Information processing apparatus, and information processing program

Abstract

To provide an information processor and an information processing program that can accurately estimate a traffic volume of vehicles in a road area when the traffic volume is estimated using captured images.SOLUTION: An information processor includes: an acquisition unit for acquiring a captured image of an area including a road area captured from above, location information of a vehicle located in the area, and operation information concerning operation of the vehicle; a determination unit for determining a parking area in which the vehicle is to be parked using the location information and the operation information; and an estimation unit for identifying the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, and extracting vehicles present in the road area to estimate a traffic volume of the road area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing program for estimating the traffic volume by vehicles traveling on a road.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle density observation apparatus that extracts a vehicle line segment group indicating vehicles using an input image taken from above, derives the density of the vehicle line segment group for each local area, and synthesizes and presents the derived density of the vehicle line segment group on the corresponding map information.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In recent years, there is a technique of extracting vehicles from a captured image actually taken from above and estimating the traffic volume of a road area from the extracted vehicles.

[0005] However, when estimating the traffic volume using a captured image, for example, vehicles parked in a parking area may be erroneously extracted. Therefore, it has not always been possible to accurately estimate the traffic volume of vehicles in the road area.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing program capable of accurately estimating the traffic volume of vehicles in a road area when estimating the traffic volume using a captured image.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 includes an acquisition unit that acquires a captured image obtained by photographing an area including a road area from above, position information of a vehicle located in the area, and operation information regarding the operation of the vehicle, a determination unit that determines a parking area where the vehicle parks using the position information and the operation information, and an estimation unit that specifies the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, extracts vehicles existing in the road area, and estimates the traffic volume of the road area.

[0008] The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 acquires a captured image obtained by photographing an area including a road area from above, position information of a vehicle located in the area, and operation information of the vehicle, determines a parking area using the position information and the operation information, specifies the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, extracts vehicles traveling on the road area, and estimates the traffic volume. Thereby, when estimating the traffic volume using the captured image, the traffic volume of vehicles in the road area can be accurately estimated.

[0009] The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the position information and the operation information from a vehicle that is started, and when there is a period in which the determination unit cannot acquire the position information and the operation information, and the position information indicates the same position before and after the period, the determination unit determines that the position indicated by the position information is the parking area.

[0010] According to the information processing apparatus according to claim 2, the parking area can be determined more accurately.

[0011] The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the operation information includes at least one of information on the state of a shift range, the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and the steering angle.

[0012] According to the information processing apparatus according to claim 3, based on the driving data of the vehicle, the road area and the parking area can be identified.

[0013] The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 is the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the estimation unit is an estimation model obtained by performing machine learning for estimating the traffic volume using the captured images captured in the past, and the estimation model takes as inputs the determination result by the determination unit and the captured image, and outputs the traffic volume of the road area included in the captured image.

[0014] According to the information processing apparatus described in claim 4, based on the traffic volume in the past captured images, the traffic volume in the currently captured image can be estimated.

[0015] The information processing program according to claim 5 causes a computer to execute a process of acquiring a captured image obtained by photographing from above a region including a road area, position information of vehicles located in the region, and operation information regarding operations of the vehicles, determining a parking area where the vehicles park using the operation information, specifying the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, extracting vehicles existing in the road area, and estimating the traffic volume of the road area.

[0016] The computer on which the information processing program according to claim 5 is executed acquires a captured image obtained by photographing from above a region including a road area, position information of vehicles located in the region, and operation information of the vehicles, determines a parking area using the position information and the operation information, specifies the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, extracts vehicles traveling on the road area, and estimates the traffic volume. Thereby, when estimating the traffic volume using the captured image, the traffic volume of vehicles in the road area can be accurately estimated.

Advantages of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, when estimating the traffic volume using a captured image, the traffic volume of vehicles in the road area can be accurately estimated.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] An information processing system including the information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. The information processing system is a system that extracts vehicles from photographed images taken from above by an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone), a satellite, etc. using information about the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle information") acquired from an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle, and estimates the traffic volume. Note that the vehicle information according to this embodiment is information including position information indicating the position of the vehicle and operation information related to the operation of the vehicle, and the form thereof will be described.

[0020] (Overall Configuration) As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a vehicle 12 and a center server 30 as an information processing apparatus. Further, an in-vehicle device 20 is mounted on the vehicle 12, and the in-vehicle devices 20 are connected to the center server 30 via a network N.

[0021] Note that in FIG. 1, one vehicle 12 including an in-vehicle unit 20 is illustrated with respect to one center server 30, but the numbers of the vehicle 12, the in-vehicle unit 20, and the center server 30 are not limited to this.

[0022] The in-vehicle unit 20 is a device that acquires vehicle information of the vehicle 12 and transmits it to the center server 30. Here, the vehicle information according to the present embodiment includes position information indicating the position of the vehicle 12 detected from each device mounted on the vehicle 12 and operation information regarding the operation of the vehicle 12.

[0023] The center server 30 is installed, for example, at a manufacturer that manufactures the vehicle 12 or a dealer of the manufacturer's series. The center server 30 acquires vehicle information from the in-vehicle unit 20 and uses the acquired vehicle information and a captured image corresponding to the position information included in the vehicle information to extract the vehicle included in the captured image and estimate the traffic volume of the road area included in the captured image. Here, the center server 30 uses the position information and the operation information included in the vehicle information to determine a parking area where the vehicle parks, specifies a captured image from the parking area, and estimates the traffic volume in the road area.

[0024] (Vehicle) As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 12 according to the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle unit 20, a plurality of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) 22, and in-vehicle devices 24.

[0025] The in-vehicle unit 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20A, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 20B, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20C, an in-vehicle communication I / F (Interface) 20D, a wireless communication I / F 20E, and an input / output I / F 20F. The CPU 20A, the ROM 20B, the RAM 20C, the in-vehicle communication I / F 20D, the wireless communication I / F 20E, and the input / output I / F 20F are communicably connected to each other via an internal bus 20G.

[0026] The CPU 20A is a central processing unit that executes various programs and controls each part. That is, the CPU 20A reads a program from the ROM 20B and executes the program using the RAM 20C as a working area.

[0027] The ROM 20B stores various programs and various data. In the ROM 20B of the present embodiment, a collection program 100 for collecting vehicle information of the vehicle 12 from the ECU 22 is stored. With the execution of the collection program 100, the in-vehicle device 20 executes a process of transmitting vehicle information to the center server 30. The RAM 20C temporarily stores a program or data as a working area.

[0028] The in-vehicle communication I / F 20D is an interface for connecting to each ECU 22. The communication standard based on the CAN protocol is used for the interface. The in-vehicle communication I / F 20D is connected to the external bus 20H. The shift control ECU 22A and the steering ECU 22B are connected to the in-vehicle communication I / F 20D.

[0029] The wireless communication I / F 20E is a wireless communication module for communicating with the center server 30. For example, communication standards such as 5G, LTE, and Wi-Fi (registered trademark) are used for the wireless communication module. The wireless communication I / F 20E is connected to the network N.

[0030] The input / output I / F 20F is an interface for communicating with the in-vehicle device 24. The GPS (Global Positioning System) device 24C and the vehicle speed sensor 24D are connected to the input / output I / F 20F as the in-vehicle device 24.

[0031] The shift control ECU 22A detects changes in the state of the shift range by a shift lever (not shown) and controls the state of the shift range of the vehicle 12. A position sensor 24A for detecting changes in the shift range is connected to the shift control ECU 22A. The position sensor 24A detects, for example, a change from one shift range to another among "D", "R", "P", and "N" indicated by the shift lever.

[0032] The steering ECU 22B controls the power steering. A steering angle sensor 24B that constitutes the in-vehicle device 24 is connected to the steering ECU 22B, and the steering angle sensor 24B detects the steering angle of the steering wheel.

[0033] The GPS device 24C is a device that measures the current location of the vehicle 12. The GPS device 24C includes an antenna (not shown) that receives signals from GPS satellites. Note that the GPS device 24C may be connected to the in-vehicle unit 20 via a car navigation system (not shown). The vehicle speed sensor 24D is a sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle 12.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 3, in the in-vehicle unit 20 of the present embodiment, the CPU 20A functions as a collection unit 200 and an output unit 210 by executing the collection program 100.

[0035] The collection unit 200 has a function of collecting vehicle information output from each of the ECUs 22 and the in-vehicle devices 24 of the vehicle 12. Here, the collection unit 200 has a function of collecting position information and operation information of the vehicle 12 as vehicle information. Here, the position information is, for example, coordinates such as the latitude and longitude of the vehicle 12 measured by the GPS device 24C. The operation information is, for example, information including the state of the shift range, the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and the steering angle.

[0036] The output unit 210 has a function of outputting the vehicle information collected by the collection unit 200 toward the center server 30.

[0037] (Center Server) As shown in FIG. 4, the center server 30 includes a CPU 30A, a ROM 30B, a RAM 30C, a storage 30D, and a communication I / F 30E. The CPU 30A, ROM 30B, RAM 30C, storage 30D, and communication I / F 30E are communicably connected to each other via an internal bus 30F. The functions of the CPU 30A, ROM 30B, RAM 30C, and communication I / F 30E are the same as those of the CPU 20A, ROM 20B, RAM 20C, and wireless communication I / F 20E of the in-vehicle device 20 described above. Note that the communication I / F 30E may perform wired communication.

[0038] The storage 30D as a recording medium is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores various programs and various data. The storage 30D of the present embodiment stores an information processing program 120, a vehicle information database (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle information DB") 130, and a photographed image database (hereinafter referred to as "photographed image DB") 140. Note that the ROM 30B may store the information processing program 120, the vehicle information DB 130, and the photographed image DB 140.

[0039] The information processing program 120 as a program is a program for controlling the center server 30. With the execution of the information processing program 120, the center server 30 executes each process including a process of acquiring vehicle information and a photographed image, and a process of estimating traffic volume using the vehicle information and the photographed image.

[0040] The vehicle information DB 130 stores vehicle information received from the in-vehicle device 20. The photographed image DB 140 stores photographed images input to the center server 30.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 5, in the center server 30 of the present embodiment, the CPU 30A functions as an acquisition unit 300, a determination unit 310, an estimation unit 320, and a storage unit 330 by executing the information processing program 120.

[0042] The acquisition unit 300 has a function of acquiring vehicle information transmitted from the in-vehicle device 20 of the vehicle 12 and a photographed image taken from above by a satellite or the like.

[0043] The determination unit 310 determines a parking area where the vehicle parks among the areas shown in the photographed image by using the vehicle information. Specifically, the determination unit 310 determines the parking area by using the operation information included in the vehicle information. For example, the determination unit 310 determines the parking of the vehicle 12 from the state of the shift range included in the operation information (for example, the state where the shift range is "P" or "N"), and determines the position of the vehicle 12 as the parking area. Further, the determination unit 310 determines the parking of the vehicle 12 from, for example, the change in the state of the shift range, the change in the steering angle, and the vehicle speed during a predetermined period, and determines the position of the vehicle 12 as the parking area. Further, when acquiring vehicle information from the started vehicle 12, the determination unit 310 extracts the period during which the vehicle information could not be acquired, and when the position information of the vehicle 12 is the same before and after the period during which the vehicle information could not be acquired, determines the position indicated by the position information as the parking area.

[0044] Note that in the present embodiment, the form of determining the parking area by using the vehicle information has been described. However, it is not limited to this. The parking area may be determined by using map information. For example, the determination unit 310 extracts the road area as an edge and the intersection as a node from the map information, and determines the area surrounded by the edge and the node as the parking area. By using the map information, the parking area is also determined at a position that cannot be obtained from the position information included in the vehicle information (for example, near the boundary between the parking area and the road area).

[0045] Based on the determination result by the determination unit 310, the estimation unit 320 identifies the road area included in the captured image, extracts the vehicle 12 existing at the position corresponding to the road area from the captured image 400, and estimates the traffic volume in the road area. Specifically, the estimation unit 320 extracts the vehicles included in the captured image and performs machine learning for traffic volume estimation. The estimation model takes the determination result by the determination unit 310 and the captured image as inputs and outputs the traffic volume of the road area.

[0046] In FIG. 6 shown as an example, the estimation unit 320 applies the position of the parking area 410 as the determination result to the captured image 400, masks it as the parking area 410 in the captured image 400, and identifies the road area 420. FIG. 7 shown as an example is the captured image 400 in which the determined parking area 410 is applied to identify the road area 420.

[0047] The estimation unit 320 extracts the vehicle 12 in the identified road area 420, estimates the traffic volume in the road area 420 from the number of vehicles 12, and outputs it.

[0048] In this embodiment, the form of estimating the traffic volume with the position of the parking area 410 as the determination result and the captured image 400 as inputs has been described. However, it is not limited to this. The traffic volume may be estimated with the captured image 400 to which the position of the parking area 410 as the determination result is applied (masking the parking area 410) as the input.

[0049] Also, the estimation model according to this embodiment may be generated using the learning data selected and generated by the user, or may be generated using the vehicle information stored in the vehicle information DB 130 and the captured image 400 stored in the captured image DB 140.

[0050] The storage unit 330 stores the acquired vehicle information in the vehicle information DB 130 and stores the acquired captured image 400 in the captured image DB 140. Note that the storage unit 330 according to the present embodiment has been described in a form of storing vehicle information and the captured image 400. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The storage unit 330 may store the position of the parking area 410 as a determination result by the determination unit 310 and the specified road area 420. For example, the storage unit 330 stores the parking area 410 determined by the determination unit 310, and the estimation unit 320 may apply the parking area 410 corresponding to the captured image 400 among the stored parking areas 410 to specify the parking area 410 in the captured image 400. Further, the storage unit 330 stores the road area 420 specified in the past by the estimation unit 320, and the estimation unit 320 may extract the vehicle 12 from the road area 420 corresponding to the captured image 400 among the stored road areas 420 and estimate the traffic volume.

[0051] (Flow of Control) The flow of each process executed in the information processing system 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8. Each process in the center server 30 is executed by the CPU 30A of the center server 30 functioning as the acquisition unit 300, the determination unit 310, the estimation unit 320, and the storage unit 330. The process of estimating the traffic volume shown in FIG. 8 is executed, for example, when the captured image 400 is input and an instruction to estimate the traffic volume is input.

[0052] In step S100, the CPU 30A acquires the input captured image 400.

[0053] In step S101, the CPU 30A acquires vehicle information corresponding to the area shown in the captured image 400.

[0054] In step S102, the CPU 30A determines the position corresponding to the parking area 410 using the vehicle information.

[0055] In step S103, the CPU 30A applies the determined position of the parking area 410 to the captured image 400 to identify the road area 420 in the captured image 400.

[0056] In step S104, the CPU 30A extracts the vehicle 12 in the identified road area 420 and estimates the traffic volume in the road area 420 from the number of the extracted vehicles 12.

[0057] In step S105, the CPU 30A outputs the estimated traffic volume.

[0058] In step S106, the CPU 30A stores the vehicle information, the captured image 400, and the parking area 410.

[0059] In step S107, the CPU 30A determines whether to end the process of estimating the traffic volume. If the process of estimating the traffic volume is to be ended (step S107: YES), the CPU 30A ends the process of estimating the traffic volume. On the other hand, if the process of estimating the traffic volume is not to be ended (step S107: NO), the CPU 30A proceeds to step S100 to acquire the input captured image.

[0060] (Summary) The center server 30 as the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment acquires a captured image 400 obtained by photographing an area including the road area 420 from above, position information of vehicles located in the area, and operation information of the vehicles 12, determines the parking area 410 using the position information and the operation information, identifies the road area 420 included in the captured image 400 using the parking area 410, extracts the vehicles 12 traveling on the road area 420, and estimates the traffic volume.

[0061] As described above, according to the present embodiment, when estimating the traffic volume using the captured image 400, the traffic volume of the vehicles 12 in the road area 420 can be accurately estimated.

[0062] [Remarks] Note that, in the above embodiment, various processes executed by the CPUs 20A and 30A by reading software (programs) may be executed by various processors other than the CPU. Examples of the processor in this case include a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) whose circuit configuration can be changed after manufacturing, such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), and a dedicated electric circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) having a circuit configuration dedicated to executing specific processes. Further, each of the above-described processes may be executed by one of these various processors, or may be executed by a combination of two or more processors of the same type or different types (for example, a combination of a plurality of FPGAs, and a combination of a CPU and an FPGA, etc.). Further, the hardware structure of these various processors is, more specifically, an electric circuit combining circuit elements such as semiconductor elements.

[0063] Also, in the above embodiment, each program has been described in a mode where it is pre-stored (installed) in a non-transitory recording medium readable by a computer. For example, the collection program 100 in the vehicle-mounted device 20 is pre-stored in the ROM 20B, and the information processing program 120 in the center server 30 is pre-stored in the storage 30D. However, it is not limited to this, and each program may be provided in a form recorded on a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory), and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. Further, the program may be in a form downloaded from an external device via a network.

[0064] The flow of the processes described in the above embodiment is an example, and unnecessary steps may be deleted, new steps may be added, or the order of the processes may be changed within a range not departing from the gist.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0065] 12 vehicles 30 central servers (information processing devices) 300 acquisition unit 310 determination unit 320 estimation unit

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires a captured image obtained by photographing an area including a road area from above, position information of a vehicle located in the area, and operation information regarding at least acceleration / deceleration and steering of the vehicle; A determination unit that determines a parking area where the vehicle parks using the position information and the operation information; An estimation unit that specifies the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, extracts vehicles existing in the road area, and estimates the traffic volume of the road area; An information processing apparatus comprising the above.

2. The acquisition unit acquires the position information and the operation information from the vehicle that is started, When there is a period during which the position information and the operation information could not be acquired, and the position information indicates the same position before and after the period, the determination unit determines that the position indicated by the position information is the parking area. The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1.

3. The estimation unit is an estimation model that performs machine learning for estimating the traffic volume using the captured image captured in the past, The estimation model takes the determination result by the determination unit and the captured image as inputs and outputs the traffic volume of the road area included in the captured image. The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1.

4. Acquire a captured image obtained by photographing an area including a road area from above, position information of a vehicle located in the area, and operation information regarding at least acceleration / deceleration and steering of the vehicle, Determine a parking area where the vehicle parks using the position information and the operation information, Specify the road area included in the captured image using the parking area, extract vehicles existing in the road area, and estimate the traffic volume of the road area, An information processing program for causing a computer to execute the processing.

Images