Map Processing System

Abstract

To provide a map processing system which does not require a manual operation when aligning two maps and can eliminate a mistake due to carelessness.SOLUTION: A map processing system comprises: an illustration map acquisition unit 204 which acquires an illustration map image; a road shape extraction unit 208 which extracts a first road shape corresponding to the illustration map image; a feature amount calculation unit 212 which calculates a feature amount of the first road shape; a digital map acquisition unit 206 which acquires map data including a range corresponding to the illustration map; a road shape extraction unit 210 which extracts a second road shape corresponding to the map data; a feature amount calculation unit 214 which calculates a feature amount of the second road shape; and a matching processing unit 216 which performs alignment between the illustration map image and the map data by performing matching processing using the feature amounts of the first and second road shapes.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a map processing system for performing processing on an illustrated map. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been described a map information system in which a user manually inputs corresponding positions between digital map data and illustrated map data, and the digital map data and illustrated map data are aligned based on the corresponding positions (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this map information system, the positions of two maps are aligned, so when switching between the two maps, the point of gaze can be kept the same before and after the switch. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6684776 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the map information system disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 has the problem that the user must manually input corresponding positions to align the two maps, which is troublesome for the user. Also, manual input makes it more likely for mistakes to occur due to carelessness, etc.

[0005] The present invention was created in light of these points, and its purpose is to provide a map processing system that can eliminate manual operations when aligning two maps and can also eliminate careless mistakes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the map processing system of the present invention includes an illustrative map acquisition means for acquiring an illustrative map image, a first road shape extraction means for extracting a first road shape corresponding to the illustrative map image, and a feature quantity of the first road shape. The feature quantity used in the matching process is a first feature amount calculation means for calculating an illustrated map; image a map data acquisition means for acquiring map data including a range corresponding to the second road shape corresponding to the map data; based on road shape data that identifies road shapes included in the map data a second road shape extraction means for extracting a feature quantity of the second road shape; The feature quantity used in the matching process is and a second feature value calculation means for calculating a matching process using the first and second road shape feature values. and extract pairs of three or more matching points. The system is provided with a matching processing means for performing position matching between the illustrative map image and the map data.

[0007] When aligning an illustrative map image with map data, the road shape is extracted in advance and alignment is performed using the feature values ​​of the extracted road shape, so the influence of elements other than the road shape can be eliminated, and the process can be automated to eliminate the need for manual operation. Furthermore, because manual operation is no longer necessary, careless mistakes can also be eliminated.

[0008] The map data acquisition means may also acquire the range of map data corresponding to the illustrative map image based on the facility names included in the illustrative map image. Make a decision. By using the facility name, it becomes easy to specify the range of map data corresponding to the illustrated map image.

[0009] It is also desirable to further include a coordinate transformation information generating means for generating coordinate transformation information for associating identical points between the illustrative map image aligned by the above-mentioned matching processing means and the map data, which makes it easy to associate coordinates within the map shown in the map data with coordinates within the illustrative map, and makes it possible to specify coordinates and identify a position within the illustrative map.

[0010] Also, a position detection means for detecting the current position of a user viewing the illustrated map image and a coordinate conversion information for detecting the current position are provided. of It is desirable to further include a coordinate conversion means for converting the coordinates into coordinates on an illustrative map image, and an illustrative map display means for displaying the illustrative map image in a state in which the position indicated by the coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion means can be identified, thereby making it possible to show the user's position on the illustrative map.

[0011] The first road shape extraction means extracts the first road shape included in the illustrative map image by binarizing and thinning the illustrative map image. Extract. Generally, roads are often represented by lines in color-displayed illustration map images, so by performing binarization and thinning processes, it is possible to extract the road shapes.

[0012] Furthermore, it is desirable that the above-mentioned first road shape extraction means extracts the first road shape contained in the illustrative map image using artificial intelligence that has been trained in advance to associate another illustrative map image with the road shapes contained in this other illustrative map image, thereby making it possible to extract road shapes that correspond to the expressions unique to the illustrative map.

[0013] The above-mentioned matching processing means is also image It is desirable to perform the matching process by taking into consideration the results of a comparison between facility names included in the map data and facility names included in the map data. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the matching process. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a map processing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a terminal device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a map processing server. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an acquired illustrative map image. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an image after binarization processing. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an image after thinning processing. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing road shapes extracted based on digital map data. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the terminal device. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the map processing server. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a map processing server according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] A map processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0016] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a map processing system according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the map processing system according to this embodiment includes a terminal device 100 carried by a user G, and a map processing server 200 that can transmit and receive various data to and from the terminal device 100 via a predetermined network.

[0017] For example, user G is looking at an illustrated map (also called an illustrated map or picture map) IM that shows the entire area of ​​a park, and when the terminal device 100 links with the map processing server 200 and displays the illustrated map IM that the user himself / herself has captured on the terminal device 100, the necessary processing is performed to superimpose a predetermined mark indicating the user's location on the map image.

[0018] Generally, an illustrative map IM is image data, and the depicted roads are not associated with coordinates. Therefore, even if a user knows his or her own location, that location cannot be identified within the illustrative map. In this embodiment, an illustrative map and map data covering the same area as the illustrative map are acquired, and a matching process is performed to align them, thereby matching the location within the map shown in the map data with the location within the illustrative map. This makes it possible to identify the user's own location within the illustrative map when the user knows his or her own location.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of terminal device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, terminal device 100 includes camera 102, illustrated map storage unit 104, illustrated map transmission unit 106, current location detection unit 108, current location transmission unit 110, communication unit 112, corresponding coordinate reception unit 114, illustrated map drawing unit 116, display processing unit 118, and display device 120. The functions of terminal device 100 can be realized by a smartphone carried by a user. The configuration shown in FIG. 2 is represented by functional blocks focusing on the functions necessary for this embodiment, and most of the configuration, except for camera 102, current location detection unit 108, communication unit 112, and display device 120, can be realized by executing a predetermined program on a CPU.

[0020] The camera 102 captures an image of an illustrative map IM. The captured illustrative map image is stored in the illustrative map storage unit 104.

[0021] The illustration map transmission unit 106 transmits the illustration map image obtained by capturing the image to the map processing server 200 via the communication unit 112. The communication unit 112 performs processing for transmitting and receiving the illustration map image and other data to and from the map processing server 200. For example, this transmission and reception is performed via a telephone line, but if there is a wireless LAN access point nearby, it may also be performed via the access point.

[0022] The current position detection unit 108 detects the current position of the user carrying the terminal device 100 (more precisely, the current position of the terminal device 100). For example, the current position is calculated by processing a signal received using a GPS receiver. The current position transmission unit 110 transmits the current position detected by the current position detection unit 108 to the map processing server 200 via the communication unit 112.

[0023] The corresponding coordinate receiving unit 114 receives, via the communication unit 112, the corresponding coordinates (coordinates on the illustrated map indicating the user's current position) sent from the map processing server 200 in correspondence with the transmitted current position.

[0024] Illustration map drawing unit 116 reads image data from illustration map storage unit 104 and draws an illustration map together with a current position mark (having a predetermined shape and a predetermined color and placed at a position on the illustration map specified by the received corresponding coordinates). This illustration map is displayed on display device 120 by display processing unit 118.

[0025] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the map processing server 200. As shown in Fig. 3, the map processing server 200 includes a communication unit 202, an illustrative map acquisition unit 204, a digital map acquisition unit 206, road shape extraction units 208 and 210, feature amount calculation units 212 and 214, a matching processing unit 216, a coordinate transformation information generation unit 218, a coordinate transformation information storage unit 220, a current position receiving unit 222, a coordinate transformation unit 224, and a corresponding coordinate transmission unit 226. The configuration shown in Fig. 3 is represented by functional blocks focusing on the functions necessary for this embodiment, and most of the configuration except for the communication unit 202 and the coordinate transformation information storage unit 220 can be realized by executing a predetermined program on a CPU.

[0026] The communication unit 202 performs processing for transmitting and receiving illustrative map images and other data to and from the terminal device 100. The illustrative map acquisition unit 204 acquires illustrative map images sent from the terminal device 100. The digital map acquisition unit 206 acquires digital map data that includes the same area as the illustrative map and includes attribute information such as coordinates that specify road shapes from an external map distribution server (not shown) or the like. For example, map data used in in-vehicle navigation devices or equivalent map data can be used, but Open Street Map (OSM) can also be used.

[0027] Incidentally, in order to make the range of the illustrated map and the digital map data the same (it does not have to be exactly the same), it is possible to extract facility names from the illustrated map image (for example, by extracting text data indicating the facility names using image recognition), and then search for the location of the facility identified by this facility name to identify the range of the digital map data that includes the same range as the illustrated map.

[0028] The road shape extraction unit 208 extracts the road shapes included in the illustrative map based on the illustrative map image acquired by the illustrative map acquisition unit 204. The illustrative map image is image data made up of a plurality of pixel values ​​and does not include data specifying the road shape. In this embodiment, the road shape is extracted from this image data. For example, the road shape may be extracted by image processing.

[0029] 4 to 6 are explanatory diagrams showing the procedure for extracting road shapes using image processing. FIG. 4 shows an acquired illustrative map image. In FIG. 4, the hatched area is the illustrative map IM from which road shape extraction is performed, but the image captured using terminal device 100 also includes the peripheral parts of the illustrative map IM. Road shape extraction unit 208 performs binarization processing on the image including such peripheral parts. FIG. 5 shows the image after binarization processing. Next, road shape extraction unit 208 performs thinning processing on this binarized image. FIG. 6 shows the image after thinning processing. The image after thinning processing includes many line segments corresponding to roads. In reality, the image after thinning processing also includes line segments that are clearly different from roads, so noise removal is performed to remove such line segments, and the remaining line segments are extracted as the road shape.

[0030] The road shape extraction unit 210 extracts road shapes based on road shape data included in the digital map data acquired by the digital map acquisition unit 206. Because the digital map data includes road shape data that identifies the road shape, it is possible to extract road shapes without adding any special processing. Figure 7 shows the road shapes extracted based on the digital map data.

[0031] The feature amount calculation unit 212 calculates feature amounts to be used in the matching process for the road shapes of the illustrative map extracted by the road shape extraction unit 208. In addition, the feature amount calculation unit 214 calculates feature amounts to be used in the matching process for the road shapes based on the digital map data extracted by the road shape extraction unit 210.

[0032] The matching processing unit 216 performs matching processing using the feature amounts calculated by the two feature amount calculation units 212, 214. For example, if there are three or more valid match points, it is possible to align the illustrated map with the digital map, so matching processing is performed to extract a set of three or more corresponding feature points. If there are three or more match points, the feature amount matching is deemed a "success," and if there are two or fewer match points, the feature amount matching is deemed a "failure."

[0033] When feature point matching by matching processing unit 216 is successful, coordinate conversion information generation unit 218 generates coordinate conversion information for associating the same points between the illustrative map and the digital map. This coordinate conversion information indicates the correspondence between actual coordinates (positions) on the digital map and positions on the illustrative map. Coordinate conversion information storage unit 220 stores the created coordinate conversion information.

[0034] The current position receiving unit 222 receives the current position of the user transmitted from the terminal device 100. The coordinate conversion unit 224 performs coordinate conversion using the coordinate conversion information stored in the coordinate conversion information storage unit 220, and calculates a position (corresponding coordinates) on the illustrated map that corresponds to the received current position. The corresponding coordinate transmission unit 226 transmits the corresponding coordinates from the communication unit 202 to the terminal device 100.

[0035] The above-mentioned illustrative map acquisition unit 204 corresponds to an illustrative map acquisition means, road shape extraction unit 208 corresponds to first road shape extraction means, feature amount calculation unit 212 corresponds to first feature amount calculation means, digital map acquisition unit 206 corresponds to map data acquisition means, road shape extraction unit 210 corresponds to second road shape extraction means, feature amount calculation unit 214 corresponds to second feature amount calculation means, matching processing unit 216 corresponds to matching processing means, and coordinate conversion information generation unit 218 corresponds to coordinate conversion information generation means. Also, current position detection unit 108 corresponds to position detection means, coordinate conversion unit 224 corresponds to coordinate conversion means, and illustrative map drawing unit 116, display processing unit 118, and display device 120 correspond to an illustrative map display means.

[0036] The map processing system of this embodiment has the above configuration, and its operation will now be described.

[0037] 8 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the terminal device 100. An illustrative map is captured in response to a user's operation (step 100), and the illustrative map image is stored in the illustrative map storage unit 104. The illustrative map transmission unit 106 reads out the stored illustrative map image and transmits it to the map processing server 200 (step 102).

[0038] Next, or in parallel with these operations, the current position detection unit 108 detects the current position (step 104), and the current position transmission unit 110 transmits this detected current position to the map processing server 200 (step 106).

[0039] Thereafter, when the corresponding coordinate receiving unit 114 receives from the map processing server 200 the current position (corresponding coordinates) on the illustrated map that corresponds to the transmitted current position (step 108), the illustrated map drawing unit 116 draws an illustrated map image in which a current position mark is placed at the corresponding coordinates, and the illustrated map is displayed on the display device 120 by the display processing unit 118 (step 110). A user carrying the terminal device 100 can confirm the position on the illustrated map where he or she currently is by looking at the displayed illustrated map.

[0040] 9 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the map processing server 200. When the illustrative map acquisition unit 204 acquires an illustrative map image sent from the terminal device 100 (step 200), the road shape extraction unit 208 extracts the road shapes included in this illustrative map (step 202).

[0041] Next, the digital map acquisition unit 206 acquires digital map data that includes the same range as the illustrative map (step 204), and the road shape extraction unit 210 extracts road shapes from this digital map data (step 206).

[0042] Next, the feature calculation units 212 and 214 each calculate the feature amounts of the two extracted road shapes, and the matching processing unit 216 performs matching processing using these feature amounts (step 208). Furthermore, the coordinate transformation information generation unit 218 generates coordinate transformation information based on the result of the matching processing (contents of alignment) and stores it in the coordinate transformation information storage unit 220 (step 210). If the map matching "fails," a predetermined error process is performed, and the user of the mobile terminal 100 is notified of this.

[0043] After the generation and storage of the coordinate transformation information is completed, the current position receiving unit 222 receives the current position sent from the terminal device 100 (step 212). The coordinate transformation unit 224 performs coordinate transformation on the received current position using the coordinate transformation information, and calculates the position on the illustrative map that corresponds to the received current position (corresponding coordinates) (step 214). The corresponding coordinate transmission unit 226 transmits the corresponding coordinates calculated in this manner to the terminal device 100 (step 216).

[0044] As described above, in the map processing system of this embodiment, when aligning an illustrative map image with digital map data, the road shapes are extracted in advance and alignment is performed by a matching process using the feature amounts of the road shapes, so that the influence of elements other than the road shapes can be eliminated and the process can be automated to eliminate the need for manual operation. Furthermore, because manual operation is no longer necessary, careless mistakes can also be eliminated.

[0045] In addition, the range of the digital map data corresponding to the illustrated map is determined based on the facility names included in the illustrated map image, and by using the facility names, it becomes easy to identify the range of the digital map data corresponding to the illustrated map.

[0046] Furthermore, by generating coordinate conversion information that associates the same points between the illustrated map and the digital map data that have been aligned by the matching process, it becomes easy to associate the coordinates in the map shown in the digital map data with the coordinates in the illustrated map, and it becomes possible to specify coordinates and identify a position in the illustrated map.

[0047] Furthermore, the user's current location detected by the terminal device 100 can be sent to the map processing server 200 to obtain the corresponding coordinates within the illustrative map, thereby making it possible to show the user's location on the illustrative map.

[0048] In addition, road shape extraction from illustration map images is performed by binarization and thinning. Generally, roads are represented by lines in color illustration map images, so by performing the binarization and thinning processes, it is possible to extract road shapes.

[0049] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the matching process is performed using feature amounts calculated from road shapes, but the matching process may also be performed by taking facility names into account in the feature amounts.

[0050] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a map processing server according to a modified example. The map processing server 200A shown in Fig. 10 differs from the map processing server 200 shown in Fig. 3 in that facility name extraction units 209 and 211 are added and the matching processing unit 216 is replaced with a matching processing unit 216A, but the other configurations are the same.

[0051] The facility name extraction unit 209 extracts facility names included in the illustrative map based on the illustrative map image acquired by the illustrative map acquisition unit 204. This extraction can be performed by, for example, identifying a character string included in the illustrative map using image recognition processing, and checking whether or not this identified character string corresponds to the facility name of any facility.

[0052] The facility name extraction unit 211 extracts facility names contained in the digital map data acquired by the digital map acquisition unit 206. For example, if text data such as facility names is included as a character layer, the facility names can be extracted using this data as is.

[0053] After performing a first matching process using feature amounts calculated from the road shape, the matching processing unit 216A performs a second matching process by comparing the facility names extracted by the two facility name extraction units 209, 211. For example, if the accuracy of the results of the first matching process is low (if the number of matches in the feature amount matching is small), matching can be deemed "successful" if many facility names match in the second matching process, thereby improving the matching accuracy.

[0054] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which road shapes are extracted by binarizing and thinning an illustrative map image, but as another method, road shapes may also be extracted using AI (artificial intelligence). The road shape extraction unit 208 extracts the road shapes included in the illustrative map image using AI that has been trained in advance to associate an illustrative map image other than the illustrative map image currently being used for road shape extraction with the road shapes included in this other illustrative map image (road shapes that have been confirmed to correspond to the illustrative map). For example, as a specific example of AI learning, an image generation algorithm using a generative adversarial network (GAN) can be used.

[0055] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, a series of operations are performed separately by the terminal device 100 and the map processing server 200, but it is also possible to have all the functions in the terminal device 100 so that only the terminal device 100 performs the same operations. [Industrial Applicability]

[0056] As described above, according to the present invention, when aligning an illustrative map image with map data, road shapes are extracted in advance and alignment is performed using the feature quantities of the road shapes, so that the influence of elements other than road shapes can be eliminated and the process can be automated to eliminate the need for manual operation. Furthermore, because manual operation is no longer necessary, careless mistakes can also be eliminated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 100 Terminal Device 102 Camera 104 Illustrated map storage area 106 Illustrated Map Transmission Unit 108 Current location detection unit 110 Current location transmitter 112, 202 Communications Department 114 Corresponding coordinate receiver 116 Illustration Map Drawing Department 118 Display section 120 Display device 200, 200A Map processing server 204 Illustrated Map Acquisition Department 206 Digital Map Acquisition Department 208, 210 Road shape extraction part 209, 211 Facility name extraction section 212, 214 Feature calculation unit 216, 216A Matching processing section 218 Coordinate transformation information generation unit 220 Coordinate transformation information storage section 222 Current location receiver 224 Coordinate conversion unit 226 Corresponding coordinate transmission unit

Claims

1. an illustration map acquisition means for acquiring an illustration map image; a first road shape extraction means for extracting a first road shape corresponding to the illustrative map image by performing binarization processing and thinning processing; a first feature amount calculation means for calculating a feature amount of the first road shape to be used in a matching process; a map data acquisition means for determining and acquiring a range of map data corresponding to the illustrative map image based on facility names included in the illustrative map image, the map data including the range corresponding to the illustrative map image; a second road shape extraction means for extracting a second road shape corresponding to the map data based on road shape data that specifies the road shape included in the map data; a second feature amount calculation means for calculating the second road shape feature amount to be used in a matching process; a matching processing means for performing a matching process using the first and second road shape feature amounts to extract sets of three or more match points, thereby aligning the illustrative map image with the map data; A map processing system comprising:

2. 2. The map processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a coordinate transformation information generating means for generating coordinate transformation information for associating identical points between the illustrative map image aligned by the matching processing means and the map data.

3. a position detection means for detecting a current position of a user viewing the illustrated map image; a coordinate conversion means for converting the current position into coordinates on the illustrative map image using the coordinate conversion information; an illustrative map display means for displaying the illustrative map image in a state in which the position indicated by the coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion means can be identified; The map processing system according to claim 2, further comprising:

4. The map processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the matching processing means performs the matching processing by taking into account the results of a comparison between facility names included in the illustrative map image and facility names included in the map data.

Images