# US 11,113,543 B2 · Facility inspection system and facility inspection method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,113,543 B2 - Document ID: US11113543B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/465,373 - Filed: 2017-12-01 - Published: 2019-12-26 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2016-12-02 - Assignees: Hitachi High-Tech Fine Systems Corporation - Applicants: Hitachi High-Tech Fine Systems Corporation - Inventors: Nobuhiro Chihara; Masahiko Honda; Toshihide Kishi; Masashi Shinbo; Kiyotake Horie - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11113543B2 ## CPC - G06V 20/56: exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle - B60M 1/28: Manufacturing or repairing trolley lines (scaffold cars B60P; B61D15/00; platforms therefor B66F11/04; manufacturing conductors in general H01B13/00; overhead lines in general H02G1/00) - B61L 15/0081: {On-board diagnosis or maintenance} - B61L 23/00: Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains - B61L 23/041: {Obstacle detection} - G01B 11/002: {for measuring two or more coordinates} - G06V 20/13: Satellite images - H04N 7/188: {Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position (signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253)} - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - B60M: POWER SUPPLY LINES, AND DEVICES ALONG RAILS, FOR ELECTRICALLY- PROPELLED VEHICLES (control of points and safety arrangements along railway lines B61L; construction of rails and points in general E01B) - B61L: GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC (brakes or auxiliary equipment B61H, B61K; point or crossing construction E01B) - G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract A facility inspection system prevents a normal part from being detected as an abnormal part caused by a deviation in an alignment due to a presence/absence of a moving object in detecting the abnormal part in a surrounding environment of a vehicle moving on a track. The system includes a photographing device, storage device, separation unit, an alignment unit, and a extraction unit. The photographing device photographs the surrounding environment of the moving vehicle. The storage device stores a reference alignment point cloud and a reference difference-extraction point cloud for each position on the track. The separation unit separates the alignment point cloud from a three-dimensional point cloud. The alignment unit aligns the reference alignment point cloud and the alignment point cloud and outputs alignment information. The extraction unit extracts a difference between the three-dimensional point cloud deformed based on the alignment information and the reference difference-extraction point cloud. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A facility inspection system comprising: a photographing device that photographs an image of a surrounding environment of a vehicle moving on a track; a storage device that stores a reference alignment point cloud and a reference difference-extraction point cloud for each position on the track; an alignment area separation unit that separates an alignment point cloud from a three-dimensional point cloud obtained from the image; an alignment unit that performs an alignment of the reference alignment point cloud and the alignment point cloud, the alignment unit outputting alignment information; a difference extraction unit that extracts a difference between the three-dimensional point cloud deformed based on the alignment information and the reference difference-extraction point cloud; and an alignment area choosing unit that determines an area among a plurality of candidate areas as an alignment area, the area including a predetermined count or more of three-dimensional points detected via the photographing device, determining the area by determining whether a count of three-dimensional points in a first area of the plurality of candidate areas is equal to or greater than a threshold, selecting the first area as the alignment area when the count of three-dimensional points on the first area is equal to or greater than the threshold, and selecting a different area of the plurality of candidate areas to be the alignment area when the count of three-dimensional points on the first area is less than the threshold, wherein the alignment point cloud is present in the alignment area, and wherein the plurality of candidate areas each have a different priority order. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The facility inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the alignment area separation unit outputs a point cloud in the three-dimensional point cloud as the alignment point cloud, and the point cloud is present in a predetermined space including few moving objects. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The facility inspection system according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined space is a space obliquely upward, upward, or on a side surface side of the vehicle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The facility inspection system according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined space is configured so as to include: a part of a utility pole disposed along the track and a beam between the utility poles; or a part of a slope on the side surface side of the vehicle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The facility inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the storage device stores alignment area candidate information for each position on the track, and the alignment area separation unit outputs a point cloud in the three-dimensional point cloud as the alignment point cloud, the point cloud being included in the alignment area candidate information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The facility inspection system according to claim 5, further comprising an area retrieval unit that retrieves the alignment area candidate information from the storage device based on a current position of the vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The facility inspection system according to claim 6, wherein the area retrieval unit narrows the alignment area candidate information based on a measuring range of the photographing device. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The facility inspection system according to claim 1, further comprising a neighborhood retrieval unit that retrieves the reference alignment point cloud and the reference difference-extraction point cloud from the storage device based on a current position of the vehicle. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The facility inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the alignment area choosing unit chooses the plurality of candidate areas in accordance with priority orders, such that an area of the plurality of candidate areas with a higher priority order than an other area of the plurality of candidate areas is chosen first. ### Claim 10 A facility inspection method comprising: a step of photographing an image of a surrounding environment of a vehicle moving on a track by a photographing device; a step of separating an alignment point cloud from a three-dimensional point cloud obtained from the image by an alignment area separation unit; a step of performing an alignment of a reference alignment point cloud stored in a storage device and the alignment point cloud and outputting alignment information by an alignment unit; a step of extracting a difference between the three-dimensional point cloud deformed based on the alignment information and a reference difference-extraction point cloud stored in the storage device by a difference extraction unit; and a step of determining an area among a plurality of candidate areas as an alignment area, via an alignment area choosing unit, the area including a predetermined count or more of three-dimensional points detected via the photographing device, the step of determining including determining whether a count of three-dimensional points in a first area of the plurality of candidate areas is equal to or greater than a threshold, selecting the first area as the alignment area when the count of three-dimensional points on the first area is equal to or greater than the threshold, and selecting a different area of the plurality of candidate areas to be the alignment area when the count of three-dimensional points on the first area is less than the threshold, wherein the alignment point cloud is present in the alignment area, and wherein the plurality of candidate areas each have a different priority order.