EP-4735968-A1 - MOBILE APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM

EP4735968A1EP 4735968 A1EP4735968 A1EP 4735968A1EP-4735968-A1

Abstract

A mobile apparatus to capture an image of an object at a preset position in autonomous travel includes an image processing unit to perform image processing on first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data. The first image data includes an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel. The mobile apparatus further includes an image-capture condition correction unit to correct a condition of image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the first image data output by the image processing unit, and an image-capture control unit to capture an image of the object under the condition corrected by the image-capture condition correction unit.

Inventors

OHTSUKA, Aiko
SAKAE, JUNPEI
KAMADA, TERUKI
KUDO, KOICHI

Assignees

Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240617

Claims (13)

[Claim 1] A mobile apparatus configured to capture an image of an object at a preset position in autonomous travel, the mobile apparatus comprising: an image processing unit configured to perform image processing on first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel; an image-capture condition correction unit configured to correct a condition of image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the first image data output by the image processing unit; and an image-capture control unit configured to capture an image of the object under the condition corrected by the image-capture condition correction unit.
[Claim 2] The mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit is configured to: obtain second image data before performing the image processing, the second image data being different from the first image data and being data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object; extract, as a template image, a range including the object from the second image data; and perform template matching on the first image data with the template image in the image processing.
[Claim 3] The mobile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a size determination unit configured to detect feature points from the second image data and determine a size of the template image in which a number of the feature points is equal to or greater than a threshold.
[Claim 4] The mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image-capture control unit further includes a correction-information management unit configured to store in advance designated coordinates in association with the preset position in a storage unit, the designated coordinates being coordinates of the object designated by an operator for the first image data, wherein the image processing unit is configured to: acquire a template image from the first image data based on the designated coordinates of the object; and perform template matching on the first image data with the template image in the image processing.
[Claim 5] The mobile apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the correction-information management unit is configured to store, in the storage unit, the first image data in association with the preset position, the coordinates of the object in the first image data, and a capture time of the first image data, wherein the storage unit stores multiple past first image data captured in past, and wherein the image processing unit is configured to: acquire one of the multiple past first image data associated with a capture time closest to a time of current autonomous travel; and acquire the template image from the acquired past first image data based on coordinates of the object associated with the acquired past first image data.
[Claim 6] The mobile apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the correction-information management unit is configured to store, in the storage unit, the first image data in association with the preset position, the coordinates of the object in the first image data, and weather under which the first image data is obtained, and the storage unit stores multiple past first image data captured in past, and wherein the image processing unit is configured to: acquire one of the multiple past first image data associated with the weather similar to weather of current autonomous travel; and acquire the template image from the acquired past first image data based on coordinates of the object associated with the acquired past first image data.
[Claim 7] The mobile apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the correction-information management unit is configured to store, in the storage unit, the first image data in association with the preset position and the coordinates of the object in the first image data, and the storage unit stores multiple past first image data captured in past, and wherein the image processing unit is configured to: identify one of the multiple past first image data having a highest similarity to the first image data captured in current autonomous travel; and acquire the template image from the identified past first image data based on the coordinates of the object associated with the identified past first image data.
[Claim 8] The mobile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the image-capture control unit is configured to store, in the storage unit, pan, tilt, and zoom settings set by an operator before the autonomous travel, the pan, tilt, and zoom settings for capturing at the preset position an image of the object having a size equal to or larger than a threshold size, wherein, in autonomous travel, the image-capture condition correction unit is configured to correct pan and tilt settings of an image-capturing means to include, in an angle of view of the image-capturing means, the coordinates of the object in the first image data output by the image processing unit, and wherein the image-capture control unit is configured to capture the image of the object with the corrected pan and tilt settings and the stored zoom setting.
[Claim 9] The mobile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second image data and a high-magnification image of the object having a magnification higher than a magnification of the second image data are stored in a storage unit in advance, and wherein the template image extracted by the image processing unit is an image obtained by reducing the high-magnification image.
[Claim 10] The mobile apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the high-magnification image is an image of the object captured with pan, tilt, and zoom settings that are set by an operator to capture at the preset position an image of the object having a size equal to or larger than a threshold size, wherein the second image data is data captured with the pan and tilt settings set by the operator and a zoom ratio of equal magnification, and wherein the image processing unit is configured to reduce the high-magnification image at a ratio of a magnification of the second image data relative to the high-magnification image to obtain the template image.
[Claim 11] An information processing apparatus configured to communicate via a network with a mobile apparatus that captures an image of an object at a preset position in autonomous travel, the information processing apparatus comprising: a communication unit configured to receive first image data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel; an image processing unit configured to perform image processing on the first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data; and an image-capture condition correction unit configured to correct a condition of image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the first image data output by the image processing unit, wherein the communication unit is configured to transmit, to the mobile apparatus, a request to capture the object under a corrected condition corrected by the image-capture condition correction unit.
[Claim 12] A method for capturing an image of an object at a preset position with a mobile apparatus performing autonomous travel, the method comprising: performing image processing on first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel; correcting a condition for image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the output first image data; and capturing an image of the object under the corrected condition.
[Claim 13] A recording medium storing a plurality of program codes which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to perform a method for capturing an image of an object at a preset position with a mobile apparatus performing autonomous travel, the method comprising: performing image processing on first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data, the first image data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel; correcting a condition for image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the output first image data; and capturing an image of the object under the corrected condition.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [Title of Invention] MOBILE APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM [Technical Field] [0001] The present disclosure relates to a mobile apparatus, an information processing apparatus, an image capturing method, and a recording medium. [Background Art] [0002] Mobile apparatuses installed on a site such as a factory or a warehouse to autonomously travel the site are known. Such a mobile apparatus is used as, for example, an inspection robot or a service robot and may be referred to as a mobile robot. The mobile robot can perform a task such as inspecting a facility at a preset position in the site instead of a worker. Such tasks of inspecting a facility at a preset position in a site include capturing an image of an object to be inspected (for example, see Patent Literature (PTL) 1). PTL 1 discloses a technique of causing a mobile robot to sequentially travel inspection points following a travel route set in advance and temporarily stop at an inspection point to capture an image of an object to be inspected. [Citation List] [Patent Literature] [0003] [PTL 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2022-058164 [Summary of Invention] [Technical Problem] [0004] In the related art, the object may fall outside the angle of view of the mobile robot. It is difficult for the mobile robot to accurately stop at the position (location) set in advance due to errors in detecting the position and posture of the mobile robot. Therefore, even when, for example, the conditions for capturing an image of the object to be inspected are the same, the object may be out of the angle of view or may be significantly shifted from the center of the angle of view depending on the stop position and posture of the mobile robot and the direction of the optical axis of the image-capturing device. [0005] In view of the foregoing, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique for a mobile apparatus to reliably capture an image of an object even when the mobile apparatus does not accurately stop at a preset position due to an error in the position or posture of the mobile apparatus. [Solution to Problem] [0006] In one aspect, mobile apparatus to capture an image of an object at a preset position in autonomous travel includes an image processing unit to perform image processing on first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data. The first image data includes an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel. The mobile apparatus further includes an imagecapture condition correction unit to correct a condition of image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the first image data output by the image processing unit, and an image-capture control unit to capture an image of the object under the condition corrected by the image-capture condition correction unit. Another aspect concerns an information processing apparatus to communicate via a network with a mobile apparatus that captures an image of an object at a preset position in autonomous travel. The information processing apparatus includes a communication unit to receive first image data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel, an image processing unit to perform image processing on the first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data, and an image-capture condition correction unit to correct a condition of image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the first image data output by the image processing unit. The communication unit transmits, to the mobile apparatus, a request to capture the object under a corrected condition corrected by the image-capture condition correction unit. Another aspect concerns a method for capturing an image of an object at a preset position with a mobile apparatus performing autonomous travel. The method includes performing image processing on first image data to output coordinates of the object in the first image data including an image of the object and an image of surrounding of the object captured at the preset position in autonomous travel, correcting a condition for image capturing of the object based on the coordinates of the object in the output first image data, and capturing an image of the object under the corrected condition. Another aspect concerns a recording medium storing a plurality of program codes which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to perform the method described above. [Advantageous Effects of Invention] [0007] The present disclosure provides a technique for the mobile apparatus to reliably capture an image of an object even when the apparatus does not accurately stop at a preset position due to an error in the position or posture of the apparatus. [Brie