JP4882289B2 - Map information generation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating road map information.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an apparatus that detects an intersection and a road connected to the intersection and an orientation from an image captured by an in-vehicle camera and generates map data (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Prior art documents related to the invention of this application include the following.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-273186

  However, since the above-described conventional map information generation apparatus analyzes the captured video and detects the intersection information, the image processing becomes complicated and an expensive image processing apparatus is required.

According to the present invention, there is provided a map information generation system having a map information generation device and an information center, wherein the map information generation device detects an image of a road surface and a road symbol from the image of the image pickup means. Road symbol detection means, position detection means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, road map storage means for storing a road map, and a road symbol detected when the road symbol detection means detects a stopped road symbol. Processing means for storing road map information indicated by a symbol in the road map storage means together with position information detected by the position detection means, wherein the information center stores road map data, and the map A road map at a similar position from a plurality of map information generating devices, receiving means for receiving the road map information detected by the information generating device and its position information, and a plurality of map information generating devices Road map data updating means for updating road map data stored in the storage means based on road map information at similar positions received from the plurality of map information generating devices when a predetermined number of reports are received And a distribution means for distributing the updated road map data to the map information generation device, and calculating a ratio of positional deviation of road map information at similar positions received from the plurality of map information generation devices. A map information generating system is provided, comprising: prohibiting means for prohibiting updating of the road map data by the road map data updating means when the rate of positional deviation is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

  According to the present invention, accurate road map information such as intersections and pedestrian crossings can be easily generated.

  The present invention is mounted on a vehicle, detects an intersection, generates intersection information and transmits it to an information center. The information center aggregates intersection information obtained from a plurality of vehicles and distributes the information to many vehicles. An embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment. A map information generation device (hereinafter referred to as an in-vehicle device) 10 mounted on a vehicle includes a camera 11, a position detection device 12, a road map storage device 13, a processing device 14, a speaker 15, a display 16, a communication device 17, and the like. Yes.

  The camera 11 is a digital camera that is installed in front of the vehicle and images a road surface in front of the vehicle. The camera 11 is not installed exclusively for the map information generating device, and for example, a camera used for a lane keeping device or a camera used for a rear view monitor device may be used. Usually, when the vehicle is moving forward, the rear view camera is not used, so that the rear view camera can be used effectively without installing a dedicated camera.

  The position detection device 12 includes a GPS receiver (not shown) and detects the current position of the vehicle by satellite navigation. A travel distance sensor and a traveling direction sensor may be further provided, and position detection by autonomous navigation may be used in combination. The road map storage device 13 is a database that stores road map data. The road map storage device 13 adds or updates the intersections and pedestrian crossings detected by the vehicle-mounted device 10 and their positions as road map data, and adds or updates the road map data distributed from the information center 20 described later. To do.

  The processing device 14 includes a CPU 14a, a ROM 14b, and the like, detects a road symbol such as an intersection or a pedestrian crossing from a road image captured by the camera 11, and detects a position such as an intersection or a pedestrian crossing by the position detection device 12 to detect a road map. The data is stored in the road map storage device 13 as data and transmitted to the information center 20. The road map data distributed from the information center 20 is stored in the road map storage device 13. When the processing device 14 detects the intersection, the speaker 15 gives a warning if the vehicle is not decelerating.

  The vehicle speed sensor 17 detects the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle, and the shift sensor 18 detects the shift position of the automatic transmission (not shown). The communication device 17 performs wireless communication with the information center 20 via a public telephone line such as a mobile phone or a dedicated line.

  The information center 20 is installed for each region, aggregates road map information obtained from the in-vehicle devices 10 of a plurality of vehicles, and distributes the information to the in-vehicle devices 10 of all vehicles. In the information center 20, a road map storage device 21, a processing device 22, a communication device 23, and the like are installed.

  The road map storage device 21 is a database that stores road map data. The processing device 22 obtains road map information from the in-vehicle devices 10 of a plurality of vehicles via the communication device 23, aggregates them, and distributes them to the in-vehicle devices 10 of all vehicles.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a map information generation program according to an embodiment. The processing device 14 of the in-vehicle device 10 repeatedly executes this map information generation program while the vehicle is moving forward.

  In step 1, it is detected whether or not the vehicle is moving forward. The forward movement of the vehicle is determined based on the vehicle speed pulse of the vehicle speed sensor 17 and the shift position of the shift sensor 18. When the forward movement of the vehicle is detected, the process proceeds to step 2, and the detection of the road symbol is started from the video imaged by the camera 11.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the image captured by the camera 11 looking down the road ahead of the vehicle is an image in which the near side near the vehicle is enlarged and the far side far from the vehicle is reduced. The processing device 14 converts the viewpoint shown in FIG. 3A in which the road ahead of the vehicle is obliquely looked down into an image in which the road is looked down straight from the sky as shown in FIG. A road symbol is detected from an image.

  A general edge detection method is used as a road symbol detection method. In this embodiment, patterns of various road symbols when the road is looked down straight from the sky are stored in the ROM 14b in advance, and an image captured by the camera 11 is converted to an image looking straight down from the sky. An edge is detected from the image and compared with a road symbol pattern to detect a road symbol. In this embodiment, since the image captured by the camera 11 is converted into an image in which the road surface is looked down straight from the sky and then compared with the road symbol pattern, the road symbol detection process is a one-dimensional process. Can be easily and reliably detected. Also, since the road symbol is usually drawn in white, the contrast with the black or gray road surface is clear, and by using the edge detection method for detecting the road symbol, the road symbol can be easily and reliably detected. it can.

  When detecting a road symbol on the road surface by comparing and comparing the road image converted from the viewpoint with the road symbol pattern, certain edges cannot be detected from the road image due to the dirt, fading, or shadow of the road symbol drawn on the road surface. There is a case. In this embodiment, even if a 100% road symbol pattern cannot be detected from a road image, if a predetermined percentage or more, for example, 60% or more can be detected, it is determined that the road symbol is drawn on the road surface. For example, in the “stop” road symbol shown in FIG. 3, if the characters “re” and “ma” are detected, it is determined that the “stop” road symbol is drawn. This increases the probability that the road symbol can be detected even if the road symbol drawn on the road surface is affected by dirt, fading, or shadows.

  In step 3 of FIG. 2, it is confirmed whether or not a temporarily stopped road symbol is detected. If a stopped road symbol is detected, the process proceeds to step 4. In step 4, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is decelerating. When the temporal decrease rate of the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 17, that is, when the deceleration is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the vehicle is decelerating, and the process proceeds to step 4. When the deceleration of the vehicle is lower than the predetermined value, it is determined that the vehicle is not decelerating, and the routine proceeds to step 5 where a warning is given by the speaker 15.

  An intersection, a pedestrian crossing, and the like are determined from the road symbol detected in step 6, and the position is detected by the position detection device 12 and stored in the road map storage device 13 as road map data. In the subsequent step 7, the detected road map information is transmitted to the information center 20 via the communication device 19. The transmission of the road map information to the information center 20 may be performed every predetermined time or every predetermined amount accumulated.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a map information distribution program of the information center 20. The map information distribution process of the information center 20 will be described with reference to this flowchart. In step 11, road map information is obtained from the in-vehicle device 10 via the communication device 23. In step 12, similar road map information is received from many in-vehicle devices 10, and it is confirmed whether or not the quantity exceeds a predetermined number N. If similar road map information exceeds a predetermined number N, it is determined that the information is reliable, and the process proceeds to step 13. Note that the predetermined number N can be arbitrarily changed depending on the road width, the place, and the region.

  If the number of similar road map information exceeds a predetermined number N, the position of the road map information such as an intersection or a crossing report is determined in step 13, and the information in which the position is shifted in a subsequent step 14 is a predetermined ratio, for example Check if it exceeds 20%. If the location of an intersection or a pedestrian crossing may change due to a road improvement, and the location of information that exceeds a predetermined percentage of the number N of similar road map information accumulated, it is determined that the road has been improved. However, the road map information is not adopted. When the information whose position is shifted is equal to or less than a predetermined ratio, the process proceeds to step 15, and road map information such as intersections and pedestrian crossings is distributed to each in-vehicle device 10.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, the road symbol is detected from the captured image obtained by imaging the road surface, and the notification is made when the stopped road symbol is detected. Road map information can be easily generated and reported to passengers.

  In addition, according to one embodiment, when it is determined whether the vehicle is in a deceleration state based on the vehicle speed, and when the stop road symbol is detected, it is determined that the vehicle is not in a deceleration state. Since the warning is given, it is possible to support the oversight of the occupant's road sign.

  According to one embodiment, road map information indicated by a detected road symbol when a road symbol is detected from a captured image obtained by imaging a road surface, a current position of the vehicle is detected, and a road symbol that is temporarily stopped is detected. Is stored in the road map storage device together with the vehicle position information, so that accurate road map information such as intersections and pedestrian crossings can be easily generated and added or updated to the road map.

  According to one embodiment, the detected road map information and its position information are transmitted to the information center, and the road map information is received from the information center and stored in the road map storage device. The detected accurate road map information can be used by other vehicles.

  The correspondence between the constituent elements of the claims and the constituent elements of the embodiment is as follows. That is, the camera 11 is an imaging means, the processing device 14 is a road symbol detection means, a notification means, a deceleration determination means and a processing means, the vehicle speed sensor 17 is a vehicle speed detection means, the position detection device 12 is a position detection means, and a road map. The storage device 13 constitutes road map storage means, and the communication device 19 constitutes communication means. The above description is merely an example, and when interpreting the invention, the correspondence between the items described in the above embodiment and the items described in the claims is not limited or restricted.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the map information generation program of a vehicle equipment. It is a figure explaining the viewpoint conversion process of a captured image. It is a flowchart which shows the map information delivery program of an information center.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 In-vehicle apparatus 11 Camera 12 Position detection apparatus 13 Road map storage apparatus 14 Processing apparatus 15 Speaker 17 Vehicle speed sensor 18 Shift sensor 19 Communication apparatus 20 Information center 21 Road map storage apparatus 22 Processing apparatus 23 Communication apparatus

Claims (7)

A map information generation system having a map information generation device and an information center,
The map information generating device is
Imaging means for imaging the road surface;
Road symbol detection means for detecting a road symbol from the image of the imaging means;
Position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle;
Road map storage means for storing a road map;
A processing unit that stores road map information indicated by the detected road symbol in the road map storage unit together with the position information detected by the position detection unit when the road symbol detection unit detects a temporarily stopped road symbol;
With
The information center
Storage means for storing road map data;
Receiving means for receiving road map information and its position information detected by the map information generating device;
When a predetermined number or more of road map information at the same position is received from a plurality of map information generation devices, the information is stored in the storage unit based on the road map information at the same position received from the plurality of map information generation devices. Road map data updating means for updating the road map data being
Distribution means for distributing the updated road map data to the map information generating device;
The ratio of the positional deviation of the road map information at the same position received from the plurality of map information generating devices is calculated, and when the calculated percentage of the positional deviation is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the road map by the road map data updating means Prohibiting means to prohibit data update,
A map information generation system comprising: The map information generation system according to claim 1,
A communication means for communicating with the information center;
The processing means transmits the detected road map information and its position information to the information center via the communication means, and receives road map information from the information center and stores it in the road map storage means. Feature map information generation system . In the map information generation system according to claim 1 or 2,
The map information generation system according to claim 1, wherein the road symbols include road symbols of intersections and pedestrian crossings. In the map information generation system according to claim 1 or 2,
The map information generating system according to claim 1, wherein the imaging means is a rear view camera. In the map information generation system according to claim 1 or 2,
The map information generation system, wherein the road symbol detection means converts the image of the imaging means into an image in which the road surface is looked down straight from the sky, and detects the road symbol from the converted image. The map information generation system according to claim 5,
The map information generation system, wherein the road symbol detection means detects an edge of the image after conversion, and detects a road symbol by comparing with a road symbol pattern stored in advance. The map information generation system according to claim 6,
The road symbol detection means is detected in the converted image out of all symbols constituting the road symbol pattern stored in advance when comparing with the road symbol pattern stored in advance . A map information generation system , characterized in that , when the ratio of symbols is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is determined that the road symbol pattern is detected in the image after conversion.

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