Vacant house determination system

Abstract

To provide a vacant house determination system which can increase efficiency of business, by enhancing accuracy of vacant house determination.SOLUTION: A vacant house determination system 1 comprises a first vacant house determination unit 31, and a second vacant house determination unit 32. The first vacant house determination unit 31 determines vacant house possibility of a house, on the basis of a power usage amount of the house. The second vacant house determination unit 32, when the first vacant house determination unit 31 determines that the vacant house possibility of the house is within a prescribed range, determines the vacant house possibility of the house, on the basis of an image of external appearance of the house.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vacant house determination system. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, the increase in vacant houses has been attracting attention as a nationwide social problem. It is known that the increase in vacant houses has a negative impact on the local environment, disaster prevention, and crime prevention, and various measures have been taken by the national and local governments to address the problem of the increase in vacant houses. In formulating such measures, it is very important to understand the actual situation of vacant houses in the area. Traditionally, local governments estimate locations that may be vacant based on electricity and gas usage, etc. Then, local government officials visit the estimated locations and conduct exterior inspections.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a vacant house determination system that determines whether a house is vacant or not based on the most recent power usage history. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-207675 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The vacant house determination system described in Patent Document 1 determines whether a house is vacant based solely on electricity usage, and therefore does not have sufficient accuracy. For example, if a house is essentially vacant but the owner or a contractor visits the house once every few months to clean it, electricity is used, which could result in the house being mistakenly determined to be "not vacant." Furthermore, if someone has just moved in and has not yet begun living there, or if they are away on a long business trip, electricity is not used, which could result in the house being mistakenly determined to be "vacant." Considering the possibility of the above-mentioned misjudgments, an on-site survey is ultimately required to accurately identify vacant houses, which places a significant burden on local governments in terms of effort, cost, and time.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a vacant house determination system that can improve the accuracy of vacant house determination and thereby make operations more efficient. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A vacant house determination system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a first vacant house determination unit and a second vacant house determination unit. The first vacant house determination unit determines the likelihood of a house being vacant based on the house's electricity usage. The second vacant house determination unit determines the likelihood of a house being vacant based on an image of the house's exterior.

[0008] This system obtains the results of both the first and second judgment units, increasing the accuracy of vacant house determination. For example, even if a house is judged to be unlikely to be vacant based on its electricity usage, if an image of the house's exterior judges it highly likely to be vacant, the system will still determine that the house is likely to be vacant. This can result in more efficient operations, such as reducing on-site inspections.

[0009] In the vacant house determination system according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, when the first vacant house determination unit determines that the vacant house possibility of a house is within a predetermined range, the second vacant house determination unit then determines the vacant house possibility of the house. The predetermined range is, for example, a range in which the first vacant house determination unit cannot determine that the vacant house possibility is sufficiently high or a range in which the first vacant house determination unit cannot determine that the vacant house possibility is sufficiently low.

[0010] In this system, the second vacant house determination unit determines the vacant house possibility of only those houses that are determined by the first vacant house determination unit to be within a predetermined range. Therefore, the number of vacant house determinations by the second vacant house determination unit can be reduced.

[0011] In the vacant house determination system according to the third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the first vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of a house being vacant based on electricity consumption using a first database containing multiple combinations of house, address, and electricity consumption.

[0012] In this system, the first vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of a house being vacant based on the amount of electricity used, including the case where the amount of electricity used is zero.

[0013] In the vacant house determination system according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, the second vacant house determination unit extracts a photographing location and an image corresponding to the address of the house using a second database containing multiple combinations of photographing locations and images. The second vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of the house being vacant by performing image recognition on the extracted images.

[0014] In this system, the second vacant house determination unit extracts images using the house address and the shooting location as key information. The shooting location does not have to match the address, but can be a location near the address. In addition, multiple combinations of shooting location and image may be extracted.

[0015] In the vacant house determination system according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, when the second vacant house determination unit determines that the vacant house possibility of a house is within a predetermined range, the first vacant house determination unit then determines the vacant house possibility of the house.

[0016] In this system, the first vacant house determination unit determines the vacant house possibility of only those houses that are determined by the second vacant house determination unit to be within a predetermined range. Therefore, the amount of vacant house determinations by the first vacant house determination unit can be reduced. The predetermined range is, for example, a range in which the first vacant house determination unit cannot determine that the vacant house possibility is sufficiently high or sufficiently low.

[0017] In the vacant house determination system of the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the second vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of a house being vacant by performing image recognition on the image using a second database containing multiple combinations of shooting locations and images.

[0018] In this system, the second vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of a house being vacant by performing image recognition on the image.

[0019] In a vacant house determination system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth or sixth aspect, a first vacant house determination unit uses a first database containing multiple combinations of houses, addresses, and power consumption amounts to extract houses and power consumption amounts at addresses corresponding to the house's photography location. The first vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of the house being vacant based on the extracted power consumption amounts.

[0020] In this system, the first vacant house determination unit determines the possibility of a house being vacant based on the amount of electricity used, including the case where the amount of electricity used is zero. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] The vacant house determination system of the present invention can improve the accuracy of vacant house determination, thereby making operations more efficient. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vacant house determination system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the traveling state of a vehicle equipped with an MMS imaging system. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the imaging system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the vacant house determination system and other control configurations. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a smart meter. [Figure 6] 10 is a table showing the structure of MMS data. [Figure 7] 10 is a table showing the configuration of SM data. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing the vacant house determination operation by the vacant house determination system. [Figure 9] These are images taken continuously by a photography system. [Figure 9B] These are images taken continuously by a photography system. [Figure 9C] These are images taken continuously by a photography system. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart showing the vacant house determination operation by the vacant house determination system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the control configuration of the vacant house determination system according to the third embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the vacant house determination operation by the vacant house determination system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] 1. First embodiment (1) Overview of the vacant house determination system and other systems A vacant house determination system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 9. The vacant house determination system 1 is a system that determines whether or not a house in a local government is vacant.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the vacant house determination system 1 is provided in a local government server 2. The local government server 2 is a server managed by a local government such as a city, town, or village. The local government server 2 may also be a server managed by an electric power company, for example. The local government server 2 is connected to an MMS (Mobile Mapping System) server 3 and an SM (Smart Meter) server 4 via a network.

[0025] (2) MMS The MMS 5 is a system that can acquire high-precision three-dimensional images and position information while a vehicle is traveling. The MMS 5 includes a plurality of image capturing systems 11 and an MMS server 3.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 2, the imaging system 11 captures images at multiple points as the MMS vehicle 12 travels along the road, and acquires continuous color images of the road surface and its surroundings. Also shown in Fig. 2 are utility pole 41, utility pole 42, utility pole 43, house 44, house 45, and house 46.

[0027] 3, the photography system 11 includes a controller 13, a front camera 14, a rear camera 15, a left camera 16, an odometer 17, an IMU (inertial measurement unit) 18, a GPS receiver 19, and an MMS data storage unit 20. The controller 13 is a computer system including a processor (e.g., a CPU), a storage device (e.g., a ROM, a RAM, a HDD, an SSD, etc.), and various interfaces (e.g., an A / D converter, a D / A converter, a communication interface, etc.). The controller 13 performs various control operations by executing programs stored in the storage unit (corresponding to part or all of the storage area of ​​the storage device).

[0028] The front camera 14 is provided on the front side of the roof of the MMS vehicle 12 and photographs what is in front of the MMS vehicle 12. The rear camera 15 is provided on the rear side of the roof of the MMS vehicle 12 and photographs what is behind the MMS vehicle 12. The left camera 16 is provided on the left side of the roof of the MMS vehicle 12 and photographs what is to the left of the MMS vehicle 12. The photography system 11 may also have a right camera that is provided on the right side of the roof of the MMS vehicle 12 and photographs what is to the right of the MMS vehicle 12.

[0029] The front camera 14, rear camera 15, and left camera 16 capture images of an area including outdoor structures or natural objects. The image data obtained by this capture is associated with the capture time and the position coordinates of the MMS vehicle 12 detected by the GPS receiver 19 and stored as MMS data in the MMS data storage unit 20. The odometer 17 measures the distance traveled by the MMS vehicle 12. The IMU 18 is a collection of inertial sensors, combining sensors such as an accelerometer and a gyroscope, to measure the attitude (orientation) and movement of the MMS vehicle 12.

[0030] MMS data includes a large number of image data captured at 2m intervals of images of the power distribution and communication equipment installed on utility poles, as well as roads and the surrounding environment. Note that the image capture interval is not limited to 2m and can be changed as desired. As shown in Figure 6, MMS data includes, for example, the image number, the shooting location (latitude, longitude), and the captured image.

[0031] 4, the MMS server 3 has an MMS data storage unit 22 and a communication unit 23. The MMS data acquired by the imaging system 11 is stored as a second database in the MMS data storage unit 22 via a wired or wireless connection or memory recovery. The communication unit 23 is capable of communicating with other devices via a wired or wireless connection.

[0032] (3)SM System As shown in FIG. 1, the SM system 6 includes a number of SMs 7 and an SM server 4 . As shown in FIG. 1, an SM7 is provided in each house.

[0033] As shown in Fig. 5, the SM 7 has a metering unit 25 and a communication unit 26. The metering unit 25 automatically measures and records SM data. As shown in Fig. 7, the SM data includes a supply point identification number (equivalent to the address of the consumer), the utility pole number of the service pole, the contract status, and the amount of power consumption. The communication unit 26 can communicate with other devices via wired or wireless communication, and specifically transmits the SM data to the SM server 4.

[0034] 4, the SM server 4 has an SM data storage unit 27 and a communication unit 28. The SM data acquired by the SM 7 is stored as a first database in the SM data storage unit 27. The communication unit 28 is capable of communicating with other devices via wired or wireless communication.

[0035] (4) Details of the vacant house determination system (4-1) Configuration The vacant house determination system 1 is a computer system having a processor (e.g., CPU), a storage device (e.g., ROM, RAM, HDD, SSD, etc.), and various interfaces (e.g., A / D converter, D / A converter, communication interface, etc.). The vacant house determination system 1 performs various control operations by executing programs stored in a storage unit (corresponding to part or all of the storage area of ​​the storage device).

[0036] As shown in FIG. 4, the vacant house determination system 1 has a first vacant house determination unit 31, a second vacant house determination unit 32, and a determination result storage unit 33.

[0037] The first vacant house determination unit 31 performs a first vacant house possibility determination (electricity use vacant house possibility determination) based on the SM data.

[0038] The second vacant house determination unit 32 performs a second vacant house possibility determination (appearance vacant house possibility determination) based on the MMS data.

[0039] The judgment result storage unit 33 stores the judgment result of the first vacant house judgment unit 31 and the judgment result of the second vacant house judgment unit 32.

[0040] The first vacant house determination unit 31 and the second vacant house determination unit 32 can request SM data of predetermined conditions from the SM server 4 via the communication unit 34, and can also request MMS data of predetermined conditions from the MMS server 3. The SM server 4 transmits the requested data to the vacant house determination system 1 via the communication unit 28. The MMS server 3 transmits the requested data to the vacant house determination system 1 via the communication unit 23.

[0041] (4-2) Vacant house determination operation A vacant house determination operation for determining whether a house is vacant one by one will be described with reference to Fig. 8. A vacant house determination operation of the vacant house determination system 1 will be described. Below, an operation for determining whether a house is vacant will be described.

[0042] The control flowcharts described below are merely examples, and steps can be omitted or replaced as necessary. Furthermore, multiple steps can be executed simultaneously, or some or all of the steps can be executed in an overlapping manner. Furthermore, each block in the control flowchart is not limited to a single control operation, but can be replaced with a plurality of control operations represented by a plurality of blocks. The operation of each device is the result of commands from the control unit to each device, and these are expressed by each step of the software application.

[0043] In step S1, a determination is made as to the possibility of the house being vacant based on the electricity usage data, based on the SM data. Specifically, the first vacant house determination unit 31 makes the determination. In the determination of the possibility of the house being vacant based on the electricity usage data, it is determined that the possibility of the house being vacant is either high, low, or within a predetermined intermediate range. A "high possibility of the house being vacant" means, for example, when there is no contract, or when the amount of electricity usage is zero for a long period of time. A "low possibility of the house being vacant" means, for example, when the amount of electricity usage is about the same as that of a normal house for a long period of time. A "possibility of the house being vacant within a predetermined range" means, for example, when the amount of electricity usage is very small, or when it is small but sporadic.

[0044] In the example of FIG. 7, in the SM data, the SM data with supply point identification numbers 003 (no contract) and 004 (power usage in the last six months is 0 kWh) is determined to have a "high probability of being a vacant house." Supply point identification numbers 011, 002, 005, 007, 008, 009, and 010 are determined to have a "low probability of being a vacant house." The SM data with supply point identification number 005 (power usage in the last six months is 23 kWh) is determined to have a "presumable vacant house probability within a predetermined range." Note that, in order to avoid overlooking vacant houses, supply point identification number 004 may also be determined to have a "presumable vacant house probability within a predetermined range."

[0045] In step S2, if the difference is within a predetermined range, the process proceeds to step S3, and if it is outside the predetermined range, it is determined that "the house is vacant or there is a high possibility that it is vacant" or "the house is not vacant or there is a high possibility that it is not vacant." After that, although not shown, the determination result is stored in the determination result storage unit 33 or transmitted to an external device.

[0046] In step S3, the vacant house determination system 1 extracts multiple MMS data having a photographing location corresponding to the address information of the vacant house candidate (for example, a supply point identification number, a utility pole number of a service pole) and photographing locations in the vicinity thereof. Specifically, the vacant house determination system 1 requests the multiple MMS data from the MMS server 3 via the communication unit 34. As a result, the MMS server 3 transmits the multiple MMS data to the vacant house determination system 1. Figures 9A to 9C show three consecutive image data contained in three consecutive MMS data, each containing a single house.

[0047] In step S4, a vacant house possibility determination is performed based on the image data of the multiple MMSs. Specifically, the second vacant house determination unit 32 performs the above determination. More specifically, in the first step, the second vacant house determination unit 32 performs image recognition on the image data of the MMSs 5 to search for features that serve as indicators for determining the vacant house possibility. In the second step, the second vacant house determination unit 32 adds up the above features and calculates the total feature amount as the vacant house possibility. Note that the second vacant house determination unit 32 may use images of houses that have been judged by humans to be likely to be vacant based on the following indicators as training data to build a machine-learned model and determine whether or not the house is likely to be vacant using the model. The second vacant house determination unit 32 then determines whether or not the vacant house possibility is equal to or greater than a threshold.

[0048] Examples of indicators used to determine the possibility of a house being vacant include the following: Garbage bags, rubble, large garbage ·weed · Broken window glass A blue tarp hanging on the roof Mail piling up in the mailbox Tape to seal mailboxes Real estate sign Peeling, damage or falling off of gates, fences, house walls, roofs or eaves

[0049] In the examples of Figures 9A to 9C, garbage bags have been left in front of the entrance, and weeds have grown out of control. Furthermore, the window panes are cracked, and the shutters are still boarded up. Houses like these are judged to be vacant with a high probability.

[0050] In step S5, if the probability of the house being vacant is equal to or greater than a threshold, the process proceeds to step S6, and if it is less than the threshold, the process proceeds to step S7. Note that if there is a specific feature amount (e.g., weeds) greater than a predetermined amount, the probability of the house being vacant may be determined to be equal to or greater than a threshold without taking other features into consideration.

[0051] In step S6, the vacant house determination system 1 determines that "the house is vacant or is highly likely to be vacant."

[0052] In step S7, the vacant house determination system 1 determines that "the house is not vacant or is unlikely to be vacant."

[0053] In step S8, the determination result is stored in the determination result storage unit 33 or transmitted to an external device.

[0054] (5) Effects of the embodiment In the vacant house determination system 1, the determination results of the first vacant house determination unit 31 and the second vacant house determination unit 32 are obtained, thereby increasing the accuracy of vacant house determination. For example, even if a house is determined to be possibly vacant based on its electricity usage, if the vacant house possibility is determined to be low based on an image of the house's exterior, the possibility of the house being vacant is determined to be sufficiently low. As a result, work efficiency can be improved by reducing on-site inspections, etc.

[0055] In the vacant house determination system 1, only houses that have been determined by the first vacant house determination unit 31 to have a vacant house possibility within a predetermined range are determined to have a vacant house possibility by the second vacant house determination unit 32. Therefore, the number of vacant house determinations by the second vacant house determination unit 32 can be reduced.

[0056] In the vacant house determination system 1, the second vacant house determination unit 32 extracts MMS data using the address of the house in the SM data and the shooting location of the MMS data as key information. The shooting location of the image in the MMS data does not have to match the address in the SM data, and may be one or more shooting locations near the address.

[0057] 2. Second embodiment In the first embodiment, the second vacant house determination unit performs vacant house determination for a house whose vacant house possibility is determined to be within a predetermined range by the first vacant house determination unit, but the first vacant house determination unit may also perform vacant house determination for a house whose vacant house possibility is determined to be within a predetermined range by the second vacant house determination unit. Such an example will be described as the second embodiment using Figure 10. The basic configuration and basic operation of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, the following description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0058] (1) Vacant house determination operation In step S11, a determination is made as to the likelihood of the house being vacant from the outside based on the MMS data. Specifically, the second vacant house determination unit 32 makes the determination. In the determination as to the likelihood of the house being vacant from the outside, it is determined that the likelihood is high, low, or within a predetermined intermediate range. A high likelihood of the house being vacant means, for example, when multiple signs of a vacant house are detected, as shown in Figures 9A to 9C. A low likelihood of the house being vacant means, for example, when there are zero signs of a vacant house. A vacant house likelihood is within a predetermined range means, for example, when a small number of signs of a vacant house, one or more, are detected.

[0059] In step S12, if the difference is within a predetermined range, the process proceeds to step S13, and if it is outside the predetermined range, it is determined that "the house is vacant or there is a high possibility that it is vacant" or "the house is not vacant or there is a high possibility that it is not vacant." After that, although not shown, the determination result is stored in the determination result storage unit 33 or transmitted to an external device.

[0060] In step S13, the vacant house determination system 1 extracts SM data having address information (e.g., supply point identification number, utility pole number of the lead-in pole) corresponding to the photographing location of the MMS data. Specifically, the vacant house determination system 1 requests the SM data from the SM server 4 via the communication unit 34. As a result, the SM server 4 transmits the SM data to the vacant house determination system 1.

[0061] In step S14, a vacant house possibility determination is made based on the SM data. Specifically, the first vacant house determination unit 31 makes the determination. The vacant house possibility determination is made based on whether the vacant house possibility is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

[0062] In step S15, if the value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S16, and if the value is less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S17.

[0063] In step S16, the vacant house determination system 1 determines that "the house is vacant or is highly likely to be vacant."

[0064] In step S17, the vacant house determination system 1 determines that "the house is not vacant or is unlikely to be vacant."

[0065] In step S18, the determination result is stored in the determination result storage unit 33 or transmitted to an external device.

[0066] (2) Effects of the embodiment In the vacant house determination system 1, the determination results of the first vacant house determination unit 31 and the second vacant house determination unit 32 are obtained, thereby increasing the accuracy of vacant house determination. For example, even if a house is determined to be possibly vacant based on its electricity usage, if the vacant house possibility is determined to be low based on an image of the house's exterior, the possibility of the house being vacant is determined to be sufficiently low. As a result, work efficiency can be improved by reducing on-site inspections, etc.

[0067] In the vacant house determination system 1, only houses that have been determined by the second vacant house determination unit 32 to have a vacant house possibility within a predetermined range are determined to have a vacant house possibility by the first vacant house determination unit 31. Therefore, the number of vacant house determinations by the first vacant house determination unit 31 can be reduced.

[0068] In the vacant house determination system 1, the first vacant house determination unit 31 extracts SM data using the address of the house in the SM data and the shooting location of the MMS data as key information. The shooting location of the image in the MMS data does not have to match the address in the SM data, and may be one or more locations near the address.

[0069] 3. Third embodiment In the first and second embodiments, only for houses for which either the first vacant house determination unit or the second vacant house determination unit determines the vacant house possibility within a predetermined range, the other unit determines the vacant house possibility. However, both the first vacant house determination unit and the second vacant house determination unit may always determine the vacant house possibility, and a final determination of the vacant house possibility may be made by comprehensively judging both vacant house possibility determinations. Such an example will be described as the third embodiment using Figures 11 and 12. The basic configuration and basic operation of the third embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, the following description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0070] (1) Control configuration of the vacant house determination system As shown in FIG. 11, the vacant house determination system 1 has a first vacant house determination unit 31, a second vacant house determination unit 32, a determination result storage unit 33, and a comprehensive vacant house determination unit 35.

[0071] The first vacant house determination unit 31 performs a first vacant house possibility determination (electricity use vacant house possibility determination) based on the SM data.

[0072] The second vacant house determination unit 32 performs a second vacant house possibility determination (appearance vacant house possibility determination) based on the MMS data.

[0073] The comprehensive vacant house determination unit 35 comprehensively determines the determination results of both the first vacant house determination unit 31 and the second vacant house determination unit, and performs a third vacant house possibility determination (comprehensive vacant house possibility determination).

[0074] The judgment result memory unit 33 stores the judgment results of the first vacant house judgment unit 31, the judgment results of the second vacant house judgment unit 32, and the judgment results of the comprehensive vacant house judgment unit 35.

[0075] (2) Vacant house determination operation The vacant house determination operation of the vacant house determination system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 12. The operation of determining whether a single house is vacant will be described below.

[0076] In step S21, a vacant house possibility determination is made based on the SM data for electricity usage. Specifically, the first vacant house determination unit 31 makes the above determination. Specifically, the first vacant house determination unit 31 determines the vacant house possibility based on the SM data acquired from the SM server 4 via the communication unit 34. In this case, the vacant house possibility is expressed, for example, as a numerical value or a ranking.

[0077] In step S22, the vacant house determination system 1 extracts a plurality of MMS data having a photographing point corresponding to the address information of the vacant house candidate (for example, a supply point identification number, a utility pole number of a lead-in pole) and photographing points in the vicinity thereof. Specifically, the vacant house determination system 1 requests the above-mentioned plurality of MMS data from the MMS server 3 via the communication unit 34. As a result, the MMS server 3 transmits the above-mentioned plurality of MMS data to the vacant house determination system 1.

[0078] In step S23, a vacant house possibility determination is performed based on the image data of the plurality of MMS data. Specifically, the second vacant house determination unit 32 determines the vacant house possibility based on the image data of the plurality of MMS data. In this case, the vacant house possibility is expressed, for example, by a numerical value or a ranking.

[0079] In step S24, a comprehensive vacant house possibility determination is made. Specifically, the comprehensive vacant house determination unit 35 makes a final vacant house determination based on the determination results of the first vacant house determination unit and the determination results of the second vacant house determination unit. The comprehensive vacant house determination unit 35 may use the sum of the numerical values ​​or ranks of both determination results. Furthermore, if one vacant house determination is equal to or greater than a first threshold, it may be determined to be "vacant" regardless of the numerical value of the other vacant house determination. Furthermore, if one vacant house determination is equal to or less than a second threshold, it may be determined to be "not vacant" regardless of the numerical value of the other vacant house determination.

[0080] In step S25, if the numerical value resulting from the comprehensive vacant house possibility determination is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S26, and if it is less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S27.

[0081] In step S26, the vacant house determination system 1 determines that "the house is vacant or is highly likely to be vacant."

[0082] In step S27, the vacant house determination system 1 determines that "the house is not vacant or is unlikely to be vacant."

[0083] In step S28, the determination result is stored in the determination result storage unit 33 or transmitted to an external device. In this embodiment, the second vacant house determination may be performed before the first vacant house determination.

[0084] (3) Effects of the embodiment In the vacant house determination system 1, the determination results of the first vacant house determination unit 31 and the second vacant house determination unit 32 are obtained, thereby increasing the accuracy of vacant house determination. For example, even if the possibility of a vacant house is determined to be low based on the house's electricity usage, if the possibility of a vacant house is determined to be high based on an image of the house's exterior, the possibility of a vacant house is determined to be sufficiently high. As a result, work efficiency can be improved by reducing on-site inspections, etc.

[0085] 4. Variations Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. In particular, several embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

[0086] In the first to third embodiments, the final result of the vacant house determination may include the option of "it is impossible to determine whether the house is vacant or not." In the first to third embodiments, the final result of the vacant house determination may be one of a plurality of numerical values ​​or a plurality of ranks indicating the degree of vacant house possibility.

[0087] In the first to third embodiments, the number of MMS data used for determining the possibility of a vacant house based on an exterior image may be one or two, or may be four or more. In the first to third embodiments, the vacant house determination system 1 may be located not in the local government server 2 but in another device.

[0088] In the first and second embodiments, the first vacant house determination unit 31 and the second vacant house determination unit 32 may be provided in separate devices. In the third embodiment, the first vacant house determination unit 31, the second vacant house determination unit 32, and the comprehensive vacant house determination unit 35 may be provided in separate devices.

[0089] In the first to third embodiments, the number of cameras in the MMS 5 may be one to two, or four or more. In the first to third embodiments, the MMS 5 may acquire point cloud data using a three-dimensional laser scanner. In this case, the three-dimensional laser scanner acquires position coordinate data of multiple points on the surface of the utility pole in conjunction with position coordinates calculated by a GPS receiver, that is, three-dimensional (X, Y, Z) position coordinate data reflecting the position coordinates detected by the GPS receiver. The acquired three-dimensional position coordinate data is stored in a storage device as point cloud data in association with information indicating the measurement time. [Explanation of symbols]

[0090] 1. Vacant house determination system 31 First Vacant House Determination Department 32 Second Vacant House Determination Department

Claims

1. a first vacant house determination unit that determines whether the house is vacant based on the amount of electricity used by the house; A second vacant house determination unit that determines whether the house is vacant based on an image of the exterior of the house; A vacant house determination system.

2. When the first vacant house determination unit determines that the vacant house possibility of the house is within a predetermined range, the second vacant house determination unit then determines the vacant house possibility of the house. The vacant house determination system according to claim 1.

3. The first vacant house determination unit extracting the amount of power usage using a first database including a plurality of combinations of the house, the address, and the amount of power usage; determining whether the house is vacant based on the extracted amount of power usage; The vacant house determination system according to claim 2.

4. The second vacant house determination unit extracting a photographing location and an image corresponding to the address of the house using a second database including a plurality of combinations of photographing locations and images; The extracted image is subjected to image recognition to determine whether the house is vacant. A vacant house determination system according to claim 2 or 3.

5. When the second vacant house determination unit determines that the vacant house possibility of the house is within a predetermined range, the first vacant house determination unit then determines the vacant house possibility of the house. The vacant house determination system according to claim 1.

6. The second vacant house determination unit extracting images using a second database containing a plurality of combinations of image locations and images; The extracted image is subjected to image recognition to determine whether the house is vacant. The vacant house determination system according to claim 5.

7. The first vacant house determination unit extracting a house and its power consumption at an address corresponding to the photographing location of the house using a first database including a plurality of combinations of the house, the address, and the power consumption; determining whether the house is vacant based on the extracted amount of power usage; A vacant house determination system according to claim 5 or 6.

Images