JP7570533B2 - Road surface condition estimation system, road surface condition estimation device, and road surface condition estimation program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a road surface condition estimation system, a road surface condition estimation device , and a road surface condition estimation program.

Patent Document 1 discloses an operation information management system that determines the deterioration of road markings. This operation information management system is composed of multiple vehicles and a management device that manages the operation information of each vehicle. Each of the multiple vehicles is equipped with a camera. Each camera acquires image data of the surroundings of each vehicle while the vehicle is traveling. The acquired image data is read by an image recognition CPU equipped in each vehicle. The image recognition CPU uses the image data to recognize road markings corresponding to the traveling position and generates road marking information. The management device uses the road marking information generated by each of the multiple vehicles to monitor the progress of the similarity for road markings with matching traveling positions. Then, when the similarity decreases, it is determined that the road marking has deteriorated.

JP 2015-118669 A

Like the image data in Patent Document 1, the quality of information acquired by a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a probe mobile body) is not necessarily constant. For example, if a foreign object is attached to a camera mounted on the probe mobile body, the foreign object will be captured in the image data acquired by the probe mobile body. In this case, if road surface conditions are estimated based on information of degraded quality, the estimation accuracy may decrease.

In view of the above circumstances, the present disclosure aims to provide a road surface condition estimation system, a road surface condition estimation device, a probe mobile body, and a road surface condition estimation program that can suppress a decrease in the estimation accuracy of road surface conditions even when the quality of information transmitted from some of the probe mobile bodies decreases.

One aspect of the road surface condition estimation system according to the present disclosure comprises a plurality of probe mobile bodies each having an image acquisition unit; an information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of probe information each including road surface condition information based on an image of the road surface acquired by each of the plurality of probe mobile bodies by the image acquisition unit, position information indicating the position of the road surface, and identification information of the probe mobile body; a control unit that generates, based on the plurality of probe information, road surface condition estimation information relating to the road surface condition associated with the position information and probe quality estimation information relating to the quality of the road surface condition information associated with the identification information; a map DB storage unit that stores a map and the road surface condition estimation information; and a probe information storage unit that stores the probe quality estimation information.

One aspect of the road surface condition estimation device according to the present disclosure includes an information acquisition unit that acquires multiple pieces of probe information, each of which includes road surface condition information based on an image of the road surface acquired by an image acquisition unit by multiple probe moving bodies, position information indicating the position of the road surface, and identification information of each of the probe moving bodies; a control unit that generates, based on the multiple pieces of probe information, road surface condition estimation information relating to the road surface condition associated with the position information and probe quality estimation information relating to the quality of the road surface condition information associated with the identification information; a map DB storage unit that stores a map and the road surface condition estimation information; and a probe information storage unit that stores the probe quality estimation information.

One aspect of a probe mobile body according to the present disclosure comprises a locator device that generates its own position information, an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the road surface, a mobile body-side control unit that generates probe information including the position information, road surface condition information that is associated with the position information and generated based on the image, and its own identification information, and a communication device that transmits the probe information generated by the mobile body-side control unit to a road surface condition estimation device, and the road surface condition estimation device generates road surface condition estimation information regarding the road surface condition associated with the position information and probe quality estimation information regarding the quality of the road surface condition information associated with the identification information based on a plurality of probe information including the probe information.

One aspect of the road surface condition estimation program disclosed herein causes a computer to function as the road surface condition estimation device of the above aspect.

According to the present disclosure, even if the quality of information transmitted from some of the probe mobile bodies deteriorates, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the accuracy of estimating road surface conditions.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a road surface condition estimation system in an embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a road surface condition estimation system in an embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a process executed by a probe moving body in the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of processing executed by the road surface condition estimating device in the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a road surface condition estimation system according to a modified example of the first embodiment. 11 is a diagram showing locations of abnormalities in road surface conditions for each lane based on road surface condition estimation information. FIG. 11 is a table showing an example of information on a plurality of probes. 11 is a table showing an example of probe quality estimation information generated based on a plurality of pieces of probe information. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a road surface condition estimation system according to a second embodiment. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of processing executed by a road surface condition estimating device in the second embodiment. 13 is an example of notification information presented to a user of a specific moving object in the second embodiment. 13 is an example of notification information presented to a user of a specific moving object in the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiment, and may be modified as desired within the scope of the technical concept of the present disclosure.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a road surface condition estimation system 1 in the first embodiment. The road surface condition estimation system 1 includes a probe mobile body group G and a road surface condition estimation device 20. The probe mobile body group G includes a plurality of probe mobile bodies 10. Each probe mobile body 10 and the road surface condition estimation device 20 are connected to each other via a network so as to be able to wirelessly communicate with each other. When the probe mobile body group G includes a probe mobile body 10 whose quality of information transmitted to the road surface condition estimation device 20 has deteriorated, the road surface condition estimation device 20 can identify the probe mobile body 10 as a "specific mobile body 10s". A method for identifying the specific mobile body 10s by the road surface condition estimation device 20 will be described later.

The probe mobile body 10 may be a vehicle or an air vehicle. The vehicle as the probe mobile body 10 may be an automobile, a bicycle, or a motorcycle. The air vehicle as the probe mobile body 10 may be an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or a drone. The probe mobile body group G may include a probe mobile body 10 that is a vehicle and a probe mobile body 10 that is an air vehicle. In the following, an example in which the probe mobile body 10 is an automobile will be described.

2, the probe mobile body 10 includes an image acquisition unit 11, a lighting device 12, a road surface condition detection device 13, a locator device 14, and a communication device 15. The image acquisition unit 11 includes an imaging device 11a and an image processing sensor 11b. However, the image acquisition units 11 included in some or all of the probe mobile bodies 10 do not necessarily have to include the image processing sensor 11b.

The photographing device 11a is, for example, a front camera or a rear camera mounted on an automobile. The front camera photographs an image of the road surface in front of the probe mobile body 10. The rear camera photographs an image of the road surface behind the probe mobile body 10. These images may be still images or videos. The photographing device 11a may also include a device for acquiring images to the side of the traveling direction of the probe mobile body 10, such as an electronic mirror or a side photographing camera.

The image processing sensor 11b detects the road surface condition by processing the image captured by the image capture device 11a. "Road surface condition" refers to the presence or absence of deformation of the road surface, the presence or absence of deterioration of signs displayed on the road surface, the presence or absence of fallen objects on the road surface, etc. Abnormalities in the road surface condition refer to deformation of the road surface, deterioration of signs displayed on the road surface, the presence of fallen objects on the road surface, etc. "Road surface deformation" refers to, for example, holes in the road surface, cracks in the road surface, depressions in the road surface, etc. "Signs" refer to letters, figures, lines, etc. "Deterioration of signs" refers to signs becoming faded or disappearing, etc.

The lighting device 12 is a device that illuminates the road surface, and is, for example, a headlight.
The road surface condition detection device 13 includes a mobile unit control unit 13a, a mobile unit communication unit 13b, and a self-position detection unit 13c. The mobile unit control unit 13a generates probe information Ip. The mobile unit control unit 13a also outputs a transmission command of the probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20 to the mobile unit communication unit 13b. The hardware constituting the mobile unit control unit 13a is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like. The road surface condition detection device 13 may also include a locator device 14, a communication device 15, an image processing sensor 11b, and the like. The road surface condition detection device 13 may be built into a communication type drive recorder mounted on a vehicle. The road surface condition detection device 13 may also be a device separate from the communication type drive recorder.

The mobile body communication unit 13b communicates with the communication device 15 based on a transmission command from the mobile body control unit 13a. The communication device 15 is mounted on the probe mobile body 10 and performs wireless communication. In the example of Figure 2, the communication device 15 and the road surface condition estimation device 20 are wirelessly connected via a cloud on the Internet. However, as long as the communication device 15 and the road surface condition estimation device 20 can communicate with each other, it is not necessary to go through the cloud.

The locator device 14 is configured to generate a signal related to its own position using, for example, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and output the signal to the self-position detection unit 13c. The self-position detection unit 13c generates position information Im of the probe mobile body 10 based on the signal input from the locator device 14. The self-position detection unit 13c also inputs the generated position information Im to the mobile body control unit 13a.

The mobile-side control unit 13a transmits the probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20 via the mobile-side communication unit 13b and the communication device 15. The probe information Ip includes road surface condition information Is, position information Im, and identification information Id. The road surface condition information Is is information about the condition of the road surface obtained based on the image of the road surface acquired by each probe mobile body 10 by the image acquisition unit 11. If the image acquisition unit 11 includes an image processing sensor 11b, the road surface condition information Is can include the road surface condition detected by the image processing sensor 11b. However, the road surface condition information Is may not include the road surface condition, and may simply include only the image captured by the imaging device 11a. The position information Im is information about the position of the probe mobile body 10. The position information Im may be, for example, a combination of latitude and longitude. The identification information Id is information for identifying each probe mobile body 10. Since the probe information Ip includes the identification information Id, the road surface condition estimation device 20 can identify which probe mobile body 10 transmitted the probe information Ip.

Here, the road surface condition information Is is generated based on an image of the road surface acquired by the image acquisition unit 11. If an abnormality occurs in the image acquisition unit 11, the quality of the road surface condition information Is decreases. Examples of abnormalities occurring in the image acquisition unit 11 include adhesion of a foreign object to the photographing device 11a, a failure of the photographing device 11a, and deterioration of the image processing sensor 11b. For example, if a foreign object is attached to the photographing device 11a, the road surface condition information Is generated based on the image photographed by the photographing device 11a may not accurately reflect the road surface condition. If the road surface condition is estimated based on such road surface condition information Is of degraded quality, the accuracy of the estimation decreases. Therefore, the road surface condition estimation system 1 according to the present embodiment is equipped with a road surface condition estimation device 20 that can improve the estimation accuracy of the road surface condition by using multiple probe information Ip transmitted from different probe mobile bodies 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the road surface condition estimation device 20 is configured to communicate with each probe mobile body 10. The road surface condition estimation device 20 may be a so-called edge server or a so-called central server. For ease of understanding, the following describes a case where the road surface condition estimation system 1 has one road surface condition estimation device 20. However, the road surface condition estimation system 1 may be equipped with multiple road surface condition estimation devices 20. Each of the multiple road surface condition estimation devices 20 may have the configuration and functions described below.

The road surface condition estimation device 20 includes an information acquisition unit 21, a control unit 22, a probe information storage unit 23, and a map DB storage unit 24. The information acquisition unit 21 receives the probe information Ip transmitted by each of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10. The hardware constituting the control unit 22 is a CPU, etc. The control unit 22 generates road surface condition estimation information Ir related to the road surface condition, associated with the position information Im, based on the probe information Ip transmitted by each of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10. The control unit 22 also stores the generated road surface condition estimation information Ir in the map DB storage unit 24. The map DB storage unit 24 stores the road surface condition estimation information Ir together with the map. The control unit 22 generates probe quality estimation information Iq related to the quality of the road surface condition information Is, associated with the identification information Id, based on the probe information Ip transmitted by each of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10. The control unit 22 also stores the generated probe quality estimation information Iq in the probe information storage unit 23.

The map DB storage unit 24 and the probe information storage unit 23 may exist in a single piece of hardware, or may exist separately in multiple pieces of hardware. Examples of hardware that constitute the map DB storage unit 24 and the probe information storage unit 23 include RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

Next, the operation flow of the probe moving body 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the operation flow is started by starting the engine of the probe mobile body 10, step S10 is performed. In step S10, the image capturing device 11a captures an image of the periphery of the probe mobile body 10. More specifically, a still image or a video of the front of the probe mobile body 10 may be captured by a front camera. Alternatively, a still image or a video of the rear of the probe mobile body 10 may be captured by a rear camera. Only one of the images of the front and the rear of the probe mobile body 10 may be captured, or both images may be captured.

Next, proceed to step S11. In step S11, the image processing sensor 11b processes the image captured by the photographing device 11a to detect the road surface condition. More specifically, the image captured by the photographing device 11a is stored in a buffer provided in the image acquisition unit 11. The image processing sensor 11b takes out the images stored in the buffer and sequentially executes the detection process. The image processing sensor 11b may execute the detection process in synchronization with the frame rate specified by the photographing device 11a. Alternatively, if real-time performance of the detection process is not required, the image captured by the photographing device 11a may be stored in a storage medium (e.g., HDD: Hard Disk Drive, etc.), and the image processing sensor 11b may execute the detection process afterwards. The result of the detection process executed by the image processing sensor 11b is output to the mobile body side control unit 13a.

Next, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the road surface condition detection device 13 judges whether there is an abnormality in the road surface condition based on the result of the detection process performed by the image processing sensor 11b. Specifically, the road surface condition detection device 13 judges whether the road surface is deformed, whether signs are deteriorated, whether there are fallen objects on the road surface, etc. The road surface condition detection device 13 may perform the judgment by pattern matching using machine learning. Alternatively, the road surface condition detection device 13 may perform the judgment using other methods. When the road surface condition detection device 13 judges that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition (step S12: YES), the process proceeds to step S13. When the road surface condition detection device 13 judges that there is no abnormality in the road surface condition (step S12: NO), the process returns to step S10.

In step S13, the road surface condition detection device 13 generates probe information Ip. As described above, the probe information Ip includes road surface condition information Is, position information Im, and identification information Id. In addition, the road surface condition information Is, position information Im, and identification information Id included in one piece of probe information Ip are associated with each other. Therefore, the probe information Ip indicates at which position an abnormality has occurred on the road and which probe mobile body 10 has obtained the information. The road surface condition information Is can be generated based on the judgment result in step S12. The road surface condition information Is can include the type of deformation of the road surface, the type of deteriorated sign, an image of a fallen object, etc. The road surface condition detection device 13 transmits the generated probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20 using the communication device 15. The probe information Ip can include road surface condition information Is and position information Im for not only the point at which the road surface condition detection device 13 has determined that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition, but also other points.

In addition, an operation flow in which the probe mobile body 10 transmits the probe information Ip may be adopted even if it is determined in step S12 that there is no abnormality in the road surface condition. Such an operation flow is effective, for example, in a region with low vehicle traffic, when it is desired to collect the probe information Ip even if there is no abnormality in the road surface condition. By accumulating the probe information Ip that is determined to be normal in the road surface condition in advance, when the probe information Ip indicating that an abnormality has occurred in the road surface condition in the region is obtained later, it is possible to compare the multiple pieces of probe information Ip and improve the estimation accuracy of the abnormality in the road surface condition. In addition, the probe mobile body 10 does not necessarily need to execute step S12. In other words, the probe mobile body 10 may transmit the probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20 without making a judgment on the road surface condition. In this case, the road surface condition information Is included in the probe information Ip can be the image itself captured by the imaging device 11a.

After step S13, the road surface condition detection device 13 executes step S14. In step S14, the road surface condition detection device 13 determines whether the traveling of the probe mobile body 10 has ended. If the traveling has ended, the processing ends (step S14: YES). If the traveling is continuing, the process returns to step S10 (step S14: NO). In this way, if the traveling of the probe mobile body 10 is continuing, the flow shown in FIG. 3 is repeated.

Next, the operation flow of the road surface condition estimating device 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
In step S20, the information acquisition unit 21 of the road surface condition estimation device 20 acquires the probe information Ip transmitted from the probe mobile body 10. The route when the probe information Ip is transferred from the probe mobile body 10 to the road surface condition estimation device 20 is not particularly limited. For example, each probe mobile body 10 may transmit the probe information Ip to an edge server other than the road surface condition estimation device 20, and the edge server may aggregate the multiple pieces of probe information Ip. Then, the edge server may transmit the aggregated probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20, which is a central server. Alternatively, each probe mobile body 10 may transmit the probe information Ip directly to the road surface condition estimation device 20. When the road surface condition estimation device 20 receives the probe information Ip, the process proceeds to step S21.

In step S21, based on one acquired piece of probe information Ip, the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition of the road surface corresponding to one piece of position information Im included in the probe information Ip is determined. If the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition has already been determined in step S12 of FIG. 3, the determination result may be used. Alternatively, even if the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition has already been determined in step S12, the determination may be made again. The determination of the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition in step S21 may be performed by the control unit 22. The control unit 22 may execute the determination by a method similar to that of the road surface condition detection device 13. In addition, the administrator of the road surface condition estimation device 20 may visually check the image etc. included in the probe information Ip and manually make the determination. Alternatively, the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition may be determined by another method. If it is determined that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition for the road surface corresponding to any position information Im (step S21: YES), proceed to step S22.

In step S22, the control unit 22 compares multiple pieces of probe information Ip, each of which includes position information Im corresponding to a point where it has been determined that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition. Based on the result of this comparison, the control unit 22 generates road surface condition estimation information Ir associated with the position information Im. The road surface condition estimation information Ir is information that includes a result of estimating whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the road surface condition at a given point, obtained by comparing multiple pieces of probe information Ip.

Here, the difference between the road surface condition estimation information Ir and the road surface condition information Is will be explained. The road surface condition information Is also includes information about the road surface condition. However, the road surface condition information Is is generated by the mobile body side control unit 13a of the probe mobile body 10 based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 11 of the probe mobile body 10. For this reason, if an abnormality occurs in the image acquisition unit 11, the information about the road surface condition included in the road surface condition information Is may not be accurate. Alternatively, as a result of some error occurring in the processing by the road surface condition detection device 13, inaccurate road surface condition information Is may be included in the probe information Ip. In contrast, the road surface condition estimation information Ir is generated based on the comparison result of multiple probe information Ip transmitted from multiple probe mobile bodies 10.

For example, the probe information Ip transmitted from a probe mobile body 10 having an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11, etc. is likely to have different information regarding the road surface condition at the same location from the probe information Ip transmitted from a probe mobile body 10 having no abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11, etc. Furthermore, it is considered that no abnormality occurs in many of the image acquisition units 11, etc. mounted on each probe mobile body 10 included in the probe mobile body group G. Therefore, if the road surface condition information Is included in the probe information Ip transmitted by a specific probe mobile body 10 (hereinafter referred to as a specific mobile body 10s) is different from the road surface condition information Is included in the probe information Ip transmitted by the other multiple probe mobile bodies 10, it can be estimated that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11, etc. of the specific mobile body 10s.

More specifically, in step S22, a plurality of pieces of probe information Ip including the position information Im determined to have an abnormality in the road surface condition in step S21 are compared, and the occurrence frequency of the abnormality in the road surface condition determined to have occurred in the position information Im is calculated. Then, for the abnormality in the road surface condition whose occurrence frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is estimated that the abnormality has actually occurred (step S22: YES), and road surface condition estimation information Ir is generated in association with the position information Im. Then, the control unit 22 stores the generated road surface condition estimation information Ir in the map DB storage unit 24 (step S23). For the abnormality in the road surface condition whose occurrence frequency is less than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 22 estimates that the abnormality has not actually occurred, but is due to an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11, etc. (step S22: NO). At this time, the control unit 22 generates probe quality estimation information Iq associated with the identification information Id for the probe mobile unit 10 (specific mobile unit 10s) estimated to have an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11, etc. Then, the control unit 22 stores the generated probe quality estimation information Iq in the probe information storage unit 23 (step S24).

The "predetermined threshold" used for the estimation in step S22 can be changed as appropriate, but is, for example, 90%. In other words, for an abnormality in road surface conditions that occurs at a point corresponding to any position information Im with a frequency of 90% or more, it may be estimated that the abnormality actually occurs. And, for an abnormality in road surface conditions that occurs at a point corresponding to any position information Im with a frequency of less than 10%, it may be estimated that the abnormality does not actually occur and is due to an abnormality (i.e., a false detection) in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like. The "predetermined threshold" does not need to be common to all points, and may be different for each area, for example. To give a specific example, since the number of samples of probe information Ip is small in areas with low traffic volume, an effective estimation result may be obtained by setting the "predetermined threshold" low (for example, 50% or more).

After executing step S23 or S24, the operation flow of the road surface condition estimation device 20 returns to step S20 again. The generation and storage of the road surface condition estimation information Ir or the probe quality estimation information Iq by the road surface condition estimation device 20 is repeatedly performed.

Note that the configuration or processing flow of the road surface condition estimation system 1 in this embodiment is not limited to the above description, and various modifications can be made. Below, we will explain a modified example of embodiment 1.

For example, in step S12 of FIG. 3, the road surface condition detection device 13 may calculate a deterioration degree Rd that quantifies the deterioration state of the road surface, such as the degree of deformation of the road surface and the degree of deterioration of signs. The deterioration degree Rd may be calculated, for example, using the results of machine learning. When the road surface condition detection device 13 calculates the deterioration degree Rd, if the deterioration degree Rd exceeds a predetermined threshold, the road surface condition detection device 13 determines the judgment result of step S12 to be YES and proceeds to step S13. Also, if the deterioration degree Rd is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, the road surface condition detection device 13 determines the judgment result of step S12 to be NO and returns to step S10. Such a flow can also be adopted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the probe mobile body 10 may also be equipped with a high-precision locator 14A. The high-precision locator 14A is a type of locator device 14. The high-precision locator 14A has a built-in high-precision map DB including road shape data with centimeter accuracy. The high-precision locator 14A can also acquire its own position in the high-precision map DB with high accuracy by GNSS positioning. When the probe mobile body 10 is equipped with the high-precision locator 14A, the position information Im can include lane information Il, which is information about the lane in which the probe mobile body 10 is traveling. FIG. 6 shows an example of road surface condition estimation information Ir generated using probe information Ip including lane information Il. When the probe information Ip includes lane information Il, the location of the occurrence of an abnormality in the road surface condition can be shown for each lane. In the example of FIG. 6, bumps, ruts, depressions, etc. around a manhole are shown as a type of "road surface deformation". A user of the road surface condition estimating device 20 may display an image on a display combining a map and abnormalities in the road surface condition, as shown in FIG. 6, and make arrangements for road surface repairs, etc.

In addition, the probe mobile body 10 may not have a locator device 14, and the road surface condition detection device 13 itself may have a GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning function. In this case, too, the position information Im can be included in the probe information Ip.

As shown in FIG. 5, the probe mobile body 10 may also be equipped with an illuminance sensor 16. The illuminance sensor 16 detects the illuminance around the probe mobile body 10. For example, the illuminance sensor 16 may detect the illuminance of the road surface in front of or behind the probe mobile body 10. The detection result by the illuminance sensor 16 may be used for output control of the lighting device 12. The road surface condition detection device 13 may include the detection result of the illuminance by the illuminance sensor 16 in the probe information Ip.

Furthermore, when an abnormality occurs in the image acquisition unit 11, the number of times that it is determined that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition based on the probe information Ip transmitted from that specific moving body 10s may be significantly different from the number of times that it is determined that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition based on the probe information Ip transmitted from another probe moving body 10 whose image acquisition unit 11 is normal. Therefore, when comparing multiple pieces of probe information Ip, the number of times that it is determined that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition may be referred to in order to estimate the specific moving body 10s in which the abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11.
Depending on the type of abnormality in the road surface condition, it may be appropriate to grasp the occurrence of the abnormality in the road surface condition in terms of distance rather than the number of times. For example, the fading or disappearance of a line on the road surface may occur continuously over a wide section (e.g., 1 m or more). In such a case, when comparing multiple pieces of probe information Ip, the length of time that the abnormality continues along the road may be referenced to identify the specific moving body 10s in which the abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11.

Figure 7 is an example of multiple probe information Ip. In the example of Figure 7, each probe information Ip includes information on the identification information Id, latitude, longitude, type, number of times, distance, illuminance, and weather. "Latitude" and "longitude" are examples of location information Im. "Illuminance" is the illuminance around the probe mobile body 10 based on the detection result by the illuminance sensor 16. "Type" indicates the type of abnormality in the detected road condition. "Number of times" indicates the number of times the abnormality in the road condition has been detected. "Distance" indicates the distance on the road surface for the detected abnormality in the road condition. "Weather" indicates the weather when the abnormality in the road condition was detected. Information on "weather" may be obtained based on the detection result by the illuminance sensor 16, or may be obtained by referring to meteorological information.

In the example of FIG. 7, in the probe information Ip corresponding to the identification information Id of 1, 3, 5, and 6, Line Faint (blurring of lane boundaries, etc.) is detected at the same coordinates. However, for the probe information Ip corresponding to the identification information Id of 3, the "number of times" and "distance" are clearly larger than those of the probe information Ip corresponding to the identification information Id of 1, 5, and 6. Therefore, it can be estimated that the probe mobile body 10 corresponding to the identification information Id of 3 is a specific mobile body 10s in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11. As a specific estimation method, for example, a measure called "fit Rf" can be used. The fit Rf is an index indicating how much the probe information Ip transmitted from the probe mobile body 10 to be estimated matches the probe information Ip transmitted from other probe mobile bodies 10 for the same position information Im. For example, in the multiple probe information Ips shown in FIG. 7, the fit Rf may be the difference between the "number of times" corresponding to the identification information Id to be estimated and the average value of the "number of times" in the other identification information Ids. Similarly, the compatibility Rf may be calculated using the "distance" information included in multiple pieces of probe information Ip. The compatibility Rf may be calculated using other statistical methods instead of the difference from the average value. It can be estimated that the probe mobile object 10 that transmitted the probe information Ip whose compatibility Rf is below a predetermined threshold is the specific mobile object 10s.

In addition, illuminance information, weather information, etc. may be used to estimate whether an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11. This is because when the illuminance is low or the weather is bad, it may be determined that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 even though no abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11. For example, the probe information Ip corresponding to the identification information Id of 3 shown in FIG. 7 has significantly larger "number of times" and "distance" than the other probe information Ip under conditions of standard illuminance and sunny weather. Therefore, it can be estimated that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 of the probe mobile body 10 corresponding to the identification information Id of 3.

In addition, the performance of the image processing sensor 11b mounted on each probe mobile body 10 is not necessarily the same. When the probe information Ip of the probe mobile body 10 equipped with the image processing sensor 11b having different performance is compared, it may not be possible to appropriately estimate the abnormality of the road surface condition or the abnormality of the image acquisition unit 11. Therefore, the probe information Ip may include information on the HW model number and sensor model number of the image processing sensor 11b. The "sensor model number" is the model number of the image processing engine included in the image processing sensor 11b. The "HW model number" is the model number of the hardware in which the image processing engine is implemented. Figure 8 is an example of the probe quality estimation information Iq generated based on multiple probe information Ip, each of which includes the HW model number and the sensor model number. In the example of Figure 8, the probe mobile body 10 whose identification information Id corresponds to 1, 3, 4, and 5 has the same HW model number and sensor model number. Therefore, since these probe mobile bodies 10 have image processing sensors 11b with equivalent performance, by comparing the probe information Ip transmitted by each of them, it is possible to appropriately estimate an abnormality in the road surface condition or an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11. In the example of Fig. 8, it is estimated that deterioration has occurred in the image processing sensor 11b mounted on the probe mobile body 10 corresponding to the identification information Id of 3. Therefore, in the probe quality estimation information Iq shown in Fig. 8, "deteriorated" is input as the "operating state" of the identification information Id of 3.

Furthermore, the road surface condition detection device 13 or the road surface condition estimation device 20 may determine the presence or absence of an obstacle on the road surface based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 11, and generate obstacle information Io. When the road surface condition detection device 13 generates the obstacle information Io, the obstacle information Io may be included in the probe information Ip. The control unit 22 may store the obstacle information Io in the map DB storage unit 24 in association with the position information Im of the point where it is determined that there is an obstacle. By using the obstacle information Io when comparing multiple pieces of probe information Ip, the control unit 22 can more accurately estimate the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition or the presence or absence of an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11.

Embodiment 2.
Next, a description will be given of a road surface condition estimation system 1 according to embodiment 2. The basic configuration of the road surface condition estimation system 1 according to this embodiment is similar to that of the road surface condition estimation system 1 according to embodiment 1, and therefore differences will be mainly described.

As shown in FIG. 9, the road surface condition estimation device 20 according to this embodiment includes a software management unit 25 and a road surface condition analysis unit 26. The road surface condition analysis unit 26 analyzes the presence or absence of abnormalities in the road surface condition based on the road surface condition information Is included in the probe information Ip. The software management unit 25 manages the software of a device (e.g., a communication type drive recorder) mounted on the probe mobile body 10. Hereinafter, the software of the device mounted on the probe mobile body 10 is simply referred to as "mobile body side software". The mobile body side software may be software executed by the image processing sensor 11b or software executed by the mobile body side control unit 13a. The software management unit 25 is capable of grasping the version of the mobile body side software and can also execute updates of the mobile body side software.

A control flow for a specific moving body 10s executed by the road surface condition estimation device 20 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Note that, before step S30 shown in Fig. 10, steps S20 to S22 shown in Fig. 4 are performed to estimate the presence or absence of an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11.
In step S30, if the control unit 22 estimates that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like of the specific moving object 10s, the process proceeds to step S31.
In step S31, the software management unit 25 generates a control command Oc for the specific mobile unit 10s. The control command Oc is transmitted to the specific mobile unit 10s by wireless communication. The control command Oc generated in step S31 includes a command to update the mobile unit side software.

By updating the software on the mobile unit, abnormalities in the image acquisition unit 11 may be resolved. For example, if there is a problem with the image processing algorithm of the image processing sensor 11b, it is effective to update the software executed by the image processing sensor 11b to a version in which the problem has been fixed. Software on the mobile unit for devices other than the image processing sensor 11b may also be updated. When the update is complete, proceed to step S32.

In step S32, the control unit 22 determines whether the abnormality has been resolved by updating the mobile unit software. If it is determined that the abnormality of the image acquisition unit 11 has been resolved (step S32: YES), the control flow for the specific mobile unit 10s ends. If it is determined that the abnormality of the image acquisition unit 11 has not been resolved (step S32: NO), the control flow proceeds to step S33.

In step S33, the control unit 22 determines whether or not to cause the specific mobile unit 10s to continue transmitting the probe information Ip. For example, when the specific mobile unit 10s is traveling in an area with low traffic volume, it may be useful to store the probe information Ip of the specific mobile unit 10s even if an abnormality occurs in the image acquisition unit 11. Conversely, when the specific mobile unit 10s is traveling in an area with high traffic volume, the probe information Ip related to the area is sufficiently stored, so that the probe information Ip of the specific mobile unit 10s is unnecessary. In this way, it may be determined whether or not to cause the specific mobile unit 10s to continue transmitting the probe information Ip depending on the area in which the specific mobile unit 10s is traveling. Alternatively, the judgment of step S33 may be performed using other judgment criteria.

If it is determined that the specific moving body 10s should not transmit the probe information Ip (step S33: NO), the process proceeds to step S34. In step S34, the control unit 22 generates a control command Oc including a command to stop transmitting the probe information Ip. The specific moving body 10s that receives this control command Oc stops transmitting the probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20. This prevents unnecessary probe information Ip from being transmitted to the road surface condition estimation device 20, and reduces the processing load of the road surface condition estimation device 20. The specific moving body 10s that receives this control command Oc may also stop generating the probe information Ip itself. This makes it possible to reduce power consumption in the specific moving body 10s.

If it is determined that the specific moving body 10s should transmit the probe information Ip (step S33: YES), the process proceeds to step S35. In step S35, the control unit 22 generates a control command Oc including a command to include in the probe information Ip the image captured by the image capture device 11a before being processed by the image processing sensor 11b. The road surface condition detection device 13 of the specific moving body 10s that receives this control command Oc generates probe information Ip that includes the image not processed by the image processing sensor 11b as road surface condition information Is. The road surface condition estimation device 20 that receives the probe information Ip analyzes the road surface condition information Is (i.e., the image not processed by the image processing sensor 11b) by the road surface condition analysis unit 26. A convolutional neural network (CNN) may be used for this analysis. The control unit 22 compares the analysis result by the road surface condition analysis unit 26 with other probe information Ip. If the comparison shows that the analysis results by the road surface condition analysis unit 26 are consistent with the other probe information Ip, road surface condition estimation information Ir may be generated based on the analysis results and stored in the map DB storage unit 24.

Next, a modification of the road surface condition estimating system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described.
In step S31, the control command Oc generated by the road surface condition estimation device 20 can include various commands. For example, when it is determined that the image acquisition unit 11 of the specific moving body 10s needs repair, the notification information C may be presented to the user of the specific moving body 10s. FIG. 11 shows an example of the notification information C. In the example of FIG. 11, the fact that the image acquisition unit 11 needs repair is displayed on the communication type drive recorder of the specific moving body 10s. The notification information C may also display the contact information of the repair center. Alternatively, the fact that the repair is needed may be notified to the user of the specific moving body 10s by voice. In this way, the notification information C may be displayed on a display or may be voice. In order to perform such a notification to the user of the specific moving body 10s, the control command Oc can include a notification command Oi. The notification command Oi is issued to the moving body side control unit 13a of the specific moving body 10s. The notification command Oi is a command for presenting notification information C to a user of the specific moving body 10s, notifying the user that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like.

The notification information C may also include information about an attachment attached to the image capture device 11a. In the example of FIG. 12, the fact that dirt is attached to the front camera (image capture device 11a) of a specific moving body 10s is displayed on the display of the communication type drive recorder, etc. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 12, an image is also displayed showing which part of the front camera the dirt is attached to. This can encourage the user to remove the dirt.

The road surface condition estimation information Ir generated by the control unit 22 may include information on the possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the road surface condition, instead of the presence or absence of an abnormality in the road surface condition. For example, when more than 90% of the probe mobile bodies 10 passing a specific point determine that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition at that point, the control unit 22 may estimate that an abnormality in the road surface condition has definitely occurred at that point. When 30% to 90% of the probe mobile bodies 10 passing a specific point determine that there is an abnormality in the road surface condition at that point, the control unit 22 may determine that there is a suspicion that an abnormality has occurred in the road surface condition at that point. The control unit 22 may then determine the content of the notification command Oi based on the information on the possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the road surface condition.

As another modification, the probe quality estimation information Iq generated by the control unit 22 may include information on the possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11, instead of the presence or absence of an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11 in each probe mobile body 10. The control unit 22 may then determine the content of the notification command Oi based on the information on the possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11.

As described above, the road surface condition estimation system 1 of the present disclosure comprises a plurality of probe mobile bodies 10 each having an image acquisition unit 11, an information acquisition unit 21 that acquires a plurality of probe information Ip, each of which includes road surface condition information Is based on an image of the road surface acquired by the image acquisition unit 11 by the plurality of probe mobile bodies 10, position information Im indicating the position of the road surface, and identification information Id of the probe mobile body 10, a control unit 22 that generates road surface condition estimation information Ir regarding the road surface condition associated with the position information Im and probe quality estimation information Iq regarding the quality of the road surface condition information Is associated with the identification information Id based on the plurality of probe information Ip, a map DB memory unit 24 that stores a map and the road surface condition estimation information Ir, and a probe information memory unit 23 that stores the probe quality estimation information Iq.

According to the road surface condition estimation system 1 having the above configuration, in addition to the road surface condition estimation information Ir, the probe quality estimation information Iq is generated. Since the probe quality estimation information Iq is generated based on the comparison result of multiple pieces of probe information Ip, it can be estimated that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 of a specific probe mobile body 10. Furthermore, the probe quality estimation information Iq is associated with the identification information Id of the probe mobile body 10 from which the road surface condition information Is was acquired. Therefore, the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like can be identified by the identification information Id, and the use of the probe information Ip transmitted by the probe mobile body 10 can be stopped. Alternatively, the transmission of the probe quality estimation information Iq can be stopped for the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the road surface condition from being estimated using the probe information Ip acquired by the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like, and to suppress a decrease in the estimation accuracy.

In addition, at least some of the image acquisition units 11 of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10 include an imaging device 11a that captures an image of the road surface, and an image processing sensor 11b that detects the road surface condition based on the image of the road surface captured by the imaging device 11a, and the road surface condition information Is may include the road surface condition detected by the image processing sensor 11b. In this case, since the road surface condition is detected by the image processing sensor 11b provided in the probe mobile body 10, the processing load of the road surface condition estimation device 20 can be reduced compared to the case where the road surface condition is detected by, for example, the road surface condition estimation device 20.

The road surface condition estimation information Ir may also include at least one of the presence or absence of deformation of the road surface and the presence or absence of deterioration of signs on the road surface.

In addition, when the control unit 22 performs multiple estimations regarding road surface conditions at a specific point based on multiple pieces of probe information Ip and obtains multiple different estimation results, the control unit 22 may determine that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 of the probe mobile body 10 that transmitted the probe information Ip corresponding to an estimation result whose occurrence frequency is below a predetermined threshold.

In addition, the control unit 22 may calculate the compatibility Rf of any given probe information Ip with other probe information Ip by comparing multiple probe information Ip corresponding to the same location information Im, and if the compatibility Rf falls below a predetermined threshold, determine that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 of the probe mobile body 10 that transmitted the given probe information Ip.

In addition, at least some of the probe mobile bodies 10 have an illuminance sensor 16 that detects the illuminance on the road surface, and the probe information Ip includes illuminance information based on the illuminance detection results by the illuminance sensor 16. The control unit 22 may refer to the illuminance information included in the probe information Ip transmitted from multiple probe mobile bodies 10 and compare the road surface condition information Is acquired in similar environments to make a judgment regarding an abnormality in the image acquisition unit 11 of the probe mobile body 10.

In addition, at least some of the image acquisition units 11 of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10 include an imaging device 11a that images the road surface and an image processing sensor 11b that detects the road surface condition based on the image of the road surface captured by the imaging device 11a, and the probe information Ip includes information regarding the type of the image processing sensor 11b, and the control unit 22 may compare multiple pieces of probe information Ip transmitted from multiple probe mobile bodies 10 having the same type of image processing sensor 11b and make a judgment regarding an abnormality in the image processing sensor 11b.

The control unit 22 may also associate the location information Im with obstacle information Io regarding the presence or absence of an obstacle on the road surface and store it in the map DB memory unit 24.

In addition, at least a portion of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10 have a high-precision locator 14A that stores high-precision map data including road shape data on a lane-by-lane basis, and the high-precision locator 14A generates lane information Il relating to its own lane position, and the lane information Il may be included in the probe information Ip transmitted by the probe mobile body 10 having the high-precision locator 14A.

In addition, the probe information Ip includes lane information Il relating to the lane position of the probe mobile body 10, and the control unit 22 generates road surface condition estimation information Ir relating to the road surface condition for each lane based on the comparison results of the multiple probe information Ip including the lane information Il, and the control unit 22 may generate probe quality estimation information Iq based on the comparison results of the multiple probe information Ip including the lane information Il.

In addition, when the control unit 22 estimates that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 of a specific mobile body 10s included in the multiple probe mobile bodies 10, the control unit 22 may generate a control command Oc to be transmitted to the specific mobile body 10s. Note that authentication may be performed between the road surface condition estimation device 20 and the probe mobile body 10. Various authentication methods can be selected, but for example, a password combined with the identification information Id may be issued in advance to each probe mobile body 10. By including a password together with the identification information Id in the probe information Ip, the road surface condition estimation device 20 can recognize that the probe mobile body 10 is a legitimate probe mobile body 10. Such authentication is also effective in preventing the control command Oc from being issued to an incorrect probe mobile body 10.

The control command Oc may also include a command to update software of a device installed in a specific mobile body 10s.

The control command Oc may also include a command to stop the transmission of probe information Ip by the specific mobile body 10s. In this case, the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like stops transmitting the probe information Ip to the road surface condition estimation device 20. This prevents a decrease in the accuracy of the road surface condition estimation by the control unit 22. It also prevents an increase in the processing load of the road surface condition estimation device 20 due to unnecessary probe information Ip being transmitted to the road surface condition estimation device 20.

In addition, the control command Oc includes a notification command Oi issued to the mobile body side control unit 13a of the specific mobile body 10s, and the notification command Oi may be a command to cause the mobile body side control unit 13a to display notification information C to notify the user of the specific mobile body 10s that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like.

The alarm information C may also include information about an attachment attached to the imaging device 11a included in the image acquisition unit 11 of the specific moving body 10s.

The road surface condition estimation device 20 according to the present disclosure has an information acquisition unit 21 that acquires multiple probe information Ip, each of which includes road surface condition information Is based on images of the road surface acquired by the image acquisition unit 11 of multiple probe mobile bodies 10, position information Im indicating the position of the road surface, and identification information Id of each probe mobile body 10; a control unit 22 that generates road surface condition estimation information Ir relating to the road surface condition based on the multiple probe information Ip and associates it with position information Im indicating the position of the road surface; a control unit 22 that generates probe quality estimation information Iq relating to the quality of the road surface condition information Is in association with the identification information Id based on a comparison result of the multiple probe information Ip; a map DB memory unit 24 that stores the road surface condition estimation information Ir; and a probe information memory unit 23 that stores the probe quality estimation information Iq.

According to the road surface condition estimation device 20 having the above configuration, in addition to the road surface condition estimation information Ir, the probe quality estimation information Iq is generated. Since the probe quality estimation information Iq is generated based on the comparison result of multiple pieces of probe information Ip, it is possible to estimate that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like of a specific probe mobile body 10. Furthermore, the probe quality estimation information Iq is associated with the identification information Id of the probe mobile body 10 from which the road surface condition information Is was acquired. Therefore, the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like can be identified by the identification information Id, and the use of the probe information Ip transmitted by the probe mobile body 10 can be stopped. Alternatively, the transmission of the probe quality estimation information Iq can be stopped for the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the road surface condition from being estimated using the probe information Ip acquired by the probe mobile body 10 in which an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit 11 or the like, and to suppress a decrease in the estimation accuracy.

The road surface condition estimation device 20 may also be provided with a road surface condition analysis unit 26 that analyzes the road surface conditions based on images acquired by at least some of the multiple probe mobile bodies 10.

The probe mobile body 10 according to the present disclosure comprises a locator device 14 that generates its own position information Im, an image acquisition unit 11 that acquires an image of the road surface, a mobile body side control unit 13a that generates probe information Ip including the position information Im, road surface condition information Is that is associated with the position information Im and generated based on the image, and its own identification information Id, and a communication device 15 that transmits the probe information Ip generated by the mobile body side control unit 13a to the road surface condition estimation device 20.

According to the probe mobile body 10 configured as described above, when it is used in combination with a road surface condition estimation device 20 that generates probe quality estimation information Iq and road surface condition estimation information Ir, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the quality of the road surface condition estimation information Ir when an abnormality occurs in the image acquisition unit 11, etc.

In addition, a road surface condition estimation program for causing a computer to function as the road surface condition estimation device 20 may be stored in a memory unit possessed by the road surface condition estimation device 20. The hardware that stores the road surface condition estimation program may be the same as or different from the hardware of the probe information memory unit 23, the map DB memory unit 24, etc.

The technical scope of this disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of this disclosure.

For example, the image acquisition unit 11 may be configured to acquire an image of the road surface using a radar. In this case, it is possible to detect deformation of the road surface and the presence or absence of fallen objects on the road surface based on at least the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 11.

In addition, the above-mentioned embodiments or variations may be combined as appropriate.

1...Road surface condition estimation system 10...Probe mobile body 10s...Specific mobile body 11...Image acquisition unit 11a...Photographing device 11b...Image processing sensor 13a...Mobile body side control unit 14...Locator device 14A...High-precision locator 15...Communication device 16...Illuminance sensor 20...Road surface condition estimation device 21...Information acquisition unit 22...Control unit 23...Probe information storage unit 24...Map DB storage unit

Claims (18)

A plurality of probe moving bodies each having an image acquisition unit;
an information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of probe information, each of which includes road surface condition information based on an image of a road surface acquired by the image acquisition unit of the plurality of probe moving bodies, position information indicating a position of the road surface, and identification information of the probe moving body;
a control unit that generates road surface condition estimation information related to the road surface condition associated with the position information and probe quality estimation information related to the quality of the road surface condition information associated with the identification information based on the plurality of pieces of probe information , and determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit of the probe moving body based on the plurality of pieces of probe information at the same point ;
a map DB storage unit that stores the road surface condition estimation information;
a probe information storage unit that stores the probe quality estimation information;
A road surface condition estimation system comprising: At least some of the image acquisition units of the plurality of probe moving bodies include an image capture device that captures an image of the road surface, and an image processing sensor that detects the road surface condition based on the image of the road surface captured by the image capture device,
The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 1 , wherein the road surface condition information includes the road surface condition detected by the image processing sensor. The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the road surface condition estimation information includes at least one of the presence or absence of deformation of the road surface and the presence or absence of deterioration of signs on the road surface. The road surface condition estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit performs multiple estimations of the road surface condition at a specific point based on multiple pieces of probe information, and when the control unit obtains multiple different estimation results, determines that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit of the probe mobile body that transmitted the probe information corresponding to an estimation result whose occurrence frequency is below a predetermined threshold. The road surface condition estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit calculates the conformance of an arbitrary piece of probe information to other pieces of probe information by comparing the multiple pieces of probe information corresponding to the same position information, and determines that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit of the probe mobile body that transmitted the arbitrary piece of probe information when the conformance falls below a predetermined threshold. At least a part of the probe moving bodies has an illuminance sensor that detects illuminance on a road surface,
the probe information includes illuminance information based on a detection result of the illuminance by the illuminance sensor,
The control unit refers to the illuminance information contained in the probe information transmitted from a plurality of probe mobile bodies, and compares the road surface condition information acquired in similar environments to determine whether there is an abnormality in the image acquisition unit of the probe mobile body. At least some of the image acquisition units of the plurality of probe moving bodies include an image capture device that captures an image of a road surface, and an image processing sensor that detects the road surface condition based on the image of the road surface captured by the image capture device,
the probe information includes information regarding a type of the imaging sensor;
The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit compares the multiple pieces of probe information transmitted from the multiple probe mobile bodies having the same type of image processing sensor, and makes a determination regarding an abnormality in the image processing sensor. The road surface condition estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control unit associates the position information with obstacle information regarding the presence or absence of an obstacle on the road surface and stores the information in the map DB storage unit. At least some of the plurality of probe moving bodies have a high-precision locator that stores high-precision map data including road shape data in units of lanes;
The high accuracy locator generates lane information related to its lane position;
The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 1 , wherein the lane information is included in the probe information transmitted by the probe mobile object having the high-precision locator. The probe information includes lane information regarding a lane position of the probe moving body,
The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit generates the road surface condition estimation information relating to a road surface condition for each lane based on a comparison result of the plurality of pieces of probe information including the lane information. The road surface condition estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the control unit generates a control command to be transmitted to a specific moving body when it is estimated that an abnormality has occurred in an image acquisition unit of the specific moving body included in the plurality of probe moving bodies. The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 11, wherein the control command includes a command to update software of a device mounted on the specific moving body. The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the control command includes a command to stop the specific moving body from transmitting the probe information. the control command includes a notification command to be issued to a mobile-body-side control unit of the specific mobile body,
The road surface condition estimation system according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the notification command is a command to cause the mobile body side control unit to display notification information notifying a user of the specific mobile body that an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit. The road surface condition estimation system according to claim 14, wherein the notification information includes information about an object attached to an image capture device included in the image acquisition unit of the specific moving object. an information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of probe information, each of which includes road surface condition information based on an image of the road surface acquired by an image acquisition unit of a plurality of probe moving bodies, position information indicating a position of the road surface, and identification information of each of the probe moving bodies;
a control unit that generates road surface condition estimation information related to the road surface condition associated with the position information and probe quality estimation information related to the quality of the road surface condition information associated with the identification information based on the plurality of pieces of probe information , and determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the image acquisition unit of the probe moving body based on the plurality of pieces of probe information at the same point ;
a map DB storage unit that stores the road surface condition estimation information;
a probe information storage unit that stores the probe quality estimation information. The road surface condition estimation device according to claim 16, further comprising a road surface condition analysis unit that analyzes road surface conditions based on images acquired by at least some of the multiple probe mobile bodies. A road surface condition estimation program for causing a computer to function as the road surface condition estimation device according to claim 16 or 17.

Images