WO2017208371A1 - Image search program, image search method, and image search device - Google Patents

Abstract

A receiving unit 43 receives a designation of range conditions that include a time period and location region. A search unit 44 searches a storage unit 22 which stores images with which location information and time information are associated, and when the number of image data 30 which satisfy the range conditions received by the receiving unit 43 from among the image data 30 stored in the storage unit 22 is equal to or less than a prescribed number, searches again by expanding the time period range or location range of the range conditions.

Description

Image search program, image search method, and image search apparatus

The present invention relates to an image search program, an image search method, and an image search device.

Conventionally, for example, in the logistics industry, on-board devices such as digital tachographs that monitor operation status such as position and speed are attached to business vehicles such as trucks and buses, and operation management is based on information collected from on-board devices. It is carried out. Some in-vehicle devices have a function of capturing an image on the road at regular intervals and transmitting the captured image.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-103089

By the way, it is possible to consider a service that provides road conditions using images taken by the vehicle-mounted device. For example, the image transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device is stored in the storage unit of the system together with the image capturing time and the image capturing position. Then, for example, the system accepts designation of a time zone and a road range for extracting an image, searches the storage unit for images corresponding to the time zone and the road range for which the imaging time and imaging position are designated, and displays them. .

However, the imaging positions of images collected by the system from the vehicle-mounted device mounted on each business vehicle are not always evenly distributed. For this reason, even if the searched image is displayed, it may be difficult to grasp the road situation. For example, on roads where the frequency of traffic of business vehicles is low, there are cases where there are few images to be searched and it is difficult to grasp the road conditions.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image search program, an image search method, and an image search apparatus that can provide an image that makes it easy to grasp road conditions.

In the first proposal, the image search program causes the computer to execute a process of receiving specification of a range condition including a time zone and a position area. The image search program searches a computer for a storage unit that stores an image in which position information and time information are associated with each other, and among the images stored in the storage unit, an image that satisfies the received range condition is predetermined. When the number is less than or equal to the number, the process of re-searching by expanding either the time zone or the position range of the range condition is executed.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image that makes it easy to grasp the road condition.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a physical distribution support system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the road condition providing platform. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of the image search apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of imaging information. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of road information. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of travel section information. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of matching and aggregation. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the expansion and reduction of the time zone of the range condition and the range of the position. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow for searching for road conditions. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a flow for searching for road conditions. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an image search procedure. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a computer that executes an image search program.

Hereinafter, embodiments of an image search program, an image search method, and an image search apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The disclosed technology is not limited by the present embodiment. Moreover, you may combine suitably the Example shown below in the range which does not cause contradiction.

[System configuration]
First, an example of a physical distribution support system according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a physical distribution support system. The logistics support system 10 is a system that supports the operation of vehicles in the logistics industry. The logistics support system 10 is, for example, a cloud system. In the physical distribution support system 10, an operation management platform 11, a probe analysis platform 12, and a road condition providing platform 13 are constructed. The distribution support system 10 may be realized by a computer such as one server device or may be implemented as a computer system by a plurality of computers. For example, the logistics support system 10 may be implemented by dividing it into a plurality of computers for each service and function to be provided.

For example, a business vehicle 16 such as a truck or a bus is provided with a vehicle-mounted device 15 such as a digital tachograph. The vehicle-mounted device 15 is connected to the logistics support system 10 via the network N so as to be communicable. In addition, an operator terminal device 17 and a road manager terminal device 18 are connected to the distribution support system 10 via a network N so as to communicate with each other. As an aspect of such a network N, any type of communication such as a mobile communication network such as a mobile phone, the Internet (Internet), a LAN (Local Area Network), a VPN (Virtual Private Network), whether wired or wireless. A net can be adopted. In the example of FIG. 1, the case where the number of business vehicles 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of business vehicles 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 is an arbitrary number. Can do. Moreover, in the example of FIG. 1, although the case where the service provider terminal device 17 and the road administrator terminal device 18 were each one was illustrated, it is not limited to this, the service provider terminal device 17 and the road manager terminal There may be any number of devices 18.

The in-vehicle device 15 detects various information such as the current position and time of the business vehicle 16 and the speed of the business vehicle 16 during operation at intervals of a predetermined time (for example, 1 second). The in-vehicle device 15 transmits the detected various information as probe information to the physical distribution support system 10. The vehicle-mounted device 15 has a function of capturing an image on the road at regular time intervals and transmitting the captured image. For example, the business vehicle 16 is provided with a camera at a position where the front of the vehicle can be imaged, and the camera is connected to the vehicle-mounted device 15. The vehicle-mounted device 15 captures images on the road ahead of the vehicle with a camera at regular intervals. This fixed time is, for example, 5 minutes, but is not limited thereto. For example, the vehicle-mounted device 15 captures the front of the vehicle at regular time intervals, and transmits image data of the captured image to the physical distribution support system 10 together with position information indicating the captured position and time information indicating the captured time.

The logistics support system 10 provides various services based on various information such as probe information and image data transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 15.

For example, the logistics support system 10 provides an operation management service for managing the operation of the business vehicle 16 by using the operation management platform 11. For example, the operation management platform 11 manages the operation time, break time, and speed of the business vehicle 16 based on the probe information transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 15. In addition, the operation management platform 11 provides an image transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 15 of the business vehicle 16 that manages the operation of the business operator in response to a request from the business operator who operates the business vehicle 16. That is, the operation management platform 11 provides an image captured by the business vehicle 16 operated by the operation operator to the operation operator. Thereby, the service provider can grasp the operation state of the business vehicle 16 that manages the operation.

Further, for example, the logistics support system 10 analyzes the probe information using the probe analysis platform 12. For example, the probe analysis platform 12 analyzes the road on which the business vehicle 16 travels and the congestion of the road based on the probe information transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 15. For example, the probe analysis platform 12 identifies the road that is running, the section of the road that is running, and the running direction based on the position information included in the probe information. In addition, the probe analysis platform 12 analyzes the road congestion state from the time when the business vehicle 16 travels on the road.

Also, for example, the logistics support system 10 provides a road condition providing service for providing road conditions using the road condition providing platform 13. For example, the logistics support system 10 provides the images transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 15 of the business vehicle 16 of each operator as a road condition to third parties such as each operator and a road administrator who manages the road. To do.

The service provider terminal device 17 is a terminal device such as a personal computer arranged in the service provider that operates the business vehicle 16. An operator operating the business vehicle 16 accesses the logistics support system 10 using the operator terminal device 17 and manages the operation of the business vehicle 16 using an operation management service provided by the logistics support system 10. .

The road manager terminal device 18 is a terminal device such as a personal computer arranged in a road management company that manages roads such as an expressway company. A road administrator who manages the road accesses the physical distribution support system 10 using the road administrator terminal device 18 and grasps the road condition using the road condition providing service provided by the physical distribution support system 10. For example, a road manager who manages an expressway can grasp various road-related conditions such as road congestion and deterioration by referring to images stored for distribution by the logistics support system 10.

Next, the functional configuration of the road condition providing platform 13 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the road condition providing platform. The road condition providing platform 13 is provided with imaging information including image data of an image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 and an imaging position when the image is captured from the operation management platform 11. Further, the road condition providing platform 13 is provided with road information regarding the road and travel section information regarding the travel section of the road on which the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 travels from the probe analysis platform 12. The road condition providing platform 13 identifies the type of the road on which the image is captured based on the position information when the image is captured, using the identification function (FIG. 2A). The road condition providing platform 13 provides the provided image as a road condition to a third party such as each operating operator or a road manager who manages the road by an output function (FIG. 2B). The operation management platform 11, the probe analysis platform 12, and the road condition providing platform 13 may be implemented on the same computer or on different computers. In the present embodiment, the logistics support system 10 will be described by taking as an example a case where the operation management platform 11, the probe analysis platform 12, and the road condition providing platform 13 are mounted on different computers.

[Configuration of image search device]
Next, the configuration of the image search device 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of the image search apparatus. The image search device 20 is a computer such as a server computer. The image retrieval apparatus 20 is provided with the road condition providing platform 13 and provides a road condition providing service. In this embodiment, the case where the image search device 20 is a single computer will be described as an example. However, the image search device 20 may be implemented as a computer system using a plurality of computers.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image search device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit 23.

The communication unit 21 is a communication interface that performs wireless communication or wired communication with other devices. For example, the communication unit 21 receives imaging information including image data of an image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 and an imaging position when the image is captured from the operation management platform 11. Further, the communication unit 21 receives from the probe analysis platform 12 road information related to the road and travel section information related to the travel section of the road on which the business vehicle 16 on which the vehicle-mounted device 15 is mounted.

The storage unit 22 is a storage device such as a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or an optical disk. The storage unit 22 may be a semiconductor memory capable of rewriting data such as RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, NVSRAM (Non Volatile Static Random Access Memory). The storage unit 22 stores an OS (Operating System) executed by the control unit 23 and various programs. Furthermore, the storage unit 22 stores various information. For example, the storage unit 22 stores image data 30, imaging information 31, road information 32, travel section information 33, matching information 34, and total information 35. The storage unit 22 may store other various information.

The image data 30 is image data of an image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 received from the operation management platform 11.

The imaging information 31 is data including an imaging position when an image of the image data 30 is captured. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of imaging information. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the imaging information 31 includes items of an image ID, an imaging position, a vehicle ID, and an imaging time. The imaging information 31 may store various information other than the above.

The item of image ID is an area for storing identification information for identifying image data of an image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15. For example, a unique image ID (identification) such as a number is assigned to the image data of the image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 as the identification information in the order of image capture. In the item of image ID, an image ID assigned to image data of an image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 is stored. The item of imaging position is an area for storing position information indicating the imaging position when an image is captured. In the present embodiment, the position information is information indicating the position in latitude, longitude, etc. by a predetermined geodetic system such as the Japanese geodetic system or the world geodetic system. In the item of imaging position, position information such as latitude (x) and longitude (y) indicating the imaging position is stored. The position information may be other information as long as the position can be specified. The item of vehicle ID is an area for storing identification information of the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 that has transmitted the image data. A unique vehicle ID is set in the vehicle-mounted device 15 as identification information of the installed business vehicle 16. The vehicle-mounted device 15 transmits image data and probe information to which the set vehicle ID is added to the logistics support system 10. In the item of vehicle ID, the vehicle ID of the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 that has transmitted the image data of the image ID is stored. The item of imaging time is an area for storing the imaging time when an image is captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15.

In the example of FIG. 4, the image of the image data of the image ID “image 1” has an imaging position of latitude x and longitude y, and the vehicle ID of the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 that has transmitted the image data is “Aaa”. ", Indicating that the imaging time is 10:20:20.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the road information 32 is data storing various information related to the road. For example, the road information 32 stores information such as the type of road for each section dividing the road. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of road information. As shown in FIG. 5, the road information 32 includes items of section number, type, direction, facility, and section range. The road information 32 may store various information other than the above.

The section number item is an area for storing identification information for identifying a road section. Each road is divided into one or a plurality of sections, for example, according to a predetermined standard, and a unique section number is assigned to each section as identification information, for example. For example, the predetermined reference may be determined by a distance such as every 100 m, or may be a unit in which an intersection with another road such as an intersection is used as a section break. In addition, the predetermined standard may be, for example, a road boundary of a structure or facility such as a bridge, a tunnel, a service area, a parking area, a junction, etc. Conditions may be used. The predetermined standard may be a combination of a plurality of conditions. The section number assigned to the road section is stored in the section number section. The type item is an area for storing the type of road in the section having the section number. For the road section, a type indicating what kind of road the section is, such as an expressway, an automobile-only road, and a general road, is defined. The type item stores the type determined for the road in the section with the section number. The direction item is an area for storing the traveling direction of the road section. In the direction item, for example, when a traveling direction such as ascending or descending is defined in a road section, the traveling direction is stored, and when the traveling direction is not defined, the traveling direction is not defined. “-” Is stored. The facility item is an area for storing facilities in a road section. In the facility item, if the road section is a facility such as a service area or a parking area, the facility name is stored, and if it is not a facility, “-” indicating that it is not a facility is stored. The section range item is an area for storing information related to the section range. For example, when a section is defined as a rectangular area, position information indicating the positions of two opposing vertices in the section area is stored in the section range item. The section range may be indicated using any information. For example, the section range may be indicated by the positions of all the vertices in the section area.

In the example of FIG. 5, the section with the section number 0002 indicates that the type is an expressway, the direction is up, and the section range is (x, y)-(x, y), not a facility. .

Returning to FIG. 3, the travel section information 33 is data that stores various types of information related to the travel section of the road on which the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 travels. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of travel section information. As shown in FIG. 6, the travel section information 33 includes items of time zone, section number, direction, average speed, and vehicle ID. The travel section information 33 may store various information other than the above.

The item of the time zone is an area for storing the time zone in which the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 travels in the section. The time zone is, for example, in units of 5 minutes and is indicated by the start time of the time zone. The section number item is an area for storing a section number for identifying a road section. The direction item is an area for storing the traveling direction of the road section on which the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 travels. In the direction item, when the travel direction is determined in the road section, the travel direction is stored, and when the travel direction is not defined, “−” indicating that the travel direction is not defined is stored. The The item of average speed is an area for storing the average speed when the business vehicle 16 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 15 travels in the section. The item of vehicle ID is an area for storing the vehicle ID of the business vehicle 16 that has traveled in the section.

In the example of FIG. 6, the section with the section number 0002 indicates that the work vehicle 16 with the average speed of 34.5 km and the vehicle ID “Aaa” traveled in the time zone at 10:20. .

Returning to FIG. 3, the matching information 34 is data obtained based on the imaging information 31 and the travel section information 33 for a section corresponding to the image capturing position of the image data 30. Details of the matching information 34 will be described later.

The total information 35 is data obtained by using the image data 30 to determine the number of facility usages in a pseudo manner. Details of the total information 35 will be described later.

The control unit 23 is a device that controls the entire image search apparatus 20. As the control unit 23, an electronic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) can be employed. The control unit 23 has an internal memory for storing programs defining various processing procedures and control data, and executes various processes using these. The control unit 23 functions as various processing units by operating various programs. For example, the control unit 23 includes a storage unit 40, a specifying unit 41, a totaling unit 42, a receiving unit 43, a search unit 44, and an output unit 45.

The storage unit 40 stores various received data in the storage unit 22. For example, the storage unit 40 stores the image data of the image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 received from the operation management platform 11 as the image data 30 in the storage unit 22. In addition, the storage unit 40 stores the imaging information received from the operation management platform 11 including the imaging position when the image is captured as the imaging information 31 in the storage unit 22. The storage unit 40 stores the road information received from the probe analysis platform 12 in the storage unit 22 as road information 32. Further, the storage unit 40 stores the travel section information received from the probe analysis platform 12 in the storage unit 22 as travel section information 33.

The identification unit 41 performs various types of identification. For example, when the specifying unit 41 receives the image data 30 of the image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 15 and the imaging information 31 including the positional information when the image is captured, the identifying unit 41 uses the positional information when the image is captured. Based on this, the type of road on which the image was captured is specified. For example, the specifying unit 41 specifies, based on the road information 32, which section of the road corresponds to the imaging position of each image data 30 stored in the imaging information 31. Thereby, for example, the image data of the image ID “image 1” in FIG. 4 is identified as corresponding to the section having the section number “0001”. The image data with the image ID “image 2” is identified as corresponding to the section with the section number “0002”. The image data of the image ID “image 3” is specified as corresponding to the section of the section number “0003”. The image data with the image ID “image 4” is identified as corresponding to the section with the section number “0004”. The specifying unit 41 specifies the type of road corresponding to the section corresponding to the imaging position. For example, in the image IDs “image 1” to “image 4”, the type of road corresponding to the section corresponding to the imaging position is specified as “highway”. As shown in FIG. 3, when the traveling section information 33 is associated with the vehicle number of the business vehicle 16, the traveling section number, and the traveling time zone, the specifying unit 41 includes the traveling section information 33. May be used to specify which section of the road the imaging position corresponds to from the imaging time of the image data 30 and the vehicle number of the business vehicle 16.

Further, the identifying unit 41 generates matching information 34 by matching the imaging information 31 and the traveling section information 33 based on the identified section. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of matching and aggregation. For example, the specifying unit 41 specifies a record corresponding to the time zone including the imaging time and the section corresponding to the imaging position from the travel section information 33 for each image ID of the imaging information 31. And the specific | specification part 41 produces | generates the matching information 34 which memorize | stored the information of each item of a time slot | zone, a section number, a direction, average speed, vehicle ID, and image ID.

The totaling unit 42 totals the number of images of image data whose imaging position is included in a predetermined area. For example, when the imaging position is included in the service area and the parking area, the totaling unit 42 totals the number of captured images for each time zone, service area, and parking area. Then, the totaling unit 42 stores the totaling result in the totaling information 35. FIG. 7 shows an example of the total information 35. The total information 35 is provided with items of time zone, facility, and number of uses. The total information 35 stores the number of captured images as the number of uses for each time zone and facility. Here, when the vehicle-mounted device 15 captures images at regular intervals, many images are captured in a crowded section. In the totaling unit 42 according to the present embodiment, the number of captured images is stored in the totaling information 35 as the number of uses. By using this number of usage cases, it is possible to simulate the congestion status of facilities such as service areas and parking areas.

The reception unit 43 receives various operations. For example, when receiving the access from the service provider terminal device 17 or the road manager terminal device 18, the reception unit 43 transmits information on various operation screens to the access source and causes the access source to display the operation screen. Various operations are accepted from. For example, the reception unit 43 provides a website for a road condition providing service. When accepting the access to the website of the road condition providing service from the operating operator terminal device 17 or the road administrator terminal device 18, the accepting unit 43 receives the information on the login screen from the operating operator terminal device 17 and the road that is the access source. It transmits to the administrator terminal device 18 to display a login screen, and inputs a login ID and a password to accept a login operation. When receiving the login operation, the receiving unit 43 performs authentication by comparing the input login ID and password with a previously registered login ID and password. The reception unit 43 displays the condition designation screen by transmitting the information on the condition designation screen to the access source when authentication of the validity is obtained. And the reception part 43 receives the search condition of a road condition from a condition designation | designated screen. For example, the accepting unit 43 accepts designation of a range condition including a time zone, a position area, and a traveling direction as a road condition search condition. For example, the reception unit 43 receives designation of a time zone, a road section, and an up and down road.

The search unit 44 searches the image data 30 stored in the storage unit 22 for image data that satisfies the search condition received by the receiving unit 43. For example, the search unit 44 uses the matching information 34 to specify the image ID of the image corresponding to the time zone and road section specified as the search condition. Then, the search unit 44 searches whether the image data 30 of the specified image ID is stored in the storage unit 22. Further, when the road section specified as the search condition is a service area or a parking area, the search unit 44 reads the number of usages corresponding to the facility in the specified section from the total information 35.

By the way, the imaging positions of the images collected by the logistics support system 10 from the vehicle-mounted device 15 mounted on each business vehicle 16 are not necessarily evenly distributed. For this reason, even if the image of the image data searched by the search unit 44 is displayed, it may be difficult to grasp the road condition. For example, on roads where the traffic frequency of the business vehicles 16 is low, there are few images to be searched, and it may be difficult to grasp the road conditions. In addition, for example, on a road where the business vehicle 16 has a high traffic frequency, the number of images to be searched increases, and when all the searched images are displayed, it is difficult to refer to the images because it is troublesome to refer to the images. There is.

Therefore, when the number of image data 30 satisfying the accepted range condition among the image data 30 stored in the storage unit 22 is less than or equal to a predetermined number, the search unit 44 selects either the time zone or the position range of the range condition. Expand and re-search. In addition, when the image data 30 that satisfies the received range condition among the image data 30 stored in the storage unit 22 is equal to or larger than a predetermined upper limit number that is larger than the predetermined number, the search unit 44 Re-search by reducing any range of the position. The predetermined number is, for example, 10, but is not limited thereto. Moreover, although the upper limit is set to 15, for example, this is not limited. The predetermined number and the upper limit number may be changeable by a user, an administrator of the physical distribution support system 10, or the like.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the time zone of the range condition and the expansion and reduction of the position range. FIG. 8 shows a period T1 of a designated time zone and a section range T2 of a road section. For example, the search unit 44 first searches the image data 30 that has an imaging time in the period T1 of the designated time zone and has an imaging position in the section range T2 of the road section. When the number of searched image data 30 is a predetermined number (for example, 10) or less, the search unit 44 performs a search again by extending either the period T1 or the section range T2. For example, the search unit 44 gives priority to time extension, and alternately repeats time extension and position range extension until the number of searched image data 30 exceeds a predetermined number. For example, the search unit 44 extends the period T1, performs a re-search, and expands the section range T2 if the searched image data 30 is less than or equal to the predetermined number even if the search is performed after the period T1 is expanded. Perform a re-search. The search unit 44 extends the period T1 with respect to the past. In addition, the search unit 44 extends the section range T2 to both sides with the designated section as the center. The unit for extending the period T1 may be a predetermined time (for example, 2 minutes) unit or a time zone unit. In addition, the expansion of the period T1 may be expanded as the number of expansions increases. For example, the search unit 44 may extend 2 minutes for the first period T1 and extend 3 minutes for the second period T1. The unit for extending the section range T2 may be a predetermined distance (for example, 100 m) unit or a section unit. In addition, the expansion of the section range T2 may increase the expansion width of the section range T2 as the number of times of expansion increases. For example, the search unit 44 may extend 100 m for the first expansion of the section range T2 and 200 m for the second expansion of the section range T2. The search unit 44 may extend both the period T1 and the section range T2 when the searched image data 30 is equal to or less than a predetermined number. In addition, the search unit 44 may repeat the expansion for only one of the period T1 or the section range T2. The search unit 44 may extend both the period T1 and the section range T2 when the searched image data 30 is equal to or less than a predetermined number. Further, the search unit 44 may extend the period T1 with respect to the past and the future centering on the period T1. In addition, the search unit 44 may extend the section range T2 only for one of the front and the rear of the specified traveling direction with respect to the section range T2. For example, in the case of extending the section range T2, the search unit 44 may use the section range T2 extended before the specified road traveling direction as a new range condition. Thereby, since the situation of the vehicle passing through the section of the designated position is known, it is possible to easily provide a prediction of a change in the road situation such as a traffic jam situation in the section of the designated position.

Further, when the searched image data 30 is equal to or greater than a predetermined upper limit number (for example, 15), the search unit 44 performs a search again by reducing either the period T1 or the section range T2. For example, the search unit 44 gives priority to the reduction of the section range T2, and alternately repeats the reduction of the position range and the reduction of time until the searched image data 30 becomes smaller than the upper limit number. For example, the search unit 44 performs the search again by reducing the section range T2, and reduces the period T1 if the searched image data 30 is equal to or greater than the upper limit number even after the search is performed by reducing the section range T2. Search again. The search unit 44 reduces only the past side for the period T1. In addition, the search unit 44 reduces both sides of the section range T2 around the designated section. The unit for reducing the period T1 is a predetermined time (for example, 2 minutes) unit. In the reduction of the period T1, the reduction width of the period T1 may be reduced as the number of reductions increases. For example, the search unit 44 may reduce by 2 minutes in the first reduction of the period T1, and reduce by 1 minute in the second reduction of the period T1. The unit for reducing the section range T2 is a predetermined distance (for example, 50 m) unit. In the reduction of the section range T2, the reduction width of the section range T2 may be reduced as the number of times of reduction increases. For example, the search unit 44 may expand by 50 m in the first reduction of the section range T2 and reduce by 25 m in the second reduction of the section range T2. The search unit 44 may reduce both the period T1 and the section range T2 when the searched image data 30 is equal to or greater than the upper limit number. Further, the search unit 44 may repeat the reduction for only one of the period T1 or the section range T2. The search unit 44 may reduce both the period T1 and the section range T2 when the searched image data 30 is equal to or greater than the upper limit number. Further, the search unit 44 may reduce the period T1 with reference to the center of the period T1. Further, the search unit 44 may reduce the section range T2 only for one of the front and the rear of the specified traveling direction with respect to the section range T2. For example, in the case of extension in the time direction, the search unit 44 may set a period T1 extended from a specified time zone to a past time zone as a new range condition. As a result, in order to know the situation of the vehicle that has passed through the section of the designated position in the time zone designated from the past, it is possible to grasp the change of the road situation such as the traffic jam situation towards the designated time zone. We can offer socks.

The output unit 45 outputs the search result to the access source. For example, the output unit 45 transmits information about the searched image data and the number of use cases on the road condition screen to the access source to display the road condition screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a flow for searching for road conditions. The image search device 20 provides a road condition providing service, and accepts road condition search conditions from the condition designation screen 100. The condition designation screen 100 includes a map area 101 on which a road map is displayed, a time zone selection area 102 for selecting a time zone as a search condition, and a travel direction selection area 103 for selecting a travel direction of a road to be searched. A search button 104 for instructing start of search is provided. The map area 101 is in a state in which a road section corresponding to a designated position is selected by selecting a road. In the example of FIG. 9, a section 105 indicated by diagonal lines is in a selected state. The time zone selection area 102 is a combo box, and by selecting it, for example, the time zone can be specified in units of 5 minutes. In the example of FIG. 9, the time zone from 10:20 to 10:25 is designated. The traveling direction selection area 103 is a combo box, and by selecting it, for example, it is possible to specify the traveling direction of the road in ascending and descending directions. When a road whose traveling direction is determined is specified in the map area 101, the traveling direction of the selected road may be automatically selected in the traveling direction selection area 103. The image search device 20 selects a road section in the map area 101 of the condition designation screen 100, selects a time zone in the time zone selection area 102, selects a travel direction in the travel direction selection area 103, and clicks the search button 104. When selected, a search is performed using the selected road section, time zone, and traveling direction as search conditions. Then, the image search device 20 displays a road situation screen 120 showing the search results. When the image data is searched, an image of the image data is displayed on the road situation screen 120 in association with the imaging position of the image of the searched image data. When the designated road section is a service area or a parking area, the road situation screen 120 displays the number of uses in association with the service area and the parking area. In the example of FIG. 9, since sections other than the service area and the parking area are designated, an image of the image data is displayed on the road situation screen 120 in association with the image capturing position of the searched image data. ing.

Note that a plurality of roads to be searched may be specified at the same time. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a flow for searching for road conditions. In the map area 101 of the condition designation screen 100, a range can be designated by dragging or the like. In the example of FIG. 10, a range 110 is designated. In the image search device 20, the range is specified in the map area 101 of the condition specifying screen 100, the time zone is selected in the time zone selection area 102, the travel direction is selected in the travel direction selection area 103, and the search button 104 is selected. Then, the search is performed using the road section, time zone, and traveling direction included in the designated range of the map area 101 as search conditions. Then, the image search device 20 displays a road situation screen 120 showing the search results. In the example of FIG. 10, since the range 110 includes “XX highway” and “New XX highway”, the image data is associated with the imaging position of the image data of the searched image data for each road. Is displayed. The image search device 20 displays an enlarged image when each image is selected.

Thereby, the road management company that manages the road and the service provider that operates the business vehicle 16 can grasp the road condition.

[Process flow]
Next, the flow of image search executed by the image search apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an image search procedure. This image search is executed at a predetermined timing, for example, when the search condition is specified on the condition specifying screen 100 and the search button 104 is selected.

As shown in FIG. 11, the search unit 44 searches the image data 30 stored in the storage unit 22 for image data that satisfies the specified search condition (S10). The search unit 44 determines whether the number of searched image data 30 is equal to or less than a predetermined number (S11). When the number of searched image data 30 is equal to or less than the predetermined number (Yes in S11), the search unit 44 performs a search again by extending either the time zone or the position of the range condition (S12), and goes to S11. Transition.

On the other hand, if the number of searched image data 30 is not less than or equal to the predetermined number (No in S11), the search unit 44 determines whether the number of searched image data 30 is equal to or greater than the upper limit (S13). When the number of searched image data 30 is equal to or greater than the upper limit (Yes in S13), the search unit 44 performs a search again by reducing either the time zone or the position of the range condition (S14), and goes to S13. Transition.

On the other hand, when the number of retrieved image data 30 is not equal to or greater than the upper limit (No in S13), the output unit 45 transmits information on the road situation screen indicating the image of the retrieved image data to the access source (S15). ), The process is terminated.

[effect]
As described above, the image search device 20 according to the present embodiment accepts designation of a range condition including a time zone and a position area. The image search device 20 searches the storage unit 22 that stores an image in which position information and time information are associated with each other, and among the images stored in the storage unit 22, a predetermined number of images satisfying the received range condition. In the following cases, the search is performed again by extending the range of either the time zone or the position of the range condition. Thereby, the image search device 20 can provide an image that makes it easy to grasp the road condition even on a road where the traffic frequency of the business vehicle 16 is low and there are few images to be searched.

In addition, the image search device 20 according to the present embodiment sets the range condition time when the number of images that satisfy the received range condition among the images stored in the storage unit 22 is greater than or equal to a predetermined upper limit number that is greater than the predetermined number. Re-search by reducing the range of either the band or the position. As a result, the image search device 20 can provide an image that makes it easy to grasp the road condition even on a road where the traffic frequency of the business vehicle 16 is high and there are many images to be searched.

Also, the image search device 20 according to the present embodiment accepts specification of a range condition including the traveling direction of the road to be searched. In the case of the expansion of the position information, the image search device 20 sets the position information extended before the designated road traveling direction as a new range condition. As a result, the image search device 20 can provide a change in a road condition such as a traffic jam condition in an easily-predicted area. Further, in the case of expansion in the time direction, the image search device 20 sets time zone information extended to a past time zone as a new range condition. As a result, the image search device 20 can easily provide a change in a road condition such as a traffic jam condition toward a designated time zone.

Also, the image search device 20 according to the present embodiment gives priority to the extension of time, and expands the position range when the number of images satisfying the range condition including the extended time zone is less than a predetermined number. Thereby, even when the traffic frequency of the business vehicle 16 in the area at the designated position is low, the image search device 20 can provide an image so that the road condition in the area at the designated position can be easily grasped.

Now, although the embodiments related to the disclosed device have been described so far, the disclosed technology may be implemented in various different forms other than the above-described embodiments. Therefore, another embodiment included in the present invention will be described below.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where an on-vehicle device 15 captures an image on the road is illustrated. However, it is not limited to these. For example, an information processing apparatus with a camera such as a smartphone or a mobile phone may be fixed to the vehicle and an image on the road may be taken. That is, the imaging device for imaging is not limited to the vehicle-mounted device 15 and may be an information processing device with a camera.

Also, each component of each illustrated apparatus is functionally conceptual and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific state of distribution / integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed or arbitrarily distributed in arbitrary units according to various loads or usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured. For example, the storage unit 40, the specifying unit 41, the totaling unit 42, the receiving unit 43, the search unit 44, and the output unit 45 may be integrated as appropriate. Further, the processing of each processing unit may be appropriately separated into a plurality of processing units. Further, all or any part of each processing function performed in each processing unit can be realized by a CPU and a program analyzed and executed by the CPU, or can be realized as hardware by wired logic. .

[Image search program]
The various processes described in the above embodiments can also be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer system such as a personal computer or a workstation. Therefore, in the following, an example of a computer system that executes an image search program that supports operation will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a computer that executes an image search program.

As shown in FIG. 12, the computer 400 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 410, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 420, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 440. These units 400 to 440 are connected via a bus 500.

The HDD 420 stores in advance an image search program 420A that performs the same functions as the storage unit 40, the identification unit 41, the totaling unit 42, the reception unit 43, the search unit 44, and the output unit 45. Note that the image search program 420A may be separated as appropriate.

Further, the HDD 420 stores various information. For example, like the storage unit 22, the HDD 420 stores various data used for OS and operation support.

Then, the CPU 410 reads out and executes the image search program 420A from the HDD 420, thereby executing the same operation as each processing unit of the embodiment. That is, the image search program 420A executes the same operations as the storage unit 40, the specifying unit 41, the totaling unit 42, the receiving unit 43, the search unit 44, and the output unit 45.

Note that the image search program 420A is not necessarily stored in the HDD 420 from the beginning. Further, for example, the image search program 420A may be stored in a “portable physical medium” such as a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a magneto-optical disk, or an IC card inserted into the computer 400. . Then, the computer 400 may read and execute the program from these.

Furthermore, the program is stored in “another computer (or server)” connected to the computer 400 via a public line, the Internet, a LAN, a WAN, or the like. Then, the computer 400 may read and execute the program from these.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Logistics support system 11 Operation management platform 12 Probe analysis platform 13 Road condition provision platform 15 Onboard equipment 16 Business vehicle 20 Image search device 21 Communication part 22 Storage part 23 Control part 30 Image data 31 Imaging information 32 Road information 33 Traveling section information 34 Matching information 40 Storage unit 41 Identification unit 42 Totaling unit 43 Reception unit 44 Search unit 45 Output unit

Claims (6)

1. Accepts specification of range conditions including time zone and location area,
   When a storage unit that stores an image in which position information and time information are associated with each other is searched, and the number of images that satisfy the received range condition among the images stored in the storage unit is less than or equal to a predetermined number, An image search program that causes a computer to execute a process of performing a search again by expanding any time zone or position range of a range condition.
2. The process of performing the re-search is performed when the number of images stored in the storage unit that satisfy the received range condition is equal to or greater than a predetermined upper limit number that is greater than the predetermined number. The image search program according to claim 1, wherein a range of positions is reduced and the search is performed again.
3. The process of accepting the designation accepts designation of a range condition including a traveling direction of a road to be searched,
   In the case of the extension of the position information, in the case of the extension of the position information, the position information extended before the specified traveling direction of the road is set as a new range condition. In the case of the extension in the time direction, the past time zone The image search program according to claim 1, wherein time range information extended to a new range condition is used.
4. 2. The image according to claim 1, wherein the extension of the range gives priority to extension of time and extends the range of the position when the number of images satisfying the range condition including the extended time zone is equal to or less than a predetermined number. Search program.
5. Accepts specification of range conditions including time zone and location area,
   When a storage unit that stores an image in which position information and time information are associated with each other is searched, and the number of images that satisfy the received range condition among the images stored in the storage unit is less than or equal to a predetermined number, An image search method, wherein the computer executes a process of performing a search again by expanding any time zone or position range of the range condition.
6. A reception unit that accepts specification of a range condition including a time zone and a region of a position;
   A storage unit that stores an image in which position information and time information are associated with each other is searched, and among images stored in the storage unit, the number of images that satisfy the range condition received by the reception unit is equal to or less than a predetermined number. A search unit that performs a search again by expanding any range of the time zone or position of the range condition,
   An image search apparatus comprising:

Images