JP2022176238A - Data structure, information processing device, data communication method, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow for appropriately controlling the amount and content of data collected from vehicles by a server device depending on the situation.

SOLUTION: Transmission data is transmitted from an information processing device to a terminal device mounted in a vehicle for the purpose of requesting for transmission of object data pertaining to an object detected by the terminal device to the information processing device. A data structure of the transmission data comprises object identification data for identifying an object to be detected, and specification data specifying a sensor used to detect the object. The data structure is used to transmit data on an object detected using a sensor specified by the specification data to the information processing device.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

COPYRIGHT: (C)2023,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a technology for acquiring surrounding information of a moving body such as a vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a technique for updating map data based on the output of a sensor installed in a vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a driving support device that, when a change point of a partial map is detected based on the output of a sensor installed on a moving body such as a vehicle, transmits change point information about the change point to a server device. is disclosed. In addition, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses specifications related to a data format for collecting data detected by sensors on the vehicle side by a cloud server.

JP 2016-156973 A

here, Vehicle Sensor Data Cloud Ingestion Interface Specification (v2.0.2), [searched on October 27, 2017], Internet <URL: https://lts.cms.here.com/static-cloud- content/Company_Site/2015_06/Vehicle_Sensor_Data_Cloud_Ingestion_Interface_Specification.pdf>

When the server device collects various types of data from the vehicle, the amount and content of the data that the server device requests from the vehicle vary depending on the target area and vehicle conditions. For example, if there are many vehicles in the target area, it is necessary to control the amount of data transmitted to the server device so that it does not become too large. In some cases, the server device requests only data that satisfies certain conditions such as the type of sensor used on the vehicle side, the position and direction of the vehicle when acquiring the data, and the reliability of the acquired data. Furthermore, if a vehicle that has received a request to generate and transmit data from the server device cannot generate the requested data due to a sensor defect or the like, another vehicle will instead generate and transmit the data to the server. It is necessary to

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems described above, and an object of the present invention is to enable appropriate control of the amount and content of data collected from vehicles by a server device according to the situation.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the information processing device transmits to the terminal device mounted on the moving object, and the terminal device transmits to the information processing device the feature data regarding the feature detected by the detection device. A data structure of requested transmission data, which indicates a feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected and a lower limit value of the reliability of the feature data to be sent among the features detected by the terminal device. Reliability data, and is used to transmit feature data whose reliability is equal to or higher than the lower limit to the information processing device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object, comprising: feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected; and transmission means for transmitting transmission data including reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of the feature data to be transmitted to the terminal device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data communication method executed by an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object, comprising: feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected; A transmission step of transmitting transmission data including reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of the feature data to be transmitted among the features detected by the device to the terminal device.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program that is executed by an information processing device that includes a computer and communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object, the program comprising: feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected; The computer is caused to function as transmission means for transmitting to the terminal device transmission data including reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of the feature data to be transmitted among the features detected by the terminal device.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a data collection system; FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a terminal device. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of processing executed by a terminal device; FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a server apparatus. Indicates the format of a representative upload request. 10 is a flowchart of representative upload request processing; Shows the format of representative upload data. 10 is a flowchart of representative upload processing; Indicates the format of proxy upload request. 10 is a flowchart of proxy upload request processing; Indicates the format of proxy upload data. 10 is a flowchart of proxy upload processing; Shows the format of the sensor specific upload request. 10 is a flowchart of sensor-designated upload request processing; The format of the position/orientation upload request is shown. 10 is a flowchart of position/orientation specification upload request processing. Indicates the format of the upload request with specified reliability. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of reliability designation upload request processing; FIG.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a request is sent from an information processing device to a terminal device mounted on a mobile object, and a request is sent to the information processing device for feature data relating to features detected by the terminal device. A data structure of transmission data to be transmitted, comprising feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected and specifying data specifying a sensor used for detecting the feature, wherein the specified data is specified by the specifying data It is used to transmit feature data detected using a sensor to the information processing device.

The above-mentioned transmission data is transmitted from the information processing device to the terminal device mounted on the moving body, and requests that the feature data related to the feature detected by the terminal device be transmitted to the information processing device. The data structure includes feature identification data that identifies a feature to be detected and designation data that designates a sensor to be used for detecting the feature. The data structure is used to transmit the feature data detected using the sensor specified by the specified data to the information processing device.

One aspect of the above data structure includes priority data that specifies the priority of multiple sensors for use in feature detection. In this aspect, the information processing device can specify the priority of multiple sensors used by the terminal device.

Another aspect of the above data structure includes detection range data specifying a range for detecting the feature. In this aspect, the information processing device can specify the range in which the feature is to be detected.

Another aspect of the above data structure includes type data indicating the type of the feature to be detected. In this aspect, the information processing device can specify the type of feature to be detected.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile body, comprising: feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected by the terminal device; and transmission means for transmitting transmission data including designation data designating a sensor to be used for detection to the terminal device.

The information processing device described above communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object. The transmitting means transmits to the terminal device transmission data including feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected by the terminal device and specification data specifying a sensor used for detecting the feature. Thereby, the information processing device can transmit the feature data detected using the sensor designated by the designation data to the information processing device.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is a data communication method executed by an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile body, wherein the terminal device identifies a feature to be detected. A transmission step of transmitting transmission data including specific data and designation data designating a sensor used for detecting the feature to the terminal device.

The data communication method described above is executed by an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object. In the transmitting step, transmission data including feature specifying data specifying a feature to be detected by the terminal device and specifying data specifying a sensor to be used for detecting the feature is sent to the terminal device. Thereby, the information processing device can transmit the feature data detected using the sensor designated by the designation data to the information processing device.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is a program comprising a computer and executed by an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile body, wherein the terminal device specifies a feature to be detected. The computer is caused to function as transmission means for transmitting transmission data including feature specifying data and designation data specifying a sensor used for detecting the feature to the terminal device. By executing this program on a computer, the above information processing apparatus can be realized. This program can be handled by being stored in a storage medium.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[Data collection system]
(overall structure)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration of a data collection system according to an embodiment. The data collection system includes a terminal device 1 that moves with a vehicle, which is a mobile body, and a server device 2 that communicates with each terminal device 1 via a network. Based on the information transmitted from each terminal device 1, the data collection system updates the map and other information held by the server device 2. FIG. Hereinafter, the term “map” includes data used for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and automatic driving, in addition to data referred to by conventional vehicle-mounted devices for route guidance.

The server device 2 establishes a communication session with the terminal device 1 of each vehicle, and sends a request Dr requesting transmission of data relating to the surrounding environment of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "surrounding environment data") to the server device 2. Send to the terminal device 1 . The terminal device 1 transmits the upload data Du including the requested surrounding environment data to the server device 2 . Specifically, when the terminal device 1 establishes a communication session with the server device 2 , the terminal device 1 transmits to the server device 2 the attribute information of the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted, etc., included in the upload data Du. In addition, the terminal device 1 generates surrounding environment data based on the output of a sensor unit 7 including a camera, a lidar (LIDAR: Laser Illuminated Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR: Light Detection and Ranging). , is included in the upload data Du and transmitted to the server device 2 .

The server device 2 receives and stores the upload data Du from each terminal device 1 . For example, based on the collected upload data Du, the server device 2 detects changes (change points) from the map data creation reference time, and updates the map data to reflect the detected change points.

Further, the terminal device 1 performs inter-vehicle communication by transmitting and receiving inter-vehicle communication data Dv to and from another terminal device 1 . Note that the terminal device 1 may be a vehicle-mounted device attached to a vehicle, a part of the vehicle-mounted device, or a part of the vehicle. Alternatively, the terminal device 1 may be a portable terminal device such as a notebook PC as long as the sensor unit 7 can be connected.

(Configuration of terminal device)
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the terminal device 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 , the terminal device 1 mainly has a communication section 11 , a storage section 12 , an input section 13 , a control section 14 , an interface 15 and an output section 16 . Each element in the terminal device 1 is interconnected via a bus line 98 .

Under the control of the control unit 14 , the communication unit 11 transmits the upload data Du to the server device 2 and receives map data for updating the map DB 4 from the server device 2 . Further, the communication unit 11 may perform a process of transmitting a signal for controlling the vehicle to the vehicle and a process of receiving a signal regarding the state of the vehicle from the vehicle.

The storage unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 14 and information necessary for the control unit 14 to execute predetermined processing. In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores a plurality of map DBs 4, a sensor data cache 6, and vehicle attribute information IV.

The map DB 4 is a database containing, for example, road data, facility data, feature data around roads, and the like. The road data includes lane network data for route search, road shape data, traffic regulation data, and the like. The feature data includes information such as signboards such as road signs, road markings such as stop lines, road division lines such as center lines, and structures along the road. The feature data may also include highly accurate point group information of features for use in estimating the position of the vehicle. In addition, the map DB 4 may store various data necessary for position estimation. Note that the storage unit 12 may store a plurality of map DBs 4 divided by data type (road data, facility data, feature data) and used (for guidance, automatic driving, obstacle detection). A plurality of divided map DBs 4 may be stored.

The sensor data cache 6 is a cache memory that temporarily holds output data (so-called raw data) of the sensor unit 7 . The vehicle attribute information IV indicates information about attributes of the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted, such as vehicle type, vehicle ID, vehicle size such as vehicle length, vehicle width and vehicle height, and vehicle fuel type.

The input unit 13 is a button, a touch panel, a remote controller, a voice input device, or the like for a user to operate. For example, an input for specifying a destination for route search, an input for specifying ON or OFF of automatic driving, etc. , and supplies the generated input signal to the control unit 14 . The output unit 16 is, for example, a display, a speaker, or the like that outputs based on the control of the control unit 14 .

The interface 15 performs an interface operation for supplying the output data of the sensor section 7 to the control section 14 and the sensor data cache 6 . The sensor unit 7 includes a plurality of external sensors for recognizing the surrounding environment of the vehicle such as the rider 31 and the camera 32, and internal sensors such as the GPS receiver 33, the gyro sensor 34, the position sensor 35, and the triaxial sensor 36. include. The lidar 31 discretely measures the distance to an object existing in the outside world, recognizes the surface of the object as a three-dimensional point group, and generates point group data. The camera 32 generates image data taken from the vehicle. The position sensor 35 is provided to detect the position of each external sensor, and the triaxial sensor 36 is provided to detect the orientation of each external sensor. Note that the sensor unit 7 may have any external sensor and internal sensor other than the external sensor and internal sensor shown in FIG. For example, the sensor unit 7 may include an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, a microphone, etc. as external sensors.

The control unit 14 includes a CPU that executes a predetermined program on one or more platforms, and controls the entire terminal device 1 . The control unit 14 functionally includes a position estimation unit 17 , an object detection unit 18 and an upload data generation unit 19 . FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of processing of the position estimation unit 17, object detection unit 18, and upload data generation unit 19 of the terminal device 1. As shown in FIG.

The position estimation unit 17 estimates the position of the vehicle (including the attitude of the vehicle) based on the output data of the sensor unit 7 held in the sensor data cache 6 and the map DB 4 . The position estimation unit 17 can execute various position estimation methods. The position estimating unit 17, for example, uses a dead reckoning (autonomous navigation) method for estimating the position of the vehicle based on the output of an autonomous positioning sensor such as the GPS receiver 33 and the gyro sensor 34, and further collates road data in the map DB 4 with the autonomous navigation. A method of estimating the position of the vehicle that performs a process (map matching) to perform a process (map matching), and a land indicated by the output data of external sensors such as the rider 31 and the camera 32 with reference to a predetermined object (landmark) existing in the surroundings and the feature information of the map DB 4 A method of estimating the position of the vehicle based on the position information of the mark is executed. Then, the position estimating unit 17 executes the position estimating method with the highest estimation accuracy among the currently executable position estimating methods, and the position estimating unit 17 indicates the position of the vehicle, etc. obtained based on the executed position estimating method. The location information is supplied to the upload data generation unit 19 . The position estimating unit 17 includes information specifying the executed position estimating method in the own vehicle position information and supplies the position information to the upload data generating unit 19 .

The object detection unit 18 detects a predetermined object based on the point cloud information, image data, audio data, etc. output by the sensor unit 7 . In this case, for example, the object detection unit 18 extracts feature data corresponding to the object detected by the sensor unit 7 from the map DB 4 based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit 17 . The object detection unit 18 detects a difference between the position, shape, etc. of the object detected by the sensor unit 7 and the position, shape, etc. of the object indicated by the feature data extracted from the map DB 4, or Information (also referred to as “object data”) on the object detected by the sensor unit 7 is supplied to the upload data generation unit 19 when there is no corresponding feature data.

Regardless of whether or not there is a difference in shape, position, etc. between the object detected by the sensor unit 7 and the object indicated by the feature information in the map DB 4, the object detection unit 18 detects a specific object when it detects it. , the object data relating to the object may be supplied to the upload data generation unit 19 . For example, when the object detection unit 18 recognizes the content, shape, position, etc. of a road sign based on the output of the sensor unit 7, or recognizes the position, shape, etc. of a lane boundary (that is, a lane marking), , these recognition results may be supplied to the upload data generator 19 as object data.

The upload data generation unit 19 receives vehicle position information supplied from the position estimation unit 17 , object data supplied from the object detection unit 18 , and output data of the sensor unit 6 supplied from the sensor data cache 6 (so-called raw data). data) to generate the upload data Du. Then, the upload data generation unit 19 transmits the generated upload data Du to the server device 2 through the communication unit 11 . For example, when a communication session with the server device 2 is established, the upload data generation unit 19 generates upload data Du including the vehicle attribute information IV, and transmits the generated upload data Du to the server device 2 through the communication unit 11. do.

(Server device)
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the server device 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4 , the server device 2 mainly has a communication section 21 , a storage section 22 and a control section 23 . Each element in the server device 2 is interconnected via a bus line 99 .

Under the control of the control unit 23 , the communication unit 21 receives the upload data Du from each terminal device 1 and transmits map data for updating the map DB 4 to each terminal device 1 .

The storage unit 22 stores programs executed by the control unit 23 and information necessary for the control unit 23 to execute predetermined processing. In this embodiment, the storage unit 22 stores the distribution map DB5.

The distribution map DB 5 is map data to be distributed to each terminal device 1 and is updated based on the upload data Du received from each terminal device 1 . Like the map DB 4, the distribution map DB 5 stores various data used in automatic driving, ADAS, etc., such as road data, facility data, and feature data around roads.

The control unit 23 includes a CPU that executes a predetermined program, and controls the server device 2 as a whole. In this embodiment, when the communication unit 21 receives the upload data Du from the terminal device 1, the control unit 23 updates the map data in the distribution map DB based on the surrounding environment data included in the upload data Du.

In the above configuration, the vehicle is an example of the mobile object of the present invention, and the server device 2 is an example of the information processing device of the present invention.

[Collection of surrounding environment data]
An embodiment of a method of collecting surrounding environment data by the data collection system will be described below.
(First embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the terminal devices 1 of a plurality of vehicles requested to upload the surrounding environment data from the server device 2 cooperate to upload the surrounding environment data. Note that “cooperate” means that one of the plurality of terminal devices 1 requested to upload data transmits surrounding environment data to the server device 2 as a representative of the plurality of terminal devices 1 .

When the server device 2 uses the terminal device 1 to collect surrounding environment data, the server device 2 does not need to acquire data from the terminal devices 1 of all vehicles in an area with a high vehicle density. . That is, even if the same surrounding environment data is transmitted from a large number of terminal devices 1, it is meaningless, and rather the processing load on the server device 2 side increases. Therefore, when requesting the terminal device 1 to upload the surrounding environment data, the server device 2 cooperates with the plurality of terminal devices 1 and selects one terminal device 1 representing the plurality of terminal devices 1 (hereinafter referred to as a “representative terminal device”). device 1”) to upload the surrounding environment data to the server device 2 or permit it. On the other hand, with regard to specific surrounding environment data, since it is sometimes desirable to collect as much data as possible, cooperation is prohibited and all terminal devices 1 can be requested to upload the surrounding environment data. . For this reason, the server device 2 sends a request (hereinafter referred to as a “representative upload request”) including information for instructing, permitting, or prohibiting the upload of the surrounding environment data by the representative terminal device 1 (hereinafter referred to as a “representative upload”). ) is transmitted to the terminal device 1 .

FIG. 5 shows the format of a representative upload request. A representative upload request is a request for one terminal device 1 out of the plurality of terminal devices 1 to upload surrounding environment data as a representative, and is transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal devices 1 of the plurality of vehicles. .

As shown in FIG. 5, the representative upload request includes a "basic information section" and a "specific information section". The basic information part is a part containing basic information required in a request from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1, and includes "header", "target vehicle information", and "target area information". The "header" includes a data format version used in communication between the server device 2 and the terminal device 1 and a time stamp indicating the time when the request was sent. "Target vehicle information" is information specifying a vehicle to which a request is sent, such as a vehicle ID. "Target area information" is information specifying the transmission target area of the request, such as a link ID or an area ID in the map data. Therefore, the request transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1 exists in the target area indicated by the target area information and is transmitted to the terminal device 1 of the vehicle specified by the target vehicle information.

The specific information part of the representative upload request includes "representative upload flag", "representative number", "surrounding environment position", "measurement start position", "measurement end position", "upload time interval", "surrounding environment type", Includes "sensor type".

The "representative upload flag" is a flag indicating whether or not a plurality of terminal devices 1 that have received a representative upload request cooperate to upload the surrounding environment data. In this embodiment, the representative upload flag “1” indicates that a plurality of terminal devices 1 cooperate and that the representative terminal device 1 is requested to upload the surrounding environment data to the server device 2 . A representative upload flag of “0” indicates that there is no need for cooperation between a plurality of terminal devices 1 and that each terminal device 1 is requested to upload the surrounding environment data to the server device 2 individually. A representative upload flag “2” indicates that a plurality of terminal devices 1 may cooperate. In this case, cooperation is permitted but not obligatory. Therefore, a plurality of terminal devices 1 may cooperate, and the representative terminal device 1 may upload the surrounding environment data to the server device 2, or each terminal device 1 may individually upload the surrounding environment data to the server device 2. .

The “representative number” indicates how many other terminal devices 1 are represented by one representative terminal device 1 when a plurality of terminal devices 1 cooperate. For example, when the number of representative devices is "10", the ten terminal devices 1 that have received the representative upload request cooperate to determine one representative terminal device 1, and the representative terminal device 1 sends the surrounding environment data to the server device. 2 will be uploaded.

"Surrounding environment position" is information indicating the position of the surrounding environment for which the server apparatus 2 requests data, and includes the position of the surrounding environment or the ID of the surrounding environment. For example, when the server device 2 requests surrounding environment data regarding a feature such as a specific building or sign, the surrounding environment position is the position coordinates of the feature or an ID assigned to the feature.

The “measurement start position” and the “measurement end position” are information specifying the range in which the terminal device 1 should measure the surrounding environment. Specifically, the measurement start position indicates the position at which the terminal device 1 should start measuring the surrounding environment, and the measurement end position indicates the position at which the terminal device 1 should end the measurement of the surrounding environment. For example, when the server device 2 requests surrounding environment data about congestion or an accident in a specific section of a certain road, the measurement start position and measurement end position are set to the start position and end position of that section, respectively.

Depending on the surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2, one or both of the surrounding environment position, the measurement start position, and the measurement end position may be set. For example, when requesting the surrounding environment data of a specific feature as described above, the server device 2 may set only the surrounding environment position without setting the measurement start position and the measurement end position. Further, when requesting surrounding environment data such as traffic congestion in a specific section, the server device 2 may set only the measurement start position and the measurement end position without setting the surrounding environment position. Further, when requesting the surrounding environment data for a specific feature existing in a specific section (for example, a specific sign existing in a specific section), the server device 2 uses the surrounding environment position, the measurement start position, and the measurement You may set both the end position.

“Upload time interval” is information specifying an interval at which the terminal device 1 transmits upload data to the server device 2 . The "surrounding environment type" is information indicating the type of the surrounding environment for which the server device 2 requests data. , icing, snow cover, and road conditions. If the surrounding environment for which the server device 2 requests data is not classified into any of these categories, the surrounding environment type is set to "Other", and if the surrounding environment is not classified into a specific type, the surrounding environment type is set to "none". Note that the “feature difference” refers to the difference value between the feature data included in the current map data and the feature data measured by the terminal device 1 . "Sensor type" is information specifying the type of sensor that the terminal device 1 should use to measure the surrounding environment, and includes, for example, lidar, ultrasonic sensor, and radar.

Next, representative upload request processing will be described. The representative upload request process is a process in which the server device 2 transmits the representative upload request shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of representative upload request processing. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 23 of the server device 2 .

First, the server device 2 determines the surrounding environment to be measured (step S20). That is, the server device 2 determines surrounding environment data to be collected using the terminal device 1 from among the various types of information managed by the server device 2 side. For example, when buildings and signs are maintained in a specific area, the server device 2 determines to collect surrounding environment data on features, signs, and the like in that area.

Next, the server device 2 determines whether or not the peripheral environment data should be uploaded in cooperation with the plurality of terminal devices 1, and sets a representative upload flag (step S11). For example, as described above, in an area with a high vehicle density, the server device 2 instructs the terminal device 1 to perform a representative upload by setting the representative upload flag to "1" or by permitting the representative upload. Set the representative upload flag to "2". When instructing or permitting representative upload, the server device 2 also determines the number of representative devices. On the other hand, in an area where vehicle density is not high, or when it is desired to collect as much data as possible, the server device 2 prohibits representative upload and sets the representative upload flag to "0".

Next, the server device 2 generates a representative upload request including the set representative upload flag and the number of representative devices (step S12), and transmits it to the plurality of terminal devices 1 (step S13). Thus, the representative upload request processing ends.

A plurality of terminal devices 1 that have received a representative upload request that instructs or permits representative upload discusses using vehicle-to-vehicle communication or the like, and decides the representative terminal device 1 . At this time, the plurality of terminal devices 1 determines one representative terminal device 1 for each representative number included in the representative upload request. The determined representative terminal device 1 uploads the surrounding environment data to the server device 2 on behalf of the other terminal devices 1 . Upload data including a representative upload flag is hereinafter referred to as "representative upload data".

FIG. 7 shows the format of representative upload data. As shown in FIG. 7, representative upload data includes a "basic information section" and a "specific information section". The basic information part is a part containing basic information required in the upload data from the terminal device 1 to the server device 2, and includes "header", "vehicle metadata", and "vehicle position". The "header" includes a version of the data format used in communication between the server device 2 and the terminal device 1, and a time stamp indicating the time when the upload data was transmitted. "Vehicle metadata" is information about the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted, and includes the vehicle ID, vehicle size, type of sensor mounted in the vehicle, and the like. "Vehicle position" is information indicating the position of the vehicle when the terminal device 1 measures the surrounding environment, for example, position coordinates.

The specific information section of the representative upload data includes a "representative upload flag", "representative number", "surrounding environment position", "surrounding environment type", and "surrounding environment data". The “representative upload flag” is a flag indicating whether or not the upload data is being transmitted as a representative of a plurality of terminal devices 1, that is, whether or not it is being uploaded as a representative. The representative upload flag is set to "1" when the representative upload is performed, and is set to "0" when the representative upload is not performed. The “representative number” indicates how many other terminal devices 1 the representative terminal device 1 represents, when the representative upload is performed.

"Surrounding environment position" is information indicating the position of the surrounding environment on which the surrounding environment data transmitted from the terminal device 1 to the server device 2 is based, and includes the position of the surrounding environment or the ID of the surrounding environment. For example, when the terminal device 1 transmits surrounding environment data related to a feature such as a specific building or sign, the surrounding environment position is the position coordinates of the feature or an ID assigned to the feature.

The "surrounding environment type" is information indicating the type of the surrounding environment on which the surrounding environment data transmitted from the terminal device 1 to the server device 2 is based. , accidents, falling objects, road cave-ins and ice, snow cover, road conditions, etc. Also, when the surrounding environment is not classified into any of these, the surrounding environment type is set to "Other", and when the surrounding environment is not limited to a specific type, the surrounding environment type is set to "None". "Surrounding environment data" is the surrounding environment data obtained by measurement. include.

Next, representative upload processing will be described. The representative upload process is a process in which the representative terminal device 1 transmits the representative upload data shown in FIG. 7 to the server device 2 . FIG. 8 is a flowchart of representative upload processing. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 14 of the terminal device 1 .

First, the terminal device 1 determines whether or not a representative upload request has been received from the server device 2 (step S20). If not received (step S20: No), the process ends. On the other hand, if a representative upload request has been received (step S20: Yes), the terminal device 1 determines whether or not it has become the representative terminal device 1 as a result of discussions with a plurality of terminal devices 1 through vehicle-to-vehicle communication or the like. (Step S21). If it is not the representative terminal device 1 (step S21: No), the process ends.

On the other hand, when the terminal device 1 becomes the representative terminal device 1 (step S21: Yes), the terminal device 1 detects the vehicle position and measures the surrounding environment using a sensor or the like (step S22). As a result, the vehicle position, the surrounding environment position, the surrounding environment type, the surrounding environment data, etc. to be included in the representative upload data are generated. Next, the terminal device 1 sets the representative upload flag to "1", sets the number of other terminal devices 1 that it represents to the representative number, and sets the representative upload flag including each data generated in step S22. Data is generated (step S23). Then, the terminal device 1 transmits the generated representative upload data to the server device 2 (step S24). Thus, the representative upload process ends.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the server device 2 transmits a representative upload request including a representative upload flag to the terminal device 1, thereby allowing the server device 2 to upload images according to the environment of the target area and the peripheral environment data to be collected. , the upload data amount from a plurality of terminal devices 1 can be controlled. As a result, the necessary surrounding environment data can be efficiently collected. Also, since the representative terminal device 1 transmits representative upload data including a representative upload flag indicating that it is the representative terminal device 1 to the server device 2, the server device 2 receives the upload data from the terminal device 1. It can be easily known that the other terminal device 1 is represented.

(Second embodiment)
In the second embodiment, when the terminal device 1 requested to upload the surrounding environment data from the server device 2 cannot generate the surrounding environment data due to a sensor defect or the like, another terminal device 1 acts as a proxy. Then, the surrounding environment data is uploaded to the server device 2 .

Even when the server device 2 requests uploading of the surrounding environment data, the terminal device 1 may not be able to generate the requested surrounding environment data depending on the state of the sensor. For example, when the sensor of the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted is in a defective state, the surrounding environment cannot be measured and the surrounding environment data cannot be generated. In addition, although the sensor is not out of order, the vehicle does not possess the type of sensor required to generate the surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2, or the sensor possessed by the server device 2 does not. If the specifications, software version, etc. requested by the device 2 are not satisfied, the requested surrounding environment data cannot be generated. For example, if a rider is required on the vehicle side to generate the surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2, the terminal device 1 mounted on the vehicle that does not have a rider generates the requested surrounding environment data. Can not do it.

In such a case, the terminal device 1 that cannot generate the surrounding environment data (hereinafter also referred to as the "proxy requesting terminal device 1") is replaced by another terminal device 1 that can appropriately generate the requested surrounding environment data (hereinafter referred to as the "proxy request terminal device 1"). (referred to as proxy transmission terminal device 1)) to upload the surrounding environment data. Upon receiving a request from the proxy request terminal device 1, the proxy transmission terminal device 1 measures the surrounding environment on behalf of the proxy request terminal device 1, generates surrounding environment data, and uploads it to the server device 2 (hereinafter referred to as " (referred to as “upload on behalf of”). At this time, the proxy transmission terminal device 1 adds information indicating that it is uploading the surrounding environment data on behalf of the proxy request terminal device 1 to the upload data and transmits the upload data to the server device 2 . As a result, the server device 2 that has received the upload data can easily know that the upload data has been transmitted by the proxy transmission terminal device 1 .

First, a method of requesting proxy upload from the proxy request terminal device 1 to the proxy transmission terminal device 1 will be described. FIG. 9 shows the format of a proxy upload request. A proxy upload request is a request that the terminal device 1, which has received an upload request for the surrounding environment data from the server device 2, requests another terminal device 1 to perform proxy upload through vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The proxy upload request is transmitted from the proxy request terminal device 1 to the proxy transmission terminal device 1 .

As shown in FIG. 9, the proxy upload request includes a "basic information section" and a "specific information section". The basic information part is a part containing basic information necessary for a request from one terminal device 1 to another terminal device 1 through inter-vehicle communication, and includes a "header" and "vehicle metadata". The "header" contains the version of the data format used in inter-vehicle communication and a timestamp indicating when the request was sent. "Vehicle metadata" is information about the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted, and includes the vehicle ID, vehicle size, type of sensor mounted in the vehicle, and the like.

The unique information section of the proxy upload request includes a "proxy upload flag", "proxy reason", "sensor type", "surrounding environment position", and "surrounding environment type". The “proxy upload flag” is information indicating whether or not the terminal device 1 that has received the upload request for the surrounding environment data from the server device 2 requests another terminal device 1 to perform proxy upload. The proxy upload flag is set to "1" when requesting another terminal device 1 to perform proxy upload, and is set to "0" when not requesting proxy upload. That is, in the proxy upload request transmitted from the proxy request terminal device 1 to the proxy transmission terminal device 1, the proxy upload flag is set to "1".

"Proxy reason" is information indicating the reason for requesting proxy upload. For example, if the sensor is faulty, the proxy upload flag is set to "1". If the vehicle does not have the sensors required to generate the surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2, the proxy upload flag is set to "2". Further, when a sensor data acquisition error occurs and surrounding environment data cannot be generated, the proxy upload flag is set to "3". "Sensor type" is information specifying a sensor necessary for measuring the requested surrounding environment data, such as lidar, ultrasonic sensor, and radar.

"Surrounding environment position" is information indicating the position of the surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2 to the proxy requesting terminal device 1, and includes the position of the surrounding environment or the ID of the surrounding environment. The “surrounding environment type” is information indicating the type of surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2 to the proxy requesting terminal device 1 . In this way, the proxy request terminal device 1 includes the "sensor type," "surrounding environment position," and "surrounding environment type" in the proxy upload request and transmits it to the proxy transmission terminal device 1. The position and type, as well as the type of sensor to be used, are communicated to the proxy transmission terminal device 1 . If the upload request for the surrounding environment data received from the server device 2 specifies the surrounding environment to be measured by the measurement start position and the measurement end position like the representative upload request shown in FIG. may include the measurement start position and the measurement end position instead of the surrounding environment position.

Next, proxy upload request processing will be described. Proxy upload request processing is processing in which the terminal device 1 transmits the proxy upload request shown in FIG. 9 to another terminal device 1 . FIG. 10 is a flowchart of proxy upload request processing. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 14 of the terminal device 1 .

First, the terminal device 1 determines whether or not a request for uploading surrounding environment data has been received from the server device 1 (step S30). If not received (step S30: No), the process ends. On the other hand, when a request for uploading surrounding environment data is received (step S30: Yes), the terminal device 1 determines whether or not the requested surrounding environment can be measured based on the sensor status of its own vehicle ( step S31). Specifically, the terminal device 1 determines whether it has a sensor necessary for generating the requested surrounding environment data, and whether it is currently operating normally.

If the requested measurement of the surrounding environment is possible (step S31: Yes), the terminal device 1 does not need to request another terminal device 1 to perform proxy upload, so the proxy upload request process ends. In this case, the terminal device 1 measures the surrounding environment by itself, generates surrounding environment data, and uploads the data to the server device 2 .

On the other hand, if the requested measurement of the surrounding environment is not possible (step S31: No), the terminal device 1, acting as the proxy requesting terminal device 1, generates a proxy upload request according to the format shown in FIG. 9 (step S32). Specifically, the proxy request terminal device 1 sets the proxy upload flag to "1", sets the reason why the surrounding environment cannot be generated as the proxy reason, and based on the upload request for the surrounding environment data from the server device 2, A proxy upload request is generated by setting the sensor type, surrounding environment position, and surrounding environment type. Then, the proxy requesting terminal device 1 transmits the generated proxy upload request to the other terminal device 1 (step S33). Thus, proxy upload request processing ends.

The terminal device 1 that receives the proxy upload request from the proxy request terminal device 1 transmits the surrounding environment data to the server device 2 as the proxy transmission terminal device 1 on behalf of the proxy request terminal device 1 . The upload data transmitted from the proxy transmission terminal device 1 to the server device 2 in this way is called proxy upload data.

FIG. 11 shows the format of proxy upload data. As shown in FIG. 11, proxy upload data includes a "basic information section" and a "specific information section". The basic information part is a part containing basic information required in the upload data from the terminal device 1 to the server device 2, and includes "header", "vehicle metadata", and "vehicle position". These data are the same as the representative upload data shown in FIG. 7, so the description is omitted here.

The specific information section of the proxy upload data includes "proxy upload flag", "proxy reason", "proxy requested vehicle", "surrounding environment position", "surrounding environment type", and "surrounding environment data". The “proxy upload flag” is a flag indicating whether or not the upload data is being sent on behalf of another terminal device 1, that is, whether or not it is being uploaded as a proxy. The proxy upload flag is set to "1" when proxy upload is performed, and is set to "0" when proxy upload is not performed. The “proxy reason” is the reason why the proxy requesting terminal device 1 has requested the proxy upload, and the proxy reason included in the proxy upload request received from the proxy requesting terminal device 1 is included as it is.

"Proxy request vehicle" is information for identifying a vehicle in which the proxy request terminal device 1 is mounted, and is, for example, a vehicle ID of the vehicle in which the proxy request terminal device 1 is mounted. This is included in the proxy upload data to convey the proxy requested vehicle to the server device 2 . The identification data of the proxy request terminal device 1 (for example, the ID of the terminal device 1) or the like may be used instead of the identification data of the proxy request vehicle.

"Surrounding environment position" and "surrounding environment type" are the position and type of the surrounding environment measured by the proxy sending terminal device 1, and are basically the same as those included in the proxy upload request received from the proxy requesting terminal device 1. is. "Surrounding environment data" is the surrounding environment data itself acquired by measurement.

Next, proxy upload processing will be described. The proxy upload process is a process in which the proxy transmission terminal device 1 transmits the proxy upload data shown in FIG. 11 to the server device 2 . FIG. 12 is a flowchart of proxy upload processing. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 14 of the terminal device 1 .

First, the terminal device 1 determines whether or not a proxy upload request has been received from the terminal device 1 of another vehicle (step S40). If no proxy upload request has been received (step S40: No), the process ends. On the other hand, when the proxy upload request is received (step S40: Yes), the terminal device 1 becomes the proxy transmission terminal device 1, detects the vehicle position, and measures the surrounding environment using a sensor or the like (step S41). At this time, the proxy transmission terminal device 1 specifies the surrounding environment to be measured based on the surrounding environment position and the surrounding environment type included in the proxy upload request, and uses the sensor indicated by the sensor type included in the proxy upload request to measure the surrounding environment. to measure As a result, the vehicle position, the surrounding environment position, the surrounding environment type, the surrounding environment data, etc. to be included in the proxy upload data are generated.

Next, the proxy transmission terminal device 1 sets the representative upload flag to "1" and sets the vehicle ID in which the proxy request terminal device 1 is mounted to the proxy request vehicle. Then, proxy transmission terminal 1 generates proxy upload data including those data and each data generated in step S41 (step S42), and transmits the data to server device 2. FIG. Thus, the proxy upload process ends.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the terminal device 1 that cannot generate the surrounding environment data requested by the server device 2 due to a sensor defect or the like requests proxy upload to another terminal device 1. can be requested. Also, the proxy sending terminal device 1 requested for proxy uploading can generate necessary surrounding environment data on behalf of the proxy requesting terminal device 1 and upload it to the server device 2 . Therefore, even if there is a terminal device 1 in a situation such as a sensor failure, the server device 2 can collect necessary surrounding environment data.

(Third embodiment)
In the third embodiment, when the server device 2 requests the terminal device 1 to upload surrounding environment data, it designates a sensor to be used for measuring the surrounding environment. When the server device 2 uses the terminal device 1 to collect surrounding environment data, there are cases where the sensor to be used for measurement is specified. For example, there is a case where data measured by a lidar is required for a certain feature, and data measured by an ultrasonic sensor is required for another feature. Further, map data may be stored for each sensor in the distribution map DB 5 of the server device 2, and the server device 2 may want to collect data measured by a specific sensor for a certain feature. be. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the upload request transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1 designates the sensor to be used for measurement. An upload request specifying a sensor in this way is hereinafter referred to as a "sensor-specifying upload request".

FIG. 13 shows the data format of the sensor-specified upload request. The sensor-designated upload request is a request to upload surrounding environment data measured using a designated sensor to the server device 2, and is transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal devices 1 of a plurality of vehicles.

As shown in FIG. 13, the sensor-designated upload request includes a "basic information section" and a "specific information section." The basic information part is a part containing basic information required in a request from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1, and includes "header", "target vehicle information", and "target area information". Note that these pieces of information are the same as those of the representative upload request shown in FIG. 5, so description thereof will be omitted.

The specific information part of the sensor-designated upload request includes "surrounding environment position", "measurement start position", "measurement end position", "upload time interval", "surrounding environment type", and "sensor designation". Here, the "surrounding environment position", "measurement start position", "measurement end position", "upload time interval", and "surrounding environment type" are the same as those of the representative upload request shown in FIG. .

"Sensor designation" is information for designating the type of sensor used to measure the surrounding environment, and may designate one sensor or a plurality of sensors. FIG. 13 shows an example in which multiple sensors are specified.

When one sensor is designated, "sensor designation" does not include information indicating priority, and one sensor to be used for measurement is designated. For example, when only the data measured by the rider is required, the server apparatus 2 sets the rider to "specify sensor".

On the other hand, when a plurality of sensors are specified as in the example of FIG. 13, their priorities are also specified. That is, the sensor designated as "sensor designation (first priority)" has the first priority, and the sensor designated as "sensor designation (second priority)" has the second priority. For example, when the data measured by the lidar is required as the first priority and the data measured by the ultrasonic sensor is required as the second priority, the server device 2 sets the "sensor specification (first priority)". Set the rider, and set the ultrasonic sensor to "sensor specification (second priority)". If data from multiple sensors are desired, priority may not be set.

In the above sensor-designated upload request, the surrounding environment position is an example of the feature identification data of the present invention, the sensor designation is an example of the designation data and priority order data of the present invention, and the measurement start position and measurement end position is an example of the detection range data of the present invention, and the surrounding environment type is an example of the type data of the present invention.

Next, the sensor-designated upload request processing will be described. The sensor-designated upload request process is a process in which the server device 2 transmits the sensor-designated upload request shown in FIG. 13 to the plurality of terminal devices 1 . FIG. 14 is a flowchart of sensor-designated upload request processing. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 23 of the server device 2 .

First, the server device 2 determines the surrounding environment to be measured (step S50). That is, the server device 2 determines surrounding environment data to be collected using the terminal device 1 from among the various types of information managed by the server device 2 side. Next, the server device 2 determines sensors to be used in measuring the surrounding environment (step S51). Then, based on the surrounding environment determined in step S50, the server device 2 sets the surrounding environment position, the measurement start position, the measurement end position, the upload time interval, the surrounding environment type, etc., and the sensor determined in step S51 is set to " "sensor specification" to generate a sensor specification upload request as shown in FIG. 13 (step S52). The server device 2 then transmits the generated sensor-designated upload request to the terminal device 1 (step S53). Thus, the sensor-designated upload request process ends.

Note that the terminal device 1 that has received the sensor-designated upload request measures the surrounding environment using the designated sensor, generates surrounding environment data, and uploads it to the server device 2 . On the other hand, the terminal device 1 of the vehicle that does not have the designated sensor does not upload the surrounding environment data.

Thus, according to the third embodiment, the server device 2 efficiently collects only the necessary data by specifying the sensors to be used for measurement in the upload request of the surrounding environment data to the terminal device 1. be able to.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the fourth embodiment, when the server device 2 requests the terminal device 1 to upload the surrounding environment data, the position and orientation for measuring the surrounding environment are specified. When the server device 2 uses the terminal device 1 to collect surrounding environment data, data measured at a specific position or orientation (direction) may be required. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, in the upload request transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1, the position and orientation for measuring the surrounding environment are specified. Such an upload request specifying the position and orientation for measuring the surrounding environment is hereinafter referred to as a "position/orientation specifying upload request".

FIG. 15 shows the format of the position/orientation upload request. A position/orientation-designated upload request is a request for uploading surrounding environment data measured at a designated position or orientation to the server device 2, and is transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal devices 1 of a plurality of vehicles.

As shown in FIG. 15, the position/orientation specifying upload request includes a 'basic information section' and a 'specific information section'. The basic information part is a part containing basic information required in a request from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1, and includes "header", "target vehicle information", and "target area information". Note that these pieces of information are the same as those of the representative upload request shown in FIG. 5, so description thereof will be omitted.

The specific information part of the position/orientation specified upload request consists of "surrounding environment position", "measurement start position", "measurement end position", "measurement position", "measurement direction", "upload time interval", "surrounding environment type "including. Here, the "surrounding environment position", "measurement start position", "measurement end position", "upload time interval", and "surrounding environment type" are the same as those of the representative upload request shown in FIG. .

"Measurement position" is information indicating the position where the surrounding environment is measured, that is, the position of the sensor mounted on the vehicle when measuring the surrounding environment. Note that in practice, the position of the vehicle may be used instead of the position of the sensor. The measurement position can be designated by, for example, XY coordinates. In addition, when the road on which the vehicle travels has a plurality of lanes, the measurement position may be specified by lane, such as "driving lane", "passing lane", "second lane from the left".

“Measurement orientation” is information that specifies the orientation (direction) in which the surrounding environment should be measured. For example, when it is desired to measure the surrounding environment at a specific angle (azimuth) from a certain measurement position, that angle or angle range is specified as the measurement direction. Also, if it is desired to specify either the up lane or the down lane at the measurement position on the road, the measurement direction may be specified by lane such as "up lane" or "down lane". Furthermore, the measurement direction on roads may be specified using north, south, east, west, etc. such as "westbound" and "eastbound", and the measurement direction on ring roads may be specified such as "inner circle" and "outer circle". May be specified.

Next, position/orientation specification upload request processing will be described. The position/orientation specifying upload request process is a process in which the server device 2 transmits the position/orientation specifying upload request shown in FIG. 15 to the plurality of terminal devices 1 . FIG. 16 is a flowchart of position/orientation specification upload request processing. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 23 of the server device 2 .

First, the server device 2 determines the surrounding environment to be measured (step S60). That is, the server device 2 determines surrounding environment data to be collected using the terminal device 1 from among the various types of information managed by the server device 2 side. Next, the server device 2 determines at least one of the position and orientation of the surrounding environment to be measured (step S61). Then, the server device 2 sets the surrounding environment position, the measurement start position, the measurement end position, the upload time interval, the surrounding environment type, etc. based on the surrounding environment determined in step S60. Further, the server apparatus 2 sets the position determined in step S61 as the "measurement position" and sets the direction as the "measurement direction", and generates a position/orientation specification upload request as shown in FIG. 15 (step S62). Then, the server device 2 transmits the generated position/orientation specifying upload request to the terminal device 1 (step S63). Thus, the position/orientation specification upload request processing ends.

Note that the terminal device 1 that has received the position/orientation specification upload request measures the surrounding environment according to the specification of the measurement position and/or the measurement direction, generates the surrounding environment data, and uploads it to the server device 2 . Note that the terminal device 1 that cannot measure the surrounding environment according to the designation of the measurement position and the measurement direction does not upload the surrounding environment data.

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the server device 2 specifies the position and/or orientation for measuring the surrounding environment in the request for uploading the surrounding environment data to the terminal device 1, thereby uploading only necessary data. can be collected efficiently.

(Fifth embodiment)
In the fifth embodiment, when the server device 2 requests the terminal device 1 to upload surrounding environment data, the reliability of data obtained by measuring the surrounding environment is specified. When the server device 2 collects surrounding environment data using the terminal device 1, if data with low reliability is uploaded from a large number of terminal devices 1, the processing load on the server device 2 increases, and the server device There is also a risk that the accuracy of the data managed by 2 will decline. Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, in the upload request transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1, the requested reliability of the data obtained by measuring the surrounding environment is designated. Such an upload request with specified reliability is hereinafter referred to as a "reliability specified upload request".

FIG. 17 shows the format of the reliability specification upload request. The reliability specification upload request is a request for uploading only the surrounding environment data having a reliability higher than or equal to a specified reliability requirement to the server device 2, and is transmitted from the server device 2 to the terminal devices 1 of a plurality of vehicles. be done.

As shown in FIG. 15, the reliability designation upload request includes a "basic information section" and a "specific information section". The basic information part is a part containing basic information required in a request from the server device 2 to the terminal device 1, and includes "header", "target vehicle information", and "target area information". Note that these pieces of information are the same as those of the representative upload request shown in FIG. 5, so description thereof will be omitted.

The specific information section of the reliability-designated upload request first includes "surrounding environment position", "measurement start position", "measurement end position", "upload time interval", and "surrounding environment type". Here, since these pieces of information are the same as those of the representative upload request shown in FIG. 5, description thereof will be omitted.

Further, the reliability specification upload request includes "required reliability", "required reliability by sensor", and "required reliability by feature". Note that at least one of the "required reliability", "required reliability by sensor", and "required reliability by feature" may be included.

The "required reliability" is the lower limit of the reliability requested by the server device 2, and is indicated by a percentage (%), for example. Note that this required reliability does not matter for each sensor used for measurement or for each feature to be measured.

The "required reliability level for each sensor" is set when the required reliability level differs for each sensor. For example, set the lower limit of the reliability when measuring with a lidar in "required reliability by sensor (sensor 1)", and set the lower limit of reliability when measuring with a lidar, and set the lower limit of reliability when measuring with an ultrasonic sensor in "required reliability by sensor (sensor 2)". You can set a lower bound on the reliability of

The "required reliability for each feature" is set when the reliability required for each feature is different. For example, set the lower limit of the reliability when measuring feature A in "Required reliability for each feature (feature A)", and set the lower limit of the reliability when measuring feature A. It is possible to set the lower limit of the reliability when measuring the object B.

Note that the terminal device 1 side calculates the reliability based on the accuracy of each sensor at the time of measuring the surrounding environment, the suitability of each sensor for the surrounding environment to be measured, the surrounding noise environment, and the like. For example, when using a lidar as a sensor, the terminal device 1 can calculate the reliability based on the estimation accuracy of its own position, whether or not occlusion has occurred, and the like.

Next, the reliability designation upload request process will be described. The reliability designation upload request process is a process in which the server device 2 transmits the reliability designation upload request shown in FIG. 17 to the plurality of terminal devices 1 . FIG. 18 is a flow chart of the reliability designation upload request process. This processing is performed by executing a program prepared in advance by the control unit 23 of the server device 2 .

First, the server device 2 determines the surrounding environment to be measured (step S70). That is, the server device 2 determines surrounding environment data to be collected using the terminal device 1 from among the various types of information managed by the server device 2 side. Next, the server device 2 determines the required reliability of the surrounding environment to be measured, that is, the lower limit of the reliability (step S71). At this time, as described above, if the required reliability differs for each sensor or for each feature, the server device 2 determines the required reliability for each sensor or each feature.

Based on the surrounding environment determined in step S70, the server device 2 sets the surrounding environment position, the measurement start position, the measurement end position, the upload time interval, the surrounding environment type, and the like. Further, the server device 2 sets the required reliability determined in step S71 to "required reliability", "required reliability for each sensor", or "required reliability for each feature", as shown in FIG. A reliability designation upload request is generated (step S72). Then, the server device 2 transmits the generated reliability designation upload request to the terminal device 1 (step S73). Thus, the reliability designation upload request process ends.

In addition, the terminal device 1 that has received the reliability specification upload request measures the surrounding environment to generate surrounding environment data, and if the generated surrounding environment data has the required reliability or more, uploads it to the server device 2. . A terminal device 1 that cannot generate surrounding environment data that satisfies the required reliability does not upload surrounding environment data.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, the server device 2 specifies the required reliability in the upload request for the surrounding environment data to the terminal device 1, thereby efficiently collecting only the data with the required reliability. It is possible to maintain the accuracy of the data managed by the server device.

1 terminal device 2 server device 4 map DB
5 Delivery map DB
6 sensor data cache 7 sensor unit 14, 23 control unit

Claims (9)

A data structure of transmission data that is transmitted from an information processing device to a terminal device mounted on a mobile body and requests that the terminal device transmit feature data related to a feature detected by a detection device to the information processing device. hand,
feature identification data for specifying features to be detected;
Reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of feature data to be transmitted among the features detected by the terminal device;
including
A data structure used for transmitting feature data whose reliability is equal to or higher than the lower limit to the information processing device. 2. The data structure of claim 1, comprising designating data designating a detection device to be used for feature detection. A plurality of the detection devices are specified by the specified data,
3. The data structure according to claim 2, wherein the reliability data is set for each detection device. 4. The data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising detection range data specifying a range for detecting the feature. including type data indicating the type of the feature to be detected;
5. The data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said reliability data is set for each type of said feature. An information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object,
transmission data including feature identification data specifying a feature to be detected and reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of the feature data to be transmitted among the features detected by the terminal device; An information processing device comprising transmission means for transmitting data to a terminal device. A data communication method executed by an information processing device that communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object,
transmission data including feature identification data specifying a feature to be detected and reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of the feature data to be transmitted among the features detected by the terminal device; A data communication method comprising a transmitting step of transmitting to a terminal device. A program that is executed by an information processing device that includes a computer and communicates with a terminal device mounted on a mobile object,
transmission data including feature identification data specifying a feature to be detected and reliability data indicating a lower limit of reliability of the feature data to be transmitted among the features detected by the terminal device; A program that causes the computer to function as transmission means for transmitting data to a terminal device. A storage medium storing the program according to claim 8 .

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