Road Condition Visualization Using Automated Image Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assessing the wear levels of road section lines are inefficient, requiring manual inspection and lacking real-time visualization of condition levels along roads, which hinders effective maintenance planning.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a camera on a traveling vehicle to capture road images, select diagnostic images, determine condition levels of target features like road section lines, and visualize these levels on a map, leveraging processor circuitry and AI for automated detection and classification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual inspection methods are used to assess road section line wear levels, then measurement precision can be maintained, but productivity is low and time consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inspection with an automated image processing system. A camera captures road images, and computer vision algorithms automatically detect and measure road section line wear levels, eliminating the need for manual visual inspection and measurement operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates digital copies of the road surface through captured images. These images serve as data representations that can be processed, analyzed, and stored without physically inspecting the road, allowing repeated measurements and comparisons over time.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive road condition assessment is performed, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the road surface into multiple image segments captured at different locations. Each image can be independently processed to detect wear levels of road section lines in specific segments, allowing comprehensive assessment without requiring a single complex system to handle the entire road at once.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces image data as an intermediary between the physical road condition and the measurement system. The camera captures visual information that serves as a mediator, allowing automated algorithms to analyze wear levels without direct physical contact or complex measurement equipment.
3Ease of operation
If real-time visualization of condition levels is implemented, then ease of operation improves for maintenance planning, but loss of information about individual diagnostic images increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple diagnostic images into a unified visualization that displays condition levels across different road segments. This combined view allows maintenance personnel to assess overall road conditions and prioritize repairs without needing to examine each individual image in detail.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color coding or visual indicators in the visualization to represent different wear levels. By assigning specific colors or visual patterns to different condition levels, the system provides intuitive information about road status without requiring detailed examination of individual images.
Data Source
AI summary
A method may include: capturing, by a camera on a travelling vehicle, a plurality of road images of a road; selecting, by processor circuitry, a plurality of diagnostic images from the plurality of road images; determining, by the processor circuitry, a condition level of a diagnostic target feature in each of two or more of the plurality of selected diagnostic images; and visualizing. The visualizing may include one diagnostic image of the plurality of selected diagnostic images. The one diagnostic image may show one diagnostic target feature of the plurality of the diagnostic target features. The visualizing may include a map showing the road and showing the condition levels along the road.