KR20050058810A - Image processing system and method for electronic map - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image processing system and method for an electronic map, and to an image processing system and method for an electronic map that takes an image in real time according to a path, automatically matches the photographed image with location information, and edits / manages it. It is about.

The present invention provides a GPS receiver which is mounted on a vehicle and measures a position at a predetermined period and provides position information including a standard time; A photographing unit which photographs an image according to a preset number of image frames; A digital image storage device for receiving and storing a position including the time information transmitted from a GPS receiver and a photographing unit and a captured image, and editing the image for each position; And a controller for generating map data by matching the image transmitted from the photographing unit with the position information measured by the GPS receiver on the basis of the standard time, and automatically photographing the captured image to generate / update the map data with the position coordinates. Because of the matching, it is possible to reduce the inconvenience of manual operation to match the captured image and the measured position information.

Description

Image Processing System and Method for Electronic Map

The present invention relates to an image processing system and method for an electronic map, and to an image processing system and method for an electronic map that takes an image in real time according to a path, automatically matches the photographed image with location information, and edits / manages it. It is about.

When a road guidance request is received from a mobile communication terminal or a navigation terminal provided in a vehicle, a service for extracting a route from a departure point to a destination and transmitting the route guidance request to a terminal requesting the guidance is already provided to many users. At this time, the route information is to extract the route from the starting point to the destination requested by the user from the map information previously stored in the system of the operator providing the road guidance information.

The map information includes a camera for capturing images of various parts of the road in a vehicle, equipment for locating the location, etc., to take a tour of the area to be investigated, to take a video, and to provide brief information about the captured image. After input, the captured image and the location information were visually identified and matched to each other. However, the above method is inconvenient to perform a manual step of visually checking the photographed image and grasping the position corresponding to the image to match the image and the position where the image is photographed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. Image processing for electronic maps that collects map data by capturing image data by capturing an image to generate a map, extracting identification data from the captured image, and automatically matching the location information. It is a technical challenge to provide a system and method.

The present invention for achieving the above object is an image processing system for automatically editing the captured image to generate the map data,

A GPS receiver mounted on the vehicle to measure the position at a predetermined period and to provide the position information including the standard time; A photographing unit which photographs an image according to a preset number of image frames; A digital image storage device for receiving and storing a position and a photographed image including the standard time information transmitted from the GPS receiver and the photographing unit, and editing the image for each position; And a controller configured to generate map data by matching the image transmitted from the photographing unit with the position information measured by the GPS receiver based on a standard time.

Another embodiment of the present invention is an image processing method using an image processing system which is connected to a GPS receiver and a camera for providing location information and automatically edits a photographed image for each location to generate map data.

A first step of receiving a current position of a vehicle on which the image processing system is mounted from the GPS receiver and synchronizing a standard time of each component of the image processing system; A second step of receiving and storing the captured image and the location information from the camera and the GPS receiver; And matching and editing the image and the location information based on a standard time.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing an embodiment for explaining an image capturing method according to the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, an image processing system (not shown) is mounted on the vehicle 800 and collects images and location information on which images are captured while moving to an area to generate map information or update. In more detail, the image processing system uses a camera mounted on the vehicle 800 according to the moving direction of the vehicle (B department store, D building, G bookstore, A bank, E building, C fast food store, F In order of the school) (sequential, front, rear, left and right images are taken), and after extracting the identification text indicating the title or name of the image from the captured image, the image and the location information and standard Match based on time.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an image processing system according to the present invention, which will be described with reference to FIG. 1 showing an image capturing method and FIG. 3 showing an image processing method.

An image processing system for capturing an image for generating an electronic map, and automatically matching and editing the image to a corresponding position is mounted in the vehicle 800 to measure a position based on a standard time according to a moving direction of the vehicle, and the electronics. Receiving and storing the image and location information transmitted from the image capture unit 200, the GPS receiver 100 and the image capture unit 200 for taking an image of the region (ambient environment such as roads and buildings) for generating a map Digital image storage device (DVR) 300, VISION processing unit 400 for extracting text information indicating the title or name of the image from the captured image, the overall image processing system to generate the electronic map by editing the captured image Control unit 500 for controlling the operation, vehicle speed detection unit 600 for detecting the speed of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system to determine the number of frames of the image to be photographed and G In order to more accurately correct the position of the image measured by the PS receiver 100 includes a rotation detecting unit 700 for detecting the degree of rotation of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system.

In more detail, the global positioning system (GPS) receiver 100 is mounted on a vehicle and measures a position (including a standard time) according to a driving route of the vehicle at a predetermined period and transmits the measured position to the digital image storage device 300. In this case, the GPS receiver 100 may transmit the location information to the controller 500 and the controller 500 may transmit the location information to the image processing system.

The vehicle speed sensor 600 detects a current speed of a vehicle equipped with an image processing system and transmits the same to the controller 500 to determine the number of frames of an image to be photographed.

The rotation detection unit 700 determines the left and right rotation degree of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system, and transmits the determined rotation information of the vehicle to the control unit 500 to more detail the position information measured by the GPS receiver 100. It is used to correct the position information that is not measured or measured by the GPS receiver 100.

For example, when the vehicle 800 equipped with the image processing system passes through an area where the location cannot be measured by the GPS receiver 100, such as a tunnel and a high-rise building zone, the control unit 500 may pass through the tunnel. The position may be estimated based on the position information after passing and the rotation information of the vehicle 800 measured by the rotation detecting unit 700. In addition, the control unit 500 of the image processing system may use an Assisted GPS (AGPS), an Inertial Navigation System (INS), and a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to obtain position information. It is possible.

The photographing unit 200 includes a front photographing unit 210 photographing a front image based on a vehicle 800 equipped with a camera, a rear photographing unit 230 photographing a rear image, and a left photographing image of a left side. Including the photographing unit 250 and the right photographing unit 270 for capturing the image on the right side, the image is captured in all directions based on a preset number of frames. Here, the number of frames of the image to be photographed is determined according to the speed of the vehicle in which the image processing system is mounted. For example, when the speed of the vehicle is 10km and when the speed of the vehicle is 60km, the control unit 500 sets the number of image capturing times (frame count) to be less when the vehicle speed is 10km than when the vehicle speed is 60km so as not to repeatedly capture the same image. do. Here, the photographing unit 200 may photograph diagonal directions as well as images of the front, rear, left and right sides.

The digital video recorder (DVR) 300 receives and stores location information of a standard time unit transmitted from the GPS receiver 100 and uses the stored location information when editing an image for each location. At this time, since the criterion for matching the image and the position is standard time, the standard time of each of the GPS receiver 100 and the photographing unit 200 is synchronized in advance before capturing the image.

In addition, the digital image storage device 300 receives the front image, the rear image, the left image and the right image transmitted from the photographing unit 200 and stores them for identification, and uses the stored images when editing the image. do.

The vision processor 400 extracts an identification character (any one of a text, a symbol, a number, an image, or a combination thereof) for identifying a photographed object from the image photographed by the photographing unit 200, and extracts the extracted identification character. In comparison with the landmark (Land Mark) pre-stored in the database 410, the identification characters matching some or all of them are selected to be used in the generation / update of the map data. Here, the landmark refers to a name of a thing that is noticeably outstanding among the surrounding landscape and is suitable as a target for identifying an area.

For example, the VISION processing unit 400 may map landmarks such as major buildings or facilities that may be displayed on a map (for example, a bank, a building, a building, a hotel, a department store, a school, a hospital, a school, a fast food store, etc.). The main facility name to be displayed in the database 410 is stored in advance in the database 410, as shown in FIG. Extracts identification characters from B department store, C fast food store, D building, E building, F school, G bookstore) and compares them with landmarks stored in database 410 to select some or all matching characters. . Here, the G bookstore of the building in which the bank A is located is small and is not suitable for display on the map, so it is excluded from the selection.

The controller 500 controls operations while transmitting and receiving each component and information of an image processing system including the digital image storage device 300, and receives a current traveling speed of a vehicle equipped with an image processing system from the vehicle speed sensor 600. Then, the photographing unit 200 determines the number of images (frame number) to be photographed for a predetermined time and transmits it to the photographing unit 200. Before determining the number of shooting frames, the control unit 500 receives the current position transmitted from the GPS receiver 100 to check whether the current position is already taken, and determines the number of image shooting frames if the current position is not. do.

The controller 500 generates map data by matching the image transmitted from the photographing unit 200 with the position measured by the GPS receiver 100 and the identification character selected by the VISION processor 400, and generates the electronic map database 510. ). At this time, the control unit 500 matches the image, the corresponding identification character, and the position information based on the standard time as shown in FIG. 3.

For example, the right image (B department store image) and the front image (straight display panel image) captured in the same time zone are respectively the right image (B department store image), the right identification character (B department store), and location information (location coordinates). It is matched with the front image (straight display panel image), the front identification character (straight), and the position information (position coordinate). Herein, the information reflected when the map data is generated is information edited by matching the identification character selected by comparison with the landmark, the image including the identification character, and the location information.

When determining the position of the image, the control unit 500 is based on the rotation information of the vehicle transmitted from the rotation detecting unit 700 and the moving distance according to the speed of the vehicle transmitted from the vehicle speed detecting unit 600, the GPS receiver 100 Correct the position measured by in more detail.

In addition, the control unit 500 may include a coordinate obtained by adding a predetermined road width via the vehicle to a coordinate corresponding to a vertical direction based on the traveling direction of the vehicle among the position coordinates measured by the GPS receiver 100. You can also figure out the location of. For example, when the X coordinate of the vehicle measured by the GPS receiver 100 is 10 and the Y coordinate is 20, the controller 500 may store the road width previously stored in the X coordinate 10 perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle. The X coordinate 30 and the Y coordinate 20 added 20 are identified as the position of the image.

The controller 500 is connected to an electronic map database 510 that stores map data including location and road information of major facilities, and updates and updates the map data at predetermined intervals. Current map data (e.g., Coex Mall in Samseong-dong, New Stadium in Jamsil, Gangnam) When updating a new movie theater, etc.) to the previous map data, the current map data and the previous map data are compared to check whether there is a duplicate, and if the map data does not overlap, it is added to the previous map data. At this time, if the location information (GPS information) of the map data is matched, but the identification characters do not match, the control unit 500 changes the identification character by changing the facility (for example, A cinema of Gangnam A location-> Gangnam A location Bank C), and replaces existing identification characters with new ones.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which will be described with reference to FIG. 1, which illustrates an image capturing method, and FIG. 3, which illustrates an image processing method.

The control unit 500 of the image processing system receives the current position (including standard time) from the GPS receiver 100 and synchronizes the standard time of each component of the image processing system (S101).

The controller 500 checks the current position received in step S101 to determine whether the image is a region where the image was previously taken (S103).

If the area is not photographed before the result of step S103, the control unit 500 may take a picture based on the current speed of the vehicle transmitted from the vehicle speed detecting unit 600 (the number of images to be taken per second; Number of frames) and transmits the set number of frames to the photographing unit 200.

The controller 500 receives an image (the front, rear, left and right images (including standard time)) and location information (GPS information (including standard time)) photographed by the photographing unit 200 (S107), It is stored in the database (S109). At this time, the controller 500 matches the photographed image with the corresponding position information (position coordinates) where the image is photographed, and stores it in a database.

The VISION processing unit 400 extracts an identification character (any one of a text, a symbol, a number, an image, or a combination thereof for identifying a photographed object) from the image of step S109, and pre-loads the extracted identification character to the database 410. The identification characters matching some or all of them are selected in comparison with the stored landmarks (S111 and S113). Here, the landmark refers to a name of a thing that is noticeably outstanding among the surrounding landscape and is suitable as a target for identifying an area.

For example, the VISION processing unit 400 may map landmarks such as major buildings or facilities that may be displayed on a map (for example, a bank, a building, a building, a hotel, a department store, a school, a hospital, a school, a fast food store, etc.). The main facility name to be displayed in the database 410 is stored in advance in the database 410, as shown in FIG. Extracts identification characters from B department store, C fast food store, D building, E building, F school, G bookstore) and compares them with landmarks stored in database 410 to select some or all matching characters. . Here, the G bookstore of the building in which the bank A is located is small and is not suitable for display on the map, so it is excluded from the selection.

The control unit 500 generates current map data by matching the identification character selected in step S113 with the image and the location information from which the identification character is extracted (S115).

Referring to step S115 in more detail, the controller 500 matches the image transmitted from the photographing unit 200 with the position measured by the GPS receiver 100 and the identification character selected by the VISION processor 400 to map the data. To generate and store in the electronic map database (510).

At this time, the control unit 500 matches the image, the corresponding identification character, and the position information based on the standard time as shown in FIG. 3. For example, the right image (B department store image) and the front image (straight display panel image) captured in the same time zone are respectively the right image (B department store image), the right identification character (B department store), and location information (location coordinates). Matches with the front image (straight display panel image), the front identification character (straight), and the positional information (position coordinates). Herein, the information reflected when the map data is generated is information edited by matching the identification character selected by comparison with the landmark, the image including the identification character, and the location information.

When determining the position of the image, the control unit 500 is based on the rotation information of the vehicle transmitted from the rotation detecting unit 700 and the moving distance according to the speed of the vehicle transmitted from the vehicle speed detecting unit 600, the GPS receiver 100 Correct the position measured by in more detail.

In addition, the control unit 500 may include a coordinate obtained by adding a predetermined road width via the vehicle to a coordinate corresponding to a vertical direction based on the traveling direction of the vehicle among the position coordinates measured by the GPS receiver 100. You can also figure out the location of. For example, when the X coordinate of the vehicle measured by the GPS receiver 100 is 10 and the Y coordinate is 20, the controller 500 may store the road width previously stored in the X coordinate 10 perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle. The X coordinate 30 and the Y coordinate 20 added 20 are identified as the position of the image.

Thereafter, the control unit 500 checks whether to end the image editing process (S117), when receiving a signal to end the image editing, terminates the image processing process performed and receives the signal to continue the image editing. The process after step S103 is performed.

As a result of step S103, when the current location transmitted from the GPS receiver 100 is a location where the image was previously photographed, the controller 500 performs a process after step S117.

If the extracted identification character as a result of step S113 does not have the identification character that partially or completely matches the landmark (Land Mark) previously stored in the database 410, the controller 500 performs the process after step S117. .

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of an image processing method according to the present invention, and a process of updating map data using an image for each location will be described. FIG.

When the control unit 500 receives an image (including standard time) and location information (including standard time) transmitted from the photographing unit 200 and the GPS receiver 100 (S201), the location information of the map data stored in advance is stored. In operation S203, it is checked whether the map data information exists at the same location.

If there is map data located at the same place as a result of step S203, the control unit 500 compares the previous map data with the current map data and checks whether there is a change (S205).

If the current map data located in the same place as the result of step S205 does not match with the previous map data, the control unit 500 changes the identification character by changing the facility (for example, A cinema-> Gangnam A location at Gangnam A location). Bank C), and changes the previous map data information to the current map data and updates it (S207).

Thereafter, the controller 500 checks whether to end the video update process (S209), when receiving a signal to end video editing, terminates the image processing process and receives a signal to continue video editing. The process after step S201 is performed.

If there is no map data located at the same place as a result of step S203, the controller 500 recognizes the newly created map data, adds new map data to the previous map data, and performs the process after step S207.

As a result of step S205, when the current map data located in the same place matches the previous map data, the control unit 500 recognizes that the previous facility has not been changed (for example, A movie theater-> Gangnam A location at Gangnam A location). A movie theater), and the process after step S209.

In the detailed description of the present invention, only an image processing method for generating / editing map information has been described as an example, but other services for automatically editing a corresponding location and time in a captured image, for example, can be applied to a mobile traffic monitoring service. Do.

In addition, in the detailed description of the present invention has been described taking only the image of the front, rear, left and right as an example, it is possible to change the direction to be photographed according to the needs of the operator.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be understood as illustrative in all respects and not as restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

As described above, since the present invention automatically matches the photographed image with the position coordinates to generate / update the map data, it is possible to reduce the inconvenience of manual operation for matching the photographed image and the measured position information.

In addition, the present invention can automatically match the image and location information to reduce the time required to generate the map data, thereby allowing to quickly collect the map data that is changed in real time to update the previous map data.

1 is a view showing an embodiment for explaining an image capturing method according to the present invention;

2 is a diagram showing the detailed configuration of an image processing system according to the present invention;

3 is a view showing an embodiment for explaining an image processing method according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment for explaining an image processing method according to the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment for explaining an image processing method according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: GPS receiver 200: recording unit

210: front photographing unit 230: rear photographing unit

250: left image capture portion 270: right image capture portion

300: digital image storage device (DVR) 400: vision processing unit

410: database 500: control unit

510: electronic map database 600: vehicle speed detection unit

700: rotation detection unit

Claims (13)

An image processing system that automatically edits photographed images to generate map data. A GPS receiver mounted on the vehicle to measure the position at a predetermined period and to provide the position information including the standard time; A photographing unit which photographs an image according to a preset number of image frames; A digital image storage device for receiving and storing a position and a photographed image including the standard time information transmitted from the GPS receiver and the photographing unit, and editing the image for each position; And A controller configured to generate map data by matching the image transmitted from the photographing unit with the position information measured by the GPS receiver based on a standard time; Image processing system for an electronic map comprising a. According to claim 1, The image processing system, A vision processor extracting an identification character representing a target from an image photographed by the photographing unit; The image processing system for an electronic map further comprising. The method of claim 2, The vision processing unit includes a database for storing at least one landmark representing the main facilities to be displayed on the map, The vision processor extracts an identification character from the image, and compares the extracted identification character with the landmark previously stored in the database, and selects the identification character that partially or completely matches the identification character so as to be utilized in generating / updating map data. An image processing system for an electronic map, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, The landmark is an image processing system for an electronic map, characterized in that any one of the form of text, symbols, numbers, images or a combination thereof. According to claim 1, The image processing system further includes a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a current speed of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system, The controller receives the current speed of the vehicle transmitted from the vehicle speed sensor, determines the number of frames to which the image is to be photographed, and transmits the same to the photographing unit. According to claim 1, The image processing system detects left and right rotation degrees of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system, and detects the rotation speed of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system and a rotation detecting unit for providing the determined rotation information of the vehicle to the controller. Further comprising a vehicle speed detection unit, And the control unit corrects the position information of the image measured by the GPS receiver based on the rotation information of the vehicle and the moving distance according to the speed of the vehicle. The method of claim 6, The image processing system stores road width information passed by the vehicle in advance, The controller may be configured to identify, as the position of the image, a coordinate obtained by adding the road width information via the vehicle to a coordinate corresponding to a vertical direction based on the traveling direction of the vehicle among the position coordinates measured by the GPS receiver. An image processing system for an electronic map characterized in that. An image processing method using an image processing system that is connected to a GPS receiver and a camera providing location information and automatically edits a captured image for each location to generate map data. A first step of receiving a current position of a vehicle on which the image processing system is mounted from the GPS receiver and synchronizing a standard time of each component of the image processing system; A second step of receiving and storing the captured image and the location information from the camera and the GPS receiver; And A third step of matching and editing the image and the location information based on a standard time; Image processing method for an electronic map comprising a. The method of claim 8, The image processing system further includes a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a current speed of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system, After the first step, Setting the number of image frames to be photographed based on the current speed of the vehicle transmitted from the vehicle speed sensor; The image processing method for an electronic map, characterized in that it further comprises. The method of claim 8, The image processing system includes a database for storing at least one landmark representing a major facility to be displayed on a map, After the second step, Extracting an identification character from the image, and comparing the extracted identification character with the landmark pre-stored in the database so as to select an identification character that partially or completely matches the identification character so as to be utilized in generating / updating map data; The image processing method for an electronic map, characterized in that to further reflect the selected character when matching the image and the location where the image is taken. The method of claim 10, The landmark is an image processing method for an electronic map, characterized in that any one of the form of text, symbols, numbers, images or a combination thereof. The method of claim 8, The image processing system detects the left and right rotation degree of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system, and detects the rotation of the vehicle to provide the information on the rotation and the vehicle speed detection to detect the current speed of the vehicle equipped with the image processing system Further includes wealth, The third step, Correcting the position information of the image measured by the GPS receiver based on the rotation information of the vehicle and the moving distance according to the speed of the vehicle; The image processing method for an electronic map, characterized in that it further comprises. The method of claim 12, The image processing system stores road width information passed by the vehicle in advance, The coordinates obtained by adding the road width information via the vehicle to the coordinates corresponding to the vertical direction from the position coordinates measured by the GPS receiver may be identified as the position of the image. Electronic map image processing method.