JP2008099076A - Method of acquiring road image used for road maintenance management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire road management image data with a high quality for maintaining and managing a road at a low cost in a short time. <P>SOLUTION: A processing device connected to an imaging device and a GPS unit is mounted on a vehicle, and the vehicle runs on a road. By imaging a road at fixed intervals with the imaging device, successive still images of the road are acquired (see (1) and (2) of Fig. 1), each management position of various kinds of management facilities including a Km post is determined from the successive still images (see (3) of Fig. 1), and then management position information determined is written to the corresponding image (see (5) in Fig. 1). Thus, it becomes possible to easily acquire road management image data with a high quality. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a road image acquisition method suitable for use in maintenance and management of roads such as highways.

As this kind of technology, for example, there is one shown in Patent Document 1.
This document discloses a technique for obtaining imaging data of roads and rivers associated with positions on a map at equidistant intervals.

JP-A-2004-297306

  However, the one described in Patent Document 1 merely captures an image of a road or the like at regular intervals, and does not perform any particular processing on the captured image, so the correspondence between the actual position and the image It is difficult to understand, and it is not easy to use in actual use, leaving room for improvement in terms of practical use. In addition, in order to perform some additional work that can withstand practical use for an image obtained by imaging, there is a problem that a considerable amount of experience and time are conventionally required, and the cost is increased accordingly.

That is, it is conceivable to use video images as a method for obtaining continuous images, but the search is not always easy. Therefore, in order to facilitate the search of the video image, for example, it is possible to associate the time code with the location information corresponding to the time code. However, this operation is necessary for each photographing, and there is a problem that it takes cost and time.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to obtain road management image data having a high degree of completeness at a low cost in a short time.

  In order to solve such a problem, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a processing device connected to an imaging device and a GPS unit is mounted on a vehicle and travels on a road, and the imaging device images the road at a constant distance interval. By acquiring continuous still images of roads and determining management positions of various management facilities including kiloposts from the acquired continuous still images, the management position information is sequentially written in each captured image without using time codes. It is characterized by that.

  In the first aspect of the invention, when the imaging by the road running is repeatedly performed, the road image can be sequentially updated using the management position (the second aspect of the invention). In the invention, the management position information can be used for searching when searching for an image (invention of claim 3).

  According to the present invention, a management position is determined based on an image obtained by imaging a road, and the management position (facility) information is written in correspondence with each image, so that road management image data having a high degree of completion can be obtained in a short time. And it becomes possible to obtain at low cost.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram including a processing unit for performing the processing operation of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3A to 3H are explanatory diagrams for specifically explaining the present invention. . First, FIG. 2 will be described.
In FIG. 2, 1 is a GPS unit and an antenna (only the antenna is shown in the figure), 2 is a signal distributor, GPS (Global Positioning System) unit and a GPS antenna that receives radio waves from satellites. Reference numeral 3 denotes a processing device such as a personal computer (personal computer), and 4 denotes an imaging device (camera) such as a digital video camera. The processing device 3 includes a position information calculation unit 31, a video processing unit 32, a recording device 33 such as a hard disk (HDD), a processing unit 34, an operation unit 35, a display unit 36, and the like.

  The signal distributor 2 synthesizes the signal from the GPS unit and the vehicle speed pulse signal, and inputs them to the processing device 3 via the interface (for example, RS232C), while the processing device 3 receives the imaging data from the imaging device 4. Is done. The position information calculation unit 31 calculates the distance between arbitrary points based on the latitude and longitude information from the GPS unit, and the video processing unit 32 takes in the imaging data from the imaging device 4 and records it via the processing unit 34. Record (store) in the device 33. The operation unit 35 gives an instruction for imaging and processing to the processing unit 34, and the display unit 36 displays a captured image and the like.

A road image acquisition procedure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 </ b> A to 3 </ b> H.
First, the processing device 3 to which the imaging device 4 and the GPS unit and the antenna 1 are connected is mounted on the vehicle and the first road travel is performed, and the imaging device 4 images the road at a constant distance interval. At this time, it goes without saying that the incidental facilities and background of the road are also imaged. FIG. 3A conceptually shows an example in the case of imaging at an interval of 5 m, for example, and an example of the captured image obtained in FIG. 3A is enlarged and shown in FIG. 3B.

In order to capture images at a constant distance interval, it is necessary to know the distance traveled per pulse of vehicle speed pulses. Here, for example, the distance traveled at the GPS update interval (1 second) is divided by the number of pulses between them. And calculated from the moving average. The relationship between tires and vehicle speed pulses is shown in FIG. 3C. This is an example in which one rotation of the tire is 3 pulses.
In addition, position information such as longitude, latitude, and longitude is input via the GPS unit and the antenna 1, and is recorded in each still image by the video processing unit 32.

Next, position (latitude, longitude) information is extracted from all the image information and is listed in, for example, Excel (spreadsheet software) format. An example (position information list) is shown in FIG. 3D. Needless to say, listing is not limited to Excel format. Note that the first column of each item in FIG. 3D indicates the file name (using the imaging date and time), the second column indicates the latitude, and the third column indicates the longitude.
Next, after determining (specifying) the position (equipment) to be managed from the continuous still images thus obtained, a comparison table of the management position (management equipment) and the position information of latitude and longitude is created. FIG. 3E shows an example of an image in which the management position is “in front of the prefectural ground”, and among the multiple “prefectural ground” images, the target such as a kilopost (KP) display board or structure can be seen most clearly (most recently). Select an image.

  At this time, when various facilities such as a kilometer post (KP) display board and a structure installed on an actual expressway are at a position of 347.3 KP as shown in FIG. 3F, the KP display board is the most Since what can be clearly seen is actually about 10 m behind (left side in FIG. 3F), it is assumed that such a point is determined as a management position. This is because the equipment position on the equipment management drawing may differ slightly from the actual equipment position, and even if an image is taken at the exact position of 347.3 KP, an image of that exact position cannot be taken due to the vehicle speed or the like. Because. Although the above description is for the case of traveling from left to right in FIG. 3F, the management position for traveling in the reverse direction is determined to be about 10 m to the right of the 347.3 KP position.

  An example of a comparison table (correspondence table) is shown in FIG. 3G, where the second from the top is selected as the management position. After creating the comparison table, for example, by starting a predetermined program built in the processing unit 34 from the operation unit 35 in FIG. 2, a command signal is given to the video processing unit 32 for each management position. The captured image and the management position are automatically associated and can be recorded (stored) as an image file. In this way, an almost completed image file can be obtained. The creation process of the image file is illustrated in FIG. 3H, for example. In this way, the process in the first imaging is completed.

  In the second and subsequent runs, after taking the above-mentioned processing, the road is taken again and updated, so-called daily management images are taken, and if necessary, the management position including the equipment name and the like corresponding to the image is set. Write process. At this time, for example, by starting a predetermined program of the processing unit 33 from the operation unit 35 of FIG. 2, a shutter signal is given to the imaging device 4 for each management position via the video processing unit 32 to perform imaging. For example, the captured image and the management position are automatically associated and can be recorded (stored) as an image file.

  Since traveling or processing as described above can be easily executed without requiring special experience, it is conventionally performed by an experienced person over a long period of time, such as associating a captured image with a management position. Can be realized accurately in a short time and at a low cost. Further, the image data obtained in this manner requires almost no additional work, and can be delivered as a highly complete product that can be used as it is.

Needless to say, by using the management position information including the equipment name, it is possible to easily search for a recorded (stored) image.
In the above description, the highway is mainly considered. However, the present invention can be applied to a general road in the same manner.

Flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the present invention System configuration diagram for performing the processing of FIG. Explanatory diagram of how to capture images at regular distance intervals Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the captured image obtained in FIG. Relationship diagram between tire and vehicle speed pulse Explanatory drawing showing an example of a location information list Explanatory drawing which shows the example of a management position (equipment) image Illustration of how to determine the management position (equipment) Explanatory drawing showing an example of a comparison table Outline diagram explaining image file acquisition procedure

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... GPS unit and antenna, 2 ... Signal distributor, 3 ... Processing apparatus (personal computer), 4 ... Imaging apparatus (camera), 31 ... Position information calculation part, 32 ... Image processing part, 33 ... Recording apparatus, 34 ... Processing Part, 35 ... operation part, 36 ... display part.

Claims (3)

  A processing device to which an imaging device and a GPS unit are connected is mounted on a vehicle, travels on a road, and a continuous still image of the road is acquired by imaging the road at a certain distance interval with the imaging device, and the acquired continuous A road image acquisition method for use in a road maintenance management system characterized in that after management positions of various management facilities including a kilometer post are determined from still images, the management position information is sequentially written in each captured image without using a time code. .   The road image acquisition method for use in a road maintenance management system according to claim 1, wherein when the imaging by the road running is repeatedly performed, the road image is sequentially updated using the management position.   3. The road image acquisition method used for a road maintenance management system according to claim 1, wherein the management position information can be used for searching when searching for an image.

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