# US 12,215,978 B2 · Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,215,978 B2 - Document ID: US12215978B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/754,159 - Filed: 2020-09-16 - Published: 2022-09-15 - Granted: 2025-02-04 - Earliest claimed: 2019-10-03 - Assignees: Sony Group Corporation - Applicants: Sony Group Corporation - Inventors: Mikio Nakai - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12215978B2 ## CPC - G01C 21/1652: {with ranging devices, e.g. LIDAR or RADAR} - G01C 21/28: with correlation of data from several navigational instruments - G05D 1/02: Control of position or course in two dimensions - G08G 5/34: for flight plan modification - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) ## Abstract To improve accuracy of position estimation on the basis of a plurality of estimation results. An information processing device includes: a first estimator that estimates a self-position on the basis of a first coordinate system; a second estimator that estimates a self-position on the basis of a second coordinate system different from the first coordinate system; and an information acquisition part that, in a case where reliability of one of a first estimation result by the first estimator and a second estimation result by the second estimator in a coordinate system of the one estimation result is lower than a predetermined threshold, acquires self-position information on the basis of another estimation result. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An information processing device, comprising: a first estimator configured to estimate a first self-position based on a first coordinate system to obtain a first estimation result; a second estimator configured to estimate a second self-position based on a second coordinate system to obtain a second estimation result, wherein the second coordinate system is different from the first coordinate system; a coordinate transformer configured to transform the second self-position in the second coordinate system into a position in the first coordinate system for transformation of the second estimation result into the first coordinate system; and a processor configured to: in a case where a reliability of one of the first estimation result by the first estimator or the second estimation result by the second estimator is lower than a threshold, acquire self-position information based on a third estimation result; and in a case where at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system has the reliability one of equal to or higher than the threshold, acquire the self-position information based on the at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire the self-position information based on the first estimation result in a case where the reliability of the first estimation result is one of equal to or higher than the threshold; and acquire the self-position information in the first coordinate system based on the transformed second estimation result in a case where the reliability of the first estimation result is lower than the threshold. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein a timing of acquisition of the first estimation result is same as a timing of acquisition of the second estimation result, and the processor is further configured to not generate the self-position information in a case where a distance between the first estimation result and the transformed second estimation result is longer than a specific distance. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a control point storage and a parameter generator, wherein in a case where a timing of acquisition of the first estimation result is same as a timing of acquisition of the second estimation result, the processor is further configured to acquire, as a control point, a combination of the first estimation result and the second estimation result, the control point storage is configured to store a plurality of control points, wherein the plurality of control points includes the control point, the parameter generator is configured to generate a transformation parameter for the transformation of the second estimation result by the coordinate transformer, and the generation of the transformation parameter is based on a first number of the stored plurality of control points. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to: in a case where the second estimation result for the same time as the first estimation result does not exist, correct the second estimation result acquired in past to a specific estimation result at a time of acquisition of the first estimation result; in a case where the first estimation result for the same time as the second estimation result does not exist, correct the first estimation result acquired in past to a specific estimation result at a time of acquisition of the second estimation result; and acquire the control point based on the correction of at least one of the second estimation result or the first estimation result. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to correct a most recent past estimation result by dead reckoning process. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein in a case where at least one of the reliability of the first estimation result or the reliability of the second estimation result is lower than the threshold, the processor is further configured to not acquire a combination at the timing as the control point. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured control deletion of at least one control point of the stored plurality of control points in a case where the stored plurality of control points is one of equal to or more than a second number. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to control the deletion of the at least one control point in an ascending order of acquired time of the stored plurality of control points. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to control the deletion of the at least one control point in an ascending order of the reliability of one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result. ### Claim 11 (depends on 4) The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to: set a first environment in which the first estimation result is unusable, and a second environment in which the second estimation result is unusable; and not acquire the control point in the first environment and the second environment. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein each of the first estimator and the second estimator is further configured to set an environment in which the estimation of the first self-position and the estimation of the second self-position is not performed. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of estimators that includes the first estimator, the second estimator, and a third estimator, wherein each estimator of the plurality of estimators is configured to estimate position information, the coordinate transformer is further configured to transform a plurality of coordinate systems of the plurality of estimators into the first coordinate system, the plurality of coordinate systems includes the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system, each coordinate system of the plurality of coordinate systems corresponds to a respective estimator of the plurality of estimators, and the processor is further configured to acquire the self-position information based on the position information. ### Claim 14 An information processing system, comprising: a movable body that comprises: a processor configured to: acquire first information for estimation of a first self-position in a first coordinate system; and acquire second information for estimation of a second self-position in a second coordinate system different from the first coordinate system; a first estimator configured to estimate the first self-position based on the acquired first information to obtain a first estimation result; a second estimator configured to estimate the second self-position based on the acquired second information to obtain a second estimation result; and a coordinate transformer configured to transform the second self-position in the second coordinate system into a position in the first coordinate system for transformation of the second estimation result into the first coordinate system, wherein the processor is further configured to: in a case where a reliability of one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result is lower than a threshold, acquire position information of the movable body based on a third estimation result; and in a case where at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system has the reliability one of equal to or higher than the threshold, acquire the position information based on the at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system. ### Claim 15 An information processing method, comprising: estimating, by a first estimator, a first self-position based on a first coordinate system to obtain a first estimation result; estimating, by a second estimator, a second self-position based on a second coordinate system to obtain a second estimation result, wherein the second coordinate system is different from the first coordinate system; transforming, by a coordinate transformer, the second self-position in the second coordinate system into a position in the first coordinate system for transformation of the second estimation result into the first coordinate system; in a case where a reliability of one of the first estimation result by the first estimator or the second estimation result by the second estimator is lower than a threshold, acquiring self-position information based on a third estimation result; and in a case where at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system has the reliability one of equal to or higher than the threshold, acquiring the self-position information based on the at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system. ### Claim 16 A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, computer executable instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute operations, the operations comprising: estimating, by a first estimator, a first self-position based on a first coordinate system to obtain a first estimation result; estimating, by a second estimator, a second self-position based on a second coordinate system to obtain a second estimation result, wherein the second coordinate system is different from the first coordinate system; transforming, by a coordinate transformer, the second self-position in the second coordinate system into a position in the first coordinate system for transformation of the second estimation result into the first coordinate system; in a case where a reliability of one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result is lower than a threshold, acquiring self-position information based on a third estimation result; and in a case where at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system has the reliability one of equal to or higher than the threshold, acquiring the self-position information based on the at least one of the first estimation result or the second estimation result transformed into the first coordinate system. ### Claim 17 An information processing device, comprising: a first estimator configured to estimate a first self-position in a first coordinate system to obtain a first estimation result; a second estimator configured to estimate a second self-position in a second coordinate system to obtain a second estimation result, wherein the second coordinate system is different from the first coordinate system; a coordinate transformer configured to transform the second estimation result by the second estimator from the second coordinate system to the first coordinate system based on a transformation parameter; a storage configured to store the first estimation result and the second estimation result as a first control point in a case where a reliability of the first estimation result by the first estimator at a time of interest and a reliability of the second estimation result by the second estimator at the time of interest are one of equal to or higher than a threshold; and a parameter generator configured to generate the transformation parameter based on: the first control point at the time of interest stored in the storage, and a second control point before the time of interest. ### Claim 18 An information processing device, comprising: a first estimator configured to estimate a first self-position in a first coordinate system to obtain a first estimation result; a second estimator configured to estimate a second self-position in a second coordinate system to obtain a second estimation result, wherein the second coordinate system is different from the first coordinate system; a coordinate transformer configured to transform the second estimation result by the second estimator from the second coordinate system to the first coordinate system based on a transformation parameter; a processor configured to: set a first region having a reliability of the first estimation result lower than a certain value, evaluate the reliability to be low in a case where the first estimation result at a time of interest is within the first region; evaluate the reliability to be high in a case where the first estimation result at the time of interest is outside the first region; and control a storage to store the first estimation result at the time of interest and the second estimation result at the time of interest as a first control point in a case where the reliability of the first estimation result at the time of interest is high; and a parameter generator configured to generate the transformation parameter based on the first control point at the time of interest and a second control point before the time of interest. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The information processing device according to claim 18, wherein the first region is set in advance.