Sidewalk Centerline Extraction Using Thinning and Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sidewalk network information generation methods fail to accurately represent curved sidewalk areas and often produce unnecessary line segments, hindering the creation of smooth road guidance for disabled individuals and wheelchair users.
Innovation Solution
A sidewalk information generation device that performs thinning processing to extract the sidewalk centerline, followed by segmentation and vectorization to generate coordinate sequences of line segments, and includes units for width calculation, branch removal, and warpage correction to produce accurate and usable sidewalk information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical thinning processing is applied to sidewalk area data, then a centerline can be extracted automatically, but the end of the sidewalk centerline becomes curved and unsuitable for smooth road guidance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing detection processing before thinning to identify sidewalk end positions, and then using this information to guide the thinning process. The detection unit identifies end positions in advance, allowing the thinning unit to extract centerlines that terminate at correct straight positions rather than curved positions, thus resolving the shape problem while maintaining automatic extraction productivity.
2Productivity
If thinning processing is applied to sidewalk polygon data, then centerline extraction is achieved, but unnecessary line segments are generated that hinder correct sidewalk network information creation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the taking out principle by using detection processing to identify and extract only the necessary portions of sidewalk centerlines. The detection unit identifies valid sidewalk end positions, and the thinning unit extracts centerlines only up to these detected positions, thereby removing unnecessary line segments that would otherwise be generated by standard thinning processing. This ensures high accuracy in sidewalk network information while maintaining automatic extraction productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If local research or manual work is used to create sidewalk centerline data, then accurate sidewalk information is obtained, but significant cost and time are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies mechanics substitution by replacing manual local research and field survey methods with an automated image processing system. The detection unit uses algorithmic processing of sidewalk polygon data to automatically identify end positions and generate accurate centerlines, substituting the mechanical manual work with computational processing. This achieves high accuracy sidewalk information without the significant time loss associated with manual methods.
Data Source
AI summary
A sidewalk information generation device includes a thinning unit configured to perform thinning processing for extracting, from image data indicating an area of a sidewalk, a centerline in a width direction of the area of the sidewalk, a segmentation unit configured to perform segmentation processing for dividing the centerline extracted by the thinning unit in a longitudinal direction to generate a plurality of lines, and a vectorization unit configured to convert each of the plurality of lines generated by the segmentation unit to vector data indicating a coordinate sequence of a plurality of line segments.