JPH1063181A - Method for supporting preparation and edition of map data base - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the operability relating to a peripheral video search. SOLUTION: When an operator selects and designated the measurement position displayed on the screen of a monitor device 58 by operation of an input device 68, the fast feed/rewinding command of a video recording medium 28 is given from a peripheral video searching section 70 via serial ports 48 and 44 to a control section 36. The video search with the time data for the selected and assigned position as a retrieval key and the time stamp on the video recording medium 28 as a retrieval index is then executed. As a result, the operator is able to display the necessary peripheral videos on the screen of the monitor device 38 without operating the control panel and remote controller of a video reproducing device 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for assisting a search operation of a peripheral image recorded on an image recording medium in a map database creation and editing operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, various map databases using a medium such as a CD-ROM are in circulation and used for car navigation and the like. When creating a map database, it is often effective to actually move around the area covered by the map to be created with a car or the like. In other words, if you actually move around the area, buildings, stations, bus stops, gas stations, convenience stores, shops and public facilities that are often the target, moving from one crossing point to the next crossing point The time required, the frequency and scale of traffic congestion on a certain road, the presence or absence of one-way traffic and other traffic restrictions, the corners where the view is bad and accidents are likely to occur, the scenic spots with good views, etc. You can know. If the facts thus known are linked to the position data or the road node data and stored in the map database, it is possible to realize a map database having a high utility value for the user.

[0003] In addition, through the work of actually moving around the area covered by the map to be created by a car or the like, the position of the intersection, the number and direction of the roads crossing the intersection, the gradient of the road, and the like, If the geometric arrangement information and the topographical map information of the road can be obtained, the main part of the map database can be constructed in addition to the use value added part as described above. As a technical means effective for such work, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Sy) represented by GPS (Global Positioning System)
stem) already exists. Among the use forms of GPS, a use form called DGPS (Differential GPS)
Because it can achieve high-precision positioning results, it is suitable for application to the construction of a map database.

[0004] GPS is a positioning system operated by the United States. Radio waves transmitted from a large number of artificial satellites orbiting the earth are received on the earth, and the orbit information carried by the radio waves and the radio waves. Using the time (pseudorange) required for the satellite to propagate from the satellite to the GPS receiver,
This is a system that determines the position of the PS receiver. In addition, if Doppler shift appearing in radio waves from satellites is used, GP
The moving speed of the S receiver is also known. Further, the DGPS performs positioning by GPS at a DGPS base station whose position is fixed, and obtains a position or a pseudorange obtained as a result of the position (known) of the base station or a satellite obtained by using the position or pseudo distance. A GPS receiver (mobile station) located near the base station, comparing the resulting position or pseudorange error with the theoretical distance
, And the mobile station compensates for the error included in the result of positioning by GPS based on the received error. In this application, GLONASS (Global Orb
It is referred to as GPS, including other GNSSs with the same principle, such as the iting Navigation Satellite System).

As is apparent from the above description, the operation of mounting a GPS receiver on a vehicle or the like and collecting information on the surrounding conditions such as roads while performing positioning at various places requires a map database having high added value. It is useful for creating or creating an accurate map database. In addition, this operation can be effective regardless of whether a map database has already been created for the area or not.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of the present invention is to take a picture of the vicinity of a positioning point at the same time as positioning, so that at least a peripheral image, which is information having a higher value-added use value than information such as the presence of a building, can be mapped. An object of the present invention is to realize a map database that can be provided for the above representative positions (for example, intersections, the vicinity of famous buildings, famous scenic spots, and the like), and also to realize a creation and editing environment therefor. One of the objects of the present invention is to convert a result into an audio signal at the time of positioning and record it on a video recording medium such as a video tape together with an image around a positioning point, so that a map database can be obtained from a data collection environment such as a vehicle. Create and edit environment
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to supply positioning results and information on peripheral images off-line using a medium that is cheap and easily available. One of the objects of the present invention is to convert an audio signal output of a video reproduction device into data by a modem or the like and then supply the data to a data processing device such as a personal computer.
It is an object of the present invention to allow information brought in by a video recording medium to be downloaded online to the data processing apparatus and edited, thereby easily creating a map database.

One of the objects of the present invention is to display a map on a screen and perform a simple position designation operation such as clicking on an arbitrary position on the screen. The object of the present invention is to make it possible to confirm a peripheral image at an arbitrary position during the operation of creating and editing a map database without forcing a worker to perform a troublesome operation by searching for a peripheral image. One of the objects of the present invention is to use, as a key, time data or position data before DGPS correction relating to a position designated by an operator, and a time stamp or position data recorded on a video recording medium as an index. An object of the present invention is to realize an accurate search by executing a search. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide various environmental attributes (for example, names of intersections, names and heights of buildings, names of roads, names of roads, reception electric field strengths of mobile radio systems, and identification of atmospheric air using a video recording medium). (Concentration of components, etc.).

The present invention can be expressed as a "map database creation / editing support method" as described below. Also,
Those skilled in the art can understand and express the present invention as a method such as a “video search method” or a “video collection method” or a device or system corresponding thereto based on the disclosure of the present application.

In the map database creation and editing support method according to the present invention, first, position data obtained by positioning and time data indicating the time at which the position data was obtained are converted into audio signals, and the position data is obtained. It is recorded on a video recording medium together with a video signal indicating a video around the point. Then, from a data collection environment (for example, a vehicle equipped with a GPS receiver and a video camera) to a map database creation and editing environment (for example, an environment in which a video playback device such as a video tape recorder and a data processing device such as a personal computer are interconnected) , A video recording medium (eg, a video tape) is brought offline. In the map database creation and editing environment, first, an audio signal recorded on a video recording medium is inversely converted to position data and time data via a modem or the like, and based on map information prepared in advance or by the above inverse conversion. A map is displayed on the screen based on the obtained position data. In this state, if the operator designates, for example, any place on the map or a display field corresponding thereto with a mouse, the operator automatically (for example, from the data processing device via the serial port to the video playback device). ), The corresponding video signal is searched and reproduced from the video recording medium using the position data or time data corresponding to the location as a key.

As described above, since the vicinity of the positioning point is photographed at the same time as the positioning, the surrounding image can be provided by searching at least the representative position on the map. In the above procedure, the fact that the position data and the time data are associated with the peripheral video through the position data or the time data is used for the search. With this relevance,
That is, if the above-described map information and the information on the above-mentioned video recording medium are ported to a medium such as a CD-ROM, a map database which can easily call out peripheral images such as intersections can be created. In addition, a process of converting the positioning result into an audio signal, recording the audio signal along with the video around the positioning point on a video recording medium such as a video tape, and converting the recorded audio signal into data is performed (for example, can be realized by a modem). Therefore, the supply of information from the data collection environment to the map database creation and editing environment, and the supply of position data and time data (from the video playback device to the data processing device) within the map database creation and editing environment are inexpensive, It can be executed simply and quickly. Further, since the search and reproduction of the video signal are automatically performed in response to the operator designating any location on the map or a display field corresponding to the location, the fast forward / rewind operation is manually performed by the video reproduction apparatus. A peripheral image at an arbitrary position can be confirmed during the operation of creating and editing the map database without performing a return operation or the like, that is, without a troublesome operation.

In the above-described method, any of the position data and the time data corresponding to the location (or the display field) designated by the operator can be used as the search key of the video signal. To achieve an accurate search, one should be selected depending on how the position data is collected in the data collection environment.

A first example is a case where DGPS is performed in a data collection environment.
This is an example in which primitive GPS positioning without correction is performed. In this example, in order to maintain the accuracy of the position data for display or map creation, DGPS correction (ie, pseudorange or positioning error of position) is performed on the position data prior to display after inverse conversion from audio signals in the map database creation and editing environment. Is preferably applied. At this time, it is difficult to use the position data as a search key because the position data for display or map creation has undergone DGPS correction and is different from the position data on the video recording medium. . Therefore, the video signal is searched using the time data corresponding to the location designated by the operator as a key. As the search index, a time stamp recorded on a video recording medium at the time of recording a video signal can be used.

In the second example, DGPS is performed in a data collection environment.
This is an example in which GPS positioning with correction is being performed. In this example, since the position data recorded on the video recording medium and the position data for display or map creation have substantially the same contents, the position data corresponding to the location specified by the operator is used as a search key. Can be used. As the search index, position data recorded as audio on a video recording medium can be used. In the second example,
The time data may be used as a search key and the time stamp may be used as a search index. Using the time stamp as the search index is quicker and simpler because the voice / data conversion (modem) of the reproduced voice for search / end detection is not required.

Further, in the above-described method, only the position data and the time data can be recorded on the video recording medium as audio. For example, attribute data indicating the environmental attribute of the positioning point can also be converted into an audio signal and recorded together. The environmental attributes referred to here include names of intersections, names and heights of buildings, names of roads, received electric field strengths of mobile radio systems, specific component concentrations in the atmosphere, and the like, which are incidental or value-added with respect to positioning points. Information. When displaying the map on the screen, if the environmental attributes are displayed along with the map based on the attribute data obtained by the inverse conversion from the audio signal together with the position data and the time data, the convenience is enhanced. For example, it becomes possible for an operator to check whether or not a shield (for example, a tall building) exists around a point showing a certain low electric field strength by searching and reproducing a surrounding image.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration and advantages of the present invention described above will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a data collection environment according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a map database creation / editing environment according to the embodiment.

First, the vehicle 10, which is a data collection environment, is a means for collecting various information while traveling in an area to be covered by a map to be created and edited.
2, a locator 14, a modem 16 and a video camera 18 are mounted. The operating device 12 is a member that is operated by an operator for starting / setting operation / ending use of the locator 14. The locator 14 includes a GPS receiving unit 20, a camera control unit 22, a serial port 24, and a GPS antenna 26. The locator 14 converts the GPS data generated by the GPS receiving unit 20 based on a signal received from a satellite by the GPS antenna 26 into a camera. It is output via the serial port together with or before or after the camera command issued by the control unit 22. The video camera 18 records the GPS data converted from the digital data into the audio signal by the modem 16 on the video recording medium 28 together with the video around the vehicle 10 photographed according to the camera command.

In the present embodiment, the GPS data output from the GPS receiver 20 includes the position, the moving speed, the moving direction, the positioning time, and the like of the vehicle 10 obtained according to a known positioning principle. The pseudo distance may be output instead of the position, and the term “position” is used in the present application to include such an alternative. Locator 1
At the stage of serial output from 4, the GPS data further includes attribute data relating to the environmental attributes listed above. The attribute data is added, for example, according to the operation of the operation device 12 and the contents thereof. The camera command may be issued in response to an operation of the operation device 12, or may be issued automatically at a predetermined time interval. Through the above operation, the voiced GPS data is recorded on the audio track of the video recording medium 28, and the video signal indicating the peripheral video is recorded on the video track. Note that the video camera 18 also records a time stamp indicating the recording time on the video recording medium 28 when recording the video. As the video recording medium 28, any ordinary analog or digital video tape or disk can be adopted as long as video and audio can be recorded.

Next, the map database creation and editing environment is as follows:
The video playback device 30 and the data processing computer 32 are connected to each other. The video playback device 30
Mechanism 34 for reproducing video and audio from video recording medium 28
And a control unit 36 for controlling the reproducing mechanism 34, a video output terminal 40 for outputting reproduced video to a monitor device 38, and an audio for outputting reproduced audio to the data processing computer 32. It has an output terminal 42 and a serial port 44 for inputting a command from the data processing computer 32 and giving it to the control unit 36. Therefore, a command is given from the data processing computer 32 to the control unit 36 (or by a manual operation of an operation panel or a remote controller not shown) to control the reproduction mechanism 34 and perform an operation (reproduction / fast forward /
Rewind / stop / pause, etc.).
Note that RS232C or the like can be used as the serial interface.

The data processing computer 32 has two serial ports (RS2
32C) 46 and 48. The serial port 46 is used to receive audio output from the video reproducing apparatus 30 via the modem 50, and the serial port 48 is used to give a command to the video reproducing apparatus 30 and obtain a response. As aforementioned,
Since the audio recorded on the video recording medium 28 is obtained by converting GPS data into audio, the data processing computer 32 can input the GPS data through the serial port 46. The map reading and writing unit 52 writes map data created based on the position data included in the GPS data into an external storage medium (such as a hard disk) 54, or processes the map data or position data created in advance. A process of reading the created and written map data from the external storage medium 54 and a process of supplying the map data to the display processing unit 56 are executed according to a predetermined procedure or in response to an instruction from an operator. The display processing unit 56 displays a map on the screen of the monitor device 58 based on the map data delivered from the map reading and writing unit 52, and determines the positioning position or its locus based on the position data included in the GPS data. Is plotted and displayed on the map. G
When attribute data is added to the PS data, the attribute data may be displayed. The terminal 60 is a video output terminal for these.

Since the GPS data received by the data processing computer 32 through the serial port 46 is originally obtained by the GPS receiver 20 using normal GPS, the accuracy of the GPS data is based on the GPS data obtained by the DGPS service. Not as high. The data processing computer 32 performs DGPS correction on the GPS data in the position correction unit 62 because the position accuracy is high due to the nature of the use of the map database. Error information necessary for DGPS correction can be obtained from the DGPS base station 64. In the example of FIG. 2, the data processing computer 32
It is connected to the GPS base station 64 by wire (for example, DG
The PS base station 64 is implemented as a card in the data processing computer 32), but instead, the DGP
Configuration for receiving error information wirelessly from S base station, ie, DG
The PS mobile station may be configured to include only the error information receiving unit. The antenna 66 is a GPS antenna for the DGPS base station 64 to receive a signal from a satellite. The data processing computer 32 can be realized by a personal computer.

The data processing computer 32 allows a worker to input a positioning position or attribute data displayed together with the map on the screen of the monitor device 58 to an input device (for example, a mouse,
A peripheral video search unit that issues a command to search for a video on the video recording medium 28 by using the time data corresponding to the positioning position or the attribute data as a key when specified by operating the keyboard 68) 70. One of the features of the present embodiment is that a command is supplied from the peripheral video search unit 70 to the control unit 36 via the serial ports 48 and 44 so that the input device 6 is controlled.
In other words, the peripheral image relating to an arbitrary positioning point can be displayed on the screen of the monitor device 38 only by the simple operation of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a signal transmission procedure between the video reproduction device 30 and the data processing computer 32 in this embodiment. First, the data processing computer 32
When downloading data from the video playback device 30, first,
The audio signal on the video recording medium 28 is reproduced by the video reproducing device 30 and supplied to the data processing computer 32 via the modem 50. The playback of the sound by the video playback device 30 is controlled in accordance with the execution of a procedure of giving a command generated by the data processing computer 32 to the control unit 36 via the serial ports 48 and 44 in response to the operation of the input device 68 by the operator. What is necessary is just to go under the part 36. The GPS data received by the data processing computer 32 via the modem 50 is subjected to DGPS correction in the position correction unit 62 as described above, and further displayed on the screen of the monitor device 58 in the display processing unit 56.

When the user operates the input device 68 while the map is displayed on the screen of the monitor device 58,
That is, when the user clicks, for example, a display field related to the positioning position displayed on the screen of the monitor 58 or the attribute data corresponding thereto with the mouse, the peripheral video search unit 7
0 gives a command for detecting the current position of the video head in the reproduction mechanism 34, that is, a current search command, to the control unit 36 via the serial ports 48 and 44. The control unit 36 detects a time stamp to be matched with the current video reproducing head position in response thereto, and outputs the result via the serial ports 44 and 48 to the peripheral video search unit 7.
Answer 0. The peripheral video search unit 70 extracts the time data corresponding to the position (or its attribute) previously specified by the operator by operating the input device 68, and extracts the current video playback head obtained by the current time search. From position,
Until the position corresponding to the extracted time data, the video recording medium 2
A command for fast-forwarding or rewinding 8 is supplied to the control unit 36 via the serial ports 48 and 44. When positioning is performed at a plurality of times for a certain position, a time menu is displayed on the screen of the monitor device 58 prior to issuing the fast forward / rewind command, and the operator operates the input device 68. It is preferable that any one of the times can be selected by the above operation.

Given a fast forward / rewind command,
The controller 36 drives the reproducing mechanism 34 in response to the command, reproduces the video corresponding to the position designated by the operator from the video recording medium 28 by the reproducing mechanism 34, and
Display on the screen. When the video search is used in this manner, the video playback device 30
And 48 to notify the peripheral video search unit 70 of the end.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the surrounding area is photographed simultaneously with the positioning, the surrounding area which is easier to understand intuitively than the name of the intersection or the like when creating or editing the map database or when using it. Images can be provided. In addition, the transfer of data from the vehicle 10 to the video reproduction device 30 is performed using the video recording medium 28, so that the cost is simple and low. Further, since GPS data and attribute data obtained by positioning are recorded as audio signals on the video recording medium 28,
In response to a command from the data processing computer 32 via the serial ports 48 and 44, and via the modem 50,
2 can be easily sucked. Furthermore, the operator who is executing the map database creation / editing process using the data processing computer 32 can perform fast forward and rewind operations on the operation panel of the video playback device 30 only by a simple operation of the input device 68. The peripheral image relating to an arbitrary positioning position can be displayed on the screen of the monitor 38 without performing the above operation, and the usability is high. Further, the time data included in the GPS data is used as a search key and the
Is used as the search index, the GP supplied to the display processing unit 56
Although the S data, particularly its position data, has been subjected to DGPS correction and thus has a different content from the position data on the video recording medium 28, the peripheral image requested by the operator can be accurately detected by the monitor device 38. It can be displayed on the screen. In addition, between the map data constructed on the external storage medium 54 and the data stored on the video recording medium 28 through the environment shown in FIG. Since the association using the time slump is configured, it is possible to easily construct a map database in which the surrounding images are associated with various parts of the map from the information stored on these media 54 and 28. The map database constructed in this way is, for example, VICS (Vehicle Informat
It is useful for assisting vehicle operators in ion & communication systems.

FIG. 4 shows the above-described embodiment, particularly the locator 1.
4 shows a modified example. The locator 14 shown in FIG.
An error information receiving unit 74 that receives error information wirelessly transmitted from the PS base station 72 and a position correcting unit 76 that corrects GPS data output from the GPS receiving unit 20, particularly its position data, using the error information are shown in FIG. Has been added to the locator 14 shown in FIG. In the drawing, reference numerals 78 and 80 denote antennas used for transmitting and receiving error information in the DGPS base station 72 and the error information receiving unit 74, respectively, and 82 denotes a GPS for the DGPS base station 72 to receive signals from satellites. Antenna.

In this modification, since the GPS data output from the locator 14 has already undergone DGPS correction, the data processing computer 32 has
2 or a DGPS base station and a GPS antenna 66 are not required. Also, since there is no substantial difference between the position data provided for display on the screen of the monitor device 58 by the display processing unit 56 and the position data recorded on the magnetic recording medium 28, not the time data but the time data It is possible to execute a peripheral video search using the position data as a search key. However, in this case, since the position data on the audio track of the video recording medium 28 must be used as the search index, the peripheral video search using the time data as the search key and the time slump as the search index as described above. , The command configuration and search procedure are more complicated.

As a modification of the above-described embodiment, further,
A modification in which the monitor device 38 and the monitor device 58 shown in FIG. 2 are shared can be considered. For example, a computer having a video capture function is used as the data processing computer 32, and an output from the video output terminal 40 of the video reproduction device 30 or an RF terminal (not shown) is output from the data processing computer 32.
The monitor device 58
, The map display and the peripheral image display can be simultaneously executed. Alternatively, conversely, the data processing computer 32
Is provided with an RGB / NTSC conversion function and the like, and the converted map image is supplied to a video input terminal (not shown) of the video reproduction device 30, so that it is connected to the video output terminal 40 of the video reproduction device 30. It is possible to display both the map and the peripheral image on the screen of the monitor device 38 that is operating. In addition, a computer that processes GPS data;
The computer for designating the position and the computer for issuing the command may be separate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data collection environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a map database creation and editing environment in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing a signal command transmission procedure between the video reproduction device and the data processing computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a modification of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 vehicle, 12 operation device, 14 locator, 16, 5
0 Modem, 18 video camera, 28 video recording medium, 30 video playback device, 32 data processing computer, 34 playback mechanism, 36 control unit, 38,58 monitor device, 42 audio output terminal, 44, 46, 48 serial port, 50 Modem, 56 Display processing unit, 62
Position correction unit, 68 input devices, 70 peripheral video search unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image recording medium, wherein both position data obtained by positioning and time data indicating the time at which the position data was obtained are converted into an audio signal and recorded, and at the same time, the position of the point at which the position data was obtained is recorded. Recording a video signal indicating a surrounding video; and inversely converting the audio signal recorded on the video recording medium into position data and time data, based on map information prepared in advance or by the inverse conversion. Displaying a map on the screen based on the obtained position data, and automatically selecting a position on the map or a display field corresponding to the position, the position corresponding to the position automatically. Retrieving and reproducing a corresponding video signal from the video recording medium using data or time data as a key. How to help. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning is performed using GPS and DG.
It is executed without PS correction, and the position data obtained by the inverse conversion is added to the position data
A GPS correction is performed, and the search is performed using time data corresponding to the location as a key and a time stamp recorded on the video recording medium at the time of recording the video signal as an index. The method according to claim 1, wherein 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning is performed using GPS and DG.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the search is performed with PS correction, and the search is performed using position data corresponding to the location as a key and position data recorded on the video recording medium as an index.
The map database creation and editing support method described. 4. An image recording medium, wherein in addition to the position data and the time data, attribute data indicating an environmental attribute of a positioning point is converted into an audio signal and recorded, and when the map is displayed on a screen, the image is displayed. 2. The audio signal recorded on a recording medium is inversely converted into the position data, the time data, and the attribute data, and the environmental attribute is displayed along with the map based on the attribute data. Map database creation and editing support method.