JP7243370B2 - Road information update system, route search system, road information update program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a road information update system, a route search system, and a road information update program.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a method of creating map data based on an image taken from an aircraft. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-100001 describes classifying each area divided along parallel straight line components in a photographed image into one of a sidewalk, a vehicle travel area, and an untravelable area. Conventionally, it is known to generate a database showing a network of paths (sidewalks, underground malls, arcades, stairs, passages in buildings, etc.) on which people can walk, and use it for navigation services for pedestrians.

JP 2007-033931 A

For drivers (especially when driving a large vehicle), it is easier to travel on roads with sidewalks than on roads without sidewalks. Therefore, if a roadway with a sidewalk is preferentially selected in the route search, it is possible to present a planned travel route that is easy for the driver to travel. In order to realize such a route search, it is necessary to create a database of network information on roadways and sidewalk information on sidewalks (which affects route search costs) as road information. However, in order to create a database of roadways and sidewalks based on images taken from above as in Patent Document 1, first, an aerial photograph of the road is taken, the image is analyzed, and roadway and sidewalk data is created. Therefore, a large number of man-hours are required. In addition, there are cases where a clear image of the outside portion of the roadway in the width direction cannot be obtained because it is blocked by roadside trees, trees planted on the site of buildings, other structures, and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for updating existing road information by adding sidewalk information.

In order to achieve the above object, the road information update system includes a sidewalk detection unit that detects a sidewalk along the roadway where the vehicle is located, based on an image of the vehicle's surroundings taken from the vehicle, and a sidewalk information addition unit for adding sidewalk information about the sidewalk to the existing road information indicating the roadway recorded on the recording medium.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, the road information update program comprises a computer that detects a sidewalk along the roadway on which the vehicle is located, based on an image of the surroundings of the vehicle taken from the vehicle. is detected, it functions as a sidewalk information addition unit that adds sidewalk information about the sidewalk to the existing road information indicating the roadway recorded on the recording medium.

That is, in the road information update system and the road information update program, when a sidewalk along the roadway is detected in an image taken from a vehicle existing on the roadway, the sidewalk is added to the existing road information indicating the roadway. Add information. Therefore, the road information can be easily updated because the sidewalk information is simply added to the existing road information. In addition, since it is configured to detect sidewalks based on images taken from vehicles existing on the roadway, compared to analysis of images taken from the sky, clear images of the outside of the roadway blocked by roadside trees etc. is unlikely to be obtained, and it is easy to detect the presence or absence of sidewalks.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a road information update system; FIG. 2A to 2E are schematic cross-sectional views showing configuration examples of a roadway and its outside. 3A is a diagram showing an example of a roadway and a sidewalk, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the link structure of the example of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is a diagram showing link data and sidewalk information in the example of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image captured by a camera; 5A is a flowchart of sidewalk detection processing, and FIG. 5B is a flowchart of road information update processing.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described according to the following order.
(1) Configuration of road information update system:
(2) Sidewalk detection processing and road information update processing:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Configuration of road information update system:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a road information update system according to the present invention. The road information update system of this embodiment includes a navigation system 10 and a server 50 . A navigation system 10 is mounted on a vehicle. The navigation system 10 can communicate with the server 50 by wireless communication. In this embodiment, it is assumed that there are multiple vehicles equipped with the navigation system 10 , and the navigation system 10 of each vehicle can communicate with the server 50 . When the navigation system 10 detects a sidewalk provided along the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling based on an image captured by a camera mounted on the vehicle, the sidewalk exists in association with the detected roadway. can be sent to the server 50. Further, the server 50 can update the road information by adding sidewalk information indicating whether or not there is a sidewalk to the existing road information based on the information transmitted from the vehicle. The server 50 can also distribute updated road information to vehicles.

The navigation system 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and a recording medium 30 . The navigation system 10 can execute a program recorded in the recording medium 30 or ROM by the control unit 20 . Map information 30a is recorded in the recording medium 30 in advance. Details of the map information 30a will be described later.

The vehicle in this embodiment includes a communication unit 40 , a GNSS receiver 41 , a vehicle speed sensor 42 , a gyro sensor 43 , a camera 44 and a user I/F unit 45 . The communication unit 40 is a device for performing wireless communication with an external device, and the control unit 20 can communicate with the server 50 via the communication unit 40 .

The GNSS receiver 41 is a device that receives signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System, receives radio waves from navigation satellites, and outputs signals for calculating the current location of the vehicle via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle by acquiring this signal. The vehicle speed sensor 42 outputs a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheels of the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal through an interface (not shown) and acquires the vehicle speed. The gyro sensor 43 detects the angular acceleration of turning of the vehicle in the horizontal plane and outputs a signal corresponding to the direction of the vehicle. The control unit 20 obtains the traveling direction of the vehicle by obtaining this signal. The vehicle speed sensor 42, the gyro sensor 43, and the like are used to identify the travel locus of the vehicle. The current location of the vehicle specified based on and is corrected based on the output signal of the GNSS receiver 41 .

The camera 44 is a camera fixed to the vehicle so that the field of view includes the road on which the vehicle travels (roadway) and the outside in the width direction of the road. Generate and output the image information shown. The control unit 20 acquires images output by the camera 44 .

The user I/F unit 45 is an interface unit for inputting instructions from the driver and providing various types of information to the driver, and includes a touch panel display, switches, etc., speakers, etc. (not shown). . That is, the user I/F unit 45 has an image and sound output unit and an input unit for instructions from the driver.

The server 50 is a server computer that updates road information based on information transmitted from the navigation system 10 and distributes the updated road information to the navigation system 10 . The server 50 includes a control section 60 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., a recording medium 70 and a communication section 80 . The communication unit 80 is a device for performing wireless communication with an external device, and the control unit 60 can communicate with the navigation system 10 via the communication unit 80 .

Map information 70 a is recorded in advance on the recording medium 70 . The map information 70a is updated in the operation process of updating road information in this embodiment. In the recording medium 70, a reliability cumulative value 70b is accumulated in the operation process of road information update, and is used to determine update of the road information 70a1 of the map information 70a. The updated road information 70a1 is distributed to the navigation system 10 of each vehicle, and the road information 30a1 of the map information 30a on the navigation system 10 side is updated.

The map information 30a and the map information 70a are node data indicating the positions of nodes set on the road (roadway) on which the vehicle travels, and the positions of shape interpolation points for specifying the shape of the roadway between nodes. It includes shape interpolation point data, link data indicating connections between nodes, facility data indicating the positions of facilities existing around the roadway, and the like. In this embodiment, node data, link data, and shape interpolation point data correspond to road information 30a1 and 70a1. The map information 30a is used for identifying the position of the vehicle, searching for a route to a destination, providing route guidance, and the like.

The node data includes node IDs, node position coordinates, and the like. The link data includes link ID, start node ID, end node ID, direction of travel, number of lanes, road type, road width, slope, and the like. The traveling direction of the link indicates whether the road section corresponding to the link can travel in both forward and reverse directions, or whether it can travel in only one direction. The direction from the start node to the end node is treated as the forward direction, and the direction from the end node to the start node is treated as the reverse direction. In the shape interpolation point data, shape interpolation point sequences corresponding to links are stored in order (that is, in the forward direction) from the side closer to the start node of the link.

A link that can be advanced only in one direction may be one link of a two-way road or a link indicating a one-way road. Link data of links that can be advanced only in one direction are associated with information for distinguishing them. In addition, in the case of one link of a two-lane road, the link data of the one link may be associated with information indicating the presence or absence of a median strip between the link and the other link.

In this embodiment, in the operation process of updating road information, sidewalk information is added to the existing road information described above to update the road information. In this embodiment, the sidewalk information is information indicating whether or not there is a sidewalk along the roadway in the section corresponding to the link ID. In addition, the sidewalk targeted in this embodiment is a road located outside the roadway in the width direction and partitioned from the roadway by three-dimensional objects. A three-dimensional object is a feature that has a height higher than a predetermined value from the roadway, such as a curbstone, a protective fence (guardrail, guardpipe, etc.), blocks or pillars installed at regular intervals, etc. can be assumed. Also, the three-dimensional object may be assumed to be a tree planted in a tree planting zone.

The sidewalk and the roadway may be partitioned by a three-dimensional object, and the sidewalk may be positioned higher than the roadway or may be positioned at a similar height. 2A to 2E are schematic cross-sectional views showing configuration examples of the roadway and the outer portion in the width direction of the roadway. 2A and 2B show an example in which the roadway and sidewalk are separated by a curb. The sidewalk may be higher than the roadway, as shown in FIG. 2B, or the sidewalk may be at the same height as the roadway, as shown in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2C shows an example in which the roadway and sidewalk are partitioned by protective fences. FIG. 2D shows an example in which a sidewalk and a roadway are separated by curbs and trees. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2E , the band-shaped area (roadside strip) outside the roadway division line (road marking) that is not partitioned by a three-dimensional object is excluded from the sidewalk in this embodiment (a three-dimensional object can be considered a sidewalk). This is because it is thought that pedestrians are more likely to protrude into the roadway compared to the case where the roadway is separated).

In this embodiment, the sidewalk information is added in association with each direction of travel of the link. FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a roadway and a sidewalk. In FIG. 3A, the light gray strip area indicates the roadway, and the dark gray strip area indicates the sidewalk. FIG. 3B is an example of a link showing the roadway of FIG. 3A. Each link is identified by a link ID. FIG. 3C is link data showing the links in FIG. 3B. The link data of the existing road information 30a1, 70a1 before being updated records the link ID, the start node ID, the end node ID, the traveling direction, etc. as described above (existing portion). In the example of FIG. 3, the section between link L ₆ and link L ₇ is one-way, but the section from link L ₁ to link L ₅ is bi-directional.

In the present embodiment, when the operation of road information update is started, all the link data of the update target area of the road information 70a1 of the server 50 are set to a value (0 in this embodiment) indicating that there is no sidewalk. The attached sidewalk information is added. Then, in the operation process of updating road information, the sidewalk information corresponding to the link in which the sidewalk is detected with reliability equal to or higher than the threshold is updated with a value (1 in this embodiment) indicating that there is a sidewalk. Note that, in the present embodiment, the update target area is an area to which sidewalk information is added and road information is to be updated, among areas that do not support addition of sidewalk information to road information. The update target area may be defined in units of mesh or may be defined in units of administrative divisions, for example.

In this embodiment, the sidewalk information indicates whether or not there is a sidewalk on the left side of the direction of travel in association with the direction of travel for a bidirectionally passable link. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle is left-hand traffic. If the vehicle drives on the right side, it may be configured such that whether or not there is a sidewalk on the right side of the direction of travel is indicated in association with the direction of travel.

For example, link _L1 in FIG. 3C is bi-directional, indicating that there is a sidewalk on the left side when traveling forward and on the left side when traveling in the reverse direction. Therefore, the sidewalk information of the link _L1 indicates that there are sidewalks on both the left and right sides when the forward direction (or reverse direction) is used as a reference. In this embodiment, the presence or absence of a sidewalk on the left side in the direction of travel and the presence or absence of a sidewalk on the right side in the direction of travel are indicated for one-way links. For example, link _L6 in FIG. 3C has no sidewalk on either side of the traveling direction, and link _L7 has a sidewalk on the right side of the traveling direction.

The control unit 20 of the navigation system 10 can execute a navigation program (not shown). In this embodiment, the navigation program includes a route search program 22, a route guidance program 23, and a road information update program 21, as shown in FIG. The route guidance program 23 can cause the control unit 20 to implement a function of guiding the vehicle to the destination along the planned travel route. In executing route guidance, the control unit 20 receives input of a destination by the driver via the input unit (button, touch panel, etc.) of the user I/F unit 45 by the function of the route search program 22 . Also, the control unit 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle based on output signals from the GNSS receiving unit 41 , the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 . Then, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a, searches for a route for traveling from the current location to the destination, and acquires it as a planned travel route.

When the vehicle starts to travel with the planned travel route set, the control unit 20 uses the function of the route guidance program 23 to generate signals output from the GNSS receiver 41, the vehicle speed sensor 42, and the gyro sensor 43 at regular intervals. to identify your current location. Then, the control unit 20 outputs a control signal to the output unit (display, speaker, etc.) of the user I/F unit 45, and performs route guidance so that the current location moves along the planned travel route.

The road information update program 21 is a program executed in the navigation system 10 to add sidewalk information to existing road information, and includes a sidewalk detection unit 21a. The sidewalk detection unit 21a is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of detecting a sidewalk along the roadway on which the vehicle exists, based on an image of the surroundings of the vehicle taken from the vehicle. That is, the control unit 20 acquires an image from the camera 44 at regular intervals using the function of the sidewalk detection unit 21a, and through image recognition processing, identifies the lane in which the vehicle is traveling based on the image. Based on this, the structure outside the roadway in the width direction is specified.

Image recognition may employ various methods capable of identifying lanes, three-dimensional objects on the outside in the width direction of the roadway, and roads on the further outside of the three-dimensional objects. For example, it is possible to adopt processing to identify the lane in which the vehicle is located based on the position of each lane marking (the position in the width direction of the road) in the image by performing an analysis that extracts the characteristics of lane markings from the image. is. In addition, for image recognition, based on the characteristics of curbs and protective fences, etc., processing is adopted to detect curbs and protective fences that are further outside the outermost lane markings in the width direction and extend parallel or nearly parallel to the relevant marking lines. It is possible.

In the process of detecting the presence or absence of a sidewalk, the control unit 20 also performs processing for specifying the current location of the vehicle based on output signals from the GNSS receiving unit 41, the vehicle speed sensor 42, and the gyro sensor 43 in parallel. The control unit 20 identifies the link on which the vehicle is traveling by a well-known map matching process using the identified current position and the road information 30a1. The control unit 20 also identifies the position of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction of the link.

Also, the control unit 20 identifies the driving lane of the vehicle based on the image output by the camera 44 . The control unit 20 acquires lane markings that exist on the left and right sides of the vehicle in the image. Based on the road information 30a1, the control unit 20 identifies the number of lanes of the link on which the vehicle is traveling. Based on the number of lanes, the control unit 20 identifies the left and right lane division lines (for example, in the case of the leftmost lane, the left division line is a solid line, the right division line is a broken line, etc.), and the image output by the camera 44 Identify the driving lane by comparing with the lane markings identified from . As a matter of course, various techniques may be adopted as the method of identifying the driving lane. For example, the lane may be identified based on the history of lane changes in the vehicle.

The control unit 20 analyzes the image of the outside in the width direction of the road on which the vehicle is running. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, image recognition is performed in a sidewalk detection area (rectangular area indicated by broken lines) at a predetermined position in the captured image. The control unit 20 can specify the angle of view of the camera 44 attached to the vehicle.

When a sidewalk is detected in the sidewalk detection area, the control unit 20 determines that a sidewalk exists on the link on which the vehicle is running (the map-matched link). Note that in this embodiment, when a sidewalk is detected even partially in the section of the roadway corresponding to the link, it is determined that the sidewalk exists for the link.

More specifically, based on the road information 30a1, the control unit 20 identifies whether the link on which the vehicle is traveling is a bidirectional link or a unidirectional link. In this embodiment, when the traveling link is a bidirectional link, or when the traveling link is a unidirectional link and is one link of a two-way road, the control unit 20 , the presence or absence of a sidewalk on the left side with respect to the traveling direction is analyzed. Specifically, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the sidewalk detection area includes the leftmost outermost marking line with respect to the direction of travel in the width direction of the roadway. When the outermost demarcation line is included in the sidewalk detection area, the control unit 20 further includes a three-dimensional object (curbstone, protective fence, etc.) on the left side thereof, and extends parallel to the roadway on the left side of the three-dimensional object. It is determined whether or not a road (a strip-shaped area on a plane parallel to the plane on which the roadway exists) is included. When the control unit 20 detects the outermost lane marking on the left side of the traveling direction, the three-dimensional object on the left side of the lane marking, and the road on the left side of the three-dimensional object in the sidewalk detection area, the control unit 20 regards the road as a sidewalk. Then, the control unit 20 determines that there is a sidewalk on the left side with respect to the traveling direction of the traveling link. Note that the road extending parallel to the roadway on the left side of a three-dimensional object such as a curb may not be entirely included in the sidewalk detection area in the width direction. may be determined to exist.

Also, if the traveling link is a link that allows passage only in one direction and indicates a one-way road, the control unit 20 detects whether there is a sidewalk on each of the left and right sides of the traveling direction. . Regarding the left side of the direction of travel, the control unit 20 regards the road as a sidewalk when detecting the leftmost division line, a three-dimensional object to the left of the division line, and a road to the left of the three-dimensional object. Then, the control unit 20 determines that a sidewalk exists on the left side of the running link in the traveling direction. With respect to the right side in the direction of travel, the controller 20 regards the road as a sidewalk when detecting the rightmost division line, a three-dimensional object to the right of the division line, and a road to the right of the three-dimensional object. Then, the control unit 20 determines that a sidewalk exists on the right side of the running link in the traveling direction.

When determining that a sidewalk exists, the control unit 20 associates the reliability of the detected sidewalk with the link ID indicating the traveling link and transmits the link ID to the server 50 . It should be noted that the transmission may be performed, for example, at the timing of passing through a node on the terminal side of the link in the traveling direction. The reliability of the detected sidewalk is determined in advance according to the driving lane. Specifically, a higher (larger) value is predetermined as a value indicating reliability for a lane closer to the detected sidewalk. For example, if the number of lanes is 3 and the sidewalk on the left side of the traveling direction is assigned reliability levels of 10, 5, and 1 in order from the left lane. If the driving lane is the first lane from the left, 10 is selected as the reliability of the sidewalk detected on the left side in the direction of travel. Also, for example, the number of lanes is 3, and 10, 5, and 1 are assigned in order from the right lane to the sidewalk on the right side with respect to the direction of travel. If the driving lane is the second lane from the right, 5 is selected as the reliability of the sidewalk detected on the right side in the direction of travel.

The control unit 60 of the server 50 can execute various programs recorded in the ROM or recording medium 70, one of which is a road information update program 61. FIG. The road information update program 61 has a sidewalk information adding section 61a. The sidewalk information addition unit 61a has a function of adding sidewalk information about the sidewalk to the existing road information indicating the roadway when the sidewalk along the roadway on which the vehicle exists is detected based on the image taken from the vehicle. It is a program module to be realized by the control unit 60 . In this embodiment, when the control unit 60 acquires the link ID transmitted by the navigation system 10 via the communication unit 80 and the reliability of the detected sidewalk, the control unit 60 acquires the link ID, the direction of travel, and the left and right directions based on the direction of travel. The reliability cumulative value 70b is updated for each combination of at least one of them. The reliability cumulative value is managed for each sidewalk information shown in FIG. 3C. For example, the forward left reliability cumulative value of link _L1 , the backward left cumulative reliability value of link _L1 , the forward left cumulative reliability value of link _L6 , the right forward reliability cumulative value of link _L6 It is managed like a degree accumulation value. Note that the initial value of each reliability cumulative value is 0 at the start of operation. Updating the reliability cumulative value means adding the newly received reliability cumulative value to the current reliability cumulative value.

The server 50 receives link IDs and reliability from a plurality of vehicles equipped with the navigation system 10 . When the reliability cumulative value is updated, the control unit 60 determines whether or not the updated reliability cumulative value exceeds a threshold. Update the sidewalk information from "0" to "1". In this way, by updating the sidewalk as having a sidewalk when the reliability cumulative value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is possible to generate sidewalk information with a high degree of reliability.

The server 50 records, for example, the accumulated number of times of travel by a plurality of vehicles equipped with the navigation system 10 for each link in the update target area. On a roadway that allows traffic in both directions, the accumulated value of the number of times of travel is recorded for each of the two directions. The control unit 60 considers that sidewalk information has been updated for all links in the update target area when the cumulative number of times of travel for all links (and their traveling directions) exceeds the reference value. The control unit 60 then transmits to the navigation system 10 an update notification of the road information for the update target area.

A route search program 22 executed by the control unit 20 of the navigation system 10 includes a road information acquisition unit 22a and a route search unit 22b for executing a route search using road information to which sidewalk information is added. . The road information acquisition unit 22a is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to implement a function of acquiring updated road information. Upon receiving the update notification, the control unit 20 guides the update notification to the user of the navigation system 10 via the user I/F unit 45 . When the user inputs an update execution instruction for the road information of the update target area via the user I/F unit 45, the control unit 20 transmits the updated road information of the update target area to the server 50 via the communication unit 40. receive from The control unit 20 updates the road information 30a1 recorded on the recording medium 30 with the received road information. That is, as shown in FIG. 3C, the road information 30a1 is updated by adding sidewalk information in association with each link ID (and traveling direction, left and right) in the link data of the existing portion.

The route search unit 22b is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of searching for a route from a starting point to a destination based on road information. Further, the route search unit 22b causes the control unit 20 to implement a function of performing a search by making the cost of a link with a sidewalk smaller than the cost of a link without a sidewalk. Using the function of the route search unit 22b, the control unit 20 selectably presents to the user a mode in which a section having a sidewalk is preferentially selected as one of search conditions for route search. When the user selects this mode and instructs a route search to the destination, the control unit 20 changes the cost of the link for which a value indicating that there is a sidewalk is stored in the sidewalk information to a value that indicates that there is no sidewalk. A route that minimizes the sum of the costs from the origin to the destination is searched for. In this way, the user can acquire the route in which the section with the sidewalk is preferentially selected as the planned travel route.

As described above, in this embodiment, when a sidewalk along the roadway is detected in an image taken from a vehicle existing on the roadway, the sidewalk information is added to the existing road information indicating the roadway. to update existing road information. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the sidewalk is detected based on the images taken from the vehicle on the roadway at regular time intervals, a clear image of the outside of the roadway blocked by roadside trees and the like can be obtained. There is a low possibility that there is no sidewalk, and it is easy to detect the presence or absence of a sidewalk. Further, it is conceivable that cameras for drive recorders will become more popular in the future, and cameras for drive recorders can also be used for sidewalk detection. In addition, sidewalk information is added based on images taken by a plurality of vehicles equipped with the navigation system 10, and the mounting position of the camera (height from the road surface, etc.) may be different for each vehicle. Even if a sidewalk cannot be detected in an image captured by a certain vehicle, it may be detected in an image captured by another vehicle.

(2) Sidewalk detection processing and road information update processing:
Next, sidewalk detection processing executed by the control unit 20 of the navigation system 10 using the function of the sidewalk detection unit 21a will be described with reference to FIG. 5A. The sidewalk detection process is repeatedly executed at regular intervals. When the sidewalk detection process is started, the control unit 20 acquires the current position of the navigation system 10 (step S100). That is, the control unit 20 identifies the link ID on which the vehicle is traveling by performing a known map matching process with the output signals of the GNSS receiving unit 41, the vehicle speed sensor 42, and the gyro sensor 43. FIG. In addition, the control unit 20 identifies the position in the length direction of the section of the link.

Subsequently, the control unit 20 captures an image and performs image recognition processing on the captured image (step S105). The control unit 20 identifies the driving lane based on the lane markings and the like included in the image. The control unit 20 also determines whether to detect a sidewalk on either the left or right side of the direction of travel, based on whether the link is bi-directional or uni-directional. The control unit 20 detects the presence or absence of the sidewalk as described above on the determined side.

Subsequently, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the result of image recognition indicates that there is a sidewalk (step S110). For example, when detecting the presence or absence of a sidewalk on the left side of the direction of travel, three-dimensional objects such as curbs and protective fences are detected to the left of the leftmost lane division line (lane division line), and further to the left side of the roadway. If a road along the road is detected, the controller 20 determines that there is a sidewalk. If they are not detected, the controller 20 does not determine that there is a sidewalk.

If it is not determined in step S110 that there is a sidewalk, the controller 20 terminates the sidewalk detection process. When it is determined in step S110 that there is a sidewalk, the control unit 20 acquires the reliability corresponding to the driving lane (step S115). A higher (larger) value is assigned as the reliability in advance to a lane closer to the sidewalk to be detected. to get

Subsequently, the control unit 20 transmits the reliability of the detected sidewalk in association with the link ID (step S120). That is, the control unit 20 transmits the link ID and reliability to the server 50 via the communication unit 40 . Note that in this embodiment, if step S120 is executed even once for one link, the sidewalk detection process is not executed for the link that is currently being run until the next link is started. If the sidewalk detection area (the area surrounded by the dashed line) shown in FIG. 4 does not correspond to the same link as the running link, the control unit 20 does not determine that there is a sidewalk in step S110.

Subsequently, road information update processing executed by the control unit 60 of the server 50 using the function of the sidewalk information addition unit 61a will be described with reference to FIG. 5B. Road information update processing is executed in response to receiving road information from the navigation system 10 . When the road information update process is started, the control unit 60 receives the link ID and the reliability of the detected sidewalk (step S200). That is, the control unit 60 receives the link ID and the sidewalk reliability level transmitted from the navigation system 10 via the communication unit 80 .

Subsequently, the control unit 60 updates the reliability cumulative value of the sidewalk information of the link ID (step S205). That is, based on the information received in step S200, the control unit 60 identifies which sidewalk information (sidewalk information corresponding to the link ID, traveling direction, left side or right side) to update the reliability cumulative value ( See Figure 3C). Then, the control unit 60 updates the reliability cumulative value 70b recorded in the recording medium 70 corresponding to the specified sidewalk information by adding the reliability received in step S200.

Subsequently, the control unit 60 determines whether or not the reliability cumulative value is greater than or equal to the threshold (step S210). That is, the control unit 60 determines whether or not the updated reliability cumulative value updated in step S205 is greater than or equal to the threshold.

If it is determined not to be equal to or greater than the threshold in step S210, the control section 60 terminates the road information update process. If it is determined in step S210 that the threshold value is exceeded, the control unit 60 updates the sidewalk information of the link ID with a value indicating that there is a sidewalk (step S215). That is, the control unit 60 updates the sidewalk information (sidewalk information corresponding to the link ID, traveling direction, left side or right side) corresponding to the reliability cumulative value updated in step S205 with the value "1" indicating the presence of the sidewalk. do.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above-described embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention. Various other embodiments can be adopted as long as sidewalk information is added to the . For example, the configuration may be such that the sidewalk detection unit and the sidewalk information addition unit are provided on the vehicle side. In this configuration, when a sidewalk is detected by the sidewalk detection section, the sidewalk information adding section instructs the server to add the sidewalk information to the existing road information recorded on the recording medium of the server. The determination based on the reliability cumulative value may or may not be performed.
Further, for example, the sidewalk detection unit and the sidewalk information addition unit may be configured to be provided on the server side. In this configuration, the vehicle side transmits, for example, the captured image and the capturing position information to the server. The server performs image recognition processing on the received image to detect whether there is a sidewalk. When a sidewalk is detected, the sidewalk information is added to the existing road information through processing such as determination of the reliability cumulative value. Part of the functionality of the sidewalk detector may be implemented on the vehicle and the rest of the functionality of the sidewalk detector may be implemented on the server side.
Further, for example, the sidewalk detection unit and the sidewalk information addition unit may be provided in the vehicle (standalone). Further, in the above embodiment, the same vehicle is configured to include the road information acquisition unit, the route search unit, and the sidewalk detection unit. It doesn't have to be. That is, the vehicle for detecting sidewalks and the vehicle for route search and route guidance using updated road information may be separate entities. Also, part of the configuration of the above-described embodiments may be omitted, and the order of processing may be changed or omitted. In addition to sidewalks, the present invention may also be applied to sidewalks (bicycle and pedestrian paths) and bicycle paths.

The sidewalk detection unit only needs to be able to detect a sidewalk along the roadway on which the vehicle exists, based on an image of the surroundings of the vehicle captured from the vehicle. The sidewalk detection unit may be configured to detect the sidewalk when the vehicle is traveling in the outermost lane of the roadway. When a sidewalk is detected in an image taken from a vehicle traveling in the outermost lane, that is, the lane closest to the sidewalk among multiple lanes, it is considered to be highly reliable information and indicates that the sidewalk exists. Information may be added. In this configuration, sidewalk detection results based on images captured by vehicles traveling in lanes other than the lane closest to the sidewalk are not used for updating road information.

The sidewalk detection unit may be configured to use detection results from devices other than cameras, such as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and millimeter wave radar, together with detection results from cameras. Note that an AI-based image recognition technique may be employed for sidewalk detection (eg, semantic segmentation, YOLO (You Only Look Once), etc.).

Moreover, the configuration may be such that the presence or absence of a sidewalk is detected for all links in the update target area, or the presence or absence of a sidewalk is detected for a specific link.
Also, the camera may be a front camera or a rear camera. A side mounted camera may also be used. Moreover, the structure which uses a some camera together may be sufficient.

When a sidewalk is detected, the sidewalk information adding section only needs to add sidewalk information about the sidewalk to the existing road information indicating the roadway. The data structure of sidewalk information is not limited to the examples shown in the above embodiments, and various data structures may be employed. The sidewalk information may include not only information indicating whether or not there is a sidewalk, but also information indicating the degree of ease of passage. For example, a sidewalk separated from the road by a curb but not by a guardrail, a sidewalk not separated by a curb but separated by a guardrail, or a sidewalk separated by both a curb and a guardrail. Different degrees (degrees of ease of passage) may be handled in association with each other. Then, the route search unit may be configured such that the cost is set lower for a link with a higher degree of ease of passage (easier to pass).

Further, in a section corresponding to one link, for example, when the sidewalk is interrupted in the middle, the sidewalk information may include information to that effect (there is a part where there is no sidewalk). Further, the sidewalk information may include the positions of the end points of the discontinued portion of the sidewalk, the length of the discontinued portion, and the ratio of the length of the discontinued portion to the link length. Then, in the route search unit, the cost may be adjusted according to these pieces of information. For example, the smaller the ratio of the length of the sidewalk to the length of the link, the smaller the cost may be set.

In addition, for example, if it is known that there is no sidewalk on the link that the transportation company has no choice but to pass through, the transportation plan will be created to lengthen the assumed travel time of the link (reduce the assumed vehicle speed). may be By using sidewalk information in this way, it is possible to formulate a reasonable transportation plan.

Furthermore, as in the present invention, when a sidewalk along the roadway is detected in an image taken from a vehicle existing on the roadway, the method of adding the sidewalk information to the existing road information indicating the roadway is , can also be applied as a program or method. In addition, the system, program, and method described above may be realized as an independent device, or may be realized using parts shared with each part provided in the vehicle, and may include various aspects. It is a thing. In addition, it can be changed as appropriate, such as a part of which is software and a part of which is hardware. Furthermore, the invention is established as a recording medium for a program for controlling the system. Of course, the program recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any other recording medium that will be developed in the future.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Navigation system 20... Control part 21... Road information update program 21a... Sidewalk detection part 22... Route search program 22a... Road information acquisition part 22b... Route search part 23... Route guidance program 30... Recording medium 30a Map information 30a1 Road information 40 Communication unit 41 GNSS reception unit 42 Vehicle speed sensor 43 Gyro sensor 44 Camera 45 User I/F unit 50 Server 60... Control unit 61... Road information update program 61a... Sidewalk information adding unit 70... Recording medium 70a... Map information 70a1... Road information 70b... Accumulated reliability value 80... Communication unit

Claims (7)

a sidewalk detection unit that detects a sidewalk along the roadway on which the vehicle exists, based on an image of the surroundings of the vehicle taken from the vehicle;
a sidewalk information adding unit for adding sidewalk information about the sidewalk to existing road information indicating the roadway recorded in a recording medium when the sidewalk is detected;
with
When the sidewalk detection unit detects a three-dimensional object outside the roadway in the width direction, and detects a road further outside the three-dimensional object in the width direction, the road is regarded as the sidewalk.
Road information update system. The sidewalk information is information indicating that the sidewalk exists along the road section corresponding to the link, which is associated with the link with which the vehicle is map-matched.
The road information update system according to claim 1. The sidewalk information indicates whether the sidewalk is located on the left or right side of the link with respect to the traveling direction of the link.
The road information update system according to claim 2. In the sidewalk detection unit, the sidewalk is detected when the vehicle is traveling in the outermost lane of the roadway.
The road information update system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. the sidewalk detection unit detects a sidewalk along the road section based on the plurality of images captured by the plurality of vehicles existing in the road section;
The sidewalk information addition unit adds the sidewalk information in the road section based on the detection results of the plurality of images.
The road information update system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. In the sidewalk information addition unit,
accumulating reliability according to the lane in which the vehicle is traveling when the sidewalk is detected;
When the cumulative value of the reliability for the roadway is equal to or greater than a threshold, the sidewalk information is added,
The reliability is higher for lanes closer to the sidewalk,
The road information update system according to claim 5. the computer,
a sidewalk detection unit that detects a sidewalk along the roadway on which the vehicle exists, based on an image of the surroundings of the vehicle taken from the vehicle;
a sidewalk information adding unit for adding sidewalk information about the sidewalk to existing road information indicating the roadway recorded on a recording medium when the sidewalk is detected;
function as
When the sidewalk detection unit detects a three-dimensional object outside the roadway in the width direction, and detects a road further outside the three-dimensional object in the width direction, the road is regarded as the sidewalk.
Road information update program.

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