JP2019114086A - Information processor, information collector, map information update timing determination system, map information update timing determination method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processor that executes efficient map update by detecting a map update timing according to a road situation.SOLUTION: A first determination unit determines on the basis of road information which is received from an information collector that collects information on a road, whether or not an information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process making continuous change. A second determination unit determines on the basis of the received road information, whether or not the change process in the information collection area which is previously determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit, is terminated. When the second determination unit determines that the change process is terminated, a third determination unit determines that the map information concerning the information collection area should be updated. On the basis of the decision of the third decision unit, updating the map information is executed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information collecting apparatus, a map information update timing determination system, a map information update timing determination method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, development of an autonomous driving vehicle for causing a vehicle to travel without the driver performing a driving operation has been advanced. In order to perform automatic driving control of the autonomous driving vehicle, it is desirable that map information having an appropriate freshness constantly updated to the latest information be available. Further, in order to secure smooth traveling of the autonomous driving vehicle, high accuracy is required for the updated map information.

  In response to the above problems, measurement conditions based on the sensor mounting position and sensor resolution in the surveying vehicle for creating three-dimensional map information, and the vehicle using this three-dimensional map information, etc. A technique is disclosed that corrects the difference and provides optimal map information in each autonomously driven vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2016-45609

  However, Patent Document 1 originally assumes that the map information to be a reference is acquired by a dedicated survey vehicle, but in order to always maintain map freshness in all areas of the country, many survey vehicles The problem is that the cost is increased.

  We also consider a method of detecting changes in road shape using information on roads and areas collected from autonomous vehicles equipped with sensors with lower accuracy than surveying vehicles, and directing survey vehicles to areas where changes have occurred. It is done. In this method, for example, point cloud information collected by LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) is assumed as information from an autonomous vehicle. However, since this point cloud information includes difference information (difference in sensor detection information) due to environmental influences such as weather, and difference information of traveling positions due to the influence of temporary changes in travel environment such as traffic accidents, the difference information There is also a problem that there is no change in the road in fact, and the same map information as before will be collected even if it is assumed that there is a change in the road using is there. Then, the problem mentioned above is mentioned as an example in the subject which this invention tends to solve.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems cited above as an example, and in accordance with the road condition, an information processing apparatus that executes map update efficiently by detecting map update timing. A main object of the present invention is to provide a collection device, a map information update timing determination system, a map information update timing determination method, and a program.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a change process in which an information collection area in which the road information is collected is continuously changing based on the road information received from the information collection device which collects the information of the road. The change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit in the past based on the first determination unit that determines whether or not there is and the received road information is ended A second determination unit that determines whether or not the second determination unit determines that the map information about the information collection area should be updated when it is determined that the change process has ended And an information processing apparatus for updating the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit.

  The invention according to claim 8 determines, based on road information which is information of a road traveled by a mobile body, whether or not an area for which the road information has been acquired is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring. An information collecting device for transmitting the road information to the information processing device to be processed, the information collecting unit collecting the road information, and a transmitting unit transmitting the road information to the information processing device collecting the road information; A control unit configured to control the transmitting unit to transmit the road information to the information processing apparatus when the mobile unit is not traveling at a position set as a traveling position on a road It is a collection device.

  The invention according to claim 9 is a map information update timing determination system including an information collection device mounted on a moving object, and an information processing device receiving road information which is information on a road on which the moving object travels. The information collection apparatus includes an information collection unit that collects the road information, and a transmission unit that transmits the collected road information to the information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus includes the information collection apparatus. Based on the reception unit that receives the road information and the received information on the road, it is determined whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a changing process in which continuous change occurs. Based on the received first information, the first determination unit determines whether the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process has ended in the past The A second determination unit, a third determination unit that determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended, and the third determination A control unit for executing update of the map information based on the determination of the unit, and a map information update timing determination system characterized in that

  The invention according to claim 10 is a map in a map information update timing determination system including an information collection device mounted on a moving object, and an information processing device receiving road information which is information of a road on which the moving object travels. In the information update timing determination method, the information processing unit of the information collecting apparatus collects a first step of collecting road information, and the transmitting unit of the information collecting apparatus processes the road information collected by the information processing apparatus A second step of transmitting to the second information processing device, a third step of receiving the road information from the information collection device by the reception unit of the information processing device, and the first determination unit of the information processing device A fourth step of determining whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring, based on the road information, and a second determination of the information processing apparatus Department is before A fifth step of determining whether or not the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process in the first determination unit in the past is ended based on the received road information; A sixth step in which a third determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended; And a seventh step of causing the control unit of the information processing device to update the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit.

  The invention according to claim 11 is a map in a map information update timing determination system including an information collection device mounted on a moving body and an information processing device receiving road information which is information of a road on which the moving body travels. It is a program for making a computer perform the information update timing determination method, Comprising: The 1st process that the information collection part of the said information collection apparatus collects road information, The transmission part of the said information collection apparatus said A second step of transmitting the road information to the information processing device; a third step of receiving the road information from the information collection device by a receiving unit of the information processing device; a first step of the information processing device A determination unit determines, based on the received road information, whether the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring. The second determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines, based on the received road information, the first determination unit that the information collection area is determined to be in the change process in the past A fifth step of determining whether or not the process has ended, and the third determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines that the change process has ended, when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended And a sixth step of determining that map information should be updated, and a seventh step of causing the control unit of the information processing device to update the map information based on the determination of the third determining unit. It is a program to make it run.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the map information update timing determination system which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a processing flow figure of the map information update timing determination system which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the map information update timing determination system which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. It is a processing flow figure of the map information update timing determination system which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the map information update timing determination system which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. It is a processing flow figure of the map information update timing determination system which concerns on Example 3 of this invention.

Embodiment
Hereinafter, a map information update timing determination system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first determination unit, a second determination unit, and a third determination unit, and causes map information to be updated based on the determination of the third determination unit. It is a thing.
The first determination unit determines whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process in which continuous change occurs, based on the road information received from the information collection device that collects information on the road. To judge. The second determination unit determines, based on the received road information, whether or not the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit in the past has ended. The third determination unit determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended. In addition, as "execution of update of map information", map update is performed not only based on the request of the surveying vehicle but also on the information obtained by the surveying vehicle, or using the information of the road obtained from the information collecting apparatus It is also possible to update the map.

  According to the above configuration, the first determination unit determines whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in the process of change, and then the second determination unit determines whether the process of change has ended. It is judged. Then, the third determination unit is information in which the road information is collected on the condition that the information collection area in which the road information is collected is transitioned from the change process to the end of the change process by the first determination unit and the second determination unit. It is determined that the map information for the collection area should be updated. Therefore, it is determined that the map information in the information collection area should be updated at the timing when the information collection area in which the road information is collected transits from the change process to the end of the change process. Data can be updated.

  Further, in another embodiment of the present invention, whether or not the area in which the road information is acquired is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring based on road information which is information of a road on which the moving object travels. An information collecting apparatus for transmitting road information to an information processing apparatus that determines the information, an information collecting unit for collecting road information, a transmitting unit for transmitting road information to the information processing apparatus for collecting road information, and a mobile unit And a control unit configured to control the transmission unit to transmit road information to the information processing apparatus when the vehicle is not traveling at a position set as a traveling position on the road. Therefore, by collecting the optimal information and transmitting the collected information to the information processing unit, it is possible to efficiently update the map data at the optimal timing.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, in the map information update timing system, the map information update timing system includes an information collection device mounted on a moving object and an information processing device receiving road information which is information on a road on which the moving object travels. In the map information update timing determination system, the information collection apparatus includes an information collection unit that collects road information, and a transmission unit that transmits the collected road information to the information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus collects the information Based on the reception unit that receives road information from the device and the received road information, it is determined whether the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a changing process in which continuous change occurs. A second determination is made based on the first determination unit and the received road information to determine whether the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit in the past has ended If the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended, the third determination unit determines that the map information for the information collection area should be updated, and the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit. And a control unit that executes the update of Therefore, map data can be updated efficiently at an optimal timing.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, in the map information updating method, a first step of collecting road information by the information collecting unit of the information collecting device, and road information collected by the transmitting unit of the information collecting device. Of the information processing apparatus, the third process of the receiving unit of the information processing apparatus receiving road information from the information collecting apparatus, and the road received by the first determining unit of the information processing apparatus A fourth step of determining whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring, based on the information, and a second determination unit of the information processing apparatus A fifth step of determining whether or not the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit in the past is ended based on the received road information; 3 Judgment part, second judgment part, the change process is over And the control unit of the information processing apparatus performs the update of the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit. And a seventh step of Therefore, map data can be updated efficiently at an optimal timing.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, in the program, a first process of collecting road information by the information collecting unit of the information collecting apparatus, and a transmitting unit of the information collecting apparatus process the collected road information. The second step of transmitting to the device, the third step of receiving of the road information from the information collecting device by the receiving unit of the information processing device, and the first determining portion of the information processing device are based on the received road information And the second determination unit of the information processing apparatus receives the fourth step of determining whether the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring. A fifth step of determining whether or not the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the process of change in the first determination unit in the past based on the road information has ended, and the third determination unit of the information processing device However, the second judgment unit ended the change process A sixth step of determining that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when it is determined, and a control unit of the information processing apparatus executing update of the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit And 7). Therefore, map data can be updated efficiently at an optimal timing.

<Example>
Specific examples corresponding to the above-described embodiment will be described using FIGS. 1 to 6.

Example 1
The first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

<Electric configuration of map information update timing determination system>
The electrical configuration of the map information update timing determination system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the map information update timing determination system 10 is configured to include an information collecting device 100 mounted on an autonomous driving vehicle and an information processing device 200.

  The information collection apparatus 100 includes an information collection unit 110, a transmission unit 120, and a first control unit 130.

  The information collecting unit 110 collects road information. In the present embodiment, a camera (imaging device) will be described as an example of the information collecting unit 110. The camera is attached to, for example, a central portion in the vehicle width direction at an upper end portion of a windshield glass of the vehicle, and an imaging direction is set to the front of the traveling direction of the vehicle. The camera captures an image in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle and generates image information. Then, the image information is stored in a temporary storage element such as a RAM (not shown), and the image information that has been temporarily stored is output to the transmission unit 120 according to a transmission command of the first control unit 130 described later.

  The transmission unit 120 transmits image information related to road information input from the information collection unit 110 to the information processing apparatus 200 described later. Specifically, for example, when the information processing apparatus 200 is on the cloud, the transmitting unit 120 processes the image information related to the road information input from the information collecting unit 110 via the network (Internet network). Send to 200

  The first control unit 130 controls all processing in the information collecting apparatus 100 based on a control program stored in a ROM (not shown) or the like. In the present embodiment, the operations of the information collection unit 110 and the transmission unit 120 are controlled. Moreover, in the present embodiment, the traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is captured.

  The information processing apparatus 200 includes a receiving unit 210, an image processing unit 220, an image information extracting unit 230, a first determination unit 240, a second determination unit 250, a third determination unit 260, and a second control unit 270. And is included.

  The receiving unit 210 receives image information related to road information from the information collecting apparatus 100, and outputs image information related to the received road information to the image processing unit 220. The image processing unit 220 performs, for example, numerical operation processing on the image information in order to improve the image quality of the image information, extract a region, and the like. Then, the image processing unit 220 outputs the image information after the image processing to the image information extraction unit 230.

  The image information extraction unit 230 extracts, from the image information subjected to the image processing, information on a road surface condition of a construction vehicle, a construction sign, a construction work article, and a road using an image recognition technology or the like. The image information extraction unit 230 outputs the extracted information to the first determination unit 240 and the second determination unit 250.

  The first determination unit 240 determines, based on the road information input from the image information extraction unit 230, whether or not the information collection area that has acquired the road information is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring. . Specifically, the first determination unit 240 associates the information related to the information collection area with the information input from the image information extraction unit 230, and whether there is information about the construction vehicle, construction sign, construction work supplies, road surface condition of the road Whether or not that information collection area is in the process of change is determined depending on whether or not. For example, when there is an image of a signboard indicating road construction, it is determined that the road construction is in progress, that is, in the process of change. Similarly, if the information on the road surface condition indicates that the road surface is not maintained (unpaved, there are many irregularities, etc.), the road construction is underway, that is, it is in the process of change I will judge. If it is determined that it is in the process of change, information associated with the information collection area is associated with the information input from the image information extraction unit 230, and is stored in a storage unit (not shown). On the other hand, when there is an image of a sign indicating a traffic accident, it is determined that there is not a short-term change in travel position, that is, no change process. If it is not determined that the process is a change process, the above storage in the storage unit is not performed.

  The second determination unit 250 determines, based on the road information input from the image information extraction unit 230, whether or not the change process has ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process. Specifically, the second determination unit 250 associates the information related to the information collection area with the information input from the image information extraction unit 230, and the information stored in the storage unit (not shown) includes a construction vehicle and a construction sign, Although there is information on the work surface condition of the construction work article and the road, when there is no such information this time, it is determined that the information collection area is in the change process end state from the change process. For example, if there is no image of a signboard indicating road construction in the information collection area where the first determination unit 240 determines that road construction is in progress, it is determined that the road construction is completed. Similarly, when the information on the road surface condition indicates a state in which the road is maintained (a state in which the road is paved, a state in which the unevenness is small), it is determined that the road construction has been completed. In addition, when the number of image recognition objects related to road construction is smaller than the number of image recognition objects related to image construction recognized road construction in past image information, it may be estimated that the completion of road construction is near . Similarly, from the information on the road surface condition, it is estimated that the completion of the road construction is near when the roads which are not yet developed decrease or when the maintenance condition is improved (the unevenness is reduced). It is also good.

  If the second determination unit 250 determines that the change process has ended for the information collection area, the third determination unit 260 determines that the map information for the information collection area should be updated.

  The second control unit 270 controls all processing in the information processing apparatus 200 based on a control program stored in a ROM (not shown) or the like. In the present embodiment, the operations of the reception unit 210 and the image processing unit 220, the image information extraction unit 230, the first determination unit 240, the second determination unit 250, and the third determination unit 260 are controlled. In addition, based on the determination result of the third determination unit 260, a request for a survey vehicle may be made to the information collection area where it is determined that the map information should be updated.

<Process of Map Information Update Timing Determination System>
The process of the map information update timing determination system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The information collecting unit 110 of the information collecting apparatus 100 always collects an image as road information by the camera (step S101). By the way, when traveling on the road, the autonomous driving vehicle is set to travel, for example, the central portion of the lane as a position on the road on which the vehicle should normally travel. However, when work is being carried out in a traveling lane, it is not possible to travel in the middle of the lane in order to avoid the construction site, and it is necessary to travel at a position near the roadside or opposite lane I can not get it. Therefore, the first control unit 130 determines whether the traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is continuously changing more than the assumed range (for example, the center of the lane). That is, on the map to which the autonomous driving vehicle refers when traveling, the position on the road where the autonomous driving vehicle is supposed to travel is compared with the position where the vehicle actually travels, and the difference is predetermined. It is determined whether it is larger than the reference (step S102). Then, when the first control unit 130 determines that the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is as expected (“NO” in step S102), the process returns to step S101. On the other hand, the first control unit 130 assumes that the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is different from the assumed position on the road by a predetermined reference or more (that is, the vehicle is traveling away from the construction site) If it is determined that the image information in the information collection unit 110 is output to the transmission unit 120 and the transmission unit 120 is activated, the image information in the information collection unit 110 is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 200 (Step S103). Thereafter, the process of the information collection device 100 returns to step S101.

  The receiving unit 210 of the information processing device 200 receives the image information transmitted from the information collecting device 100 (step S104). When the receiving unit 210 of the information processing apparatus 200 receives the image information, the second control unit 270 checks whether a flag (the meaning of the flag will be described later) is set (step S105). If it is not set (“NO” in step S105), the image processing unit 220 and the image information extraction unit 230 are operated, and the image processing unit 220 outputs the image information received by the receiving unit 210, and the image information The extraction unit 230 is made to analyze the image information (step S106). Then, the second control unit 270 causes the image information extraction unit 230 to output the analysis result of the image information, that is, the extracted image information to the first determination unit 240 and the second determination unit 250.

  On the basis of the image information as road information received by the receiving unit 210 and input from the image information extracting unit 230, the first determination unit 240 causes a continuous change in the information collection area in which the road information is acquired. Determine if it is in the process of change. Specifically, the first determination unit 240 associates the information on the information collection area with the image information input from the image information extraction unit 230, and there is information on the road surface condition of the construction vehicle, construction sign, construction work article, and road. Whether or not the information collection area is in the process of change is determined (step S107).

  If the first determination unit 240 determines that the information collection area that has acquired the image information as the road information is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring (“YES” in step S107), the second determination unit 240 The control unit 270 sets a flag (step S108), and stores the road information in the storage unit (step S109). Then, the process returns to step S104. That is, the flag indicates whether or not the information collection area from which the image information has been acquired is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring.

Further, in step S105, when the second control unit 270 confirms that the flag is set (“YES” in step S105), the second determination unit 250 is received by the reception unit 210, and the image information is received. The image information as road information input from the extraction unit 230 is compared with the image information as road information stored in the storage unit (step S110), and in the information collection area determined to be in the change process, the change process It is determined whether or not (step S111). Here, an example in which it is determined that the change process has ended is shown. If the construction vehicle, construction sign, construction work supplies, etc. included in the image information of the past road information stored in the storage unit for the road to be judged have disappeared, the construction for that road has ended That is, it can be determined that the change process has ended. On the other hand, when the number of construction vehicles and the like decreases, it can be determined that the completion of the construction is near, that is, the end of the change process is near.
In the case where the road surface condition, which is past road information, is stored in the storage unit for the road to be judged, if the road surface condition is not maintained, it is determined that the road is still in the process of change. If the road is in a state of being maintained, it can be determined that the construction for the road has been completed, that is, the change process has been completed. On the other hand, when the maintenance condition of the road is improved, it can be judged that the completion of the construction is near, that is, the end of the change process is near.

  If it is determined that the change process has ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process as a result of the determination by the second determination unit 250 ("YES" in step S111), the third determination unit 260 It is determined that it is the map data update timing (step S112). Then, the second control unit 270 clears the flag (step S113), and returns the process to step S104. On the other hand, if it is determined that the change process has not ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process as a result of the determination by the second determination unit 250 (“NO” in step S111), the second control The unit 270 does not clear the flag, and returns the process to step S104.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first determination unit determines whether the area in which the image information as the road information is collected is in the process of change, and then the second determination unit It is determined whether or not the change process has ended, and the third determination unit determines that the area in which the image information which is the road information is collected is the change process from the change process by the first determination unit and the second determination unit. It is judged that the map information about the area where the image information which is road information is collected should be updated on condition that it has transitioned to. For a road determined to be updated, by instructing a predetermined survey vehicle to travel, it is possible to obtain the latest information necessary to update map data. Or about the road judged that the completion of construction is near, use of a surveying vehicle can be reserved beforehand so that a surveying vehicle can be made to travel without delay after completion of construction.
Alternatively, with regard to the road determined to be updated, a flag indicating that collection of the latest information by a vehicle having a survey function is required may be recorded in association with the road data in the map data. By this, the vehicle using the map data can know which road is desired to collect the latest information.
Therefore, it is judged that the map information about the information collecting area should be updated at the timing when the area where the image information which is the road information is collected transits from the change process to the end of the change process. , Can update map data. In addition, as update of map data, map data can also be updated using the information of the target road (the road where the construction has been completed) collected by running the vehicle having the surveying function described above. By collecting information from a plurality of vehicles equipped with the information collecting apparatus 100, it is possible to generate information necessary for updating map data and update map data.

  Further, the map data can be updated efficiently at the optimum timing, so that the number of surveys by the surveying vehicle can be optimized, so that the cost required for updating the map data can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, when the autonomous driving vehicle is not traveling at a position on the road where the vehicle should normally travel, the information collecting apparatus 100 causes the transmitting unit 120 to output the image information in the information collecting unit 110, The transmission to the information processing apparatus 200 is illustrated. However, regardless of the traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle, the image information may be always output to the transmitting unit 120 in association with the information on the traveling position, and may be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 200. In this case, the information processing apparatus 200 determines whether the autonomous driving vehicle is not traveling at a position on the road where the vehicle should normally travel. When the information processing apparatus 200 determines that the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is different from the assumed position on the road by the predetermined reference or more, the information processing apparatus 200 receives the request from the information collecting apparatus 100. When the transmitted image information is received, the second control unit 270 confirms whether or not the flag is set (step S105), and when the flag is not set ("NO" in step S105), The image processing unit 220 and the image information extraction unit 230 are operated, and the image information received by the reception unit 210 is output to the image processing unit 220, and the image information extraction unit 230 is made to analyze the image information. Thus, the information processing apparatus 200 can determine whether the information collection area that has acquired the road information is in a change process in which continuous change occurs.

Example 2
The second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

<Electric configuration of map information update timing determination system>
The electrical configuration of the map information update timing determination system 10A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the component which attaches | subjects the code | symbol same as Example 1, since it has the same function, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
As shown in FIG. 3, the map information update timing determination system 10A is configured to include an information collection device 100A mounted on an autonomous driving vehicle and an information processing device 200A.

  The information collecting apparatus 100A includes an information collecting unit 111, a transmitting unit 120, and a first control unit 130.

  The information collecting unit 111 collects road information. In the present embodiment, as the information collecting unit 111, an inertial sensor such as an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor will be described as an example. Although the mounting position of the inertial sensor is not particularly limited, the vicinity of the body of the autonomous driving vehicle is preferable. The sensor information is stored in a temporary storage element such as a RAM (not shown), and outputs the temporarily stored sensor information to the transmission unit 120 in response to a transmission command of the first control unit 130 described later.

  The information processing apparatus 200A is configured to include a receiving unit 210, a first determination unit 241, a second determination unit 251, a third determination unit 260, and a second control unit 271.

  Specifically, the first determination unit 241 includes a storage unit (not shown) that stores information in time series by associating the sensor information input from the reception unit 210 with information related to the information collection area. It is judged whether the information collection area is in the process of change depending on whether or not there is output fluctuation continuously to the sensor information stored in. For example, when the amount of change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor or the amount of change in the pitch or roll of the gyro sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that road construction is underway, that is, a change process. Specifically, the information regarding the road surface condition is in a state where the road surface is not maintained (the amount of change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor or the amount of change in pitch or roll of the gyro sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold and there are many irregularities). If it is determined that there is a case where it is determined that there is, etc., it is determined that the road is under construction, that is, it is in the process of change. When it is determined that it is in the process of change, the sensor information input from the receiving unit 210 is associated with the information related to the information collection area, and is stored in the storage unit (not shown).

  Specifically, the second determination unit 251 includes a storage unit (not shown) that stores information in time series by associating the sensor information input from the reception unit 210 with the information related to the information collection area. Although there is output fluctuation continuously to the sensor information stored in, when there is no such output fluctuation this time, it is determined that the information collection area has become a change process end state from the change process. For example, in the information collection area where the first determination unit 240 determines that a road construction is in progress, if the change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor or the change in pitch or roll of the gyro sensor is within a predetermined threshold, the road Judging that the construction has been completed. Similarly, information regarding the road surface condition is determined that the road has been maintained (the change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor, the pitch of the gyro sensor, and the change in the roll are smaller than a predetermined threshold and the unevenness is small). If it indicates that the road construction is done, it is judged that the road construction has been completed. In addition, although the amount of change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor and the amount of change in the pitch and roll of the gyro sensor are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, road construction will be completed soon if the change is smaller than before. You may judge.

  The second control unit 271 controls the operations of the reception unit 210, the first determination unit 241, the second determination unit 251, and the third determination unit 260 in the present embodiment.

<Process of Map Information Update Timing Determination System>
The process of the map information update timing determination system 10A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the information collecting unit 111 of the information collecting apparatus 100A always collects sensor information as road information by an inertial sensor (step S201). The first control unit 130 determines whether or not the traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle has changed beyond the assumed range. That is, on the map to which the autonomous driving vehicle refers when traveling, the position on the road where the autonomous driving vehicle is supposed to travel (the position on the virtual road) and the position where the vehicle actually traveled Are compared, and it is determined whether the difference is larger than a predetermined reference (step S202). When the first control unit 130 determines that the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is as expected (“NO” in step S202), the process returns to step S201, and the road information in the information collection unit 111 is obtained. Continue collecting sensor information as At this time, the collected sensor information is stored in a temporary storage element in the information collection unit 111. On the other hand, when it is determined that the first control unit 130 differs from the position on the road where the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is assumed by a predetermined reference or more (“YES” in step S202) The sensor information stored in the temporary storage element in the information collection unit 111 is output to the transmission unit 120, and the transmission unit 120 is operated to transmit the information to the information processing apparatus 200A (step S203). Thereafter, the process of the information collection device 100A returns to step S201.

  The receiving unit 210 of the information processing device 200A receives the sensor information transmitted from the information collecting device 100A (step S204). When the receiving unit 210 of the information processing apparatus 200A receives the sensor information, the second control unit 271 checks whether a flag (the meaning of the flag will be described later) is set (step S205). If it is not set (“NO” in step S205), the control unit 210 causes the reception unit 210 to output the sensor information to the first determination unit 241 and the second determination unit 251, and shifts the process to step S207.

  Based on the sensor information as road information received by the receiving unit 210, the first determination unit 241 determines whether the information collection area that has acquired the road information is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring. To judge. Specifically, the first determination unit 241 includes a storage unit (not shown) that saves information in time series by associating the sensor information input from the reception unit 210 with the information related to the information collection area. It is judged whether the information collection area is in the process of change or not depending on whether or not there is output fluctuation continuously to the sensor information stored in (step S207).

  When the first determination unit 241 determines that the information collection area that has acquired the sensor information as the road information is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring (“YES” in step S207), the second The control unit 271 sets a flag (step S208), and stores the sensor information as the road information in the storage unit in the first determination unit 241 and the second determination unit 251 (step S209). Then, the process returns to step S204. That is, the flag indicates whether or not the information collection area for which the sensor information has been acquired is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring.

  In addition, when the second control unit 271 confirms that the flag is set in step S205 (“YES” in step S205), the second determination unit 251 uses the road information input from the reception unit 210 as the road information. The sensor information of the sensor is compared with the sensor information as road information stored in the storage unit (step S210), and it is determined whether the change process has ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process. (Step S211). Here, an example in which it is determined that the change process has ended is shown. Sensor information, which is past road information stored in the storage unit for the road to be judged, specifically, the amount of change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor and the amount of change in the pitch or roll of the gyro sensor If the road size becomes smaller, it can be determined that the work on the road has been completed, that is, the change process has been completed. On the other hand, if the amount of change in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor or the amount of change in the pitch or roll of the gyro sensor is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold, it is near the predetermined threshold and gradually decreases. It can be judged that the completion of the construction is near, that is, the end of the change process is near.

  If it is determined that the change process has ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process as a result of the determination by the second determination unit 251 ("YES" in step S211), the third determination unit 260 It is judged that it is the update timing of map data (step S212). Then, the second control unit 271 clears the flag (step S213), and returns the process to step S204. On the other hand, if it is determined that the change process has not ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process as a result of the determination by the second determination unit 251 (“NO” in step S211), the second control The unit 271 returns the process to step S204 without clearing the flag.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first determination unit determines whether the information collection area in which the sensor information as the road information is collected is in the process of change, and then the second determination It is determined by the section whether or not the change process has ended, and the third determination section determines from the change process the information collection area in which the sensor information which is the road information is collected by the first determination section and the second determination section. It is determined that the map information on the information collection area in which the sensor information which is the road information is collected should be updated on the condition that the transition to the end of the change process is made. For a road determined to be updated, by instructing a predetermined survey vehicle to travel, it is possible to obtain the latest information necessary to update map data. Or about the road judged that the completion of construction is near, use of a surveying vehicle can be reserved beforehand so that a surveying vehicle can be made to travel without delay after completion of construction.
Alternatively, with regard to the road determined to be updated, a flag indicating that collection of the latest information by a vehicle having a survey function is required may be recorded in association with the road data in the map data. By this, the vehicle using the map data can know which road is desired to collect the latest information.
Therefore, it is determined that the map information on the information collection area should be updated at the timing when the information collection area where the sensor information which is the road information is collected transits from the change process to the end of the change process. The map data can be updated efficiently.

  Further, the map data can be updated efficiently at the optimum timing, so that the number of surveys by the surveying vehicle can be optimized, so that the cost required for updating the map data can be reduced.

Example 3
The third embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

<Electric configuration of map information update timing determination system>
An electrical configuration of the map information update timing determination system 10B according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the component which attaches | subjects the code | symbol same as Example 1 and Example 2, since it has the same function, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
As shown in FIG. 5, the map information update timing determination system 10B is configured to include an information collection device 100B mounted on an autonomous driving vehicle and an information processing device 200B.

  The information collection device 100B includes an information collection unit 112, a transmission unit 120, and a first control unit 130.

  The information collecting unit 112 collects road information. In the present embodiment, LIDAR will be described as an example of the information collection unit 112. In addition, LIDAR is disposed in front of an autonomous vehicle, recognizes the position of a road marking (white line etc.) on the road from the measured point cloud data, and outputs reflection intensity information of the recognized point cloud data of the road marking Do. Further, the reflection intensity information of the road marking is stored in a temporary storage element such as a RAM (not shown), and the reflection intensity information of the road marking that has been temporarily stored is transmitted according to a transmission command of the first control unit 130 described later. Output to the part 120.

  The information processing apparatus 200B is configured to include a receiving unit 210, a first determination unit 242, a second determination unit 252, a third determination unit 260, and a second control unit 271.

  Specifically, the first determination unit 242 is provided with a storage unit (not shown) for storing information in time series by associating the information on the information collection area with the reflection intensity information of the road surface marking inputted from the receiving unit 210. Whether or not the information collection area is in the process of change is determined depending on whether the reflection intensity of the road marking stored in the storage unit is continuously within the range of the predetermined threshold. For example, if the reflection intensity information of the road marking is within the range of a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the road is under construction, that is, in the process of change. This is due to the decrease in the reflection intensity due to the road marking being covered with soil or the like due to road construction. Specifically, when the information on the road surface condition indicates that the road surface is not maintained (the road marking is covered with soil due to road construction, etc.), the road construction is underway, that is, , Judge that it is in the process of change. If it is determined that it is in the process of change, the reflection intensity of the road markings input from the receiving unit 210 is associated with the information related to the information collection area, and is stored in the storage unit (not shown).

  Specifically, the second determination unit 252 is provided with a storage unit (not shown) for storing information in time series by associating the information on the information collection area with the reflection intensity information of the road surface marking inputted from the receiving unit 210. The reflection intensity of the road marking stored in the storage unit is continuously within the range of the predetermined threshold, but when the reflection intensity of the road marking is the predetermined threshold or more this time, the information collecting area Determines that the change process has ended from the change process. For example, in the information collection area where the first determination unit 242 determines that the road construction is underway, it is determined that the road construction is completed when the reflection intensity information of the road marking is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Similarly, when the information on the road surface condition indicates that the road is maintained (for example, when the reflection intensity information of the road marking is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold), it is determined that the road construction has been completed.

<Process of Map Information Update Timing Determination System>
The process of the map information update timing determination system 10B according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the information collection unit 112 of the information collection device 100B always collects reflection intensity information of road markings as road information by LIDAR (step S301). The first control unit 130 determines whether or not the traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle has changed beyond the assumed range. That is, on the map to which the autonomous driving vehicle refers when traveling, the position on the road where the autonomous driving vehicle is supposed to travel (the position on the virtual road) and the position where the vehicle actually traveled Are compared, and it is determined whether the difference is larger than a predetermined reference (step S302). When the first control unit 130 determines that the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is as expected (“NO” in step S302), the process returns to step S301, and the road information in the information collection unit 112 is obtained. Continue to collect reflection intensity information of road markings as. At this time, the collected reflection intensity information of the road marking is stored in the temporary storage element in the information collection unit 112. On the other hand, when it is determined that the first control unit 130 differs from the position on the road where the actual traveling position of the autonomous driving vehicle is assumed by a predetermined reference or more (“YES” in step S302) The reflection intensity information of the road marking stored in the temporary storage element in the information collection unit 112 is output to the transmission unit 120, and the transmission unit 120 is operated to cause the information processing apparatus 200B to transmit (step S303). Thereafter, the process of the information collection device 100B returns to step S301.

  The receiving unit 210 of the information processing device 200B receives the reflection intensity information of the road marking transmitted from the information collecting device 100B (step S304). When the receiving unit 210 of the information processing apparatus 200B receives the reflection intensity information of the road marking, the second control unit 271 checks whether a flag (the meaning of the flag will be described later) is set (step S305). ), When the flag is not set (“NO” in step S305), causes the receiving unit 210 to output the reflection intensity information of the road marking to the first determination unit 242 and the second determination unit 252, and performs the processing It shifts to S307.

  The first determination unit 242 determines that the reflection intensity of the road marking in the information collecting area in which the road information is acquired is continued on the basis of the reflection intensity information of the road marking as the road information received by the receiving unit 210, and Whether or not the information collection area is in the process of change is determined depending on whether it is within the range of the threshold (step S307).

  When the first determination unit 242 determines that the information collection area that has acquired the reflection intensity information of the road surface marking as the road information is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring (“YES” in step S307) The second control unit 271 sets the flag (step S308), and stores the reflection intensity information of the road marking as the road information in the storage unit in the first determination unit 242 and the second determination unit 252 (step S309). ). Then, the process returns to step S304. That is, the flag indicates whether or not the information collection area that has acquired the reflection intensity information of the road marking is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring.

  When the second control unit 271 confirms that the flag is set in step S305 (“YES” in step S305), the second determination unit 252 uses the road information input from the reception unit 210 as the road information. The reflection intensity information of the road marking is compared with the reflection intensity information of the road marking as the road information stored in the storage unit (step S310), and in the information collection area determined to be in the changing process, the change process is It is determined whether the process has ended (step S311). Here, an example in which it is determined that the change process has ended is shown. When the reflection intensity information of the road marking, which is the past road information stored in the storage unit for the road to be judged, becomes larger than a predetermined threshold, the construction for the road is completed, that is, the change process It can be determined that the

  If it is determined that the change process has ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process as a result of the determination by the second determination unit 252 (“YES” in step S311), the third determination unit 260 It is judged that it is the update timing of map data (step S312). Then, the second control unit 271 clears the flag (step S313), and returns the process to step S304. On the other hand, if it is determined that the change process has not ended in the information collection area determined to be in the change process as a result of the determination by the second determination unit 252 (“NO” in step S311), the second control The unit 271 returns the process to step S304 without clearing the flag.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, according to the present embodiment, it is determined whether the information collecting area in which the reflection intensity information of the road marking, which is the road information, is collected is in the process of change The second judging unit judges whether or not the change process has ended, and the third judging unit is the first judgment unit and the first judgment unit, and the information collection area in which the reflection intensity information of the road marking which is the road information is collected. (2) The determination unit determines that the map information about the information collection area in which the reflection intensity information of the road markings which is the road information is collected should be updated on the condition that the change process transitions to the end of the change process. For a road determined to be updated, by instructing a predetermined survey vehicle to travel, it is possible to obtain the latest information necessary to update map data. Or about the road judged that the completion of construction is near, use of a surveying vehicle can be reserved beforehand so that a surveying vehicle can be made to travel without delay after completion of construction.
Alternatively, with regard to the road determined to be updated, a flag indicating that collection of the latest information by a vehicle having a survey function is required may be recorded in association with the road data in the map data. By this, the vehicle using the map data can know which road is desired to collect the latest information.
Therefore, it is determined that the map information on the information collection area should be updated at the timing when the information collection area in which the reflection intensity information of the road surface marking, which is the road information, is collected transitions from the change process to the end of the change process. The map data can be updated efficiently at an optimal timing.

  Further, the map data can be updated efficiently at the optimum timing, so that the number of surveys by the surveying vehicle can be optimized, so that the cost required for updating the map data can be reduced.

  In the above-described first to third embodiments, it is exemplified that the update timing of the map data is determined from the single information collected by the information collection units 110, 111, and 112. The information processing apparatus may comprehensively determine the update timing of the map data based on the information collected from each of the inertial sensor and the LIDAR. With such a configuration, map data can be updated efficiently at optimum timing, and the cost required to update map data can be reduced.

  In the above case, the final update timing of the map data may be determined after weighting each determination result based on the performance of each of the imaging device, the inertial sensor, and the LIDAR in the comprehensive evaluation. . With such a configuration, map data can be updated efficiently at optimum timing, and the cost required to update map data can be reduced.

  In addition, the final determination may be made by statistically processing a plurality of determination results obtained from a plurality of autonomous driving vehicles. For example, when the average value of the reflection intensities (point cloud data) of road markings obtained from 100 autonomously driven vehicles is calculated and the average value is low as the reflection intensity of the road markings, road construction It may be determined to be medium. As described above, by using a plurality of determination results from a plurality of autonomous driving vehicles, map data can be updated more efficiently at optimal timing, and the cost required for updating map data can be reduced. be able to.

  In addition, the data in the past of the first to third embodiments described above may be stored, and time series data processing may be performed on these data to make a final determination. For example, even if it is determined that road construction is completed when the amount of change in current acceleration data from the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than the amount of change in past acceleration data, based on the obtained time-series data. Good. That is, in the above case, for example, an area in which road construction is being performed is specified based on sensor information collected from the autonomous driving vehicle. And based on the time-sequential change etc. in the sensor information from the autonomous driving vehicle which passes the area, the timing which road construction was complete | finished is judged. Therefore, by operating the surveying vehicle based on the determination, the surveying vehicle can be directed to the area at the timing when the road construction is completed, so that the surveying vehicle can be operated efficiently. Furthermore, by monitoring the time-series change, it is possible to detect the reduction or movement of the road construction range, etc., so the end time of the road construction can be estimated based on the detection result.

  The present invention is realized by recording the processing of the information collection device and the information processing device in a recording medium readable by the computer system, reading the program recorded in the recording medium into the information collection device and the information processing device The map data update timing determination system can be realized. The computer system referred to here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices.

  In addition, the “computer system” also includes the provision environment (or display environment) of the home page if the WWW (World Wide Web) system is used. The program may be transmitted from a computer system in which the program is stored in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by transmission waves in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program is a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

  Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, it may be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the above-described functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

  Although the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments or examples, and the scope of the present invention is within the scope of the present invention. Design etc. are also included.

10, 10A, 10B; map information update timing determination system 100, 100A, 100B; information collecting device 110, 111, 112; information collecting unit 120; transmitting unit 130; first control unit 200, 200A, 200B; information processing device 210 Receiving unit 220; image processing unit 230; image information extracting unit 240, 241, 242; first determination unit 250, 251, 252; second determination unit 260; third determination unit 270, 271; second control unit

Claims (11)

First, based on road information received from an information collection device that collects information on roads, it is determined whether an information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process that is causing a continuous change A judgment unit,
A second determination unit that determines whether or not the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process has been completed by the first determination unit in the past based on the received road information;
A third determination unit that determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended;
An information processing apparatus, comprising: updating of the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit. The road information is image information acquired by an imaging device,
The information processing according to claim 1, wherein the first determination unit and the second determination unit make the determination based on the presence or absence of at least a construction vehicle, a construction sign, and a construction work item in the image information. apparatus. The information collecting device is an inertial sensor,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first determination unit and the second determination unit make a determination based on an output fluctuation of the inertial sensor. The inertial sensor is an acceleration sensor,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first determination unit and the second determination unit make the determination based on output fluctuation in the vertical direction of the acceleration sensor. The inertial sensor is a gyro sensor,
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first determination unit and the second determination unit make the determination based on at least the pitch or roll output fluctuation of the gyro sensor. The information collecting device is LIDAR,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first determination unit and the second determination unit make the determination based on the reflection intensity of the road marking obtained from the LIDAR.   When the mobile unit mounted with the information processing device is traveling with a deviation from the traveling position defined for the road on which the road information has been collected, the information collection area is continuously transmitted to the first determination unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that determines whether or not the change process is occurring. The road information is sent to the information processing apparatus which determines whether or not the area from which the road information has been acquired is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring, based on the road information which is the information of the road on which the moving object travels. It is an information gathering device to send,
An information collection unit that collects the road information;
A transmitter configured to transmit the road information to an information processing apparatus that collects the road information;
A control unit configured to control the transmitting unit to transmit the road information to the information processing apparatus when the mobile unit is not traveling at a position set as a traveling position on a road;
An information collecting apparatus comprising: A map information update timing determination system comprising: an information collection device mounted on a mobile object; and an information processing device that receives road information that is information on a road on which the mobile object travels,
The information collection device
An information collection unit that collects the road information;
A transmitter configured to transmit the collected road information to the information processing apparatus;
Equipped with
The information processing apparatus is
A receiver configured to receive the road information from the information collection device;
A first determination unit that determines, based on the received road information, whether the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a change process in which continuous change is occurring;
A second determination unit that determines whether or not the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process has been completed by the first determination unit in the past based on the received road information;
A third determination unit that determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended;
A control unit that executes update of the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit;
Map information update timing determination system characterized by having. A map information update timing determination method in a map information update timing determination system, comprising: an information collection device mounted on a mobile object; and an information processing device receiving road information which is information of a road on which the mobile object travels,
A first step of collecting road information by an information collecting unit of the information collecting apparatus;
A second step of transmitting the collected road information to the information processing apparatus by a transmitting unit of the information collecting apparatus;
A third step of the receiving unit of the information processing apparatus receiving the road information from the information collecting apparatus;
The first determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines, based on the received road information, whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring. The fourth step of
Whether the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit in the past is ended in the past based on the received road information by a second determination unit of the information processing apparatus A fifth step of determining whether or not
A sixth step in which the third determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended ,
A seventh step of causing the control unit of the information processing apparatus to update the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit;
A map information update timing determination method comprising: The map information update timing determination method in the map information update timing determination system comprising the information collection device mounted on the mobile object and the information processing device that receives the road information that is the information of the road on which the mobile object travels A program to make
A first step of collecting road information by an information collecting unit of the information collecting apparatus;
A second step of transmitting the collected road information to the information processing apparatus by a transmitting unit of the information collecting apparatus;
A third step of the receiving unit of the information processing apparatus receiving the road information from the information collecting apparatus;
The first determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines, based on the received road information, whether or not the information collection area in which the road information is collected is in a changing process in which continuous change is occurring. The fourth step of
Whether the change process of the information collection area determined to be in the change process by the first determination unit in the past is ended in the past based on the received road information by a second determination unit of the information processing apparatus A fifth step of determining whether or not
A sixth step in which the third determination unit of the information processing apparatus determines that the map information on the information collection area should be updated when the second determination unit determines that the change process has ended ,
A seventh step of causing the control unit of the information processing apparatus to update the map information based on the determination of the third determination unit;
A program to make a computer run.

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