Device, method and program for measuring number of passengers

• US 9,760,784 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2013
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Oami, Ryoma
• Primary Examiner(s): CONNER, SEAN M
• Application Number:
  US14/438,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20150278617A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/60 Memory management
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/593 Recognising seat occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/161 Detection; Localisation; Normalisation

Abstract

Although persons on board in a driver'"'"'s seat and a passenger seat can be detected, it is difficult to detect persons on board in a back seat and thus the number of passengers cannot be accurately measured. Image obtaining means 100 photographs the inside of a vehicle from the outside of the vehicle (a shoulder, etc.). View determining means 102 estimates the way in which the vehicle in the image photographed by the image obtaining means 100 is viewed, and outputs a view determination result. Person detecting means 101 performs front-face, side-face, and angled-face detection on the image photographed by the image obtaining means 100, to detect persons and outputs a person detection result. In-vehicle position estimating means 103 determines at which positions in the vehicle the detected persons are present, using the person detection information and the view determination result information, and outputs in-vehicle position estimation information. Result integrating means 104 integrates detection results obtained for a plurality of images which are photographed consecutively, to calculate the number of passengers.

Claims

1. A device for measuring a number of passengers, comprising:

an image obtaining unit, implemented by a processor, for obtaining images;

a person detecting unit, implemented by the processor, for detecting persons in each of the images and generating positions of detected persons in each of the images, the vehicle being a target for measuring a number of persons;

a view determining unit, implemented by the processor, for outputting a view determination result for each of the images, the view determination result being information describing the position of the vehicle with respect to a capture position of the respective image;

a seat position obtaining unit, implemented by the processor, for obtaining seat positions at which the persons may be on board in the vehicle, based on geometric constraints between the seat positions and the view determination result for each of the images;

an in-vehicle position estimating unit, implemented by the processor, for estimating, for each of the images, from a comparison between the positions of detected persons and the seat positions an in-vehicle position estimation result representing the seat positions at which the detected persons are seated in the vehicle; and

a result integrating unit, implemented by the processor, for integrating the plurality of in-vehicle position estimation results and determining a number of passengers in the vehicle from the integrated in-vehicle position estimation results.

2. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 1, further comprising:

a vehicle movement information obtaining unit, implemented by the processor, for obtaining information about a movement state of the vehicle and generating the information as vehicle movement information; and

a trigger unit, implemented by the processor, for generating a trigger signal based on the vehicle movement information and according to predetermined timing, wherein

the image obtaining unit obtains an image in accordance with the trigger signal.

3. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 2, wherein

the vehicle movement information obtaining unit determines, for each of one or more predetermined points, whether the vehicle has passed through the predetermined point, and generates vehicle movement information based on a result of measurement of a time of passage, and

the predetermined timing is determined based on the time of the passage through the predetermined point included in the vehicle movement information.

4. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 2, wherein

the vehicle movement information obtaining unit measures a speed of the vehicle, and the vehicle movement information includes a result of the measurement of the speed of the vehicle, and

the predetermined timing is adjusted based on the speed of the vehicle included in the vehicle movement information.

5. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 1, wherein the image obtaining unit includes an infrared illuminator, and obtains images by projecting light into the vehicle in accordance with image obtaining timing and photographing light in an infrared wavelength range.

6. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 1, wherein the positions of detected persons are generated by performing a process of detecting a face on each obtained image.

7. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 1, wherein the view determining unit determines view by detecting a window pane of the vehicle from each of the images obtained by the image obtaining unit.

8. The device for measuring a number of passengers according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle position estimating unit compares positions at which the persons sitting at seat positions in the vehicle are seen in the image and which are assumed based on the view determination result, with positions of the persons in the image, to determine in which seats in the image the detected persons have sat.

9. A method for measuring a number of passengers, comprising:

obtaining images;

detecting persons in each of the images and generating positions of detected persons in each of the images, the vehicle being a target for measuring a number of persons;

outputting a view determination result for each of the images, the view determination result being information describing the position of the vehicle with respect to a capture position of the respective image;

obtaining seat positions at which the persons may be on board in the vehicle, based on geometric constraints between the seat positions and the view determination result for each of the images;

estimating, for each of the images, from a comparison between the positions of detected persons and the seat positions an in-vehicle position estimation result representing the seat positions at which the detected persons are seated in the vehicle; and

integrating the plurality of in-vehicle position estimation results and determining a number of passengers in the vehicle from the integrated in-vehicle position estimation results.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium in which a program for measuring a number of passengers is recorded, the program causing a computer to perform:

a process of obtaining images;

a process of detecting persons in each of the images and generating positions of detected persons in each of the images, the vehicle being a target for measuring a number of persons;

a process of outputting a view determination result for each of the images, the view determination result being information describing the position of the vehicle with respect to a capture position of the respective image;

a process of obtaining seat positions at which the persons may be on board in the vehicle, based on geometric constraints between the seat positions and the view determination result for each of the images; and

a process of estimating, for each of the images, from a comparison between the positions of detected persons and the seat positions an in-vehicle position estimation result representing the seat positions at which the detected persons are seated in the vehicle; and

integrating the plurality of in-vehicle position estimation results and determining a number of passengers in the vehicle from the integrated in-vehicle position estimation results.