Map information processing method and apparatus for correlating road location on a road network map

An automatic road recognition method employing a computer, comprising the steps of:

• inputting road margin line information representing road profile on a map and non-road figure information which cannot reside in road planes, to thus detect, with regard to portions being put between road margin lines, road plane candidate indices including parallelism indices as to parallelism between road margin lines, distance indices as to distance between road margin lines and non-road indices as to whether non-road figure resides in;
• estimating that either side of the road margin lines is the road plane based on the road plane candidate indices on both sides of the road margin lines;
• and
• determining as the road plane a region which resides between two road margin lines opposing to other on the side estimated as the road plane side and in which each the non-road figure cannot reside.

An automatic road recognition apparatus comprising:

• road candidate detecting means for detecting, with regard to portions being put between road margin lines, road plane candidate indices including parallelism indices as to parallelism between road margin lines and distance indices as to distance between road margin lines by inputting road margin line information representing road profile on a map;
• road plane side estimating means for estimating that either side of the road margin lines is the road plane based on the road plane candidate indices on both sides of the road margin lines;
• and
• road plane determining means for determining as the road plane a region which resides between two road margin lines opposing to each other on the side estimated as the road plane side.

A map information processing method employing a computer, comprising the steps of:

• inputting a road network map which includes road constituent points formed of starting points, end points and interpolation points, and information indicating locations of the road constituent points and represents connection relations between respective roads as a graphic structure, and another arbitrary map which includes road profile information;
• detecting a plurality of corresponding candidate points as candidates of corresponding points on the other arbitrary map to the road constituent points by collating road images near respective road constituent points on the road network map with road images of corresponding location on the other arbitrary map;
• and
• correlating road location on the road network map with road location on the other arbitrary map, by selecting one of the plurality of corresponding candidate points one by one with respect to respective road constituent points, summing up differences between feature amounts representing intersecting angles of roads to be connected mutually on respective road constituent points of shifted road network and feature amounts on respective road constituent points of original road network while shifting respective road constituent points to locations of selected corresponding candidate points, and determining one corresponding candidate point based on amount of the summed differences corresponding to respective corresponding candidate points.

A map information processing apparatus for correlating road location on the road network map with road location on another arbitrary map by inputting a road network map which includes road constituent points formed of starting points, end points and interpolation points, and information indicating locations of the road constituent points and represents connection relations between respective roads as a graphic structure, and another arbitrary map which includes road profile information, the apparatus comprising:

• corresponding candidate detecting means for detecting a plurality of corresponding candidate points as candidates of corresponding points on the other arbitrary map to the road constituent points by collating road images near respective road constituent points on the road network map with road images of corresponding location on the other arbitrary map;
• and
• correspondence determining means for selecting one of the plurality of corresponding candidate points one by one with respect to respective road constituent points, summing up differences between feature amounts representing intersecting angles of roads to be connected mutually on respective road constituent points of shifted road network and feature amounts on respective road constituent points of original road network while shifting respective road constituent points to locations of selected corresponding candidate points, and determining one corresponding candidate point based on amount of the summed differences corresponding to respective corresponding candidate points.