Aerial Image Location Identification Using Vehicle Tracks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current techniques for image measurement of agricultural land require time-consuming and labor-intensive surveying before aerial photographing, making them impractical for efficient location identification in aerial photogrammetry.
Innovation Solution
A location identifying device that includes an image data receiving part, a location data receiving part, a path detecting part, a correspondence relationship determining part, and a field location identifying part, which uses navigation satellite data and aerial images to determine the correspondence between the path shape detected from the images and location data, enabling easy identification of field locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If surveying is performed prior to aerial photographing to obtain location data, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time and labor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile body (e.g., tractor) performs preliminary movement along the field boundary or predetermined path, leaving visible tracks in the field. These tracks serve as natural markers that are subsequently detected in aerial photographs, eliminating the need for separate surveying operations to establish location references.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the field's own characteristics (natural boundaries, crop patterns, soil conditions) and the tracks left by agricultural machinery as location identifiers. The field itself provides the reference information needed for location identification, rather than requiring external surveying infrastructure.
2Measurement precision
If surveying is performed prior to aerial photographing to obtain location data, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system utilizes existing agricultural machinery (mobile bodies) that already operate in the field. These vehicles naturally leave tracks or marks during normal operations, which are then used as location references. No specialized surveying equipment is needed - the existing farm equipment serves the dual purpose of field work and location marking.
Solution Approach 2:
The aerial photograph serves as an intermediary that captures both the field conditions and the tracks left by mobile bodies. Image processing technology acts as the mediator that extracts location information from these photographs, replacing complex physical surveying equipment with optical and computational methods.
3Measurement precision
If traditional ortho correction methods are used requiring recognizable features, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects tracks left by mobile bodies and uses them as reference features for ortho correction. The field's own characteristics (tracks, boundaries, crop patterns) serve as the correction references, eliminating the need for operators to manually identify or place markers.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual surveying operations are replaced with automated image processing. The system uses computer vision algorithms to detect tracks in aerial photographs and automatically perform ortho correction, replacing manual measurement and marking operations with computational methods.
Data Source
AI summary
A location identifying device includes an image data receiving part that receives data of a photographed image of a field taken from the air, and a location data receiving part that receives data of location, which is measured on the basis of navigation signals from a navigation satellite by a location measuring device while a mobile body having the location measuring device moves along a predetermined path set for the field. The location identifying device also includes a first shape data detecting part that detects a shape of the predetermined path from the photographed image data, a correspondence relationship determining part that determines a correspondence relationship between the shape of the path detected by the first shape data detecting part and the location data, and a field location identifying part that identifies a location of the field contained in the photographed image by referring to the determined correspondence relationship.