JP7170480B2 - discrimination device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technique for determining whether a two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle.

Technologies for discriminating two-wheeled vehicles have been developed.
In Patent Document 1, a plurality of photo-sensors arranged at predetermined intervals so that the optical axis passes through the inside of the wheel of a bicycle or motorcycle passing through a passage is used to detect a bicycle or motorcycle having the wheel. A vehicle type determination device for determining a vehicle type is described.
In Patent Document 2, a pair of light emitting and receiving devices arranged facing each other on both sides of a road on which a bicycle or a motorcycle travels is used to determine the thickness of a front wheel tire, thereby discriminating between a bicycle and a motorcycle. A device is described.

Patent No. 3995821 Patent No. 5602543

When a two-wheeled vehicle is determined by detecting the light blocking of the wheels crossing the optical axis, a pair of light emitting and receiving devices forming the optical axis must be arranged on both sides of the wheels. Further, for example, when a plurality of sets of light emitting and receiving devices are arranged, if even one of them does not function due to dirt or the like, discrimination may become impossible.

One of the objects of the present invention is to make it possible to distinguish whether a two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle without arranging devices on each side of the two-wheeled vehicle.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a region in which the two-wheeled vehicle exists within the contour of the wheels of the two -wheeled vehicle included in an image formed by measuring electromagnetic waves by a measuring unit arranged only on one side of the two- wheeled vehicle. A first aspect of the present invention provides a discriminating device that discriminates whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the ratio of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist.

According to the discriminating device of the first aspect, it is possible to discriminate whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle without disposing devices on both sides of the two-wheeled vehicle.

In the discriminating device of the first aspect, a configuration in which the wheel region is extracted based on an arc or an elliptical arc included in the image may be adopted as a second aspect.

According to the discriminating device of the second aspect, by extracting an arc or an elliptical arc from an image formed by measuring electromagnetic waves, even if the contour of the wheel overlaps with another part of the two-wheeled vehicle, the contour can be specified. can.

In the discriminating device of the first or second aspect, the image is an image captured by infrared thermography, and the temperature of the two-wheeled vehicle indicated by the image is determined based on the ratio between the two-wheeled vehicle and the two-wheeled vehicle. A configuration may be adopted as a third mode in which the configuration is used as an aid when determining which one.

According to the discriminating device of the third aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle as compared with the case where temperature information is not used.

In the determination device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the ratio is calculated using the area of each of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist. You may employ|adopt as an aspect of 4.

According to the discriminating device of the fourth aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle as compared with the case where the area information is not used.

In the determination device of any one of the first to fourth aspects, the ratio is calculated using the length of each contour line of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist. The configuration may be adopted as the fifth aspect.

According to the discriminating device of the fifth aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle as compared with the case where the information on the length of the outline is not used.

In the determination device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the two-wheeled vehicle is either a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the number of rod-shaped members radially extending from the center of the wheel in the region of the wheel. A configuration of determining whether or not may be adopted as a sixth aspect.

According to the discriminating device of the sixth aspect, the accuracy of discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle is improved compared to the case where the information of the rod-shaped member extending radially from the center of the wheel is not used. be able to.

In the discriminating device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, a component of the two-wheeled vehicle included in the wheel region is specified, and whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle is determined based on the component. may be adopted as a seventh aspect.

According to the discriminating device of the seventh aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle, compared to the case where the information on the parts included in the wheel region is not used. .

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for detecting the presence of the two-wheeled vehicle within the contour of the wheels of the two -wheeled vehicle included in the image formed by the measurement of ultrasonic waves by a measuring unit arranged only on one side of the two-wheeled vehicle. An eighth aspect provides a discriminating device that discriminates whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the ratio of the area and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist.

According to the discriminating device of the eighth aspect, it is possible to discriminate whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle without arranging devices on both sides of the two-wheeled vehicle.

The figure which shows the example of the external appearance of the discrimination|determination apparatus 1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of a structure of the discrimination|determination apparatus 1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a measurement unit 16; FIG. The figure which shows the functional structure of the discrimination|determination apparatus 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the discrimination device 1; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image formed by measuring electromagnetic waves; FIG. 7 shows the outline of the wheel extracted from the image shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image showing a solid portion; FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing the flow of operations in which the discriminating device 1 compares the ratio n with two threshold values. The figure which shows the example of a structure of the discrimination|determination apparatus 1a which uses an ultrasonic wave for the measurement of a two-wheeled vehicle. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the measurement part 16a. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the measurement part 16a which employ|adopted an array system.

<Embodiment>
<Configuration of discriminating device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of a discrimination device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the discriminating device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A discriminating device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a device that discriminates whether a two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle. This discrimination device 1 has a control section 11 , a storage section 12 , a communication section 13 , an operation section 14 , a display section 15 and a measurement section 16 .

The control unit 11 is means for controlling the operation of each unit of the discrimination device 1 . The control unit 11 includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). Run the program.

The storage unit 12 is storage means such as a solid state drive or a hard disk drive, and stores various programs, data, etc. read by the CPU of the control unit 11 .

The communication unit 13 is, for example, a communication circuit or the like connected to a communication line (not shown), and relays exchanges between an external device connected to the communication line and the control unit 11 . The communication line to which the communication unit 13 connects may be, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), the Internet, or a combination thereof. Also, the communication line may include a public switched telephone network (PSTN), an integrated services digital network (ISDN), or the like. The external device with which the control unit 11 of the discriminating device 1 exchanges is, for example, a management device or the like that determines the fee for a two-wheeled vehicle using a bicycle parking lot according to whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle. .

The operation unit 14 includes operation buttons, a keyboard, a touch panel and the like for giving various instructions, receives operations by the user, and sends signals corresponding to the operation contents to the control unit 11 .

The display unit 15 has a display screen such as a liquid crystal display, and displays images under the control of the control unit 11 . A transparent touch panel of the operation unit 14 may be superimposed on the display screen.

Moreover, the display unit 15 may have a sound emitting device such as a speaker or an earphone that emits sound under the control of the control unit 11 in addition to or instead of the display screen.

Note that when the determination result of the control unit 11 is sent to the above-described management device or the like via the communication unit 13, the determination device 1 may not include at least one of the operation unit 14 and the display unit 15. .

The measurement unit 16 is a device that measures numerical values related to electromagnetic waves, such as the intensity, wavelength, and arrival time of electromagnetic waves arriving from a two-wheeled vehicle, and supplies data indicating the measured values to the control unit 11 . The measuring section 16 shown in FIG. 2 has a light projecting section 161 and a light receiving section 162 . Examples of electromagnetic waves measured by the measurement unit 16 include visible light, infrared light, ultraviolet light, and millimeter waves.

<Configuration of measurement unit>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the measurement unit 16. As shown in FIG. The measuring unit 16 shown in FIG. 3 is a distance image sensor that employs a coaxial optical system.

The light projecting unit 161 is, for example, a device that generates an electromagnetic wave such as a near-infrared laser and projects the electromagnetic wave toward an area to be measured (referred to as a measurement area).

The light receiving section 162 has a mirror 1621 , a condenser lens 1622 and a photodiode 1623 . The mirror 1621 reflects the near-infrared laser generated by the light projecting unit 161 and projects it onto the measurement area, and receives the near-infrared (electromagnetic waves) reflected by the surface of the object existing in the measurement area, and transmits the light to the condenser lens. Leads to 1622.

That is, the mirror 1621 serves both as an optical system in the light receiving section 162 and as an optical system in the light projecting section 161 . With this configuration, the light receiving direction of the reflected light follows the projection direction of the near-infrared laser, so the measurement unit 16 is less susceptible to disturbance light when measuring electromagnetic waves, compared to a case without this configuration.

The control unit 11, for example, controls the vibration of the mirror 1621 to periodically change the direction in which the electromagnetic wave is projected toward the measurement area. As a result, scanning such as raster scanning or Lissajous scanning is realized with respect to the measurement area.

The condenser lens 1622 collects the reflected light (electromagnetic wave) of the near-infrared laser guided by the mirror 1621 and projects it onto the photodiode 1623 . The photodiode 1623 measures the electromagnetic wave projected from the condensing lens 1622 and supplies an electrical signal corresponding to the measured value to the controller 11 .

The light receiving unit 162 does not detect blocking of the optical axis projected from the light projecting unit 161 by an object, but receives the reflected light of the projected light from the surface of the object. can be provided on the same side as the light projecting unit 161 when viewed from above.

For example, the control unit 11 measures the time from the time when the near-infrared laser pulse wave is generated by the light projecting unit 161 to the time when the light receiving unit 162 receives the reflected wave of the pulse wave. to an object existing in the measurement area. Then, the control unit 11 arranges the data of the distance to the object existing in that direction at each position according to the direction in which the electromagnetic wave is projected, and the shape of the object existing in the measurement area is obtained from the measurement unit 16. form the image shown.

<Functional configuration of discrimination device>
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the discrimination device 1. As shown in FIG.
The control unit 11 functions as an acquisition unit 111, a formation unit 112, an extraction unit 113, a synthesis unit 114, a calculation unit 115, and a determination unit 116 by executing the programs described above.

The acquiring unit 111 acquires a group of measured values representing the electromagnetic waves from the measuring unit 16 that has measured the electromagnetic waves received from each position in the measurement region.
The formation unit 112 forms an image from the measurement value group acquired by the acquisition unit 111 .

When the formed image is estimated to include a two-wheeled vehicle, the extraction unit 113 identifies the contour of the wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle from the image and extracts the inner side of this contour as the wheel region. Further, the extraction unit 113 identifies a portion of the above-described image where the measured distance exceeds the threshold as a “area where no two-wheeled vehicle exists”, that is, the background, and generates an image from which the background is removed. For example, the distance to the farthest point from the measurement unit 16 in the measurement area is set as the threshold for the distance to be removed as the background.

The extraction unit 113 may perform feature extraction processing such as Hough transform on the image formed by the formation unit 112, and extract arcs or elliptical arcs from this image. Then, for example, when the extracted arc or elliptical arc satisfies a predetermined condition, the extraction unit 113 may extract the above-described wheel region of the two-wheeled vehicle based on them. That is, the extraction unit 113 in this case extracts the wheel region based on the arc or elliptical arc included in the image. The determined conditions are, for example, that the length and position of an arc or an elliptical arc, and that indices such as eccentricity, flattening, and ellipticity indicating the shape of an ellipse indicated by the elliptical arc are within a determined range.

The synthesizing unit 114 synthesizes the image from which the background has been removed by the extracting unit 113 with an image masked by the extracted wheel region. That is, the synthesizing unit 114 synthesizes the above-described image by cutting out the image from which the background has been removed along the contour of the wheel.

Based on the synthesized image, the calculation unit 115 calculates the area of the wheels of the two-wheeled vehicle, that is, the ratio of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist within the outline of the wheel.

It should be noted that this ratio does not have to be calculated using numerical values for both the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist. It may be calculated as a percentage of the area. This is because the ratio of the two types of regions is specified from the ratio of one region to the total region.

The calculation unit 115 shown in FIG. 4 calculates the ratio of the area of the region in which the two-wheeled vehicle exists to the area within the outline of the wheel as this ratio.

The determination unit 116 determines whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the ratio calculated by the calculation unit 115 . A result of determination by the determination unit 116 is displayed on the display unit 15 . Note that this result may be sent via the communication unit 13 to, for example, a management device that manages parking fees for two-wheeled vehicles. When the determination unit 116 performs the determination described above, the determination unit 116 may transmit the determination result to an external device via the communication unit 13, or store the determination result in the storage unit 12 and transmit the determination result to the communication unit. When a request is received from an external device via 13, this may be read out from the storage unit 12 and transmitted to the external device.

<Operation of Discrimination Device>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the discriminating device 1. As shown in FIG. The control unit 11 of the discriminating device 1 acquires the measured value of the electromagnetic waves measured by the measuring unit 16 (step S101), and forms an image based on the measured value (step S102).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an image formed by measuring electromagnetic waves. FIG. 6(a) shows an image of a bicycle. FIG. 6(b) shows an image of a motorcycle. If the measurement unit 16 is a distance image sensor, the determination device 1 may provide the above-described threshold value to the data indicating the distance arranged in each pixel to form a binary image as shown in FIG. In the binary image shown in FIG. 6, the white portion represents an area (background) in which no two-wheeled vehicle exists, and the black portion represents an area in which a two-wheeled vehicle exists.

The control unit 11 determines whether the formed image includes wheels (step S103). This determination may be performed by applying an edge detection algorithm such as the Canny method to the image, or may be performed by applying a feature extraction algorithm such as the Hough transform described above.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contour of the wheel extracted from the image shown in FIG. From the image of the bicycle shown in FIG. 6(a), as shown in FIG. 7(a), an outline E11 representing the outline of the front wheel of the bicycle and an outline E12 representing the outline of the rear wheel of the bicycle are extracted. be. Further, from the image of the motorcycle shown in FIG. 6(b), as shown in FIG. 7(b), an outline E21 representing the outline of the front wheel of the motorcycle and an outline E22 representing the outline of the rear wheel of the motorcycle and are extracted.

When determining that the image does not include wheels (step S103; NO), the control unit 11 returns the process to step S101. On the other hand, when determining that the image includes wheels (step S103; YES), the control unit 11 generates an image A and an image B, which will be described later, from the formed image.

The control unit 11 extracts the contour of the object from the image formed in step S102 and generates an image A showing this contour (step S104). Further, the control unit 11 generates an image B by removing the background from the image formed in step S102 (step S105).

In the flow shown in FIG. 5, steps S104 and S105 are processed in parallel, but one of them may precede the other.

When the image A is generated, the control unit 11 extracts a wheel contour having a high probability based on the position, length, curvature, etc. of each contour shown in this image A, and extracts the wheel indicated by the extracted contour. is specified (step S106). A learned model generated by machine learning, for example, may be used to determine whether the extracted contour is the contour of a wheel. Note that step S106 is executed after step S104 and before step S107.

When the two-wheeled vehicle moves horizontally, the specified center coordinates move horizontally along with this movement. For example, the control unit 11 may generate images A periodically, identify the center coordinates of the wheels from each image A, and monitor the movement of the two-wheeled vehicle. The control unit 11 may estimate a situation in which the two-wheeled vehicle passes through the measurement area based on the monitored position of the center coordinates.

The control unit 11 calculates the area Sa inside the outer diameter specified in step S106 (step S107). Note that step S107 is executed after step S106 and before step S110.

After generating the image A and the image B, the control unit 11 masks the image B with the image A to synthesize an image showing the solid portion (step S108). The solid portion is the area in which the two-wheeled vehicle exists within the contour of the wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle. Note that step S108 is executed after steps S105 and S107 and before step S109.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an image showing a solid portion. FIG. 8(a) shows a solid portion, which is an area where a two-wheeled vehicle exists, inside the contour E11 shown in FIG. 7(a). In addition, FIG. 8(b) shows a solid portion, which is an area where a two-wheeled vehicle exists, inside the contour E21 shown in FIG. 7(b).

The control unit 11 calculates the area Si of the solid portion from the image showing the solid portion (step S109). Then, the control unit 11 calculates a ratio n (n=Si/Sa) of the area Si to the area Sa (step S110).

In particular, motorcycles are heavy because they are equipped with power sources such as fuel tanks, batteries, internal combustion engines, and motors. Therefore, the kinetic energy possessed by a moving motorcycle is greater than that of a bicycle.

In other words, since the wheels of a motorcycle must be strong enough to withstand kinetic energy, the dimensions of the spokes, brake rotors, etc. are larger than those of bicycle wheels, and the area occupied by the solid portion within the contour of the wheel is increased. , tend to be larger than bicycles.

The control unit 11 determines whether the calculated ratio n is equal to or greater than the threshold (step S111), and if it is determined that the ratio n is equal to or greater than the threshold (step S111; YES), the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image is , is determined to be a motorcycle (step S112).

On the other hand, when determining that the ratio n is not equal to or greater than the threshold (step S111; NO), the control unit 11 determines that the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image is a bicycle (step S113).

For example, the control unit 11 of the discriminating device 1 sets the ratio of the area of the solid portion to the area within the outline of the wheel to 0.38 from the combined images shown in FIGS. , 0.82. Here, when the threshold is set to 0.5, the area ratio of the solid rate shown in FIG. 8A is not equal to or greater than the threshold. determine that there is On the other hand, since the area ratio of the solid rate shown in FIG. 8B is equal to or greater than the threshold value of 0.5, the control unit 11 determines that the two-wheeled vehicle included in this image is a motorcycle.

Note that the number of thresholds to be compared with the ratio n is not limited to one, and may be two or more. For example, the ratio n may be compared to each of a first threshold and a second threshold less than the first threshold.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the flow of operations in which the discrimination device 1 compares the ratio n with two threshold values. In FIG. 9, step S110 is the step shown in FIG. 5, and steps S101 to S109 are omitted. After calculating the ratio n in step S110, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the ratio n is greater than or equal to the first threshold (step S201).

When determining that the ratio n is equal to or greater than the first threshold (step S201; YES), the control unit 11 determines that the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image is a motorcycle (step S202), and terminates the process.

On the other hand, when determining that the ratio n is not equal to or greater than the first threshold (step S201; NO), the control unit 11 compares the ratio n with a second threshold smaller than the first threshold, It is determined whether or not it is equal to or greater than a threshold value of 2 (step S203).

When determining that the ratio n is not equal to or greater than the second threshold (step S203; NO), the control unit 11 determines that the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image is a bicycle (step S204) and terminates the process.

Then, when determining that the ratio n is equal to or greater than the second threshold (step S203; YES), the control unit 11 determines that the ratio n is less than the first threshold and equal to or greater than the second threshold. If so, it is determined that the type of the two-wheeled vehicle cannot be determined (step S205), and the process ends.

When the determination in step S205 is made, the control unit 11 may cause the display unit 15 to display, for example, a character string “cannot determine the type of two-wheeled vehicle”, and via the communication unit 13, Information indicating this determination result may be sent to the above-described management device or the like.

As described above, the discriminating device 1 does not have devices on both sides of the two-wheeled vehicle, and the measuring unit 16 is placed only on one side of the two-wheeled vehicle. can be determined.

Further, the discriminating device 1 captures an object existing in the measurement area as an image, which is a set of pixels adjacent to each other, by scanning the measurement area with a laser or the like or taking an image. Therefore, compared with the case where an object existing in the measurement area is captured by a plurality of non-adjacent optical axes, the dropout, failure, abnormality, etc. of the measurement value at one point have less influence on the measurement result.

That is, in the discriminating device 1, even if the measured value corresponding to one pixel among the pixels forming the image is erroneous, the probability that the measured value of the pixel adjacent to that pixel is erroneous is relatively low. As compared with the case where a plurality of sets of light emitting and receiving devices are arranged on both sides of the two-wheeled vehicle, the accuracy of determination is less likely to be affected.

The configurations, shapes, sizes, and arrangement relationships described in the above embodiments are merely schematic representations to the extent that the present invention can be understood and implemented. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but can be modified in various forms without departing from the scope of the technical concept indicated in the claims.

<Modification>
The above is the description of the embodiment, but the content of this embodiment can be modified as follows. Moreover, the following modifications may be combined.

<Modification 1>
In the above-described embodiment, the coaxial optical system system is adopted for the measurement unit 16 . In this coaxial optical system, since the mirror 1621 of the light receiving unit 162 is also used for projecting the near-infrared laser by the light projecting unit 161, the field of view of the photodiode 1623 is concentrated in the projection direction of the light projecting unit 161, and the noise level is reduced. has the effect of suppressing However, the method of the measurement unit 16 is not limited to this.

For example, a separate optical system method using different optical systems for the light projecting unit 161 and the light receiving unit 162, or an image sensor method using an imaging device such as a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor instead of the photodiode 1623 is adopted. good too.

<Modification 2>
Moreover, the measuring unit 16 may not have the light projecting unit 161 as long as it measures numerical values related to electromagnetic waves. For example, the measurement unit 16 may be a digital still camera or the like that measures an electromagnetic wave emitted from the surface of an object existing in the measurement area with an imaging device and images the object. When the measurement unit 16 is a camera or the like, the captured image may be a still image or a moving image.

When the measurement unit 16 captures a moving image or a plurality of still images of an object existing in the measurement area, the control unit 11 detects a rotating part within the contour of the wheel and detects the presence of the two-wheeled vehicle in the area of the wheel. A region may be specified.

Further, when the measurement unit 16 captures a moving image or a plurality of still images of a two-wheeled vehicle moving in front of a background that does not change, the control unit 11 may detect a region that does not change as the background and remove it from the image. good.

Further, when the measurement unit 16 is a camera or the like, a wall painted in a predetermined color (single color) or pattern may be provided on an extension line of the line of sight of the measurement area viewed from the measurement unit 16 . Then, the control section 11 may use the color and pattern information to remove the portion indicating the wall from the image as the background. Further, the control unit 11 may perform edge detection on the captured image to extract the contour of an object existing in the measurement area, or remove the background from this image.

That is, the measurement unit 16 may be an active type measuring device that projects an electromagnetic wave onto an object and measures the reflected wave, or a passive type measuring device that measures the electromagnetic wave emitted from the object without projecting the electromagnetic wave. It may be a measuring instrument.

<Modification 3>
Also, the measurement unit 16 may be an infrared thermography camera or the like that captures infrared rays emitted from the surface of an object existing in the measurement area. In this case, the determination device 1 acquires an image captured by the measurement unit 16, which is an infrared thermography, and determines whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the temperature of the two-wheeled vehicle indicated by this image. It is a discriminating device that

In particular, as described above, motorcycles are heavier than bicycles, and the amount of energy that is converted into heat by brakes, shafts, and the like is also large. In addition, since a motorcycle has a power source such as an internal combustion engine or a motor, the power source itself generates a large amount of heat compared to a bicycle driven by human power.

The discriminating device 1 shown in this modified example compares the temperature of an object converted from the intensity of infrared rays emitted from a brake rotor, an engine, or the like with a threshold value to determine whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle. determine. According to this configuration, the accuracy of discrimination may be improved. The threshold value to be compared with the temperature is set to a temperature, such as 60° C., which exceeds normal temperature and at which the presence of the above-described power source or the like is recognized.

The determination based on the infrared rays emitted from the surface of the object may be used as an aid to the determination based on the shape of the object. For example, when a motorcycle is brought into the measurement area without starting the engine, the temperature of the motorcycle is often indistinguishable from the temperature of the bicycle. Therefore, for example, when the temperature exceeds the threshold, the determination device 1 determines that the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle. It suffices to determine whether the vehicle is a two-wheeled vehicle or a bicycle.

<Modification 4>
In the above-described embodiment, the calculation unit 115 calculates the ratio of the area of the region in which the two-wheeled vehicle exists to the area within the outline of the wheel as the above-described "ratio." It may be calculated using the area of each of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist.

<Modification 5>
Moreover, the above-mentioned ratio may be calculated using the length of each contour line of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist. A "contour" here is a line forming the circumference of an object.

For example, in a motorcycle, the spokes supporting the wheel are thicker than those of a bicycle because of their strength, so the number of spokes is smaller than that of a bicycle. Therefore, the total outline length of the background portion defined by the spokes (that is, the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist) tends to be shorter in motorcycles than in bicycles. The length of the outline of the background portion is often proportional to the circumference of the wheel (that is, the outline of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists) for the same vehicle type.

For example, the determination device 1 shown in this modification divides the contour length of the background portion divided by the spokes inside the wheel by the circumference of the wheel, and when the obtained ratio is a threshold value or more, the two wheels Determine that the vehicle is a bicycle. As a threshold to be compared with the ratio of the contour length of the background portion to the circumference of the wheel, a representative value of this ratio calculated from images of the wheels of the motorcycle and the bicycle, for example, is used. This representative value includes statistical values such as the lowest value, highest value, median value, arithmetic mean value, geometric mean value, and mode, as well as values obtained by substituting these statistical values into a predetermined function. It's okay.

<Modification 6>
In the above-described embodiment, the determination unit 116 determines whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the ratio calculated by the calculation unit 115. In addition to this ratio, the wheel area 3, whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle may be determined based on the number of rod-shaped members extending radially from the center of the wheel.

Here, the rod-shaped members radially extending from the center of the wheel are, for example, spokes. As described above, the spokes used to support the axle of the motorcycle must be thick enough to withstand the kinetic energy of the motorcycle. Therefore, motorcycles tend to have fewer spokes than bicycles. The discrimination unit 116 may discriminate the vehicle type of the two-wheeled vehicle according to, for example, the number of spokes in addition to the ratio described above, thereby improving the accuracy of this discrimination.

<Modification 7>
Further, the determination unit 116 may specify the parts of the two-wheeled vehicle included in the wheel area, and determine whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the parts.

For example, as described above, motorcycles often have relatively large brake rotors because of their large kinetic energy. On the other hand, the kinetic energy of a bicycle is smaller than that of a motorcycle, and in order to reduce the weight, the rim of the wheel is often used as the brake rotor.

Therefore, the determining unit 116 may determine that the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle if, for example, the brake rotor is included in the wheel region. Identification of the brake rotor by the discriminating device 1 may be performed based on, for example, the fact that the center axis is common to the wheel, the pattern of holes provided for heat dissipation, weight reduction, etc., and other shape features. .

Note that the two-wheeled vehicle component identified by the determination unit 116 is not limited to the brake rotor, and may be, for example, a front fork, a front suspension, a rear fork, and the like.

<Modification 8>
In the above-described embodiment, the measurement unit 16 is a device that measures numerical values related to electromagnetic waves arriving from a two-wheeled vehicle, but may measure numerical values related to waves other than electromagnetic waves that arrive from a two-wheeled vehicle. For example, the measuring unit 16 may measure numerical values related to ultrasonic waves arriving from the two-wheeled vehicle and supply data indicating the measured values to the control unit 11 .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a discriminating device 1a that uses ultrasonic waves to measure a two-wheeled vehicle. A measuring unit 16 a shown in FIG. 10 measures numerical values related to ultrasonic waves, such as the intensity, frequency, and arrival time of ultrasonic waves arriving from a two-wheeled vehicle, and supplies data indicating the measured values to the control unit 11 .

In this example, the measuring unit 16a has a transmitting unit 161a, a receiving unit 162a, and a driving unit 163. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the measuring section 16a.

The transmitter 161a has an ultrasonic element that transmits ultrasonic waves in a predetermined direction. The receiving unit 162a has an ultrasonic element that receives ultrasonic waves arriving from a predetermined direction. Under the control of the control unit 11, the driving unit 163 moves the transmitting unit 161a and the receiving unit 162a to change their positions, angles, and the like. The transmitter 161 a transmits ultrasonic waves in the direction adjusted by the driver 163 . The transmitted ultrasonic waves reach and are reflected by an object existing in the measurement area, and the reflected waves are received by the receiving section 162a.

For example, the control unit 11 measures the time from the time when the transmission unit 161a transmits the ultrasonic pulse wave to the time when the reception unit 162a receives the reflected wave of the pulse wave, and the transmission by the driving unit 163 is performed. After considering the positions and directions of the unit 161a and the receiving unit 162a, the distance from the measuring unit 16a to the object existing in the measurement area is specified. Then, the control unit 11 arranges the data of the distance to the object existing in the direction at each position according to the direction in which the ultrasonic waves are transmitted, and calculates the shape of the object existing in the measurement area from the measurement unit 16a. to form an image showing In this case, the discriminating device 1a may perform the operation by replacing "electromagnetic wave" with "ultrasonic wave" in the flowchart shown in FIG.

Note that the determination device 1a may include a plurality of measurement units 16a. The plurality of measurement units 16a may be so-called array-type ultrasonic probes.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the measuring section 16a that employs the array method. The plurality of measuring units 16a shown in FIG. 12 includes, for example, a transmitting unit 161a capable of individually transmitting ultrasonic pulses, and a receiving unit 162a receiving reflected ultrasonic waves.

The plurality of measurement units 16a may be arranged in a grid pattern, and beam scanning may be performed by controlling the phase shift amount of each unit. In this case, the measurement unit 16a does not have to have the drive unit 163. Moreover, the plurality of measurement units 16a may be arranged in a strip shape, a ring shape, a disk matrix shape, or the like, instead of being arranged in a lattice shape.

In this case as well, the acquiring unit 111 acquires a group of measured values indicating the ultrasonic waves from the measuring unit 16a that has measured the ultrasonic waves received from each position in the measurement region. Then, the forming unit 112 forms an image from the group of measured values acquired by the acquiring unit 111 .

That is, the determination device 1a in this modification is based on the ratio of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist within the contour of the wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image formed by the ultrasonic measurement. is a discriminating device for discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle.

<Modification 9>
The program executed by the control unit 11 of the discriminating device 1 is stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk, an optical recording medium such as an optical disc, a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. may be provided in a state stored in the It is also possible to download this program via a communication line such as the Internet. Various devices other than the CPU may be applied as the control means exemplified by the control unit 11 described above, and for example, a dedicated processor or the like may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a... Discrimination apparatus 11... Control part 111... Acquisition part 112... Formation part 113... Extraction part 114... Synthesis part 115... Calculation part 116... Discrimination part 12... Storage part 13... Communication Part 14 Operation unit 15 Display unit 16, 16a Measuring unit 161 Light projecting unit 161a Transmitting unit 162 Light receiving unit 162a Receiving unit 1621 Mirror 1622 Collecting lens 1623...Photodiode, 163...Drive section.

Claims (8)

Based on the ratio of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist within the contour of the wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image formed by measuring the electromagnetic waves by the measurement unit arranged only on one side of the two- wheeled vehicle and a discriminating device for discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle. 2. The discriminating device according to claim 1, wherein the wheel region is extracted based on an arc or an elliptical arc included in the image. The image is an image captured by infrared thermography, and the temperature of the two-wheeled vehicle indicated by the image is used as an aid in determining whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the ratio. The discriminating device according to claim 1 or 2, which is used . The determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ratio is calculated using areas of areas in which the two-wheeled vehicle exists and areas in which the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist. The determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the ratio is calculated using the length of each contour line of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein in the region of the wheel, it is determined whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the number of rod-shaped members extending radially from the center of the wheel. Discrimination device as described. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein parts of the two-wheeled vehicle included in the wheel area are identified, and whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle is determined based on the parts. discriminator. The ratio of the area where the two-wheeled vehicle exists and the area where the two-wheeled vehicle does not exist within the contour of the wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle included in the image formed by ultrasonic measurement by the measurement unit arranged only on one side of the two- wheeled vehicle A discriminating device for discriminating whether the two-wheeled vehicle is a motorcycle or a bicycle based on the above.

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