Information transmission device, control method, program, and storage medium

Abstract

To provide an information transmitting device that transmits data to an information processing device that collects detected object information, which is information about an object detected by a detection device mounted on a mobile body.SOLUTION: When an object is detected by a sensor unit 7, a terminal device 1 generates upload information Iu including an "object recognition event" designating information about the object and transmits the upload information Iu to a server device 2. The "object recognition event" includes various elements of "time stamp," "object ID," "offset position," "object type," "object size," "object size accuracy," and "media ID." The terminal device 1 assigns an element that cannot be identified by output data from the sensor unit 7 an unknown flag indicating that the element is unknown, among those elements.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for acquiring peripheral information of a moving object such as a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technique for updating map data based on the output of a sensor installed in a vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a driving support device that, when a change point of a partial map is detected based on the output of a sensor installed in a moving body such as a vehicle, transmits change point information related to the change point to a server device. In addition, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a specification regarding a data format for collecting data detected by a sensor on the vehicle side in a cloud server. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-156973 A [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] Here Corporation website, Vehicle Sensor Data Cloud Ingestion Interface Specification (v2.0.2), [Retrieved February 5, 2018], Internet <URL:https: / / lts.cms.here.com / static-cloud-content / Company_Site / 2015_06 / Vehicle_Sensor_Data_Cloud_Ingestion_Interface_Specification.pdf> Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When an object to be registered in a map is detected and information about the object is transmitted to a server device, some attributes of the object may not be identified for some reason. If information about the object is not transmitted to the server device because some of the attributes are unknown, the server device may not be able to collect a sufficient amount of information. On the other hand, a server device that collects information from a vehicle can collect information about objects with some unknown attributes and use the collected information for generating and updating a map.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its main object to provide an information transmission device that transmits data to an information processing device that collects detected object information, which is information regarding objects detected by a detection device mounted on a moving body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The claimed invention is An information transmitting device that transmits detected object information to an information processing device, the detected object information being information about an object that is a feature present around a road and is to be registered on a map, the information transmitting device comprising: a specification means for specifying attribute information for each attribute item of the object based on a detection result of the detection device; a generating means for generating the detected object information including attribute information for each of the items identified by the identifying means; a transmitting means for transmitting the detected object information to the information processing device; Equipped with The generating means generates flag information indicating that the attribute information is unknown, as the attribute information corresponding to the item that cannot be identified by the output of the detection device.

[0008] The claimed invention also includes: A control method executed by an information transmission device that transmits detected object information to an information processing device, the detected object information being information about an object that is a feature present around a road and is to be registered on a map, the method comprising: a specification step of specifying attribute information for each attribute item of the object based on a detection result of the detection device; a generating step of generating the detected object information including attribute information for each of the items identified in the identifying step; a transmitting step of transmitting the detected object information to the information processing device; having The generating step generates flag information indicating that the attribute information is unknown, as the attribute information corresponding to the item that cannot be identified by the output of the detection device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration of a data collection system. [Diagram 2] 2 shows block configurations of a terminal device and a server device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of processing executed by a terminal device. [Figure 4] The data structure of feature information is shown below. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the data structure of upload information. [Figure 6] 1 shows the data structure of "vehicle metadata" included in the header information. [Figure 7] 1 shows the data structure of an "object recognition event" included in the event information. [Figure 8] 13 is a correspondence table relating to unknown flags. [Figure 9] 1 shows an overhead view of when an object is detected by a sensor unit mounted on a vehicle traveling on a road. [Figure 10] 1 is a flowchart showing an overview of a process according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 13 is a schematic configuration of a data collection system according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a data structure of data transmitted to an information processing device that collects detected object information, which is information about an object detected by a detection device mounted on a moving body, has attribute designation information that designates a predetermined attribute of an object based on a detection result of the detection device, and the attribute designation information corresponding to an attribute that cannot be specified by the detection result is designated with information indicating that the attribute is unknown. Here, the "object detected by the detection device" is not limited to an object detected by the detection device performing a detection process by itself, but also includes an object detected by another device performing a predetermined analysis process on output data of the detection device. According to such a data structure, even if an attribute that cannot be specified exists for an object detected by the detection device, information about the detected object can be suitably transmitted to the information processing device. In a preferred example, the data transmitted to the information processing device may be used to generate map data.

[0011] In one aspect of the above data structure, the data structure includes attribute designation information that designates the position, type, and size of the object as the predetermined attributes, and when at least one of the attributes of the type and size of the object cannot be identified, information indicating that the attribute is unknown is designated in the attribute designation information corresponding to the attribute. With this aspect, even when the type or size of the object detected by the detection device cannot be identified, information designating at least information related to the position of the object can be transmitted to the information processing device.

[0012] In another aspect of the data structure, when there is attribute designation information in which the information indicating that the attribute is unknown is specified, information indicating the reason why the attribute is unknown is further included. With this aspect, when there is attribute designation information in which the information indicating that the attribute is unknown is specified, the reason can be notified to the information processing device, and the information processing device can use the information for generating map data, etc.

[0013] In another aspect of the data structure, when the attribute of the object identified by the output of the detection device does not fall into any of the predefined options to be specified in the attribute designation information, information indicating that the attribute designation information is undefined is specified in the attribute designation information. Here, the "option" refers to the predefined information candidates to be specified in the attribute designation information of the target. By transmitting data based on this data structure, the information processing device can be suitably notified of the reason why the attribute of the target is unknown.

[0014] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an information transmitting device transmits detected object information, which is information about an object detected by a detection device mounted on a moving body, to an information processing device, comprising: a specifying means for specifying a predetermined attribute of the object based on a detection result of the detection device; a specifying means for specifying the predetermined attribute specified by the specifying means as attribute specifying information; and a transmitting means for transmitting the detected object information including the attribute specifying information to the information processing device, wherein the specifying means specifies information indicating "unknown" for the attribute specifying information corresponding to an attribute that cannot be specified by the output of the detection device. By transmitting data having such a data structure to the information processing device, the information transmitting device can suitably transmit information about the detected object to the information processing device even if an attribute that cannot be specified exists for the object detected by the detection device.

[0015] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a control method executed by an information transmitting device that transmits detected object information, which is information about an object detected by a detection device mounted on a moving body, to an information processing device, comprising: an identifying step of identifying a predetermined attribute of the object based on a detection result of the detection device; a designation step of designating the predetermined attribute identified by the identifying step as attribute designation information; and a transmission step of transmitting the detected object information including the attribute designation information to the information processing device, wherein the designation step designates information indicating that the attribute designation information is unknown for an attribute that cannot be identified by the output of the detection device. By executing this control method, the information transmitting device can suitably transmit information about the detected object to the information processing device.

[0016] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a program causes a computer to execute the above-described control method. By executing the program, the computer functions as the above-described information transmission device. Preferably, the program is stored in a storage medium. EXAMPLES

[0017] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] [Data collection system overview] 1 is a schematic configuration of a data collection system according to the present embodiment. The data collection system includes a terminal device 1 that is mounted on each vehicle, which is a moving body, and moves with the vehicle, and a server device 2 that communicates with each terminal device 1 via a network. Based on information transmitted from each terminal device 1, the data collection system updates a map held by the server device 2 or a map server device (not shown) that is connected to the server device via a communication line. In the following description, the term "map" includes data used in an ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and autonomous driving, in addition to data referenced by a conventional onboard device for route guidance.

[0019] When the terminal device 1 detects a predetermined event based on the output of the sensor unit 7 including a camera and a lidar (LIDAR: Laser Illuminated Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR: Light Detection and Ranging), the terminal device 1 transmits information related to the detected event (also referred to as "event information") to the server device 2 by including the information in upload information Iu. The above-mentioned event may be, for example, an "object recognition event" which is an event related to the recognition of an object (object) around the vehicle position. The terminal device 1 also receives download information "Id" for updating the map data from the server device 2.

[0020] The terminal device 1 may be an on-board device or a part of an on-board device attached to a vehicle, or may be a part of the vehicle. Alternatively, the terminal device 1 may be a portable terminal device such as a notebook PC as long as the sensor unit 7 can be connected. The terminal device 1 is an example of an information transmission device. Furthermore, an external sensor such as a camera or a lidar is an example of a detection device.

[0021] The server device 2 receives and stores the upload information Iu from each terminal device 1. For example, the server device 2 detects changes (change points) from a reference point in time of creating map data (described later) based on the collected upload information Iu, and updates the map data to reflect the detected change points. The server device 2 is an example of an information processing device and a map creating device.

[0022] [Terminal device configuration] Fig. 2(A) shows a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the terminal device 1. As shown in Fig. 2(A), the terminal device 1 mainly has a communication unit 11, a storage unit 12, an input unit 13, a control unit 14, an interface 15, and an output unit 16. The elements in the terminal device 1 are connected to each other via a bus line 98.

[0023] The communication unit 11, under the control of the control unit 14, transmits upload information Iu to the server device 2 and receives map data for updating the map DB 4 from the server device 2. The communication unit 11 may also perform a process of transmitting a signal for controlling the vehicle to the vehicle and a process of receiving a signal related to the state of the vehicle from the vehicle.

[0024] The storage unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 14 and information necessary for the control unit 14 to execute predetermined processes. In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores a map DB 4, a sensor data cache 6, and vehicle attribute information “IV”.

[0025] The map DB4 stores various data used in autonomous driving, ADAS, and the like. The map DB4 is a database including, for example, road data in which a road network is represented by a combination of nodes and links, facility data, and feature information around the roads. The feature information is information on features such as signs such as road signs, road markings such as stop lines, road dividing lines such as center lines, and structures along the roads. In addition, the map DB4 may store various data necessary for position estimation.

[0026] The sensor data cache 6 is a cache memory that temporarily stores output data (so-called raw data) of the sensor unit 7. The vehicle attribute information IV indicates information related to attributes of the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted, such as the vehicle type, vehicle ID, vehicle length, vehicle width, vehicle height, and vehicle fuel type.

[0027] The input unit 13 is, for example, a button, a touch panel, a remote controller, a voice input device, etc., for operation by the user, and receives, for example, an input specifying a destination for route search, an input specifying on / off of autonomous driving, etc., and supplies the generated input signal to the control unit 14. The output unit 16 is, for example, a display, a speaker, etc., which perform output based on the control of the control unit 14.

[0028] The interface 15 performs an interface operation for supplying output data of the sensor unit 7 to the control unit 14 and a sensor data cache. The sensor unit 7 includes a plurality of external sensors for recognizing the surrounding environment of the vehicle, such as a lidar 31 and a camera 32, and internal sensors, such as a GPS receiver 33, a gyro sensor 34, a position sensor 35, and a three-axis sensor 36. The lidar 31 discretely measures the distance to an object existing in the external world, recognizes the surface of the object as a three-dimensional point cloud, and generates point cloud data. The camera 32 generates image data photographed from the vehicle. The position sensor 35 is provided for detecting the mounting position of each external sensor, and the three-axis sensor 36 is provided for detecting the attitude of each external sensor. The sensor unit 7 may have any external sensor and internal sensor other than the external sensor and internal sensor shown in FIG. 2(A). For example, the sensor unit 7 may include an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, a microphone, or the like as an external sensor. Any external sensor included in the sensor unit 7 functions as a detection device.

[0029] The control unit 14 includes a CPU that executes a predetermined program, and controls the entire terminal device 1. The control unit 14 performs control to assist the driver, such as route guidance and automatic driving, and performs object detection for map updates, based on the map DB 4 and output data from the sensor unit 7. Functionally, the control unit 14 includes a position estimation unit 17, an object detection unit 18, an upload data generation unit 19, and a map update unit 20. The control unit 14 functions as a specifying means, a designating means, a transmitting means, a computer that executes a program, and the like.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an overview of the processes performed by the position estimation unit 17, the object detection unit 18, the upload data generation unit 19, and the map update unit 20 of the terminal device 1.

[0031] The position estimation unit 17 estimates the vehicle position (including the vehicle attitude) based on the output data of the sensor unit 7 stored in the sensor data cache 6 and the map DB 4. The position estimation unit 17 is capable of executing various position estimation methods. For example, the position estimation unit 17 executes a vehicle position estimation method using dead reckoning (autonomous navigation) based on the output of an autonomous positioning sensor such as a GPS receiver 33 and a gyro sensor 34, a vehicle position estimation method that performs a process (map matching) of further matching road data in the map DB 4 with the autonomous navigation, and a vehicle position estimation method based on output data from external sensors such as the lidar 31 and the camera 32 and position information of the landmark indicated by the feature information in the map DB 4, using a predetermined object (landmark) existing in the surroundings as a reference. Then, the position estimation unit 17 executes, for example, a position estimation method with the highest estimation accuracy among currently executable position estimation methods, and supplies the upload data generation unit 19 with vehicle position information indicating the vehicle position obtained based on the executed position estimation method.

[0032] The object detection unit 18 detects a predetermined target object based on the point cloud information, image data, audio data, etc. output by the sensor unit 7. In this case, for example, the object detection unit 18 extracts feature information corresponding to the object detected by the sensor unit 7 from the map DB 4 based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit 17. Then, when there is a difference between the position and shape, etc. of the object detected by the sensor unit 7 and the position and shape, etc. of the object indicated by the feature information extracted from the map DB 4, or when there is no corresponding feature information in the map DB 4, the object detection unit 18 supplies information on the object detected by the sensor unit 7 (also referred to as "object detection data") to the upload data generation unit 19. Note that, when there is an item of the information on the object that could not be detected, the object detection unit 18 generates object detection data with a message to the effect that the item is "unknown" and the reason for the same. For example, when the sensor unit 7 acquires image data, if the object detection unit 18 cannot identify the object type based on the image data because of occlusion with another object, the object type is recorded as unknown and the reason is lack of data due to occlusion in the object detection data. The fact that the object type is unknown and the reason for this may be specified by an unknown flag shown in Fig. 8, which will be described later.

[0033] When object detection unit 18 detects a specific object, regardless of whether there is a difference in shape, position, etc. between the object detected by sensor unit 7 and the object indicated by the feature information in map DB 4, object detection unit 18 may supply object detection data related to the object to upload data generation unit 19. For example, when object detection unit 18 recognizes the content, shape, position, etc. of a road sign based on the output of sensor unit 7, or recognizes the position, shape, etc. of a lane boundary (i.e., a dividing line, etc.), it may supply these recognition results to upload data generation unit 19 as object data.

[0034] The upload data generation unit 19 generates upload information Iu based on the vehicle position information supplied from the position estimation unit 17, the object detection data supplied from the object detection unit 18, and the vehicle attribute information IV. Then, the upload data generation unit 19 transmits the generated upload information Iu to the server device 2 via the communication unit 11. The data structure of the upload information Iu transmitted by the upload data generation unit 19 will be described in detail in the section "Data Structure".

[0035] The map update unit 20 updates the map DB 4 based on the download information Id received from the server device 2 by the communication unit 11 .

[0036] [Server device configuration] Fig. 2(B) is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server device 2. As shown in Fig. 2(B), the server device 2 mainly has a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit 23. The elements in the server device 2 are connected to each other via a bus line 99.

[0037] Under the control of the control unit 23, the communication unit 21 receives upload information Iu from each terminal device 1 and transmits download information Id for updating the map DB 4 to each terminal device 1.

[0038] The storage unit 22 stores programs executed by the control unit 23 and information necessary for the control unit 23 to execute predetermined processes. In this embodiment, the storage unit 22 stores a delivery map DB 5 and an event information DB 9.

[0039] The delivery map DB 5 is map data to be delivered to each terminal device 1, and similarly to the map DB 4, various data used in autonomous driving, ADAS, and the like is recorded therein.

[0040] The event information DB9 is a database that records event information included in the upload information Iu received from each terminal device 1. The data recorded in the event information DB9 is used, for example, to update the delivery map DB5, and is reflected in the delivery map DB5 after predetermined statistical processing, verification processing, etc. are performed.

[0041] The control unit 23 includes a CPU that executes a predetermined program, and controls the entire server device 2. In this embodiment, when the control unit 23 receives upload information Iu including event information from the terminal device 1 via the communication unit 21, the control unit 23 registers the event information in the event information DB 9. The control unit 23 also refers to the event information DB 9 at a predetermined timing and updates the feature information and the like in the delivery map DB 5. Furthermore, the control unit 23 transmits download information Id including the updated feature information and the like to the terminal device 1 via the communication unit 21. The control unit 23 functions as a transmission means.

[0042] [Data Structure] Next, the data structures of the map DB 4, the delivery map DB 5, and the upload information Iu will be described.

[0043] (1) Map DB and distribution map DB First, the data structures of the map DB 4 and the delivery map DB 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0044] Fig. 4(A) shows an example of the data structure of feature information contained in the map DB 4 and the delivery map DB 5. The feature information shown in Fig. 4(A) includes the elements of "feature ID", "associated link ID", "type ID", "size", "absolute position", and "relative position". In addition, the "Example of specified information" column shows an example of information specified for each item when a certain feature is the target.

[0045] Here, the "feature ID" is an item that specifies the feature ID, which is a unique identification number assigned to each feature. The "belonging link ID" is an item that specifies the link ID of the road on which the target feature exists, and the "type ID" is an item that specifies an identification number or the like that indicates the type of the target object. The "absolute position" is an item that specifies the position of the target object by latitude and longitude. The "relative position" is an item that specifies the relative position of the target object, and has sub-elements "distance from start node" and "distance from reference position". The "distance from start node" is an item that specifies the distance along the road from the start node of the road indicated by the belonging link ID to the target feature, and the "distance from reference position" is an item that specifies the distance in the road width direction from a predetermined reference position to the target feature. Here, the above-mentioned reference position is, for example, the position of a division line such as a roadway outer line. Note that information for identifying the above-mentioned reference position may be specified in the feature information. Each element of the "feature ID", "belonging link ID", "type ID", "size", "absolute position", and "relative position" is an example of "attribute information".

[0046] In this embodiment, information indicating that the attribute is unknown is specified for the item corresponding to the unknown attribute among the attributes of the target feature. In the example of Fig. 4(A), an identification number (also called an "unknown flag") "F-1" indicating that the attribute is unknown is specified for the "type ID" and "size".

[0047] Fig. 4B is a correspondence table relating to unknown flags. In Fig. 4B, as an example, the unknown flags are assigned different identification numbers for each reason why the unknown flags are unknown.

[0048] "F-1" is an unknown flag that is designated when the type cannot be identified due to a lack of samples. For example, when the server device 2 is configured to perform a process of identifying attribute information about a target feature when a predetermined number or more of upload information Iu including event information of an "object recognition event" related to the target feature are received, if the number of received information is less than the predetermined number, the server device 2 determines that the type and size of the feature cannot be determined due to a lack of samples and designates the unknown flag "F-1" in each of the items "type ID" and "size". Furthermore, "F-2" is an unknown flag that is designated when there are multiple candidates as information to be designated in an item such as "type ID". For example, when the server device 2 analyzes the event information of an "object recognition event" related to the target feature and determines that there are multiple promising candidates as the type of the target feature and cannot determine which of these is correct, the server device 2 designates the type ID of the target feature as "F-2". This will be described using the item "type ID" as an example. FIG. 4(C) is a table that defines available type IDs. In FIG. 4(C), a unique type ID is assigned to each type of feature. If the server device 2 analyzes the event information of the "object recognition event" related to the target feature and identifies a type of the target feature that is not defined in the table shown in Figure 4 (C) (e.g., a rockfall), the server device 2 designates the type ID as "99", indicating that the type is undefined.

[0049] In this way, information indicating that the feature is unknown is specified for a specific item of the feature information that corresponds to an attribute of the feature that the server device 2 could not identify when the feature information was generated. Even in this case, the terminal device 1 or the like that refers to the feature information can appropriately recognize the presence of the target feature by referring to information of the item (e.g., "absolute position" and "relative position") for which information that is not unknown is specified, and can be used for automatic driving control, etc. Furthermore, for features whose attributes are unknown, the server device 2 can take appropriate measures required to acquire attribute information according to the reason why the attributes are unknown. In this embodiment, the reason why the attribute is unknown is directly specified in the items "type ID" and "size" that indicate the attributes, but the fact that the attribute is unknown and the reason why the attribute is unknown may be defined as separate items. Specifically, for example, a value indicating that the attribute is unknown (e.g., "0") may be specified in the "type ID", and for example, "F-1" may be registered as the "reason" that specifies the reason when the attribute is unknown.

[0050] (2) Upload information Next, a specific example of the data structure of the upload information Iu will be described.

[0051] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of the data structure of the upload information Iu transmitted by the terminal device 1. As shown in Fig. 5, the upload information Iu includes header information, driving route information, event information, and media information.

[0052] The header information (Envelope) includes the items of "Version", "Submitter", and "Vehicle Metadata". The terminal device 1 specifies information on the version of the data structure of the upload information Iu to be used in "Version", and specifies information on the name of the company submitting the upload information Iu (vehicle OEM name or system vendor name) in "Submitter". In addition, the terminal device 1 specifies each piece of information of the vehicle attribute information IV and information of the reference table RT in "Vehicle Metadata", as will be described later.

[0053] The travel route information (Path) includes an item of "Position Estimate". In this "Position Estimate", the terminal device 1 designates, in addition to timestamp information indicating the position estimation time, information on latitude, longitude, and altitude indicating the estimated vehicle position, and information on the estimation accuracy thereof, etc.

[0054] The event information (Path Events) includes the items of "Object Detection", "Sign Recognition", and "Lane Boundary Recognition". When the terminal device 1 detects an object recognition event, it designates information resulting from the detection as an "Object Recognition Event". As described later with reference to FIG. 7, information on the recognition result of an object other than a sign and a lane boundary line when the object is detected is designated as the "Object Recognition Event". When the terminal device 1 detects a sign recognition event, it designates information resulting from the detection as a "Sign Recognition Event". For example, information on the recognition result of a sign when the sign is detected is designated as the "Sign Recognition Event". When the terminal device 1 detects a lane boundary recognition event, it designates information resulting from the detection as a "Lane Boundary Recognition Event". For example, information on the recognition result of a lane boundary when the lane boundary is detected is designated as the "Lane Boundary Recognition Event". Note that each of the items of the "Object Recognition Event", "Sign Recognition Event", and "Lane Boundary Recognition Event" is optional. Therefore, the terminal device 1 only needs to specify information that is the detection result in the item that corresponds to the detected event.

[0055] The media information (Path Media) is a data type used when transmitting raw data, which is output data (detection information) from the sensor unit 7.

[0056] Figure 6 shows the data structure of the "vehicle metadata" included in the header information. Figure 6 shows information on whether each element (sub-item) included in the "vehicle metadata" is mandatory or optional.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 6, the “vehicle metadata” includes at least the following elements: “vehicle type (vehicleTypeGenericEnum)”, “vehicle ID”, “vehicle length (vehicleLength_m)”, “vehicle width (vehicleWidth_m)”, “vehicle height (vehicleHeight_m)”, and “primary fuel type (primaryFuelType)”.

[0058] Here, the upload data generating unit 19 of the terminal device 1 specifies information based on the vehicle attribute information IV stored in the storage unit 12 for each element such as "vehicle type", "vehicle length", "vehicle width", "vehicle height", and "first fuel type". Note that each element such as "vehicle length", "vehicle width", "vehicle height", and "first fuel type" is an optional item, and in cases where there is no information corresponding to the vehicle attribute information IV, no information is specified. Furthermore, the upload data generating unit 19 specifies, for "vehicle ID", an identification number of the vehicle included in the vehicle attribute information IV stored in the storage unit 12. Note that the vehicle ID may be an ID assigned to the terminal device 1 or an ID that identifies the owner of the vehicle, in addition to a unique ID assigned to the vehicle.

[0059] Fig. 7 shows the data structure of an "object recognition event" included in event information. In Fig. 7, for each element (sub-item) included in the "object recognition event", information on whether the specification of information corresponding to each element is mandatory or optional is shown in the "mandatory / optional" column, and whether or not it is possible to specify information that is unknown is shown in the "possibility of specifying 'unknown'" column. Each element included in the "object recognition event" is an example of "attribute specification information".

[0060] As shown in FIG. 7, an “object recognition event” includes the following elements: “timestamp (timeStampUTC_ms)”, “object ID (detectedObjectID)”, “offset position (PositionOffset)”, “object type (objectType)”, “object size (objectSize_m)”, “object size accuracy (objectSizeAccuracy_m)”, and “media ID (mediaID)”.

[0061] When the upload data generation unit 19 of the terminal device 1 receives object detection data indicating the object detection result from the object detection unit 18, it generates event information including an “object recognition event” having the data structure shown in FIG.

[0062] Here, the upload data generation unit 19 specifies the time when the object was detected in the "timestamp", and specifies the object ID of the detected object in the "object ID". The object ID may be a feature ID used in the map DB 4 or the delivery map DB 5. If the upload data generation unit 19 cannot identify the object ID of the detected object, it specifies an unknown flag indicating that the object ID is unknown in the "object ID". In addition, the upload data generation unit 19 specifies information on the relative position of the detected object from the vehicle (for example, latitude difference and longitude difference, etc.) in the "offset position".

[0063] "Object type" is an item for specifying information similar to the "Type ID" of the feature information shown in Fig. 5(A), and the upload data generation unit 19 specifies information indicating the type of the detected object in "object type". Note that if the upload data generation unit 19 cannot identify the object type of the detected object, it specifies an unknown flag indicating that the object type is unknown in "object type".

[0064] Furthermore, when size information of a detected object and information on the accuracy of the size are included in the object detection data supplied from the object detection unit 18, the upload data generation unit 19 designates these pieces of information as the elements of "object size" and "object size accuracy." When the upload data generation unit 19 cannot identify the size of a detected object, it designates an unknown flag as "object size." Similarly, when the upload data generation unit 19 cannot identify the size accuracy of a detected object, it designates an unknown flag as "object size accuracy."

[0065] Furthermore, when it is necessary to transmit raw data such as images, videos, and point cloud data output by the sensor unit 7, the upload data generation unit 19 designates the identification information given to the raw data in the "media ID." Detailed information on the media (raw data) designated by the "media ID" element is stored separately in the "media information" item.

[0066] FIG. 8 shows a correspondence table regarding unknown flags. In FIG. 8, as an example, the unknown flags are assigned different identification numbers for each unknown reason. Here, the unknown flag "Fa" is set when the output data of the sensor unit 7 regarding the target object is insufficient due to occlusion in which the target object is blocked by another object, and the attribute of the target becomes unknown. The unknown flag "Fb" is set when the attribute of the target becomes unknown due to insufficient measurement accuracy of the sensor of the sensor unit 7 used to detect the target object. The unknown flag "Fc" is set when, as a result of analyzing the output of the sensor unit 7, multiple candidates are found for the attribute of the target (e.g., object ID, object type, etc.) and it is not possible to determine which candidate is correct. The unknown flag "Fd" is set when, when the attribute of the target is selected from multiple predefined options (e.g., traffic light, sign, etc. when the attribute of the target is an object type), as a result of analyzing the output of the sensor unit 7, the content to be specified for the attribute of the target does not correspond to any of the above options. In this way, by using an unknown flag that contains information regarding the reason for the ambiguity, the upload data generation unit 19 can allow the server device 2 to conveniently understand the reason why the target attributes could not be identified, and can utilize this information for map creation analysis, etc.

[0067] Here, the necessity of setting the unknown flag will be further explained with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows an overhead view when an object 42 (here, a postbox) is detected by a sensor unit 7 mounted on a vehicle traveling on a road 40. In the example of FIG. 9, a bicycle path 41 exists in front of the object 42, which is a feature, and a bicycle pedestrian 43 exists between the vehicle and the object 42 when the object 42 is detected by the sensor unit 7, so that occlusion of the object 42 occurs. In this case, the terminal device 1 may not be able to identify specific attributes of the object 42, such as the size and type, because the sensor unit 7 can only obtain part of the data of the object 42. Even in this case, the terminal device 1 attaches an unknown flag to the item corresponding to the attribute that cannot be identified and transmits the upload information Iu to the server device 2. As a result, the server device 2 knows that some feature exists at the position of the object 42, and therefore can suitably collect the upload information Iu required to generate feature information of the object 42.

[0068] [Processing flow] FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart showing an outline of the processing in this embodiment.

[0069] First, the terminal device 1 determines whether or not a predetermined event has been detected (step S101). For example, the terminal device 1 determines whether or not an event (such as an object recognition event) to be transmitted as event information has occurred based on the output of the sensor unit 7. Then, when the terminal device 1 detects an event (step S101; Yes), it generates event information and transmits upload information Iu including the generated event information to the server device 2 (step S102). At this time, when transmitting event information of an object recognition event related to the detection of an object, the terminal device 1 attaches an unknown flag shown in FIG. 8 to an item corresponding to an attribute of the object that could not be identified by the output data of the sensor unit 7 among the attributes of the object.

[0070] The server device 2 receives the upload information Iu transmitted in step S102, and stores the upload information Iu in the event information DB 9 (step S201). Then, the server device 2 determines whether it is time to update the delivery map DB 5 (step S202). The update timing may be determined based on the length of time since the delivery map DB 5 was last updated, or may be determined based on the cumulative number of pieces of upload information Iu received since the delivery map DB 5 was last updated.

[0071] If it is time to update the delivery map DB5 (step S202; Yes), the server device 2 generates feature information by referring to the event information DB9, and updates the delivery map DB5 using the generated feature information (step S203). The server device 2 then transmits download information Id indicating the feature information generated in step S203 to each terminal device 1 (step S204). Note that the server device 2 may transmit the download information Id only to the terminal device 1 that has requested the transmission of the download information Id. On the other hand, if it is not time to update the delivery map DB5 (step S202; No), the server device 2 continues to execute step S201.

[0072] On the other hand, after executing step S102, or if the terminal device 1 does not detect a predetermined event in step S101, the terminal device 1 determines whether or not the download information Id has been received from the server device 2 (step S103). Then, if the terminal device 1 receives the download information Id (step S103; Yes), the terminal device 1 updates the map DB 4 using the download information Id (step S104). As a result, the map DB 4 records the latest information on objects around the road, and is preferably used for route search, warning, automatic driving control, and the like. On the other hand, if the terminal device 1 does not receive the download information Id from the server device 2 (step S103; No), the terminal device 1 returns the process to step S101.

[0073] [Variations] The processing of the server device 2 described in the embodiment may be executed by a server system (a so-called cloud server) consisting of a plurality of server devices.

[0074] For example, the server system may be composed of a server that stores the distribution map DB 5, a server that stores the event information DB 9, and a server that performs generation processing of feature information. In this case, each server appropriately receives information required to execute a process assigned to it in advance from the other servers and executes the predetermined process.

[0075] Furthermore, information about the detected object (i.e., information having the data structure of FIG. 7) may be exchanged between the terminal device 1 and the server device 2, or between servers. FIG. 11 shows a schematic configuration of a data collection system according to a modified example. The data collection system shown in FIG. 11 has a plurality of terminal devices 1, a vehicle cloud 2A, and a map cloud 2B. The vehicle cloud 2A is a group of servers mainly managed by a car vendor, and the map cloud 2B is a group of servers mainly managed by a map vendor.

[0076] In this case, the vehicle cloud 2A and the map cloud 2B may receive the upload information Iu from the terminal device 1 of each vehicle, similar to the server device 2 of the embodiment. This allows the vehicle cloud 2A and the map cloud 2B to collect event information required for generating feature information. In addition, the vehicle cloud 2A may transmit the feature information generated based on the upload information Iu to the map cloud 2B. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1 Terminal equipment 2. Server equipment 4. Map DB 5 Distribution map database 6 Sensor Data Cache 7 Sensor section 9 Event Information Database

Claims

1. An information transmitting device that transmits detected object information to an information processing device, the detected object information being information about an object that is a feature present around a road and is to be registered on a map, the information transmitting device comprising: a specification means for specifying attribute information for each attribute item of the object based on a detection result of the detection device; a generating means for generating the detected object information including attribute information for each of the items identified by the identifying means; a transmitting means for transmitting the detected object information to the information processing device; Equipped with The generating means generates flag information indicating that the attribute information is unknown, as the attribute information corresponding to the item that cannot be identified by the output of the detecting device.

2. The information transmission device according to claim 1 , wherein the detected object information is used for generating map data.

3. The items include a position, a type, and a size of the object; The information transmission device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the generation means generates the flag information as the attribute information corresponding to the item corresponding to at least one of the attributes of the type and size of the object when the attribute cannot be identified.

4. An information transmission device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the attribute of the object identified by the output of the detection device does not fall into any of the predefined options to be generated as attribute information of the item, the generation means generates flag information indicating that the reason for the unknown is undefined.

5. A control method executed by an information transmission device that transmits detected object information to an information processing device, the detected object information being information about objects that are present around a road and are targets of registration on a map, the method comprising: a specification step of specifying attribute information for each attribute item of the object based on a detection result of the detection device; a generating step of generating the detected object information including attribute information for each of the items identified in the identifying step; a transmitting step of transmitting the detected object information to the information processing device; having The generating step generates flag information indicating that the attribute information corresponds to the item that cannot be identified by the output of the detection device, the flag information indicating that the attribute information is unknown.

6. A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 5.

7. A storage medium storing the program according to claim 6.

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