranged at the front of a railway vehicle, so as to acquire images of the railway right-of-way located at the front of the railway vehicle (10) in its direction of travel in normal operation.

11. An anonymization system according to any one of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that the processing unit (20) is mounted on a railway vehicle (10).