Image Processing Apparatus for Moving Robots with Selective Display Restriction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing techniques for moving robots fail to balance privacy protection with the remote operator's ability to recognize essential target objects, leading to inadequate task execution.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus that identifies target objects based on task properties, applies display restriction processing selectively to ensure the remote operator can perform tasks effectively while maintaining privacy, using machine learning segmentation and information superimposition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If display restriction processing is applied to protect privacy, then privacy protection is improved, but the remote operator's ability to recognize target objects deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image processing by identifying specific target objects (people, vehicles, animals) and applying display restriction processing selectively to regions containing these objects. This segmentation approach allows privacy protection for identified objects while preserving other important visual information that the remote operator needs to perform tasks effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing qualities to different regions of the image. Regions containing identified target objects receive display restriction processing (blurring, pixelation, or masking) while other regions maintain full quality. This local quality differentiation ensures privacy protection is applied only where necessary rather than uniformly across the entire image.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If display restriction processing is applied to all regions, then privacy protection is improved, but task execution accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the image into regions containing target objects and regions without target objects, applying display restriction processing only to the former. This selective segmentation prevents unnecessary obscuration of task-relevant areas, thereby maintaining task execution accuracy while still providing privacy protection where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying display restriction processing excessively to the entire image, the patent applies partial action by restricting processing only to regions containing identified target objects. This partial application of the processing ensures that privacy protection is sufficient for identified objects while avoiding excessive obscuration that would hinder task execution.
3Productivity
If machine learning segmentation is used to identify target objects, then processing speed is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs machine learning models that are trained once and then deployed for rapid inference. The computational complexity is concentrated in the training phase (which is performed offline), while the actual real-time processing uses the trained model for fast target object identification. This approach sacrifices some computational resources during training but achieves high processing speed during operational use.
Data Source
AI summary
The image processing apparatus for performing display restriction processing on a captured image captured by a moving robot includes: a task acquisition unit configured to acquire information that corresponds to a property of a task to be executed via the remote operation performed on the moving robot; a target object identification unit configured to identify target objects in the captured image; a restricted target object specification unit configured to specify a target object for which a display restriction is required among the target objects identified in the target object identification unit in accordance with the property of the task to be executed by the moving robot based on the above information; and a display restriction processing unit configured to perform the display restriction processing on a restricted area in the captured image that corresponds to the target object for which display restriction is required.