Support device, support program, and method

Abstract

To provide a technique for supporting work when piping installed in a building is repaired.SOLUTION: A support device 10 includes: a drawing acquisition unit 26 for reading out and acquiring a room layout drawing indicating room layout of a first space inside a building, and a piping drawing indicating room layout and piping of a second space which has piping in the structure and is positioned at a floor different from the first space, from a storage device; a specification unit 27 for specifying common structures out of a structure described in the room layout drawing and a structure described in the piping drawing; a synthesis unit 29 for positioning the room layout drawing and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures in the room layout drawing and the piping drawing coincide with each other, thereby generating a synthetic drawing where the piping indicated by the piping drawing is reflected on the room layout indicated by the room layout drawing; and a display control unit 24 for displaying the synthetic drawing on a display device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for assisting work when renovating piping installed in a building. [Background technology]

[0002] Various technologies have been proposed to support pipe repair work in buildings, etc. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for determining the placement positions of newly installed additional pipes, etc., based on three-dimensional image data, measurement data, and route tunnel information at a construction site. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-90525 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-145072 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When designing renovation work for piping in buildings such as apartments and offices, it is important to understand the positional relationship between the location of underground piping and the floor plan of the ground floor. Therefore, it is necessary to properly visualize the positional relationship between the piping and the floor plan of other spaces on different floors from the space where the piping is located.

[0005] In view of the above, the present disclosure aims to provide a technology that assists in work when renovating piping installed in a building by appropriately visualizing the positional relationship between piping and floor plan. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, an assistance device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a drawing acquisition unit that reads and acquires from a storage device a floor plan drawing showing the layout of a first space inside a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; an identification unit that identifies common structures between structures depicted in the floor plan and structures depicted in the piping drawing; a synthesis unit that generates a composite drawing in which the piping depicted in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan depicted in the floor plan by aligning the floor plan drawing and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures in the floor plan drawing and the piping drawing match; and a display control unit that displays the composite drawing on a display device.

[0007] Another aspect of the assistance program of the present disclosure causes a computer to read and acquire from a storage device a floor plan showing the layout of a first space inside a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; identify common structures among structures shown in the floor plan and structures shown in the piping drawing; align the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures on the floor plan and the piping drawing match, thereby generating a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan; and display the composite drawing on a display device.

[0008] A method according to yet another aspect of the present disclosure includes reading and acquiring from a storage device a floor plan showing the layout of a first space inside a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; identifying common structures among structures shown in the floor plan and structures shown in the piping drawing; aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures on the floor plan and the piping drawing match, thereby generating a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan; and displaying the composite drawing on a display device. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a support system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout space of a building. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a display device. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a piping diagram. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a floor plan. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a composite drawing. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a composite drawing. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an outer wall in a piping space and a living space. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Preferred embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions will be omitted as appropriate. The embodiments are merely examples, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the present disclosure.

[0011] Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a support system 1 according to an embodiment. The support system 1 includes a support device 10 for supporting work, for example, when repairing pipes installed in a building, and an imaging device 17 for capturing images of the interior of the building. The following description will be given taking a residential building, such as an apartment building, as an example of the building. In such a home, pipes are generally installed in a piping space under the floor or in the ceiling of the living space, and are connected to plumbing fixtures (toilet, kitchen sink, washbasin, bathtub, etc.) located in the living space of the home. The living space in this embodiment is an example of a first space inside a building. The piping space in this embodiment is an example of a second space in a building where pipes are installed and which is located on a different floor from the first space.

[0012] The imaging device 17 captures images. In this embodiment, a floor plan of the house is generated using three-dimensional shape data of the interior of the house, so it is preferable to use a camera with a ranging function. However, if a camera without a ranging function is used, the distance may be calculated by triangulation from the parallax of multiple images taken from different viewpoints, and the three-dimensional position of each pixel may be obtained. That is, the distance to the object to be imaged may be measured using a stereo camera, an infrared depth sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), or the like, or may be obtained using SfM (Structure from Motion), which reproduces a three-dimensional shape from images taken from multiple viewpoints, or any other known technology. The imaging device 17 may be installed in a terminal device of a construction company employee or a client, or may be installed separately from the terminal device.

[0013] The support device 10 includes a control device 11, an input device 12, a display device 13, a storage device 14, a communication interface 15, and a bus 16 connecting them. The support device 10 may be a device such as a server or a personal computer. The support device 10 may also be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. The support device 10 may be implemented as a web server. In this case, a construction company employee or a client may connect to the support device 10 using a browser on their own terminal and enjoy the functions provided by the support device 10.

[0014] The control device 11 executes the assistance program of the embodiment. The input device 12 accepts instruction input by the user of the assistance device 10 and transmits the instruction to the control device 11. The input device 12 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touchpad, or the like. The display device 13 displays a screen generated by the control device 11. The display device 13 may be a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, or the like. The input device 12 and the display device 13 may be implemented as a touch panel.

[0015] The storage device 14 stores programs, data, etc. used by the control device 11. The storage device 14 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc. The communication interface 15 controls communication with other devices. The communication interface 15 may perform communication using any wired or wireless communication method. The communication interface 15 communicates with the imaging device 17 and receives data of captured images from the imaging device 17.

[0016] The control device 11 includes an image acquisition unit 21, a floor plan creation unit 22, a piping plan creation unit 23, a display control unit 24, a designation reception unit 25, a plan acquisition unit 26, an identification unit 27, a reference generation unit 28, and a synthesis unit 29. These components are realized in hardware by a CPU, memory, other LSI, etc. of any computer, and in software by a program loaded into memory, but the functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these components are depicted here. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways, such as hardware alone or a combination of hardware and software.

[0017] The image acquisition unit 21 acquires image data of the interior space of the building captured by the imaging device 17 and stores the image data in the storage device 14.

[0018] The floor plan creation unit 22 creates a floor plan using known technology (see, for example, Patent Document 2) based on image data stored in the storage device 14. For example, the floor plan creation unit 22 creates three-dimensional point cloud data of the interior of the building using images of the interior of the building acquired by the image acquisition unit 21. Based on this three-dimensional point cloud data, the floor plan creation unit 22 calculates parameters that define the planes representing the building's walls and the planes that define the planes representing the building's columns, doors, and windows, and automatically generates a floor plan of the building based on these parameters. This significantly reduces the amount of work required to measure the interior dimensions of the building and improves the accuracy of the measurements. The floor plan creation unit 22 associates the created floor plan with an identifier that identifies the building that was photographed and stores it in the storage device 14.

[0019] It is difficult to capture the entire interior space of a building in a single image, so the user must capture multiple images while changing the position and orientation of the imaging device 17. If the same location is captured multiple times in multiple captured images, image matching technology can be used to obtain the correspondence between pixels and calculate the relative positional relationship and viewpoint position between the images. Therefore, by capturing multiple images that capture the entire interior of the room, it is possible to obtain three-dimensional point cloud data that represents the entire interior space of the building.

[0020] The piping diagram creation unit 23 creates a piping diagram showing the layout and piping of the piping space based on, for example, image data stored in the storage device 14. The piping diagram creation unit 23 creates a piping diagram in which piping is reflected in a piping diagram created using, for example, a known technique as described above. The method for creating a piping diagram will be described later. The piping diagram creation unit 23 associates the created piping diagram with an identifier indicating the building where the photograph was taken and stores it in the storage device 14.

[0021] The display control unit 24 displays on the display device 13 the captured image of the interior of the building, a point cloud image generated by rendering the three-dimensional point cloud data, and the like.

[0022] The designation receiving unit 25 receives various designations from the user via the input device 12 .

[0023] To calculate the thickness of a building's outer wall, an image of the building captured from outside the building may be used to calculate parameters defining a plane representing the building's outer wall. In this case, the image acquisition unit 21 acquires an image of the building's exterior captured by the imaging device 17, the specification acceptance unit 25 accepts a specification of a position included in the plane to be recognized as the outer wall in the captured image or point cloud image displayed on the display device 13, and the floor plan creation unit 22 and the piping plan creation unit 23 calculate parameters defining the plane to be recognized as the building's outer wall. This allows not only the building's interior partition walls but also the outer wall to be depicted on the floor plan with a line width corresponding to their thickness, thereby generating more accurate floor plans. The piping plans and floor plan drawings shown below are assumed to be created with a line width corresponding to the outer wall's thickness.

[0024] Next, a method for creating a piping diagram will be described. FIG. 2 shows a piping space 50 under the floor of a building that is the subject of renovation work, etc. The piping space 50 is partitioned by walls 51, 52, etc. A water supply pipe 54A and a drain pipe 54B are arranged in the piping space 50, which is partitioned by walls 51, 52, and 53. The water supply pipe 54A is a pipe that supplies water to plumbing fixtures such as toilets, kitchen sinks, washbasins, and bathtubs. The drain pipe 54B is a pipe that drains water from plumbing fixtures such as toilets, kitchen sinks, washbasins, and bathtubs. The drain pipe 54B includes a gray water pipe 54C and a sewage pipe 54D. The gray water pipe 54C is a pipe into which wastewater flows from plumbing fixtures with relatively lightly polluted wastewater, such as kitchen sinks, washbasins, and bathtubs. The sewage pipe 54D is a pipe into which wastewater flows from plumbing fixtures with relatively heavy polluted wastewater, such as toilets. Hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between the water supply pipe 54A and the drain pipe 54B (miscellaneous drain pipe 54C and sewage pipe 54D), they will be collectively referred to as pipes 54. A user of the support device 10 places the imaging device 17 in the piping space 50 and captures an image of the piping space 50. It is assumed that the walls 51, 52, and 53 have been recognized using known technology.

[0025] 3 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display device 13. As shown in FIG. 3, the display control unit 24 displays a captured image or a point cloud image on the display device 13. A user of the support device 10 uses the input device 12 to specify a position 80 included in a curved surface to be recognized as a pipe 54 in the captured image or the point cloud image displayed on the display device 13. The specification receiving unit 25 receives the position specification input from the input device 12 and transmits it to the piping drawing creation unit 23. The piping drawing creation unit 23 extracts, from the three-dimensional point cloud data stored in the storage device 14, multiple three-dimensional point cloud data that constitute the same curved surface as the point at the specified position.

[0026] The piping diagram creation unit 23 may use any known technology to extract three-dimensional point cloud data that constitutes the same curved surface as the point at the specified position. For example, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may compare color data or three-dimensional position data of a pixel at the specified position with color data or three-dimensional position data of pixels adjacent to the pixel at the specified position, and determine that the points constitute the same curved surface if the difference between the data satisfies a predetermined condition. For example, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may determine that the points constitute the same curved surface if the difference between the three-dimensional position data of the point at the specified position and the three-dimensional position data of the adjacent point is less than a predetermined value. For example, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may use any known contour detection technology to detect the contour of a pipe including the specified position and extract pixels within the detected contour. For example, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may start from the point at the specified position, scan adjacent points in a predetermined direction, and detect the contour based on the difference, rate of change, etc. in color data or three-dimensional position data.

[0027] The piping diagram creation unit 23 obtains an approximate curved surface of the extracted multiple pieces of three-dimensional point cloud data, for example, by the least squares method, and calculates parameters that define the obtained curved surface. The parameters may be any parameters that can uniquely define the curved surface.

[0028] The piping diagram creation unit 23 creates a floor plan of the piping space 50 based on the walls 51, 52, and 53 recognized using a known technique. The piping diagram creation unit 23 creates the piping diagram by arranging lines representing the piping on the floor plan based on parameters that define the curved surface recognized as the piping 54 in the piping space 50.

[0029] The method for aligning the floor plan and piping drawings will be described below.

[0030] A user of the support device 10 specifies a building to be the target of renovation work or the like using the input device 12. Based on the designation of the building received from the user via the designation receiving unit 25, the drawing acquisition unit 26 reads and acquires from the storage device 14 the floor plan and piping drawing associated with the identifier of the designated building.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows an example of a piping diagram generated according to the above-described piping diagram creation method. FIG. 5 shows an example of a floor plan of a living space. FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively show a piping diagram and a floor plan of the same building. FIG. 4 shows a piping diagram 91 illustrating the floor plan and arrangement of piping in a piping space in which piping 54 is arranged in a space surrounded by outer peripheral walls 61A-E that form the building's outer shell. FIG. 5 shows a floor plan 92 illustrating the floor plan of a living space in which a space surrounded by outer peripheral walls 71A-O is separated by a partition wall 74 that separates the interior of the building. The floor plan 92 in FIG. 5 shows a column 73, a window 101, and a door 102. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the outer peripheral walls 61A-E may be collectively referred to as outer peripheral wall 61, and the outer peripheral walls 71A-O may be collectively referred to as outer peripheral wall 71.

[0032] 4 and 5, the display control unit 24 displays the acquired floor plan and piping drawing on the display device 13. At this time, the display control unit 24 may be configured to align the orientation of the floor plan and piping drawing as necessary based on a user input via the input device 12. For example, by selecting one of the outer perimeter walls depicted on the floor plan and piping drawing displayed on the display device 13, the orientation of the entire floor plan and piping drawing may be adjusted so that the selected outer perimeter wall is positioned below the floor plan.

[0033] A user of the support device 10 specifies, by the input device 12, the positions of structures that should be recognized as common structures among the structures described in the floor plan and the piping drawing displayed on the display device 13. For example, in the examples of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the outer peripheral wall 61A and the outer peripheral wall 71A, the outer peripheral wall 61B and the outer peripheral wall 71B, the outer peripheral wall 61C and the outer peripheral wall 71F, and the outer peripheral wall 61D and the outer peripheral wall 71O are common structures.

[0034] For example, in the piping diagram 91 of Fig. 4, the user of the assistance device 10 specifies two positions 81X and 82X in the horizontal X direction in the diagram, and two positions 83Y and 84Y in the Y direction in the diagram, which is horizontally perpendicular to the X direction, using the input device 12. The positions 81X and 82X indicate positions corresponding to the walls 61A and 61C, respectively. The positions 83Y and 84Y indicate positions corresponding to the walls 61B and 61D, respectively.

[0035] The identification unit 27 estimates the same plane based on parameters that define a plane representing a wall from positions 81X and 82X that are specified in the X direction, thereby identifying the common structures specified in the X direction as walls 61A and 61C. The identification unit 27 estimates the same plane based on parameters that define a plane representing a wall from positions 83Y and 84Y that are specified in the Y direction, thereby identifying the common structures specified in the Y direction as outer peripheral walls 61B and 61D.

[0036] The reference generating unit 28 generates a reference line 62X in the X direction based on the identified common structures, namely, the outer peripheral walls 61A and 61C. For example, the reference generating unit 28 generates the reference line 62X so that the set of midpoints between the wall center line, which is the center position of the outer peripheral wall 61A, and the wall center line, which is the center position of the outer peripheral wall 61C, extends in the Y direction. For example, the wall centers of the outer peripheral walls 61A and 61C may be estimated by identifying the exterior and interior surfaces of the outer peripheral walls 61A and 61C of the building from the parameters defining the plane representing the outer peripheral walls of the building calculated as described above, and identifying the midpoints of both ends of the X direction of the two surfaces.

[0037] The reference generating unit 28 generates a reference line 62Y in the Y direction based on the identified common structures, the outer peripheral walls 61B and 61D. For example, the reference generating unit 28 generates the reference line 62Y so that the set of midpoints between the wall center line, which is the center position of the outer peripheral wall 61B, and the wall center line, which is the center position of the outer peripheral wall 61D, extends in the X direction. For example, the wall centers of the outer peripheral walls 61B and 61D may be estimated by identifying the exterior and interior surfaces of the outer peripheral walls 61B and 61D of the building from parameters that define the plane representing the outer peripheral walls of the building calculated as described above, and identifying the midpoints of both ends of the Y direction of both surfaces.

[0038] The reference generating unit 28 generates a reference point 65R in the piping drawing 91 based on the reference lines 62X and 62Y. The reference point 65R is a point that serves as a reference for alignment, which will be described later, in the piping drawing 91. For example, the reference generating unit 28 sets the intersection of the reference lines 62X and 62Y as the reference point 65R. Note that the reference lines 62X and 62Y and the reference point 65R may or may not be displayed in the piping drawing 91. The reference lines 72X and 72Y and the reference point 65R, which will be described later, may or may not be displayed in the floor plan drawing 92.

[0039] Similarly, for the floor plan 92 in Figure 5, the user of the support device 10 specifies two positions 85X and 86X in the X direction and two positions 87Y and 88Y in the Y direction using the input device 12. Positions 85X and 86X indicate positions corresponding to outer peripheral walls 61A and 61C, respectively. Positions 87Y and 88Y indicate positions corresponding to outer peripheral walls 61B and 61D, respectively.

[0040] The identification unit 27 estimates the same plane based on parameters that define a plane representing a wall from positions 85X and 86X that are specified in the X direction, thereby identifying the common structures specified in the X direction as outer peripheral walls 71A and 71F. The identification unit 27 estimates the same plane based on parameters that define a plane representing a wall from positions 87Y and 88Y that are specified in the Y direction, thereby identifying the common structures specified in the Y direction as outer peripheral walls 71B and 71O.

[0041] The reference generating unit 28 generates a reference line 72X in the X direction based on the identified common structures, namely, outer peripheral walls 71A and 71F. For example, the reference generating unit 28 generates the reference line 72X so that the set of midpoints between the wall center of outer peripheral wall 71A and the wall center of outer peripheral wall 71F extends in the Y direction. The reference generating unit 28 generates a reference line 72Y in the Y direction based on the identified common structures, namely, outer peripheral walls 71B and 71O. For example, the reference generating unit 28 generates the reference line 72Y so that the set of midpoints between the wall center of outer peripheral wall 71B and the wall center of outer peripheral wall 71O extends in the X direction. The method for identifying the wall center of outer peripheral wall 71 is as described above.

[0042] The reference generating unit 28 generates a reference point 75R on the floor plan 92 based on the reference lines 72X and 72Y. The reference point 75R is a point that serves as a reference for alignment, which will be described later, on the floor plan 92. For example, the reference generating unit 28 sets the intersection of the reference lines 72X and 72Y as the reference point 75R.

[0043] The synthesis unit 29 creates a composite drawing 93 by aligning the piping drawing 91 and the floor plan drawing 92 so that the reference point 65R generated for the piping drawing 91 matches the reference point 75R generated for the floor plan drawing 92. The synthesis unit 29 creates the composite drawing 93 by overlaying one of the piping drawing 91 and the floor plan drawing 92 on the other so that the reference point 65R generated for the piping drawing 91 matches the reference point 75R generated for the floor plan drawing 92. FIG. 6 shows an example of the created composite drawing 93. In the composite drawing 93, the piping 54 shown in the piping drawing 91 is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan drawing 92. The synthesis unit 29 stores the created composite drawing 93 in the storage device 14. The display control unit 24 reads the created composite drawing 93 from the storage device 14 and displays it on the display device 13. This allows the user of the support device 10 to understand the positional relationship between the floor plan and the piping in the living space.

[0044] Modifications will be described below.

[0045] In the embodiment, the piping diagram and the floor plan are created based on the images obtained using the imaging device 17, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the piping diagram and the floor plan may be created using a drafting technique such as CAD.

[0046] The piping diagram creation unit 23 may identify dimensions of the piping, such as the length, width, and inclination angle, and create a piping diagram that indicates the identified dimensions for each piping. In this case, for example, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may calculate dimensions of the piping, such as the length, width, and inclination angle, based on parameters that define the curved surface recognized as the piping 54 in the piping space 50.

[0047] The floor plan creation unit 22 may reflect plumbing fixtures installed inside the building in the floor plan. In this case, the floor plan creation unit 22 may use known image recognition technology based on images of the interior of the building acquired by the image acquisition unit 2121 to recognize plumbing fixtures connected to pipes such as toilets, kitchen sinks, washbasins, and bathtubs, and include the recognition results in the floor plan. Fixtures such as windows and doors may also be reflected in the floor plan. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a composite drawing 93 created using a floor plan in which plumbing fixtures are reflected. The composite drawing 93 in FIG. 7 shows a toilet 103, a kitchen sink 104, a washbasin 105, and a bathtub 106. By displaying the composite drawing 93 in which the plumbing fixtures are depicted in this manner, the positional relationship between the plumbing fixtures and the pipes 54 can be clearly understood.

[0048] In the embodiment, the reference lines 62X, 62Y, 72X, and 72Y are generated based on the center lines of the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71, but are not limited to this. For example, the reference lines 62X, 62Y, 72X, and 72Y may be generated based on points on the surfaces of the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71 on the exterior and interior sides of the building.

[0049] In the embodiment, the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71 are given as an example of a common structure, but this is not limiting. For example, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, if a column 73 is common between the piping drawing 91 and the floor plan drawing 92, the column 73 may be identified as the common structure. In this case, the reference lines 62X, 62Y, 72X, and 72Y may be generated based on the center line of the column 73 and the central positions of other common structures (such as the center lines of other columns 73 or the center lines of the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71) in the piping drawing 91 and the floor plan drawing 92. Alternatively, for example, the reference point generation unit may generate the position of the center line of the column 73 as the reference points 65R and 75R in the piping drawing 91 and the floor plan drawing 92.

[0050] The piping diagram creation unit 23 may identify the type of pipe 54 based on at least one of the material, color, and structure of the pipe in the image of the piping space stored in the storage device 14, and create a piping diagram that indicates the identified type for each pipe. For example, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may use a known image recognition technology to recognize at least one of the material, color, and structure of the pipe in the image of the piping space acquired by the image acquisition unit 2121, thereby identifying whether the pipe 54 corresponds to a water supply pipe 54A or a drain pipe 54B, or to a water supply pipe 54A, a miscellaneous drain pipe 54C, or a sanitary drain pipe 54D, and may include the identification result on the piping diagram. See FIG. 3. For example, the water supply pipe 54A is covered with insulation 56 to maintain the water supply temperature, and therefore has a different surface material from the other pipes 54, which have exposed metal. Therefore, if the piping diagram creation unit 23 determines through image recognition that the pipe 54 is covered with insulation 56, the piping diagram creation unit 23 may identify the pipe 54 as a water supply pipe 54A. For example, drain pipe 54B has a sloped portion 57 that allows foreign matter in the drainage to flow more easily and prevents the foreign matter from clogging the piping. Therefore, if pipe 54 has sloped portion 57, piping diagram creation unit 23 may identify pipe 54 as drain pipe 54B. For example, drain pipe 54 has a joint portion 58 that is configured to be removable so that foreign matter can be removed if the foreign matter becomes clogged in the piping. Therefore, if pipe 54 has joint portion 58, piping diagram creation unit 23 may identify pipe 54 as drain pipe 54B. For example, sewage pipe 54D is configured with a relatively dark color. Therefore, if image recognition determines that pipe 54 is a relatively dark color, piping diagram creation unit 23 may identify pipe 54 as sewage pipe 54D. The type of pipe 54 may be identified by combining the multiple methods for determining the type of pipe described above.

[0051] The piping diagram creation unit 23 may determine the deterioration state of the piping 54 using a known image recognition technology and create a piping diagram that shows the determination result. This makes it possible to show the residents and managers the appropriateness of piping renewal.

[0052] In the embodiment, the center positions of the common structures are identified based on parameters that define the plane representing the outer wall of the building, which is calculated using an image of the building captured from outside the building, but this is not limiting. If data on the dimensions of the common structures is pre-stored in the storage device 14, the center positions of the structures may be identified based on this data on the dimensions.

[0053] In the embodiment, the piping 54 is exemplified by the water supply pipe 54A and the drain pipe 54B (miscellaneous drain pipe 54C, sewage pipe 54D), but is not limited thereto, and the piping 54 may be, for example, a gas pipe.

[0054] The functions and effects of this embodiment and the modified example will be described.

[0055] Here, it is envisioned that, for example, by capturing images of the piping space and the living space at the same time using imaging device 17, the positional relationship between the piping arranged in the piping space and the layout of the living space can be visualized based on the three-dimensional point cloud data, etc., of the captured images. However, it can be difficult to continuously obtain three-dimensional point cloud data, etc., for the piping space and the living space because it is necessary to pass through narrow places such as manholes, and there is also the issue that capturing images of the piping space and the living space at the same time takes a long time, which places a burden on the worker.

[0056] In contrast, the support device 10 of this embodiment includes a drawing acquisition unit 26 that reads and acquires from a storage device a floor plan showing the layout of a first space within a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and located on a different floor from the first space; an identification unit 27 that identifies common structures between the structures shown in the floor plan and the structures shown in the piping drawing; a synthesis unit 29 that generates a composite drawing in which the floor plan shown in the floor plan and the piping drawing are reflected by aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures match; and a display control unit 24 that displays the composite drawing on a display device. This configuration makes it possible to appropriately visualize the positional relationship between the piping and the floor plan of the second space located on a different floor from the first space in which the piping is arranged. Because the piping drawing and the floor plan can be created in separate work processes, the workload can be reduced. This makes it possible to support tasks such as design and estimation for piping renovations.

[0057] Here, for example, because there may be repairs to a building that are not recorded, the records at the time of completion and the actual conditions of the plumbing space and living space may not match. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the current state of the plumbing space and living space. In response to this, the support device of this embodiment further includes an image acquisition unit 21 that acquires images of the first space and the second space captured by an imaging device, a floor plan creation unit 22 that creates a floor plan based on the image of the first space and stores it in the storage device, and a plumbing plan creation unit 23 that creates the plumbing plan based on the image of the second space and stores it in the storage device. With this configuration, plumbing plans and floor plans can be created using the captured images, making it possible to present plumbing plans and floor plans that more appropriately reflect the current situation.

[0058] The support device 10 of this embodiment further includes a reference generation unit 28 that identifies the center position of a common structure in each of the floor plan and the piping drawing and generates a reference point serving as a reference for alignment for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing based on the center position. The synthesis unit 29 aligns the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the reference points for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing coincide. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of outer peripheral walls 61 and 71 in the piping space 50 and the living space 69. As shown in FIG. 8, the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71 share a common wall portion 94. However, the surface of the wall portion 94 of the outer peripheral wall 61 may be exposed, while the surface of the outer peripheral wall 71 may be covered with a covering portion 95 such as gypsum board or wallpaper. Therefore, the thicknesses of the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71 may differ. Therefore, if reference points 65R and 75R are generated based on the surfaces of the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71, the position of the piping 54 in the synthesized drawing 93 may be offset from its actual position by the difference in thickness between the outer peripheral walls 61 and 71. In contrast, according to this embodiment, the center position of the common structure is identified and a composite drawing 93 is created based on this center position, making it possible to create a composite drawing 93 that accurately reflects the position of the piping 54.

[0059] The piping diagram creation unit 23 of this embodiment identifies the type of piping based on at least one of the material, color, and structure of the piping in the image of the second space, and creates a piping diagram that indicates the identified type for each piping. This configuration makes it possible to understand the piping route for each piping type. Therefore, it is possible to effectively support work such as design and estimation when renovating piping.

[0060] The piping diagram creation unit 23 of this embodiment identifies the dimensions of the piping based on the image of the second space, and creates a piping diagram showing the identified dimensions for each pipe. With this configuration, it is necessary to design dimensions such as the inclination and length of the piping 54 when renovating the piping to ensure smooth water supply and drainage, and it is possible to grasp the dimensions of the existing piping 54 as reference information. Therefore, it is possible to effectively support work such as design and estimation when renovating the piping.

[0061] In this embodiment, the common structure is at least one of the outer wall that forms the perimeter of the building and the building's columns. Here, other common structures can be drainage pipes extending vertically from residential facilities such as toilets. However, these drainage pipes may bend horizontally in an invisible area under the floor, and their positions do not necessarily coincide between the living space and the piping space. In contrast, the positions of the outer wall and columns are common to the piping space and the living space. Therefore, this configuration makes it possible to accurately align the piping diagram and the floor plan diagram.

[0062] While the present disclosure has been described above based on the embodiments, the embodiments merely illustrate the principles and applications of the present disclosure. Many modifications and changes in arrangement are possible to the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure as defined in the claims.

[0063] The present disclosure discloses the following techniques.

[0064] (Item 1) An assistance device including: a drawing acquisition unit that reads and acquires from a storage device a floor plan showing the layout of a first space inside a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; a structure identification unit that identifies common structures between structures shown in the floor plan and structures shown in the piping drawing; a synthesis unit that generates a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan by aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures in the floor plan and the piping drawing match; and a display control unit that displays the composite drawing on a display device.

[0065] (Item 2) The support device described in Item 1 further includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the first space and an image of the second space captured by an imaging device, a floor plan creation unit that creates the floor plan based on the image of the first space and stores it in the storage device, and a piping drawing creation unit that creates the piping drawing based on the image of the second space and stores it in the storage device.

[0066] (Item 3) The support device described in Item 2 further includes a reference generation unit that identifies the center position of the common structure for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing, and generates a reference point that serves as a reference for the alignment for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing based on the center position, and the synthesis unit aligns the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the reference point for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing coincides.

[0067] (Item 4) An assistance device described in any one of items 2 and 3, wherein the piping drawing creation unit identifies the type of piping based on at least one of the material, color, and structure of the piping in the image of the second space, and creates the piping drawing to indicate the identified type for each piping.

[0068] (Item 5) An assistance device described in any one of items 2, 3, and 4, wherein the piping drawing creation unit identifies the dimensions of the piping based on the image of the second space and creates the piping drawing to indicate the identified dimensions for each piping.

[0069] (Item 6) An assistance device according to any one of items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, wherein the common structure is at least one of an outer wall that forms the periphery of the building and a pillar of the building.

[0070] (Item 7) A support program that causes a computer to read and acquire from a storage device a floor plan showing the layout of a first space inside a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; identify common structures among structures shown in the floor plan and structures shown in the piping drawing; align the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures on the floor plan and the piping drawing match, thereby generating a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan; and display the composite drawing on a display device.

[0071] (Item 8) A method including: reading and acquiring from a storage device a floor plan showing the layout of a first space inside a building and a piping drawing showing the floor plan and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; identifying common structures among structures shown in the floor plan and structures shown in the piping drawing; aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures on the floor plan and the piping drawing match, thereby generating a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan; and displaying the composite drawing on a display device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0072] 1 Support system, 10 Support device, 11 Control device, 17 Imaging device, 21 Image acquisition unit, 22 Floor plan drawing creation unit, 23 Piping drawing creation unit, 24 Display control unit, 25 Designation reception unit, 26 Drawing acquisition unit, 27 Identification unit, 28 Reference generation unit, 29 Synthesis unit.

Claims

1. a drawing acquisition unit that reads and acquires from a storage device a floor plan drawing showing the layout of a first space inside the building and a piping drawing showing the layout and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; an identification unit that identifies common structures between the structures described in the floor plan and the structures described in the piping drawing; a synthesis unit that generates a synthesis drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan by aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures in the floor plan and the piping drawing coincide with each other; a display control unit that displays the composite drawing on a display device; Including, Support equipment.

2. an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the first space and an image of the second space captured by an imaging device; a floor plan creation unit that creates the floor plan based on the image of the first space and stores it in the storage device; a piping diagram creation unit that creates the piping diagram based on the image of the second space and stores it in the storage device; further comprising: The support device according to claim 1 .

3. The common structure is at least one of an outer wall that forms the outer periphery of the building and a column of the building. The support device according to claim 1 .

4. a reference generating unit that identifies a center position of the common structure for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing, and generates a reference point that serves as a reference for the alignment for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing based on the center position; The combining unit aligns the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the reference points for each of the floor plan and the piping drawing coincide with each other. The support device according to claim 2 .

5. the piping diagram creation unit identifies the type of the piping based on at least one of a material, a color, and a structure of the piping in the image of the second space, and creates the piping diagram so as to indicate the identified type of each piping. The support device according to claim 2 .

6. the piping diagram creation unit identifies dimensions of the piping based on the image of the second space, and creates the piping diagram so as to indicate the identified dimensions for each piping. The support device according to claim 2 .

7. On the computer, reading and acquiring from a storage device a floor plan drawing showing the layout of a first space inside the building and a piping drawing showing the layout and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; Identifying common structures between the structures described in the floor plan and the structures described in the piping drawing; aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures in the floor plan and the piping drawing coincide with each other, thereby generating a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan; displaying the composite drawing on a display device; A support program to help implement this.

8. reading and acquiring from a storage device a floor plan drawing showing the layout of a first space inside the building and a piping drawing showing the layout and piping of a second space in the building where piping is arranged and which is located on a different floor from the first space; Identifying common structures between the structures described in the floor plan and the structures described in the piping drawing; aligning the floor plan and the piping drawing so that the positions of the common structures in the floor plan and the piping drawing coincide with each other, thereby generating a composite drawing in which the piping shown in the piping drawing is reflected in the floor plan shown in the floor plan; displaying the composite drawing on a display device; A method comprising:

Images