In-vehicle device, method and program for transmitting road surface images

Abstract

The present invention facilitates diagnosis of an abnormality of a road by using an image received from a vehicle. This on-vehicle device is provided with: an abnormality section identification unit for identifying a road section in which an abnormality is highly likely to have occurred on a road surface, on the basis of an output value from a sensor mounted to a vehicle; an image selection unit that, from a plurality of images taken at a predetermined time interval by a camera mounted to the vehicle, selects an image taken of the identified road section; and a transmission unit that can transmit the selected image to a predetermined server.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device, a method for transmitting road surface images, and a program To Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, in addition to the method of using a dedicated road surface property measuring vehicle, attempts have been made to improve the efficiency of road inspections by measuring the road surface condition using a vehicle equipped with a communication function and collecting data from the vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a road abnormality collection system that can shorten the time required to identify a part of a road that needs repair. Specifically, it is described that the vehicle-mounted device of this road abnormality collection system includes a means for recording driving history data of the vehicle while traveling on the road, a means for detecting road abnormalities while traveling on the road, a means for identifying and notifying an abnormal location on the road based on the detected road abnormality and the driving history data of the vehicle, and a means for transmitting an image of the identified abnormal location on the road taken by a camera to a management center together with position information of the identified abnormal location on the road. The management center includes a road abnormality storage means for storing and storing the image and position information of the abnormal location on the road transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses a center-side system and a vehicle-side system that enable a vehicle to know of a damaged road before traveling on it. According to this document, the center-side system includes a center-side receiving unit that receives vehicle vibration information, which is information related to vibrations generated in the probe vehicle, and probe vehicle position information, which is information related to the position of the probe vehicle, from the vehicle-side system. The center-side system also includes a traffic condition estimation unit that estimates a damaged road based on the vehicle vibration information and the probe vehicle position information received by the center-side receiving unit, and a center-side transmitting unit that transmits the estimation result of the traffic condition estimation unit to the outside. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-72667 A [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2013 / 084287 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The following analysis is given by the present inventor. According to Patent Document 1, an abnormal part of a road is detected by an abnormality in acceleration or the like when a vehicle passes over it. On the other hand, since the on-board camera is directed toward the front of the vehicle, there is a problem that local abnormalities in the road cannot be photographed when photographing after an abnormality is detected. For this reason, although an abnormality in a road can be detected, there are cases where a road administrator has to go to the trouble of visiting the site to investigate. For example, in Patent Document 1, a user also goes to the abnormality occurrence point, photographs the damaged part of the road using a digital camera or the like, and transmits the image photographed using the digital camera or the like to a management center via an on-board device (see paragraphs 0024-0025).

[0006] Patent Document 2 also does not take the above points into consideration, and although it estimates damaged roads based on vehicle vibration information and the vehicle position information, it does not mention anything about the function of photographing the local road abnormalities.

[0007] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device, a method for transmitting road surface images, and a program that can contribute to facilitating diagnosis of road abnormalities using images received from a vehicle. M The purpose is to provide. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to a first aspect, an in-vehicle device is provided which includes an abnormal section identification unit which identifies a road section where there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred on the road surface based on an output value of a sensor mounted on the vehicle, an image selection unit which selects an image of the identified road section from a plurality of images taken at a predetermined time interval by a camera mounted on the vehicle, and a transmission unit which transmits the selected image to a predetermined server.

[0009] According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for transmitting road surface images, in which an on-board device of a vehicle equipped with a camera and a sensor identifies a road section where there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred on the road surface based on an output value of the sensor, selects an image of the identified road section from a plurality of images taken by the camera at a predetermined time interval, and transmits the selected image to a predetermined server. This method is tied to a specific machine, namely, an on-board device of a vehicle equipped with a camera and a sensor.

[0010] According to a third aspect, a computer program (hereinafter, "program") for realizing each function of the above-mentioned in-vehicle device is provided. This program is input to the computer device from an input device or from the outside via a communication interface, stored in a storage device, and drives the processor according to a predetermined step or process. This program can also display the processing result, including an intermediate state, at each stage via a display device as necessary, or can communicate with the outside via the communication interface. For example, the computer device for this purpose typically includes a processor, a storage device, an input device, a communication interface, and a display device as necessary, which are connectable to each other via a bus. This program can also be recorded on a computer-readable (non-transitive) storage medium. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to facilitate diagnosis of road abnormalities using images received from a vehicle. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle equipped with an on-vehicle device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an abnormal section identification unit of the in-vehicle device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 7] 2 is a diagram showing an example of image information stored in an image storage unit of the in-vehicle device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the in-vehicle device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an on-vehicle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of an in-vehicle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image created by an in-vehicle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 12] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image created by an in-vehicle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an on-vehicle device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of an in-vehicle device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image created by an in-vehicle device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image created by an in-vehicle device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a computer installed in a vehicle according to the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] First, an overview of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the reference numerals in the drawings are added to each element for convenience as an example to aid in understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the illustrated embodiment. Also, the connection lines between blocks in the drawings and the like referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional. A unidirectional arrow is a schematic representation of the flow of a main signal (data), and does not exclude bidirectionality. A program is executed via a computer device, which includes, for example, a processor, a storage device, an input device, a communication interface, and a display device as necessary. Also, this computer device is configured to be able to communicate with devices (including computers) inside or outside the device via the communication interface, regardless of whether it is wired or wireless. Also, although there are ports or interfaces at the connection points of input and output of each block in the drawing, they are not shown.

[0014] In one embodiment, the present invention can be realized by an in-vehicle device 20 including an abnormal section identifying unit 23, an image selecting unit 24, and a transmitting unit 25, as shown in FIG.

[0015] More specifically, the abnormal section identifying unit 23 identifies a road section where there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred on the road surface, based on the output value of the sensor 22 mounted on the vehicle.

[0016] The image selection unit 24 selects an image of the specified road section from among a plurality of images taken at a predetermined time interval by the camera 21 mounted on the vehicle. The images taken by the camera 21 may be a moving image. In this case, a plurality of frames constituting the moving image are used. Furthermore, if the moving image is coded using a frame prediction method, an I frame close to the intended timing may be selected.

[0017] The transmission unit 25 is configured to be able to transmit the selected image to a predetermined server.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the in-vehicle device 20 of the present embodiment. 0 ~P 6 is the time t 0 ~t 6 The image shown is taken by the camera 21 at the time t i Image taken at P i is the time t i+1 The image shows the road surface on which the vehicle V passes after time t i If an abnormality is detected on the road surface at time t i-1 This will be shown in the previous image.

[0019] In the example in Figure 2, time t 4 ~t 5 A pothole PH exists in a section where a vehicle V passes. For example, if an acceleration sensor that measures vertical acceleration is used as a sensor, the existence of a pothole PH is detected at time t 4 After that, the vehicle V passes over the pothole PH, and the change in vertical acceleration is detected. However, at the time t 5 The images are taken by P 5 However, the pothole PH is not shown.

[0020] Therefore, the vehicle-mounted device 20 of the present embodiment detects a road section (at time t 4 ~t 5 The vehicle-mounted device 20 further selects the identified road section (at time t 4 ~t 5 ) road surface is photographed from the closest position. 3 Then, the in-vehicle device 20 selects the selected image P 3to a predetermined server. This enables the predetermined server to obtain information about the existence of the pothole PH and a set of images of the pothole PH.

[0021] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily diagnose road abnormalities using images received from a vehicle. This is because a configuration is adopted in which, in addition to determining whether or not there is an abnormality on the road, an image that accurately captures the abnormality is transmitted to a specified server.

[0022] The rule for selecting an image capturing a specific road section from among multiple images is not limited to the example in FIG. 2, but is determined by the position and angle of view of the camera 21 mounted on the vehicle V. For example, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 3, when the camera 21 is positioned at a depression angle θ 1 When the camera is installed in the above figure, the distance between the location of the pothole PH and the location of the pothole PH is D. 1 The depression angle of the camera 21 is expressed as θ 1 Smaller θ 2 If so, the location of the image showing the pothole PH and the location of the pothole PH are D 1 Longer D 2 Therefore, the image selection unit 24 selects the distance D 1 (D 2 ) of the travel time, it is possible to select images that capture a road section where there is a high possibility of an abnormality on the road surface. In this way, the rules for selecting images that capture a specific road section from multiple images vary depending on the mounting position and angle of view of the camera on the vehicle V, and therefore need to be set appropriately for each vehicle.

[0023] [First embodiment] Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 4, a configuration is shown in which a road management server 100 and a vehicle 200 equipped with an on-board device are connected via a network. Note that, although one vehicle 200 is shown in the example of Fig. 4, a configuration in which multiple vehicles 200 transmit images to the road management server 100 may also be used.

[0024] The road management server 100 receives from the vehicle 200 an image of the road where an abnormality was observed, and allows the road manager to view the image. The road manager refers to the image to determine whether or not the road needs repair and to draw up a long-term repair plan. In addition, if the vehicle 200 has a road inspection function and a function to transmit measurement data such as crack rate, rutting amount, and IRI (International Roughness Index), the road management server 100 may manage and analyze this data.

[0025] Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an on-board device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 5, the configuration of a vehicle 200 including a camera 201, a sensor 202, an abnormal section identification unit 203, an image selection unit 204, a transmission unit 205, and an image storage unit 206 is shown. The on-board device can include the abnormal section identification unit 203, the image selection unit 204, and the transmission unit 205. Of course, the on-board device may include at least one of the camera 201, the sensor 202, and the image storage unit 206.

[0026] The camera 201 is a camera that captures images of the road surface ahead of the vehicle at a predetermined time interval. The type of camera 201 can be selected according to the type of road abnormality to be detected. Therefore, the camera 201 may be an optical camera that captures images in the visible light range, an infrared camera, or a TOF (Time of Flight) camera that can measure distance using the reflection time of light.

[0027] The sensor 202 is a sensor capable of measuring at least one of the speed, acceleration, and tire rotation speed of the vehicle 200. In this embodiment, a description will be given assuming that a sensor capable of measuring the acceleration in the vertical direction (Z direction) of the vehicle 200 is used. Note that an acceleration sensor provided for measuring the IRI can also be used as such an acceleration sensor.

[0028] The abnormal section identification unit 203 identifies an abnormal section of the road based on the change in acceleration measured by the sensor 202. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the abnormal section identification unit 203. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 6, when a crack cr occurs on the road surface ahead of a vehicle V traveling on a road, vibration transmitted through the tire is measured by the sensor 202. In the section t where this vibration occurs, 11 ~t 12 The observation time can be identified as an abnormal section.

[0029] Image storage unit 206 stores images captured by camera 201 for a predetermined period of time. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of image information stored in image storage unit 206. In the example of Fig. 7, images captured by camera 201 are stored every second. Note that since the storage capacity of image storage unit 206 is limited, images are deleted from image storage unit 206 after a certain period of time has elapsed.

[0030] Image selection unit 204 selects an image capturing the abnormal section identified by abnormal section identification unit 203 from the images stored in image storage unit 206, and transmits the image to transmission unit 205. The image capturing the abnormal section is a past image capturing the position of the tire at the time when the abnormality was observed by the sensor. Therefore, image selection unit 204 can select an image capturing the abnormal section identified by abnormal section identification unit 203 by extracting an image captured at a time going back a predetermined distance of travel time from the observation time when the abnormal value of sensor 202 corresponding to the abnormal section was observed. As described above, the image capturing the position of the tire at the time when the abnormality was observed by the sensor is captured at a distance D according to the position and depression angle of camera 201. 1 (D 2) and the vehicle speed, and selects past images for a period of time calculated based on the vehicle speed (see FIG. 3). For example, the vehicle V moves at a distance D 1 (D 2 ), it takes N seconds to travel along the crack cr in FIG. 6, so that an image capturing the crack cr in FIG. 6 can be selected by selecting images N seconds in the past from the time the sensor observed the abnormality. Furthermore, when selecting the above-mentioned past images, the time required to observe (detect) the abnormality may be taken into consideration. If the time required to observe (detect) the abnormality is n, then an image capturing the crack cr in FIG. 6 can be selected by selecting images N+n seconds in the past from the time the sensor observed the abnormality. Furthermore, if there are consecutive abnormalities, such as the crack cr in FIG. 6, the image selection unit will continue to select images in succession, so that a number of images corresponding to the length of the crack will be selected.

[0031] In the above example, an image taken of an abnormal section is selected using the image capture time, but it is also possible to identify an image using location information. In this case, the abnormal section identification unit 203 needs to identify the abnormal section using a combination of location information such as latitude and longitude obtained by a GPS (Global Positioning System). In addition, the image taken by the camera 201 needs to be linked to the location information obtained by the GPS. In this case, the image selection unit 204 selects an image taken of the abnormal section identified by the combination of location information using location information of the subject (road) and the like.

[0032] The transmitting unit 205 transmits the selected image to the road management server 100. The transmitting unit 205 may be connected to a network via a wireless communication network provided by a mobile communication carrier, or via a roadside device installed near the road.

[0033] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of the in-vehicle device of the first embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, it is assumed that images are taken by the camera 201 at a predetermined time interval and stored in the image storage unit 206. The in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle 200 performs the process shown in Fig. 8 at a predetermined time interval. First, the abnormal section identification unit 203 of the in-vehicle device checks whether there is an abnormality on the road surface based on the measurement value of the sensor 202 (step S001).

[0034] If it is determined that there is an abnormality on the road surface (Yes in step S001), the image selection unit 204 selects an image of the road surface on which it is determined that an abnormality has occurred from the images stored in the image storage unit 206 (step S002). If it is determined that there is no abnormality on the road surface (No in step S001), the in-vehicle device omits the subsequent processes.

[0035] If it is determined that there is an abnormality on the road surface, the image selection unit 204 selects an image of the road surface on which it is determined that there is an abnormality from the images stored in the image storage unit 206 (step S002).

[0036] Finally, the transmission unit 205 transmits the selected images to the road management server 100 (step S003). For example, when the vehicle V travels through a section in which the crack cr exists as shown in FIG. 6, the on-board device continuously transmits images of the road surface in which the crack cr exists.

[0037] As described above, according to this embodiment, not only is it possible to detect the presence or absence of an abnormality on the road surface, but it is also possible to transmit an image of the road surface on which the abnormality has occurred to the road management server 100. This eliminates the need for road managers and others to dispatch personnel to the site, and facilitates the diagnosis of road abnormalities.

[0038] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described in which information that further facilitates diagnosis of road abnormalities is added to an image transmitted by an on-board device. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an on-board device of the second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration differs from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in that a position identification unit 207 and an image processing unit 208 are added to the vehicle 200a. Other configurations are almost the same as those of the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on the differences.

[0039] The position identifying unit 207 includes a GPS module and identifies the position of the vehicle 200a.

[0040] An image processing unit 208 processes the image selected by the image selection unit 204 by adding the vehicle position information identified by the position identification unit 207 , and then transmits the processed image to a transmission unit 205 .

[0041] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation of the in-vehicle device of the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the operation of the in-vehicle device of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 8 is that an image processing process is added after the selection of the image capturing the abnormal part in step S002. The following description will focus on this difference.

[0042] After the image selection unit 204 selects an image of a road surface determined to have an abnormality from among the images stored in the image storage unit 206 (step S002), the image selection unit 204 outputs the selected image to the image processing unit 208. The image processing unit 208 requests the position identification unit 207 to identify the current position of the vehicle 200a, and receives the position information of the vehicle 200a (step S004).

[0043] Next, the image processing unit 208 adds the vehicle position information as additional information to the image selected by the image selection unit 204 in step S002 (step S005).

[0044] Finally, the transmitting unit 205 transmits the processed image to the road management server 100 (step S003a).

[0045] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an image created by the on-board device of this embodiment. In the example of Fig. 11, the words "Abnormality Detected" and the vehicle's location information (latitude and longitude information) are added to the upper left of the image of a road on which a crack has occurred. This location information is not the location where the image was taken but the location where the sensor detected the abnormality, so it can be said that it approximately indicates the location of the abnormal part on the road. By providing the image with such location information (latitude and longitude information) added to the road administrator, it becomes easier to grasp the location of the road on which the crack has occurred.

[0046] The manner in which location information is added to an image is not limited to the example in Fig. 11. For example, as shown in Fig. 12, instead of latitude and longitude information, location information such as information on the road where the abnormality was detected (Prefectural Road XX) and location information on the road (10 m from YY intersection) may be added. Such location information can be created, for example, by using map information or the like to determine the relevant road and its relative location from the latitude and longitude information.

[0047] [Third embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described in which information that facilitates identification of an abnormality is added to an image transmitted by an in-vehicle device. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The configuration differs from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in that an abnormal region extraction unit 209 and an image processing unit 208b are added to a vehicle 200b. Other configurations are almost the same as those of the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on the differences.

[0048] When an image is input from the image processing unit 208b, the abnormal area extraction unit 209 uses a previously created area detector to identify an area in the image where an abnormality occurs on the road, and outputs information on the area in the image where an abnormality occurs on the road to the image processing unit 208b. Note that the area detector can be created by machine learning, for example, by preparing a teacher dataset in which a previously prepared road image and its abnormality mode are labeled.

[0049] Image processing unit 208b sends the image selected by image selection unit 204 to abnormal area extraction unit 209, and requests it to identify the area in the image where an abnormality occurs on the road. When image processing unit 208b receives information on the area in the image where an abnormality occurs on the road from abnormal area extraction unit 209, image processing unit 208b processes the image selected by image selection unit 204 to emphasize the area in which the abnormality occurs on the road. Furthermore, image processing unit 208b sends the processed image to transmission unit 205.

[0050] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 14 is a flow chart showing the operation of the in-vehicle device of the third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the operation of the in-vehicle device of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 8 is that an image processing process is added after the selection of the image capturing the abnormal part in step S002. The following description will focus on this difference.

[0051] After the image selection unit 204 selects an image of a road surface determined to have an abnormality from among the images stored in the image storage unit 206 (step S002), it outputs the selected image to the image processing unit 208b. The image processing unit 208b requests the abnormal area extraction unit 209 to identify an area in the image received from the image selection unit 204 where an abnormality has occurred, and receives information on the area in the image where an abnormality has occurred from the abnormal area extraction unit 209 (step S104).

[0052] Next, the image processing unit 208b uses information about the area in the image where the road abnormality occurs to perform processing to emphasize the area in the image selected by the image selection unit 204 in step S002 where the road abnormality occurs (step S105).

[0053] Finally, the transmission unit 205 transmits the processed (enhanced) image to the road management server 100 (step S003b).

[0054] 15 and 16 are diagrams showing examples of images created by the on-board device of this embodiment. In the example of FIG. 15, an arrow and a dotted line surrounding the cracked portion are added to the cracked portion of the image of the road where the crack has occurred. By providing the road manager with an image with such highlighting, it becomes easier to understand the area where the crack has occurred in the image. In the example of FIG. 16, in addition to the image of FIG. 15, the section length where the crack has been detected is displayed, saying "Crack, 15m continuous detection".

[0055] The processing for emphasizing the region where an abnormality occurs is not limited to the examples in Fig. 15 and Fig. 16. For example, a process for emphasizing the outline of the cracked portion or a process for coloring the cracked portion may be performed.

[0056] Although each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments can be made without departing from the basic technical idea of ​​the present invention. For example, the system configuration, the configuration of each element, and the data expression form shown in each drawing are examples to help understand the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown in these drawings.

[0057] For example, in the above embodiment, the sensor 202 is an acceleration sensor, but information from various instruments provided in the vehicle may be used as the sensor 202. For example, when a vehicle travels through an abnormal part of the road surface such as a crack, a decrease in vehicle speed and an increase in accelerator depression are observed due to an increase in rolling friction. Using these changes, the abnormal section identification unit 203 may identify an abnormal section of the road. Similarly, when a vehicle travels through an abnormal part of the road surface such as a crack, a decrease in the number of tire revolutions and an increase in accelerator depression are observed due to an increase in rolling friction. Using these changes, the abnormal section identification unit 203 may identify an abnormal section of the road. In this case, it is also preferable to add driving state information indicating the driving state of the vehicle 200 (vehicle speed, acceleration, shift position, engine speed, accelerator depression, etc.) to the image transmitted by the transmission unit 205. By providing such driving states to the road administrator, it is possible to further facilitate identification of abnormal parts of the road surface such as cracks.

[0058] In addition, in the above-described embodiments, the road surface abnormality is described by taking an example of potholes and cracks, but the road surface abnormality is not limited to these. Any abnormality on the road surface that can be detected by a sensor of the vehicle may be used.

[0059] The procedures shown in the above-mentioned first to third embodiments can be realized by a program that causes a computer (9000 in FIG. 17) functioning as an in-vehicle device to realize the functions of the device. Such a computer is exemplified by a configuration including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 9010, a communication interface 9020, a memory 9030, and an auxiliary storage device 9040 in FIG. 17. That is, the CPU 9010 in FIG. 17 executes an abnormal section identification processing program and an image selection program, and performs an update process of each calculation parameter held in the auxiliary storage device 9040, etc.

[0060] In other words, each unit (processing means, functions) of each device shown in the first to third embodiments described above can be realized by a computer program that causes a processor installed in these devices to execute each of the above-mentioned processes using its hardware.

[0061] Finally, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be summarized. [First form] (See the above-mentioned in-vehicle device according to the first aspect.) [Second Form] The image selection unit of the in-vehicle device includes: A configuration can be adopted in which an image capturing the specified road section is selected by selecting an image capturing the position of the tires at the time the abnormality was observed by the sensor from among images captured by the vehicle's camera. [Third Form] The image selection unit of the above-mentioned vehicle-mounted device can be configured to select past images from a period of time equivalent to the driving time of a distance determined based on the position of the vehicle's camera and the angle of view of the camera, thereby selecting an image capturing the position of the tires at the time an abnormality was observed by the sensor. [Fourth Form] In the above-mentioned on-vehicle device, the sensor is a sensor that measures at least one of speed, acceleration, and tire rotation speed, The abnormal section identification unit is A configuration may be adopted in which a section where there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the road surface is identified based on a change pattern of the output value of the sensor. [Fifth Form] The above-mentioned in-vehicle device further comprises: an image processing unit that adds information about the specified road section to an image to be transmitted to the predetermined server; The transmission unit is The processed image may be transmitted to the predetermined server. [Sixth Form] The image processing unit of the above-mentioned in-vehicle device may be configured to add information indicating a shooting location of the image selected by the image selection unit. [7th form] The in-vehicle device includes an abnormal area extraction unit that analyzes the image selected by the image selection unit and extracts an abnormal area, The image processing unit may be configured to perform processing to highlight the area extracted by the abnormal area extraction unit. [8th form] The above-mentioned in-vehicle device may have a function of adding information indicating the traveling state of the vehicle to the image to be transmitted to the predetermined server. [9th form] (See the method for transmitting road surface images from the second viewpoint above.) [10th form] (See the third perspective program above) The ninth and tenth embodiments can be expanded into the second to eighth embodiments in the same manner as the first embodiment.

[0062] The disclosures of the above patent documents are incorporated herein by reference and may be used as the basis or part of the present invention as necessary. Within the framework of the entire disclosure of the present invention (including the scope of claims), modifications and adjustments of the embodiments and examples are possible based on the basic technical ideas. Furthermore, within the framework of the disclosure of the present invention, various combinations or selections (including partial deletions) of various disclosed elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible. In other words, the present invention naturally includes various modifications and corrections that a person skilled in the art would be able to make in accordance with the entire disclosure including the scope of claims and the technical ideas. In particular, with regard to the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or small range included within the range should be interpreted as being specifically described even if not otherwise specified. Furthermore, the disclosures of the above cited documents may be used in part or in whole in combination with the disclosures of this document as part of the disclosure of the present invention in accordance with the spirit of the present invention as necessary, and are deemed to be included in the disclosures of this application. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 20 Onboard equipment 21, 201 Camera 22, 202 Sensor 23, 203 Abnormal section identification unit 24, 204 Image selection section 25, 205 Transmitter 100 Road Management Server 200, 200a, 200b, V vehicles 206 Image Storage Unit 207 Location identification part 208, 208b Image processing department 209 Abnormal region extraction part PH Pothole cr Crack 9000 Computers 9010 CPU 9020 Communication Interface 9030 Memory 9040 Auxiliary storage device

Claims

1. an abnormal section identification unit that identifies a road section where an abnormality is likely to occur on the road surface based on an output value of a sensor mounted on the vehicle; an image selection unit that selects an image of the specified road section from a plurality of images taken at a predetermined time interval by a camera mounted on the vehicle; a transmitting unit capable of transmitting the selected image to a predetermined server; An in-vehicle device comprising: The image selection unit selecting an image capturing the specified road section from among images captured by the vehicle's camera, the image capturing the tire position at the time the sensor observed the abnormality; The image selection unit The on-board device selects past images going back a distance of travel time determined based on the position of the vehicle's camera and the angle of view of the camera, thereby selecting an image capturing the tire position at the time the sensor observed an abnormality.

2. The sensor is a sensor that measures at least one of speed, acceleration, and tire rotation speed, The abnormal section identification unit is The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1 , wherein a section where there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred on the road surface is identified based on a change pattern of the output value of the sensor.

3. moreover, an image processing unit that adds information about the specified road section to an image to be transmitted to the predetermined server; The transmission unit is 3. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the processed image is transmitted to the predetermined server.

4. The in-vehicle device according to claim 3 , wherein the image processing unit adds information indicating a shooting location of the image selected by the image selection unit.

5. moreover, an abnormal region extraction unit that analyzes the image selected by the image selection unit and extracts an abnormal region; The image processing unit performs processing to highlight the area extracted by the abnormal area extraction unit.

5. The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 3 or 4.

6. 6. The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, further comprising: a controller for controlling a vehicle speed in accordance with a predetermined speed of the vehicle;

7. An on-board device of a vehicle equipped with a camera and a sensor, Identifying a road section where there is a high possibility of an abnormality occurring on the road surface based on the output value of the sensor; selecting an image of the specified road section from a plurality of images taken by the camera at a predetermined time interval; Transmitting the selected image to a predetermined server. A method for transmitting a road surface image, comprising: Selecting the captured image includes selecting an image capturing the specified road section from images captured by a camera of the vehicle, the image capturing a tire position at the time when the abnormality is observed by the sensor; and The transmission method includes selecting the captured image by going back a travel time distance determined based on the position of the camera of the vehicle and the angle of view of the camera and selecting a past image that captures the position of the tire at the time the abnormality was observed by the sensor.

8. An on-board device of a vehicle equipped with a camera and a sensor, A process of identifying a road section where there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred on the road surface based on the output value of the sensor; A process of selecting an image of the specified road section from a plurality of images taken by the camera at a predetermined time interval; transmitting the selected image to a predetermined server; A program for executing the process of selecting the captured image includes selecting an image capturing the specified road section from images captured by a camera of the vehicle, the image capturing the position of the tire at the time when the abnormality was observed by the sensor; The process of selecting the captured image includes selecting an image capturing the position of the tire at the time an abnormality was observed by the sensor by going back a travel time distance determined based on the position of the camera of the vehicle and the angle of view of the camera and selecting a past image.

Images