Road Condition Detection via Terminal Image Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems fail to accurately determine and reflect real-time road conditions such as cracks, ice, and traffic light operations in their databases, especially after disasters, limiting their ability to provide up-to-date information.
Innovation Solution
An image acquiring system that includes a camera-equipped terminal to record and transmit images along with position information, which is then analyzed to determine road conditions like road width, traffic light operation, and presence of cracks or ice, and stores this data in a database for real-time updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional systems transmit only identification information and traveling history data to create databases, then the database structure is simple and easy to maintain, but the system cannot determine actual road conditions such as cracks, ice, and traffic light operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary image analysis system that processes images captured by terminals and extracts road condition information. This intermediary layer bridges the gap between simple data transmission and comprehensive road condition monitoring, allowing the system to gain detailed road information without requiring direct complex sensing infrastructure along the roads.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses images as copies or representations of actual road conditions. Instead of directly measuring physical road properties, the system captures visual copies of road surfaces and traffic lights, then analyzes these images to extract condition information. This approach enables comprehensive monitoring while keeping the physical sensing infrastructure minimal.
2Reliability
If the system uses basic vehicle identification and position data, then the data transmission and processing are efficient and fast, but the system cannot provide real-time road condition updates after disasters
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by having terminals continuously capture and transmit images during normal operations, building up a baseline database of road conditions before disasters occur. This preliminary data collection enables faster post-disaster analysis, as the system already has pre-processed image data and established baselines to compare against current conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous image capture and transmission during normal operations, ensuring that road condition monitoring never stops. This continuity ensures that the database is constantly updated with current conditions, allowing the system to detect changes rapidly after disasters without interruption in the monitoring process.
3Measurement precision
If the system collects and analyzes detailed road condition images, then accurate road state determination is achieved, but the data transmission load and processing requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential road condition information from captured images, such as presence of cracks, ice detection, and traffic light states, rather than transmitting and processing entire high-resolution images. This extraction approach maintains measurement precision for critical road conditions while significantly reducing data transmission load and energy consumption at terminals.
Data Source
AI summary
An image acquiring system (100) includes an image acquiring apparatus (101) and a terminal (111). The image acquiring apparatus (101) acquires an image recorded by the terminal (111) and position information indicating a position at which the image is recorded, determines the state of a road included in the image based on the image, and associates and stores the state of the road and the position information. If the terminal (111) transmits to the image acquiring apparatus (101), a request for information concerning the state of a given road, the image acquiring apparatus (101) transmits the determined state of the road and the position information to the terminal (111).