An information system for defective roads

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system (1) for determining whether the situation that the vehicle may be exposed to during driving due to road defects such as shaking, manoeuvring and braking is a road-related defect or not by enabling image processing to be activated, and sharing the information with the road operator in order to repair the road defects.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION

[0002] AN INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR DEFECTIVE ROADS

[0003] Technical Field

[0004] The present invention relates to a system for determining whether the situation that the vehicle may be exposed to during driving due to road defects such as shaking, manoeuvring and braking is a road-related defect or not by enabling image processing to be activated, and sharing the information with the road operator in order to repair the road defects.

[0005] Background of the Invention

[0006] Vehicles are exposed to road defects such as potholes and bumps while moving on highways and numerous vehicles pass through defective roads. The constant passage of normal vehicles on defective roads, as well as the passage of heavy tonnage vehicles, causes the road defects to increase. Road faults disrupt driving comfort by causing shaking in the vehicle. Drivers try to avoid potholes and endanger their own lives and the safety of traffic by making moves such as manoeuvring and sudden braking. Drivers are required to call and inform the places responsible for the roads such as highway authorities and municipalities in order to repair the road fault. When the said information is not provided by anyone, the road defect will not be repaired, and the problem will continue. For this reason, today, there is a need for solutions which enable defects on the road to be detected in cases where the vehicle is subjected to shaking, makes sudden manoeuvres and sudden braking unlike its normal driving characteristics due to road defects; and the said defect information to be transmitted to the competent authorities in order for them to be repaired. The United States patent document no. US20210108926A1, an application included in the state of the art, discloses a system for detecting street signs, cross walks, obstacles and / or bicycle lanes and updating them on a high-definition map via a machine learning algorithm. In the system included in the said invention, if vehicles make a sudden brake while moving in a straight line or curve in the lane, it is concluded that there are defects or potholes in the road. In the said invention, detected bad infrastructure is reported and it is recommended to change the route to avoid bad road infrastructure. In the said invention, the detected road information is used to update a digital map that lacks existing information or that contains inaccuracies or may be incomplete. The digital map stored in the map database may be updated using the information processed by a map matching module, matched segment module, and unmatched segment module. The map matching module, once it has received obstacle location and GPS traces, processes obstacle locations and GPS traces by matching them to a road defined in the digital map. The map matching module matches the obstacles and the GPS traces with the most likely road positions corresponding to a viable route through the digital map by using the processor to execute a matching algorithm.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] An object of the present invention is to realize a system which enables the detection of defects on the road by using image processing and artificial intelligence algorithms in cases where the vehicle makes sudden braking, sudden manoeuvring, and is subjected to shaking due to defective roads, and to transmit the defect information to the relevant places in order for them to be repaired.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to realize a system which enables the determination of which area of responsibility the defect detected by using image processing and artificial intelligence algorithms belongs to, and to transmit the respective defect information to the owner of the area of responsibility. A further object of the present invention is to realize a system which enables the monitoring of whether the road defect has been repaired or not, and to notify the vehicles passing through the said location about the road defect that has not been repaired.

[0010] Detailed Description of the Invention

[0011] “An Information System for Defective Roads” realized to fulfd the objectives of the present invention is shown in the figure attached, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 is a view of an inventive information system for defective roads.

[0013] The components illustrated in the figure are individually numbered, where the numbers refer to the following:

[0014] 1. System

[0015] 2. Camera

[0016] 3. Sensor

[0017] 4. Navigation Application

[0018] 5. Control Unit

[0019] An inventive system (1) for detecting road defects and transmitting the detected defects to the responsible operator of the road comprises at least one camera (2) which is located on the vehicle and is configured to capture images of the road; at least one sensor (3) which is located on the vehicle and is configured to detect shaking in the vehicle such as sudden braking and sudden manoeuvring occurring due to road defects; at least one navigation application (4) which is located on the vehicle and is configured to obtain location information via the signals received from satellite systems; at least one control unit (5) which is configured to establish communication in such a way as to exchange data with external servers by using any communication protocol; to be in communication with the camera (2), the sensor (3) and the navigation application (4); to exchange data through this established communication; to receive shaking data through the communication established with the sensor (3); to receive on-road images wherein the shaking occurs through the communication established with the camera (2); and to decide whether there is a defect on the road or not by using image processing technology on the images received; to not take any action if there is no defect on the road; to obtain location information from the navigation application (4) when it determines that there is a road defect; and to share the road defect information together with the location information with external servers that will repair the road defect.

[0020] The camera (2) included in the inventive system (1) is configured to be in communication with the control unit (5) and to receive on-road images related to the road wherein the shaking occurs through this established communication. The camera (2) is located on the surface of the vehicle facing to the ground in order to capture on-road images. The camera (2) is configured to start transmitting images upon being triggered by the sensor (3) detecting shaking.

[0021] The sensor (3) included in the inventive system (1) is a vibration sensor and is configured to detect the shaking occurring on the vehicle upon reactions such as sudden braking and sudden manoeuvring due to potholes on the road and to share it with the control unit (5) in order to detect the road defect. In this way, the data related to the road defects due to faults such as potholes on the road is shared with the control unit of the vehicle.

[0022] The navigation application (4) included in the inventive system (1) is configured to obtain location information by using GPS signals; to share route and distance information based on an inputted location; to be in communication with the control unit (5); and to transmit location information through this established communication in order to at least detect the location of the road defect. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, information about the road condition can be provided on the navigation applications (4) in the other vehicle when passing through the location of the road defect as the control unit (5) shares the road defect information with external servers.

[0023] The control unit (5) included in the inventive system (1) is configured to be in communication with the camera (2), the sensor (3) and the navigation application (4); to receive road images by triggering the camera in line with the shaking data that it receives through the sensor (3); to process them by using image processing technologies and artificial intelligence algorithms; and to receive location information from the navigation application (4) when it decides that there is a defect on the road such as a pothole. The control unit (5) is configured to determine the responsible operator of the road through the communication it has established with external servers by using location information and to share data related to the road defect with the respective operator server. The control unit (5) is configured to enable a task log to be created on the respective operator server and to monitor whether the defect in the road has been corrected or not. The control unit (5) is configured to establish real-time communication with the operator server and to share the information that there is a road defect with the navigation servers in order to enable it to be displayed on the navigation applications (4) of other vehicles until the road defect is repaired. In this way, it is monitored whether the defect on the road has been repaired or not and pothole information is provided to other drivers on the navigation applications (4) until the defect is repaired. In addition, the navigation applications (4) are configured to provide guidance on route selection by using road defect information, or to enable the road on which the said defect is present not to be selected at all.

[0024] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit (5) is further configured to share road defect information together with instantaneous location information with the servers of insurance companies and to enable the damage information due to the roads to be assessed from the point of view of the responsible operator of the road. In this way, the compensation paid to the driver who wants the damage such as a flat tire or bulging tire to be repaired may be tried to be collected from the operator of the road.

[0025] Industrial Application of the Invention

[0026] By means of the inventive system (1), when it is decided that there is a shaking based on the data received from the sensor (2), the images on the road are captured instantaneously via the camera (2) located on the vehicle; subjected to image processing; and then transmitted to both the road operator and insurance companies together with the location information. On the other hand, potholes on the road are also shared with the servers of the navigation application (4) together with location information. In this way, the information that the road is defective is transmitted to other drivers.

[0027] Within these basic concepts; it is possible to develop various embodiments of the inventive “An Information System (1) for Defective Roads”; the invention cannot be limited to examples disclosed herein and it is essentially according to claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A system (1) for detecting road defects and transmitting the detected defects to the responsible operator of the road; characterized by at least one camera (2) which is located on the vehicle and is configured to capture images of the road; at least one sensor (3) which is located on the vehicle and is configured to detect shaking in the vehicle such as sudden braking and sudden manoeuvring occurring due to road defects; at least one navigation application (4) which is located on the vehicle and is configured to obtain location information via the signals received from satellite systems; at least one control unit (5) which is configured to establish communication in such a way as to exchange data with external servers by using any communication protocol; to be in communication with the camera (2), the sensor (3) and the navigation application (4); to exchange data through this established communication; to receive shaking data through the communication established with the sensor (3); to receive on-road images wherein the shaking occurs through the communication established with the camera (2); and to decide whether there is a defect on the road or not by using image processing technology on the images received; to not take any action if there is no defect on the road; to obtain location information from the navigation application (4) when it determines that there is a road defect; and to share the road defect information together with the location information with external servers that will repair the road defect.

2. A system (1) according to Claim 1; characterized by the camera (2) which is configured to be in communication with the control unit (5) and to receive onroad images related to the road wherein the shaking occurs through this established communication.

3. A system (1) according to Claim 1 or 2; characterized by the camera (2) which is located on the surface of the vehicle facing to the ground in order to capture on-road images.

4. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the camera (2) which is configured to start transmitting images upon being triggered by the sensor (3) detecting shaking.

5. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the sensor (3) which is a vibration sensor and is configured to detect the shaking occurring on the vehicle upon reactions such as sudden braking and sudden manoeuvring due to potholes on the road and to share it with the control unit (5) in order to detect the road defect.

6. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the navigation application (4) which is configured to obtain location information by using GPS signals; to share route and distance information based on an inputted location; to be in communication with the control unit (5); and to transmit location information through this established communication in order to at least detect the location of the road defect.

7. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the control unit (5) which is configured to be in communication with the camera(2), the sensor (3) and the navigation application (4); to receive road images by triggering the camera in line with the shaking data that it receives through the sensor(3); to process them by using image processing technologies and artificial intelligence algorithms; and to receive location information from the navigation application (4) when it decides that there is a defect on the road such as a pothole.

8. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the control unit (5) which is configured to determine the responsible operator ofthe road through the communication it has established with external servers by using location information and to share data related to the road defect with the respective operator server.

9. A system (1) according to Claim 8; characterized by the control unit (5) which is configured to enable a task log to be created on the respective operator server and to monitor whether the defect in the road has been corrected or not.

10. A system (1) according to Claim 8 or 9; characterized by the control unit (5) which is configured to establish real-time communication with the operator server and to share the information that there is a road defect with the navigation servers in order to enable it to be displayed on the navigation applications (4) of other vehicles until the road defect is repaired.

11. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the navigation applications (4) which are configured to provide guidance on route selection by using road defect information, or to enable the road on which the said defect is present not to be selected at all.

12. A system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims; characterized by the control unit (5) which is configured to share road defect information together with instantaneous location information with the servers of insurance companies and to enable the damage information due to the roads to be assessed from the point of view of the responsible operator of the road.

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