Information processing device, mobile system, and information processing method

Abstract

To create map data with sufficient accuracy with low load work.SOLUTION: An information processing device 101 has acquisition means 301, 302 that acquire first map data indicating the shape of the environment in which a sensor 103 moves and measurement conditions when the sensor performs measurements in the environment, and determination means 303 that determines a measurement position, which is the position of the sensor that performs measurements in order to create second map data using sensor information obtained by measurement, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for estimating the position and orientation of a sensor that moves using an electronic map.

Background Art

[0002] For the control of an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), which is an unmanned transport vehicle used in factories, logistics warehouses, etc., and the estimation of the position and orientation of an HMD (Head Mounted Display) used in VR (Virtual Reality), etc., a SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technique that uses a LiDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) or a camera as a sensor is used. In Patent Document 1, In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses a method for determining the measurement position of a sensor for creating electronic map data used in these techniques. In this method, a user wearing an HMD is guided so that a camera mounted on the HMD passes through a plurality of predetermined positions within the shooting range in a comprehensive manner.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, if the number of passing positions is small, the accuracy of the created map data tends to be insufficient, and if the number of passing positions is large, the work load of the user tends to be high.

[0005] The present invention provides an information processing apparatus and the like that can create map data with sufficient accuracy in a low-load operation.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] An information processing apparatus (information processing method) as one aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition means (step) for acquiring first map data indicating the shape of the environment in which the sensor moves and measurement conditions when the sensor performs measurement in the environment, and a determination means (step) for determining a measurement position, which is the position of the sensor for performing measurement to create second map data using the sensor information obtained by the measurement, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions. Note that an information processing system including the information processing apparatus and the sensor, and a mobile system in which the information processing system is mounted on a mobile body also constitute other aspects of the present invention. Further, a program for causing a computer to execute processing according to the information processing method also constitutes another aspect of the present invention.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to determine a measurement position for creating map data with sufficient accuracy in a low-load operation.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 10

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment

[0010] The information processing apparatus of this embodiment acquires first map data indicating the shape of the environment and the measurement conditions of sensors used for creating second map data, and based on these, determines a set of positions and postures of sensors suitable for creating the second map data. In the following description, the position and posture of the sensor are collectively referred to as "position and posture", and the measurement position and measurement posture, which are the position and posture of the sensor for performing measurement to create the second map data, are collectively referred to as "measurement position and posture".

[0011] (Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus) FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the information processing apparatus 101. The information processing apparatus 101 is a general personal computer and has a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, a storage unit 114 such as an HDD or an SSD, a communication unit 115, a display unit (display means) 116, and a system bus 117. The information processing apparatus 101 can communicate with the mobile body 102 equipped with the sensor 103 through the communication unit 115.

[0012] The CPU 111 uses the RAM 113 as a work memory, executes an operating system (OS) and various programs stored in the ROM 112 and the storage unit 114, etc., and controls each unit via the system bus 117. The programs executed by the CPU 111 include programs for executing the processes described later.

[0013] (Mobile Body) The mobile body 102 is an unmanned vehicle that can be remotely operated and moves on a floor surface which is a horizontal plane. The movement includes straight-ahead movement and turning. Also, the mobile body 102 is equipped with, as sensors 103, a 2D-LiDAR (ranging device: first sensor) capable of full-circle scanning of the horizontal plane and a stereo camera (imaging device: second sensor) attached in the forward-facing direction (the direction with an elevation angle of 0 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane). These sensors 103 are fixed on the mobile body 102, and the relative positional relationship and relative attitude relationship between the logical center position of the mobile body and each sensor are known.

[0014] (Usage scenario) Figure 2 shows an example of the environment in which the mobile body 102 moves. The mobile body 102 acquires surrounding information by the sensors 103 while moving within the environment 201. The information processing device 101 performs measurement of the position and orientation of the sensors 103 and creation of the first and second map data described later from the information acquired by the sensors. The created first and second map data are stored in the storage unit 114 on the information processing device 101 through the communication unit 115.

[0015] Within the environment 201, there are a wall surface 202 and installations 203 as objects having visual features. The shapes of these objects are shown in the first map data. Also, the visual features of these objects are utilized as feature points in the environment 201 included in the second map data. The user 204 operates the information processing device 101 and the mobile body 102.

[0016] (First map data) The first map data is map data showing the shape of the environment 201 pre-measured (scanned) by the 2D-LiDAR provided in the mobile body 102. In the first map data, the shapes of the objects (wall surface 202 and installations 203) on the horizontal plane where the 2D-LiDAR can perform full-circle scanning, that is, the positions of the surfaces of the objects are recorded.

[0017] Also, by comparing the subsequent scan results of the 2D-LiDAR with the first map data, it is possible to measure the position and orientation of the 2D-LiDAR during scanning (information acquisition) when generating the first map data (see Example 2).

[0018] The first map data is stored in the storage unit 114 after being created.

[0019] (Second map data) The second map data is map data created by a known Visual SLAM technique such as ORB-SLAM based on a captured image acquired by a stereo camera provided in the moving body 102. The second map data records the three-dimensional positions of the visual features on the surfaces of the objects in the environment 201.

[0020] Also, by comparing the subsequent captured image acquired by the stereo camera with the second map data, it is possible to measure the position and orientation of the stereo camera during image capture (information acquisition) when generating the second map data (see Example 2).

[0021] (Logical configuration of the information processing device) Hereinafter, the logical configuration of the information processing device 101 will be described. The following processes are implemented by the CPU 111 executing a program (software) read from the ROM 112 or the like onto the RAM 113. FIG. 3 shows the logical configuration within the information processing device 101 (CPU 111).

[0022] The first map data acquisition unit (map acquisition means) 301 acquires the first map data stored in the storage unit 114 in advance. The measurement condition acquisition unit (condition acquisition means) 302 acquires various conditions for measurement by the sensor 103 for creating the second map data (hereinafter referred to as measurement conditions). The measurement conditions include the characteristics of the sensor 103 provided in the moving body 102 (here, the horizontal shooting angle as the measurement range of the stereo camera), and the overlap amount of the horizontal shooting angles between the shooting images acquired by the stereo camera (hereinafter referred to as the overlap angle). The measurement conditions may also include the minimum shooting distance (minimum measurement distance), which is the limit value of the distance to the object when performing measurement (shooting), and the direction of measurement for each region in the environment 201.

[0023] The measurement position and orientation determination unit (determination means) 303 determines one or more measurement positions and orientations of the sensor 103 when performing measurement for creating the second map data based on the first map data and the measurement conditions.

[0024] (Information processing) Next, the information processing (information processing method) performed by the CPU 111 in the information processing apparatus 101 will be described. The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows the steps included in the information processing. The information processing is started by the user designating the first map data and the measurement conditions for creating the second map data and then instructing the start of the information processing.

[0025] In step S401, the CPU 111 causes the first map data acquisition unit 301 to acquire the first map data from the storage unit 114. Specifically, the first map data created by measuring the environment 201 with a 2D-LiDAR and stored in the storage unit 114 is read out from the storage unit 114.

[0026] FIG. 6 shows the first map data. The first map data has an xy coordinate system with a specific position (point) in the environment 201 as the origin O, the right direction in the figure as the positive x-axis direction, and the upward direction as the positive y-axis direction. The CPU 111 acquires the surface positions of the objects (wall surface 202 and installation object 203) in the environment 201 and the movable area of the moving body 102 from the first map data. The white area in FIG. 6 indicates the movable area of the moving body 102, and the gray area indicates the non-movable area due to the presence of the object.

[0027] Next, in step S402, the CPU 111 causes the measurement condition acquisition unit 302 to acquire the measurement conditions for creating the second map data. Here, it is assumed that among the measurement conditions, the horizontal shooting angle of the stereo camera (hereinafter referred to as the horizontal angle) is 120 degrees, the minimum shooting distance is 1 m, and the overlap angle between the shooting images is 30 degrees of the horizontal angle.

[0028] Next, in step S403, the CPU 111 causes the measurement position and attitude determination unit 303 to determine one or more measurement positions and attitudes of the sensor 103 for creating the second map data based on the first map data acquired in step S401 and the measurement conditions acquired in step S402. Then, this information processing ends. The details of the processing in step S403 will be described below.

[0029] The CPU 111 creates the second map data by using the captured images generated by the stereo camera shooting at the measurement positions and attitudes thus determined.

[0030] (Measurement Position and Attitude Determination Process) The flowchart of FIG. 5 shows the process steps for determining the measurement position and attitude in step S403.

[0031] In step S501, the CPU 111 determines, for the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303, a set of a plurality of measurement positions (which will be described later) for creating the second map data and the measurement orientation (direction) of the sensor 103 when measuring at each of the measurement positions. Specifically, the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 derives the number of measurement orientations necessary for two captured images obtained at two measurement positions adjacent to each other in the turning direction of the moving body 102 to satisfy the overlap angle, based on the horizontal field angle and the overlap angle acquired in step S402.

[0032] Next, the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 determines a set of measurement orientations such that the angles between the measurement orientations are equal with reference to the positive x-axis direction. Since the moving body 102 with the stereo camera fixed can only move (go straight and turn) on a horizontal plane, the orientation in the yaw direction, which is the turning direction, changes, but the orientations in the pitch direction and the roll direction do not change. Among the measurement conditions acquired in step S402, the horizontal field angle of the stereo camera is 120 degrees and the overlap angle is 30 degrees. Therefore, in order for two captured images at measurement positions adjacent to each other in the yaw direction of the moving body 102 to satisfy the specified overlap angle, it is necessary to perform a measurement once every 90 degrees in the yaw direction as the measurement orientation. Accordingly, the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 determines to perform measurements in a total of 4 directions (every 90 degrees in the yaw direction), namely the positive and negative directions of each of the x-axis and the y-axis, for each measurement position, based on the xy coordinate system of the first map data.

[0033] Next, in step S502, the CPU 111 causes the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 to determine a measurement area. The measurement position is determined within the measurement area. As shown in FIG. 7, the measurement area is an area (the white area in the figure) obtained by excluding the area within the minimum shooting distance acquired in step S402 from the movable area of the moving body 102 in the environment 201, such as the wall surface 202 and the installed object 203 (the hatched area in the figure).

[0034] Next, in step S503, the CPU 111 causes the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 to determine a measurement position.

[0035] Here, first, the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 determines the imaging interval when the stereo camera moves parallel to the surface of the object while the distance between the stereo camera and the object is maintained at the minimum imaging distance. Then, the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 arranges measurement positions at each corner of the outer periphery (outer edge) of the measurement area, and further arranges measurement positions between the measurement positions at those corners. At this time, the measurement positions are arranged so that the interval between the measurement positions is equal to or less than the imaging interval and is the minimum number of measurement positions.

[0036] Subsequently, the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 arranges additional measurement positions so that the entire measurement area is within a distance corresponding to the imaging interval from the arranged measurement positions. Specifically, it extracts the measurement areas that are not within the distance corresponding to the imaging interval from the arranged measurement positions, and obtains the rectangles circumscribing them. Then, the inside of the circumscribing rectangle is divided into grids such that the vertical and horizontal widths of the grids are equal to or less than the distance corresponding to the imaging interval, and additional measurement positions are arranged at the centers of the respective grids.

[0037] When the measurement position and orientation are determined in this way, the CPU 111 ends this process. A specific example of the measurement positions is shown in FIG. 7. When the stereo camera is translated parallel to the direction orthogonal to its imaging direction on a horizontal plane under the above-described measurement conditions, the translation amount (imaging interval) at which the overlap imaging angle of the imaging image becomes 30 degrees of the horizontal angle at a distance of 1 m corresponding to the minimum imaging distance is approximately 2.309 m. The white circles in FIG. 7 are a plurality of measurement positions arranged at intervals within 2.309 m on the outer periphery of the measurement area in the process of step S503. Further, the broken-line rectangles in FIG. 7 are rectangles circumscribing the measurement areas that are not within the distance corresponding to the imaging interval from the arranged measurement positions indicated by the white circles. The white triangles are additional measurement positions arranged so that the entire measurement area is within 2.309 m from the measurement positions.

[0038] By performing measurement using the stereo camera in the measurement orientation determined in step S501 at each of the measurement positions determined in this way, it becomes possible to create the second map data with an appropriate number of measurements.

[0039] Note that the list of the determined measurement position postures is recorded in the storage unit 114 in a predetermined format so that it can be used later by the user or other information processing apparatuses.

[0040] As described above, in this embodiment, the measurement position postures of the sensors for creating the second map data are determined based on the measurement conditions of the sensors for creating the first map data and the second map data. Thereby, the second map data with sufficient accuracy can be created with a low-load operation.

[0041] (Modification Example of Embodiment 1) In Embodiment 1, the case where the moving body is equipped with a stereo camera as the sensor used for creating the second map data has been described. However, the sensor used for creating the second map data is not limited to this. For example, a monocular camera that can be used in Visual SLAM technology or a camera that can acquire depth information may be used, or a 2D-LiDAR or the like may be used as a sensor other than the camera.

[0042] Also, in Embodiment 1, the case where the stereo camera is attached to the moving body facing forward has been described. However, the orientation of the sensor may be an orientation other than the front. In this case, it is desirable that the measurement condition acquisition unit 302 acquires information regarding the orientation of the sensor with respect to the moving direction of the sensor as a measurement condition, and the measurement position posture determination unit 303 reflects that information in the calculation of the measurement position posture. For example, when the stereo camera is attached at an elevation angle of 20 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane, since the moving body moves only on the horizontal plane, all the measurement position postures are fixed at an elevation angle of 20 degrees. Also, the respective measurement position postures of the plurality of sensors provided on the moving body may be calculated in order to create the second map data using the plurality of sensors.

[0043] In addition, in Example 1, the case of obtaining the horizontal viewing angle of the stereo camera, the minimum shooting distance to the object, and the overlapping viewing angle of the captured images obtained at adjacent measurement positions as measurement conditions was described, but the measurement conditions are not limited to this. For example, the number of pixels in the vertical or horizontal direction of the stereo camera may be obtained, and based on this, the overlapping amount (such as the number of overlapping pixels) between the captured images may be set as a measurement condition. Also, the measurement accuracy of the position and orientation of the target sensor may be obtained, and the overlapping amount and shooting interval may be determined accordingly.

[0044] In addition, in Example 1, the case of arranging measurement positions at the corner parts of the outer periphery of the measurement area and between them, and further arranging additional measurement positions was described, but the method of arranging the measurement positions is not limited to this. For example, the entire measurement area may be divided into one or more rectangles, each rectangle may be grid-divided so that the vertical and horizontal widths of each grid are less than or equal to the distance corresponding to the shooting interval, and additional measurement positions may be arranged at the centers of each grid. Thereby, it is guaranteed that the entire measurement area is arranged within a distance that is half of the distance corresponding to the shooting interval from a certain measurement position.

[0045] In addition, in Example 1, assuming that a measurement accuracy of a position and orientation of a certain level or higher is ensured in all areas of the environment, the measurement positions were arranged using one value of the shooting interval. However, in addition to this, the arrangement and density of the measurement positions can be adjusted based on the measurement conditions. For example, the work target area in the task using the second map data may be obtained as a key area, and the measurement positions may be arranged more densely within this key area than in other areas. For example, when it is planned to perform work on the wall surface 202 shown in FIG. 2 using the second map data, the wall surface 202 is designated as the key area. In this case, the measurement positions are arranged more densely on the outer periphery of the measurement area based on the wall surface 202 than on the outer periphery of the measurement area based on the installation object 203. Thereby, even when creating the second map data for working on a specific area, map data with sufficient accuracy can be created with a low-load operation.

[0046] In addition, in the first embodiment, the case where measurement is performed using a stereo camera in the determined measurement posture at each determined measurement position has been described. However, the relationship between the measurement position and the measurement posture is not limited to this, and each measurement position may include one or more measurement postures. For example, each measurement position may include only one measurement posture, and an independent group of measurement positions may be determined for each measurement posture. Thereby, it becomes possible to specify measurement positions with different densities for each direction in consideration of the distance to the wall surface for each measurement posture, etc., and the total number of measurements can be reduced.

[0047] Furthermore, the measurement posture at each measurement position may be adjusted based on the measurement conditions. For example, the moving direction of the moving body may be limited by the content of the task using the second map data. In such a case, only the measurement posture corresponding to the limited moving direction of the moving body in the vicinity of each measurement position can be determined. For example, when a moving body, which is a cleaning robot, comprehensively cleans a predetermined area by reciprocating in the x-axis direction as the main moving direction using the second map data, except for the points where the cleaning robot turns, measurement of the position and posture is necessary only in the positive and negative x-axis directions. Therefore, measurement of the posture in the positive and negative y-axis directions may be omitted at measurement positions other than the vicinity of the turning points of the robot, and only the posture in the positive and negative x-axis directions may be measured. Thereby, the total number of measurements can be reduced.

[0048] In addition, in the first embodiment, map data created using measurement results by 2D-LiDAR was used as the first map data, but the first map data is not limited to this. For example, CAD data indicating the internal shape of a room as an environment may be acquired. In this case, by comparing the position of the wall surface obtained from the CAD data with the scan result of the 2D-LiDAR, the position and orientation of the moving body (sensor) can be measured. Also, map data created by Visual SLAM technology based on a captured image acquired by a stereo camera may be used as the first map data separately from the second map data. In this case, for example, the first map data created with a smaller number of measured position and orientations than the measured position and orientation for creating the second map data output in the first embodiment can be used.

[0049] Also, when using a map created by Visual SLAM technology as the first map data, a feature point group in which map data is registered for each region in the environment can be acquired. In Visual SLAM technology, the measurement accuracy of the position and orientation depends on the quantity and quality of visual features on an object. Therefore, for feature points observable from a certain region in the environment, a process of correcting so that the density of the measurement positions becomes sparser in a region where more visually distinct feature points are judged, such as "a large amount of feature points" or "high sharpness", than in a region where this is not the case, may be performed.

[0050] Also, as the first map data, data including information on the material of the wall surface in addition to the internal shape of the room as an environment may be acquired. This is the case, for example, when acquiring BIM data of a building or when the material for each wall surface is specified by the user. Based on these wall materials, the suitability of visual features may be judged and the density of measurement positions may be set.

[0051] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the case where the first map data acquisition unit 301 acquires the first map data previously stored in the storage unit 114 was described. Instead of this, the user may operate the moving body to perform measurement by 2D-LiDAR and create the first map data in real time.

Example

[0052] In Example 1, a method for determining the measured position and orientation in an information processing apparatus independent of the moving body was described. In contrast, in Example 2, the measured position and orientation are determined in a moving body equipped with a sensor and an information processing apparatus, and the moving body is moved so as to perform measurement in that position and orientation to create second map data.

[0053] The usage scene, the first map data, and the second map data in this example are the same as those in Example 1, and the description here is omitted.

[0054] (Configuration of the mobile system) FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the moving body 801 in this example. The moving body 801 is an unmanned vehicle that can be remotely operated, similar to the moving body 102 in Example 1, and moves on a horizontal plane.

[0055] The moving body 801 includes a map creation system (information processing system) 802, a communication unit 805, a control unit 806, and a drive unit 807.

[0056] The map creation system 802 includes a sensor 803 and an information processing apparatus 804. The sensor 803 is a stereo camera attached to the front of the moving body 801 and a 2D-LiDAR capable of scanning the entire horizontal plane, similar to Example 1. The physical configuration of the information processing apparatus 804 is the same as that of the information processing apparatus 101 in Example 1, and the description here is omitted.

[0057] The communication unit 805 can perform wireless communication with external electronic devices. The control unit 806 controls the drive of the drive unit 807 such as wheels to move the moving body 801.

[0058] (Logical configuration of the information processing apparatus) The logical configuration of the information processing apparatus 804 in this embodiment will be described. The following processes are implemented by the CPU 111 executing a program read from the ROM 112 or the like onto the RAM 113. FIG. 9 shows the logical configuration within the information processing apparatus 804 (CPU 111). The first map data acquisition unit 301, measurement condition acquisition unit 302, and measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 that configure the information processing apparatus 804 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

[0059] The sensor information acquisition unit 901 acquires, from the sensor 803 at a predetermined cycle, the scan result by 2D-LiDAR as sensor information and the captured image from the stereo camera.

[0060] The current position and orientation calculation unit 902 calculates the current position and orientation of the sensor 803 based on the first map data and the sensor information (measurement result by 2D-LiDAR) acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 901.

[0061] The reachability calculation unit (determination means) 903 determines whether the measurement has been performed at each of the measurement position and orientation determined by the measurement position and orientation determination unit 303 based on the history (movement history) of the position and orientation of the sensor 803 calculated by the current position and orientation calculation unit 902.

[0062] The automatic driving unit (control means) 904 determines the measurement position and orientation at which the sensor 803 will perform the next measurement (where the measurement has not been performed yet), and drives the driving unit 807 through the control unit 806 to move the moving body 801 so that the sensor 803 approaches the measurement position and orientation.

[0063] The second map data creation unit (creation means) 905 creates the second map data based on the sensor information (captured image from the stereo camera) acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 901.

[0064] (Information Processing) Next, the information processing performed by the CPU 111 in the information processing apparatus 804 will be described. The flowchart in FIG. 10 shows the steps included in the information processing.

[0065] The processing from step S401 to step S403 is the same as the processing from step S401 to step S403 in the first embodiment (FIG. 4), and the description here will be omitted.

[0066] In step S1001 after step S403, the CPU 111 causes the sensor information acquisition unit 901 to acquire the above-described sensor information.

[0067] Next, in step S1002, the CPU 111 causes the current position and orientation calculation unit 902 to compare the 2D-LiDAR scan data (measurement result) acquired in step S1001 with the first map data acquired in step S401. Thereby, the current position and orientation of the sensor 803 in the xy coordinate system of the first map data are calculated.

[0068] Next, in step S1003, the CPU 111 causes the reachability calculation unit 903 to update the reach status of each measurement position and orientation determined in step S403. In the initial state, the reach status of each measurement position and orientation is all in an unreached state. The reachability calculation unit 903 compares the currently calculated position and orientation with each measurement position and orientation, and changes the state to reached for the measurement position and orientation where the position error and the orientation error are below a predetermined threshold.

[0069] Next, in step S1004, the CPU 111 causes the automatic driving unit 904 to select one of the measurement position postures where the arrival status in step S1003 is not reached, and controls the driving unit 807 through the control unit 806 so that the sensor 803 approaches that position posture. Specifically, the automatic driving unit 904 first compares the current position posture of the sensor 803 with each non-reached measurement position posture, and selects the non-reached measurement position posture that is the easiest to move to as the next measurement position posture. Then, based on the current position posture of the sensor 803 and the selected measurement position posture, the driving unit 807 is controlled through the control unit 806 so that the sensor 803 on the moving body 801 heads toward the selected measurement position posture.

[0070] Next, in step S1005, the CPU 111 causes the second map data creation unit 905 to create second map data using the captured image acquired in step S1001 by Visual SLAM technology.

[0071] Next, in step S1006, the CPU 111 determines whether to end the measurement. If the arrival ratio of the measurement position posture exceeds a threshold value as a predetermined value in step S1003, or if it is not possible to expect the progress of the arrival status to be equal to or higher than the threshold value, the CPU 111 ends this process as the measurement is completed. Otherwise, the process returns to the process of step S1001.

[0072] As described above, in this embodiment, the determination and measurement of the measurement position posture can be automatically performed, and the second map data can be created. At this time, the user does not need to control the driving of the moving body 801 for each measurement position posture. As a result, second map data with sufficient accuracy can be created with a low-load operation.

[0073] (Modification of Embodiment 2) In the second embodiment, the second map data was created by the Visual SLAM technique using the captured image obtained by the stereo camera. However, the method for creating the second map data is not limited to this. For example, in addition to the captured image obtained by the stereo camera, the second map data may be created using the scan data of the 2D-LiDAR and the control data of the control unit 806, or the current position and orientation calculated in step S1002 may be further used. Further, the sensor information acquired in step S1001 may be held in the storage unit 114, and the second map data may be created at the time of determination of the end of measurement in step S1006.

[0074] In the second embodiment, the case where the automatic driving unit 904 controls the moving body 801 to perform measurement at the measured position and orientation has been described. However, the control method of the moving body is not limited to this. For example, a method may be adopted in which a list of the measured position and orientation, their arrival status, and the current position and orientation are presented to the user through the display unit 116, and the user remotely operates the moving body 801 to perform measurement at each measured position and orientation. Further, a map creation system 802 independent of the moving body 801 may be configured as a combination of the sensor 803 and the mobile computer, and the user may carry it to move the sensor 803.

[0075] The above embodiments include the following configurations.

[0076] (Configuration 1) An acquisition unit that acquires first map data indicating the shape of the environment in which the sensor moves and measurement conditions when the sensor performs measurement in the environment, A determination unit that determines a measurement position that is the position of the sensor at which the measurement is performed in order to create second map data using the sensor information obtained by the measurement, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions. An information processing apparatus characterized by having. (Configuration 2) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 1, wherein the determination unit determines a measurement orientation that is the orientation of the sensor when performing the measurement at the measurement position, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions. (Configuration 3) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 1 or 2, further comprising creation means for creating the second map data using the sensor information. (Configuration 4) The information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 3, wherein the measurement conditions include a measurement range of the sensor and an overlap amount of the measurement ranges from the adjacent measurement positions. (Configuration 5) The information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 4, wherein the measurement conditions include a minimum measurement distance with respect to an object in the environment. (Configuration 6) The information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 5, wherein the measurement conditions include at least one of a direction in which the sensor performs the measurement for each region in the environment, a direction in which the measurement is performed with respect to a moving direction of the sensor, and a density of the measurement positions for each region or direction in the environment. (Configuration 7) The sensor is a photographing device that performs photographing as the measurement, The information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 6, wherein the sensor information is a photographed image acquired by the photographing device. (Configuration 8) The information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 7, wherein the determination means acquires the sensor information from the sensor mounted on a moving body movable in the environment. (Configuration 9) The information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 8, further comprising determination means for determining whether the measurement has been performed at each of the plurality of measurement positions based on a movement history of the sensor when there are a plurality of measurement positions. (Configuration 10) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 9, wherein the determination means acquires the movement history using the first map data and measurement results acquired from a sensor different from the sensor when the sensor moves to the measurement position. (Configuration 11) The information processing apparatus according to configuration 10, wherein the other sensor is a sensor that performs measurement for generating the first map data. (Configuration 12) The information processing apparatus according to any one of configurations 9 to 11, further comprising control means for moving the sensor to a measurement position among the plurality of measurement positions where the measurement has not yet been performed. (Configuration 13) The information processing apparatus according to any one of configurations 1 to 12, further comprising display means for displaying information on the measurement positions. (Configuration 14) An information processing system, which is a system mounted on a moving body that moves within the environment, and includes the information processing apparatus according to any one of configurations 1 to 13 and the sensor. (Configuration 15) A moving body system, comprising the information processing system according to configuration 14 and the moving body.

[0077] (Other embodiments) The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and causing one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus to read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions. Each of the embodiments described above is merely a representative example, and various modifications and changes can be made to each embodiment when implementing the present invention.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0078] 101,804 Information processing apparatus 102,801 Moving body 301 First map data acquisition unit 302 Measurement condition acquisition unit 303 Measurement position and attitude determination unit

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires first map data indicating the shape of the environment in which the sensor moves and measurement conditions when the sensor performs measurement in the environment; A determination unit that determines a measurement position, which is the position of the sensor at which the measurement is performed, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions, in order to create second map data using sensor information obtained by the measurement. An information processing apparatus characterized by comprising:

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a measurement posture, which is the posture of the sensor when performing the measurement at the measurement position, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a creation unit that creates the second map data using the sensor information.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement conditions include a measurement range of the sensor and an overlap amount of the measurement ranges from the mutually adjacent measurement positions.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement conditions include a minimum measurement distance with respect to an object in the environment.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement conditions include at least one of a direction in which the sensor performs the measurement for each region in the environment, a direction in which the measurement is performed with respect to the moving direction of the sensor, and a density of the measurement positions for each region or direction in the environment.

7. The sensor is a photographing device that performs photographing as the measurement, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor information is a photographed image acquired by the photographing device.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination means acquires the sensor information from the sensor mounted on a moving body movable in the environment.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising determination means for determining, based on a movement history of the sensor, whether the measurement has been performed at each of the plurality of measurement positions when there are a plurality of the measurement positions.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the determination means acquires the movement history using the first map data and measurement results acquired from a sensor different from the sensor when the sensor moves to the measurement position.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the different sensor is a sensor that performs measurement for generation of the first map data.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising control means for moving the sensor to a measurement position among the plurality of measurement positions where the measurement has not yet been performed.

13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information on the measurement position is displayed on a display means.

14. An information processing system which is a system mounted on a moving body that moves in the environment, and includes the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 and the sensor.

15. A moving body system comprising the information processing system according to claim 14 and the moving body.

16. A step of acquiring first map data indicating a shape of an environment in which a sensor moves and measurement conditions when the sensor performs measurement in the environment, A step of determining a measurement position, which is the position of the sensor that performs the measurement in order to create second map data using sensor information obtained by the measurement, based on the first map data and the measurement conditions, and an information processing method characterized by having the step.

17. A program characterized by causing a computer to execute processing according to the information processing method described in claim 16.

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