JP2024082471A - Information processing apparatus and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To realize highly accurate gravity axis direction estimation.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus comprises: inertial sensor information acquisition means that acquires information from an inertial sensor; movement information acquisition means that acquires movement information of a mobile object; movement amount calculation means that calculates a movement amount of the mobile object on the basis of the movement information acquired by the movement information acquisition means; parameter estimation execution determination means that determines whether parameter estimation is executed on the basis of the movement amount calculated by the movement amount calculation means; position attitude information acquisition means that acquires position attitude information of the mobile object; and parameter estimation means that estimates a parameter of the inertial sensor on the basis of the position attitude information of the mobile object acquired by the position attitude information acquisition means and the information acquired by the inertial sensor information acquisition means when it is determined that the parameter estimation execution determination means executes parameter estimation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device and a control method.

Autonomous moving objects such as robots are known. To enable the autonomous movement of such moving objects, an information processing device executes a self-position estimation process and a position and orientation measurement process such as three-dimensional modeling of objects and space. For such processes, not only an imaging device or Lidar but also an inertial measurement sensor may be used in combination. Lidar is an abbreviation for Light Detection and Ranging. For example, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) is used as an inertial measurement sensor. An IMU is an example of an inertial sensor.

When using an inertial sensor in combination, the measurement value contains a bias value, so it is necessary to estimate the bias value when estimating the position and orientation. The bias value can be estimated from time-series data that varies with the position and orientation of the inertial sensor. In addition, since the acceleration includes gravitational acceleration in addition to the acceleration of the sensor, it is necessary to separate the acceleration of the sensor and the acceleration of gravity from the measurement value.

Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method for gradually estimating the direction of the gravity axis relative to the inertial sensor at the same time as the bias value, and calculating the gravitational acceleration from the measured value.

C. Campos, R. Elvira, J. J. G. Rodriguez, J. M. M. Montiel and J. D. Tardos, "ORB-SLAM3: An Accurate Open-Source Library for Visual, Visual-Inertial, and Multimap SLAM," in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, doi: 10.1109/TRO.2021.3075644.

However, with conventional technology, there was an issue that the accuracy of gravity axis direction estimation was low when measurement values with the position and orientation fluctuations required for estimating the gravity axis direction were not collected.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to achieve highly accurate estimation of the gravity axis direction.

An information processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention is an information processing device that estimates parameters of an inertial sensor mounted on a moving body, and is characterized by having an inertial sensor information acquisition means for acquiring information from the inertial sensor, a motion information acquisition means for acquiring information on the motion of the moving body, a motion amount calculation means for calculating a motion amount of the moving body based on the motion information acquired by the motion information acquisition means, a parameter estimation implementation determination means for determining whether or not to perform parameter estimation based on the motion amount calculated by the motion amount calculation means, a position and orientation information acquisition means for acquiring position and orientation information of the moving body, and a parameter estimation means for estimating parameters of the inertial sensor based on the position and orientation information of the moving body acquired by the position and orientation information acquisition means and the information acquired by the inertial sensor information acquisition means when the parameter estimation implementation determination means determines that parameter estimation is to be performed.

The present invention makes it possible to achieve highly accurate estimation of the gravity axis direction.

1 is a functional block diagram of a moving object 200 including an information processing device 100 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a usage scene of an information processing device 100 according to a first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of a moving object 200 including an information processing device 100 according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of the information processing device 100 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of a moving object 200 including an information processing device 100 according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display by a display device 210 according to a first modified example.

The following describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention as claimed, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

In this embodiment, an information processing device is described that estimates parameters of an inertial sensor mounted on a moving object that moves around a predetermined route while estimating the position and orientation, in the case where the moving object is equipped with a camera and an inertial sensor. The position and orientation of the moving object is estimated, for example, by SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). Note that the configuration shown in this embodiment is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the figure.

The acceleration and angular velocity values observed by the inertial sensor are the true values plus noise and a bias value. Therefore, in order to use the correct acceleration and angular velocity for position and orientation estimation, the bias value must be estimated correctly, and the bias value is also estimated at the same time as position and orientation estimation. In addition, the measured acceleration value includes gravitational acceleration. Therefore, it is necessary to separate the gravitational acceleration from the measured acceleration value. To separate the gravitational acceleration, it is necessary to estimate the gravity axis direction with respect to the inertial sensor and accurately grasp the gravitational acceleration included in the measured value.

In this embodiment, the method for calculating the direction of the gravity axis for the inertial sensor is the method described in Non-Patent Document 1. That is, in this embodiment, the gravity axis direction and the acceleration/angular velocity bias values for the inertial sensor are simultaneously estimated using position and orientation information for each point observed by the inertial sensor. The position and orientation information for each point observed by the inertial sensor is calculated by estimating the position and orientation using sensor information capable of estimating the position and orientation, such as a camera mounted on the moving body, at the same time as the inertial sensor measurement. In order to improve the accuracy of the gravity axis direction estimation, it is desirable to use various position and orientation information, and therefore the moving body is required to move in a manner that includes translation and rotation that changes the position and orientation.

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of a moving body 200 including an information processing device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The moving body 200 shown in Fig. 1 has a driving device (not shown) for movement and a moving body control unit for controlling the operation of the entire moving body 200. The moving body control unit includes a CPU and memory as a computer, and drives the moving body using the driving device based on position and orientation information estimated by a position and orientation estimation unit 180 outside the information processing device 100. CPU is an abbreviation for Central Processing Unit.

Furthermore, each functional block shown in FIG. 1 does not have to be built into the same housing, and may be configured as separate devices connected to each other via signal paths. Note that the above explanation regarding FIG. 1 also applies to the functional blocks described below with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 7.

The moving body 200 has an information processing device 100, a camera 170, a position and orientation estimation unit 180, and an inertial sensor 190. The information processing device 100 has a motion information acquisition unit 110, a motion amount calculation unit 120, a parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130, a position and orientation information acquisition unit 140, an inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150, and a parameter estimation unit 160.

The motion information acquisition unit 110 acquires information that indicates changes in the position and orientation of the moving body 200. In this embodiment, the position and orientation information of the moving body 200 is acquired. The motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the amount by which the moving body 200 has moved, i.e., the amount of movement and the amount of rotation. The parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines whether or not to implement parameter estimation based on the amount of movement calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120.

The position and orientation information acquisition unit 140 acquires the position and orientation information of the moving body 200 used by the parameter estimation unit 160. In this embodiment, the information acquired by the motion information acquisition unit 110 and the position and orientation information acquisition unit 140 is the same.

The inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 acquires information acquired by the inertial sensor 190, i.e., the measured values of the acceleration and angular velocity of the moving body 200.

When the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines that parameter estimation is to be performed, the parameter estimation unit 160 estimates the parameters of the inertial sensor, i.e., the gravity axis direction. At this time, the parameter estimation unit 160 estimates the parameters of the inertial sensor using the position and orientation information acquired by the position and orientation information acquisition unit 140 and the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity acquired by the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the information processing device 100 according to the first embodiment. The information processing device 100 has a CPU 211, a ROM 212, a RAM 213, an external memory 214, an input unit 215, a display unit 216, a communication I/F 217, and an I/O unit 218. ROM is an abbreviation for Read Only Memory. RAM is an abbreviation for Random Access Memory. I/F is an abbreviation for interface. I/O is an abbreviation for Input/Output.

The CPU 211 functions as a control means that controls the operation of each part of the device connected to the system bus 221 based on a computer program stored in a memory (such as ROM 212) serving as a storage medium. The ROM 212 stores the BIOS program, boot program, and other computer programs. BIOS is an abbreviation for Basic Input Output System. The RAM 213 is used as the main storage device of the CPU 211. The external memory 214 is a memory such as an HDD or SSD, and stores the programs processed by the information processing device 100. HDD is an abbreviation for Hard Disk Drive. SSD is an abbreviation for Solid State Drive.

The input unit 215 performs processing related to the input of information, etc., via a keyboard, mouse, etc. The display unit 216 outputs the results of calculations by the information processing device 100 to the display device 210 in accordance with instructions from the CPU 211. The display device 210 may be of any type, such as a liquid crystal display device, a projector, or an LED indicator.

The communication I/F 217 communicates information via a network. Communication by the communication I/F 217 may be via Ethernet, USB, serial communication, wireless communication, or any other type of communication. USB is an abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus. The communication I/F 217 also communicates with an external server, and stores various data in the external server. The I/O unit 218 inputs the position and orientation information of the moving body from the position and orientation estimation unit 180, and the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity from the inertial sensor 190. The results of parameter estimation by the parameter estimation unit 160 are output to the moving body control device 220.

Some of the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 are realized by having the CPU 211 included in the information processing device 100 execute computer programs stored in the ROM 212, the external memory 214, etc. However, some or all of them may be realized by hardware. As the hardware, a dedicated circuit (ASIC) or a processor (reconfigurable processor, DSP), etc. may be used. The CPU 211 is an example of a computer included in the information processing device 100. The ROM 212, the external memory 214, etc. are examples of memory as a storage medium.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a usage scene of the information processing device 100 according to the first embodiment. A moving body 300 is an example of a moving body according to the first embodiment. The moving body 300 has an imaging device 301. The moving body 300 moves and captures an image of the environment with the imaging device 301 integrated with an inertial sensor. The moving body 300 transmits the detection result of the inertial sensor and the image capture result of the imaging device 301 to the information processing device 100. The information processing device 100 estimates the position and orientation of the moving body by a position and orientation estimation unit 180 integrated with the information processing device 100. The information processing device 100 includes a display device 210, and a user 302 checks the processing result of the information processing device 100 on the display device 210.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing device 100 according to the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing described in the flowchart is realized by the CPU 211 executing a computer program stored in a memory (such as the ROM 212) serving as a storage medium. The information processing device 100 starts operating when the moving object 200 starts moving and starts position and orientation estimation.

In step S400, the motion information acquisition unit 110 acquires motion information such as how the moving body 200 moved. In this embodiment, the motion information acquisition unit 110 acquires position and orientation information of the moving body 200 at each point where the position and orientation are estimated. The position and orientation information acquired here is position and orientation information estimated by a position and orientation estimation unit 180 that is external to the information processing device 100. The position and orientation estimation unit 180 estimates the position and orientation information without using the inertial sensor 190. The position and orientation estimation unit 180 estimates the position and orientation of the moving body 200 until the operation of the information processing device 100 is completed.

In step S401, the motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the amount of motion of the moving object 200. In this embodiment, the motion amount calculation unit 120 uses the position and orientation information of the moving object 200 acquired by the motion information acquisition unit 110. The motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the amount of change in position and orientation between points from the position and orientation information of each point estimated by the position and orientation estimation unit 180. The motion amount calculation unit 120 then calculates the amount of motion by accumulating the amount of change in position and orientation from the point where the operation of the information processing device 100 started. The motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the amount of motion separately into a movement amount and a rotation amount. The motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the amount of movement from the accumulated value of the amount of change in position, and calculates the amount of rotation from the accumulated value of the amount of change in orientation.

In step S402, the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines whether or not to perform parameter estimation based on the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120. The parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 sets one condition for the amount of motion in order to determine whether or not to perform parameter estimation. This condition is that the amount of movement is equal to or greater than a threshold for the amount of movement, or that the amount of rotation is equal to or greater than a threshold for the amount of rotation. This condition may also be set by setting thresholds for the amount of movement and the amount of rotation, and that the amount of movement and the amount of rotation are equal to or greater than the respective thresholds. The parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines to perform parameter estimation when the amount of movement and the amount of rotation calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 are equal to or greater than the respective thresholds.

If the result of the determination in step S402 is that the parameter estimation implementation conditions are not met, parameter estimation is not performed, and the process proceeds from step S403 to step S400, where motion information is acquired again.

If the result of the determination in step S402 is that the parameter estimation implementation conditions are met, the process proceeds from step S403 to step S406.

Note that while the processes from step S400 to step S403 are being executed, the position and orientation information acquisition unit 140 acquires the position and orientation information of the moving body 200 in step S404. Also, while the processes from step S400 to step S403 are being executed, the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 acquires the information acquired by the inertial sensor 190 in step S405, i.e., the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity. The processes of steps S404 and S405 are repeated until the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines in step S403 to perform parameter estimation.

In step S406, the parameter estimation unit 160 performs parameter estimation. The parameter estimation in this embodiment is an estimation of the direction of the gravity axis relative to the inertial sensor. The method of estimating the direction of the gravity axis is as described in Non-Patent Document 1. The above is the processing flow executed in the information processing device 100.

In this embodiment, the sensor that passes acquired information to the position and orientation estimation unit 180 is the camera 170, but the present invention is not limited to this. Any sensor that can acquire information that enables position and orientation estimation, other than an inertial sensor, such as Lidar or GPS, may be used. GPS is an abbreviation for Global Positioning System.

The position and orientation information acquired by the motion information acquisition unit 110 may be not only position and orientation information obtained by an estimation process such as SLAM, but also position and orientation information obtained using information obtained from outside the moving body 200, such as a surveillance camera. The same is true for the position and orientation information of the moving body 200 acquired by the position and orientation information acquisition unit 140, and is not limited to information obtained by an estimation process such as SLAM.

Movement information acquired by the motion information acquisition unit 110 is not limited to the position and orientation information of the moving body 200. The motion information acquisition unit 110 may acquire control information for moving the moving body 200 (hereinafter, simply referred to as control information) as the motion information. In this case, the motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the movement amount and the rotation amount from the speed, movement direction, movement distance, and movement time of the moving body 200, and the number of rotations and angle of the tires of the moving body 200, which are included in the control information. For example, if the movement distance is included in the control information, the motion amount calculation unit 120 converts the movement distance directly into the movement amount. If the control information includes information on the angle instruction for changing the direction of the moving body, the motion amount calculation unit 120 converts it directly into the rotation amount. Furthermore, the motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates the movement amount from the number of rotations of the tires, and calculates the rotation amount from the change in the angle of the tires.

In addition, the position and orientation information of the moving body 200 may be calculated using a sensor external to the moving body 200, such as a surveillance camera. Also, the route along which the moving body 200 will move may be created in advance as a route map, and coordinate values on the route map may be acquired. In this case, the amount of movement is calculated as the distance along the route between the coordinates on the route map.

In addition, information that can identify points, such as markers, is placed on the actual route, and the position and orientation of the moving body 200 is acquired by a method in which the moving body 200 is photographed with a camera while moving and the location of the moving body 200 is identified when the marker is confirmed. At this time, the position information of the markers is known. The markers are placed at regular intervals or at specific locations such as corners of passages or intersections. In this case, the marker information acquired while the moving body 200 is moving is acquired as motion information. The motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates, from the position information of each marker, the amount of change in position and orientation when the moving body 200 moves between markers, as the amount of motion.

In addition, a route map is created, and the amount of movement and rotation when moving along the route is calculated in advance. When the condition of the amount of movement used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 for determination is a case in which the amount of movement and rotation exceed a threshold value, a point on the route map where the amount of movement and rotation that satisfies the condition can be achieved is found. Then, the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 may determine to perform parameter estimation when a point that satisfies the condition has been passed.

In the above description, the motion amount calculation unit 120 calculates two motion amounts: the amount of movement and the amount of rotation. However, it is also possible to calculate only the amount used in the conditions used by the parameter implementation determination unit 130. For example, the parameter estimation implementation condition can be a condition for comparing only the amount of rotation with a threshold, in which case the motion amount calculation unit 120 can calculate the amount of movement as only the amount of rotation. Also, the parameter estimation implementation condition can be a condition for comparing only the amount of movement with a threshold, in which case the motion amount calculation unit 120 can calculate the amount of movement as only the amount of movement.

In the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130, the condition to be satisfied by the amount of movement is one, and the condition is set for both the amount of movement and the amount of rotation, but there may be multiple conditions, or the condition may be set for only the amount of movement or the amount of rotation. For example, a threshold may be set for each of the amount of movement and the amount of rotation, and the condition may be set to be satisfied when either the amount of movement or the amount of rotation is equal to or greater than the threshold. In addition to the condition for the amount of movement, a threshold may be set for the elapsed time since the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 started acquiring the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity, and a condition may be added that the elapsed time is equal to or greater than the threshold. For example, the condition for performing parameter estimation may be set to be that the elapsed time since the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 started acquiring the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity exceeds a predetermined time, which is a threshold for the elapsed time, or that any of the other conditions is satisfied.

The parameter estimation performed by the parameter estimation unit 160 has been described as estimating the direction of the gravity axis relative to the inertial sensor 190, but it may also be to estimate the bias values of the acceleration and angular velocity when the movement of the moving body 200 stops. The parameter estimation may be to estimate either the direction of the gravity axis or the bias values of the acceleration and angular velocity. The parameter estimation may be to estimate both the direction of the gravity axis and the bias values of the acceleration and angular velocity.

We will consider a case where the estimation of the gravity axis direction is completed and information from the inertial sensor 190 is also used in estimating the position and orientation of the moving body 200. In this case, when the movement of the moving body 200 stops, the estimation accuracy of the bias value included in the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity, which are the measured values of the inertial sensor 190, decreases, so the estimation of the bias value may be excluded from the position and orientation estimation process. In other words, the position and orientation estimation is performed without using the information from the inertial sensor 190. When the moving body 200 resumes movement, the estimation of the bias value is also resumed, but the time to resume can be determined by the method of the present invention. When the moving body 200 moves in a manner that satisfies the condition of the amount of movement set by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130, the bias value of the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity is estimated.

In the first embodiment, the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines to perform parameter estimation when the amount of movement of the moving body 200 satisfies a condition, thereby ensuring the accuracy of parameter estimation when the amount of movement is equal to or greater than a threshold.

On the other hand, when estimating parameters, the estimation accuracy can be improved by estimating the parameters in stages over multiple times. In the second embodiment, a parameter estimation end determination unit 500 (see FIG. 5) is provided, and a method of performing parameter estimation multiple times is described. Note that only the points that differ from the other embodiments will be briefly described.

Figure 5 is a functional block diagram of a moving body 200 including an information processing device 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, after the parameter estimation unit 160 performs parameter estimation, the parameter estimation end determination unit 500 determines whether or not to end the parameter estimation. In Figure 5, the same members or elements as those in Figure 1 are given the same reference numbers, and duplicated descriptions are omitted or simplified.

Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing device 100 according to the second embodiment. The processing from step S600 to step S606 is similar to the processing from step S400 to step S406 in Figure 4 described in the first embodiment, and therefore the description will be omitted.

In step S607, the parameter estimation end determination unit 500 determines whether or not to end parameter estimation. A condition is set for determining whether parameter estimation is to be ended, and if the condition is met, the parameter estimation ends in step S608. If the condition is not met, the process returns from step S608 to step S600, and the process is repeated.

In this embodiment, the condition used to determine whether parameter estimation is finished is when the number of times parameter estimation is performed exceeds a predetermined number. The process from step S600 to step S608 is repeated until the number of times parameter estimation is performed exceeds the predetermined number, and when the number of times exceeds the predetermined number, it is determined that the process is finished.

The parameter estimation end determination unit 500 may end the parameter estimation when the parameter estimation unit 160 has performed parameter estimation a predetermined number of times or more. The parameter estimation end determination unit 500 may end the parameter estimation when the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. The parameter estimation end determination unit 500 may end the parameter estimation when at least one of all of the listed conditions is satisfied.

In the second embodiment, a parameter estimation end determination unit 500 is newly provided, which allows parameter estimation to be performed multiple times until it is determined that the estimation is complete, thereby gradually improving the estimation accuracy of the gravity axis direction.

The conditions for determining the end set by the parameter estimation end determination unit 500 are not limited to those described above. The condition for determining the end may be when the elapsed time since the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 started acquiring the acceleration and angular velocity measurement values reaches a predetermined elapsed time. The condition for determining the end may be when a threshold is set for the amount of movement or rotation, as set by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130, and the amount of movement or rotation exceeds the threshold. The condition for determining the end may be when the amount of movement calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. A plurality of conditions may be set, and the end may be determined when any one of the conditions is satisfied, or when all of the conditions are satisfied. In addition, the parameter estimation convergence degree may be calculated from the result of the parameter estimation, and if it is determined that convergence has occurred, it may be determined that the end has occurred. The parameter estimation convergence degree is calculated from the amount of change in the estimated parameter value, and if the change is equal to or less than a certain value, it is determined that convergence has occurred. Alternatively, it may be determined that convergence has occurred when the residual calculated during parameter estimation is equal to or less than a certain value. Also, the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 sets multiple conditions, and if any of the conditions is satisfied, it is determined that parameter estimation is to be performed. The parameter estimation termination determination unit 500 may then determine that parameter estimation is to be terminated when all of the multiple conditions set by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 are satisfied. The parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 may also set multiple conditions and set the order of the conditions to be used in the implementation determination. In this case, the parameter estimation termination determination unit 500 checks the last condition in the order, and terminates the process if it is determined that parameter estimation is to be performed.

In the first embodiment, the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 was described as an integrated value of the amount of change in position and orientation from the point where the information processing device 100 started its operation. When parameter estimation is performed multiple times as in the second embodiment, the method of calculating the amount of motion is not limited to this, and the amount of motion may be calculated as an integrated value of the amount of change in position and orientation from the point where parameter estimation was performed immediately before. In addition, the point from which the integrated value of the amount of change in position and orientation is calculated may be changed depending on the parameter execution determination condition set by the parameter estimation execution determination unit 130.

In the first and second embodiments, a case where a determination is made as to whether or not to perform parameter estimation is described using the amount of motion so as to ensure the accuracy of parameter estimation. In the third embodiment, a method is described in which the result of the determination as to whether or not to perform parameter estimation is obtained and the moving body 200 is controlled based on that result.

In order to stably estimate the position and orientation of the moving body 200, it is necessary to estimate the gravity axis direction as soon as possible after the moving body 200 starts moving. In the third embodiment, a method is described in which the current amount of movement and the amount of movement that should be satisfied are grasped so that the moving body 200 quickly satisfies the amount of movement required by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130, and a method is reflected in the control of the moving body 200 so that the amount of movement that should be satisfied is achieved. Note that only the points that differ from the other embodiments will be briefly described.

Figure 7 is a functional block diagram of a mobile body 200 including an information processing device 100 according to Example 3. Note that in Figure 7, the same members or elements as those in Figure 1 are given the same reference numbers, and duplicated descriptions are omitted or simplified.

The mobile body control unit 700 receives the result of the determination made by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 and controls the mobile body 200 to continue moving until it is determined that parameter estimation should be performed.

Furthermore, the moving body control unit 700 may determine a control method for the moving body 200 from the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 so that it is determined that parameter estimation is performed. In this case, the moving body control unit 700 acquires the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 and a threshold value for the amount of motion used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 for the determination. In order to control the moving body so that it is determined that parameter estimation is performed, the moving body control unit 700 controls the moving body 200 so that the amount of motion is equal to or greater than the threshold. For example, the moving body control unit 700 changes at least one of the position or attitude of the moving body 200 beyond the amount of motion that satisfies the condition for the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 to determine that parameter estimation is performed. For example, the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 sets a threshold value for the amount of rotation and determines that parameter estimation is performed when the amount of rotation is equal to or greater than the threshold. In this case, the moving body control unit 700 acquires the amount of rotation from the motion amount calculation unit 120, calculates the amount of rotation required to be equal to or greater than the threshold, and rotates the moving body 200 by the amount of rotation. Assume that the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 sets thresholds for the amount of movement and the amount of rotation, and determines to implement parameter estimation when the amount of movement and the amount of rotation are equal to or greater than the thresholds. In this case, the moving body control unit 700 acquires the amount of movement and the amount of rotation from the motion amount calculation unit 120, and calculates the amount of movement and the amount of rotation required to be equal to or greater than the thresholds. At this time, if there is no amount of movement required to be equal to or greater than the thresholds, but only the amount of rotation, the moving body control unit 700 need only implement rotation control on the moving body. This is the method for controlling the moving body 200 so that parameter implementation estimation is implemented.

When the parameter implementation determination unit 130 sets conditions other than the condition for the amount of movement, the data acquired by the parameter estimation implementation determination result acquisition unit 700 acquires the index of the condition and the achievement content of the condition. For example, assume that a condition is set to perform parameter estimation when the elapsed time from when the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 starts acquiring the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. In this case, the mobile body control unit 700 acquires the elapsed time held by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 and the predetermined time at which parameter estimation is to be performed. The mobile body control unit 700 calculates the desired time to elapse from the current elapsed time and the predetermined time at which parameter estimation is to be performed, and controls the mobile body so that the mobile body continues to move for that time. When it is determined that parameter estimation is to be performed when the mobile body 200 passes a specified point on the route map, the mobile body control unit 700 acquires the current position and the specified point on the route map. The mobile body control unit 700 calculates the route from the current position to the specified point, and controls the mobile body 200 so that the mobile body 200 moves along that route.

[Modification 1]
As a modification of the first to third embodiments, an information processing device equipped with a display unit will be described. In the first to third embodiments, the execution of parameter estimation is determined using the amount of motion so as to ensure the accuracy of parameter estimation, and the moving body is controlled so as to perform parameter estimation early. In the first modification, a method of notifying the user of the result of the determination of the execution of parameter estimation and the status of parameter estimation will be described. Note that only the points different from the other embodiments will be briefly described.

The information processing device 100 includes a display unit 216. The information processing device 100 displays various result data from the motion amount calculation unit 120, the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130, and the parameter estimation unit 160 on the display device 210 via the display unit 216.

For example, the display device 210 displays the status of parameter estimation and the amount of motion required until parameter estimation is completed. When parameter estimation is performed once as in Example 1, the status of parameter estimation displays whether parameter estimation has been performed or not. When parameter estimation is performed multiple times as in Example 2, the status displays how much of the parameter estimation has been completed. This may be expressed as a percentage, with completion of parameter estimation being 100%, or the progress of parameter estimation may be defined in advance as a status and displayed as such. The amount of motion required until parameter estimation is completed is calculated by comparing the amount of motion up to the current threshold value used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 to determine whether parameter estimation should be performed, and calculating the amount of motion required to exceed the threshold value.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display by the display device 210 according to the first modified example. The display device 210 displays data on a GUI. GUI is an abbreviation for Graphical User Interface.

The display device 210 displays the status of parameter estimation and the amount of movement required to complete parameter estimation in the bottom right of the screen. The parameter estimation status may be displayed numerically, such as 70% complete, or as a status bar. The parameter estimation status may also be displayed as text, such as status 1.

The present invention may not only display the amount of movement required to exceed a threshold, such as the display of "Rotation amount: 30 degrees required" in FIG. 8, but may also display the movement that the moving body should make to perform parameter estimation, as described in Example 3. The display of the movement that the moving body should make to perform parameter estimation may be, for example, displayed as "turn 30 degrees." In addition, the amount of movement up to the present may be displayed, or all of these may be displayed, or at least one of them may be displayed.

The contents displayed on the GUI are not limited to those shown in FIG. 8. The amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120 may be displayed on the GUI. The threshold value for the amount of motion at which the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines that parameters should be estimated may be displayed on the GUI. The time elapsed since the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150 started acquiring the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity, the planned route, and the travel route so far may be displayed on the GUI. The results of parameter estimation by the parameter estimation unit 160 may be displayed on the GUI. The types of contents to be displayed may be one or more. The display unit 216 may acquire and display the motion information acquired by the motion information acquisition unit 110, the position and orientation information acquired by the position and orientation information acquisition unit 140, and the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity acquired by the inertial sensor information acquisition unit 150.

The method of notifying the user is not limited to displaying a GUI or text, but may be by voice or a predetermined sound. The log may be recorded, for example, as a file, so that the content of the notification to the user can be output separately as a log. If the status of parameter estimation and the amount of movement at that time are recorded in the log, the log can be analyzed to control the moving object so that parameter estimation is performed more quickly the next time the moving object is operated.

The display device 210 may display the motion information of the moving object 200 acquired by the motion information acquisition unit 110. The display device 210 may display the motion amount calculated by the motion amount calculation unit 120. The display device 210 may display at least one of the conditions used in the determination performed by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 and the determination result. The display device 210 may display at least one of the estimation result and the estimation status (parameter estimation status) of the parameter estimation unit 160. The display device 210 may display at least any one of all the display contents listed above.

[Modification 2]
In the second modification, a method will be described in which the threshold value used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 is adjusted during operation of the information processing device 100. In the second modification, an adjustment unit that performs this adjustment is provided.

When parameter estimation is performed multiple times as in Example 2, if parameter estimation is performed once and the parameter estimation status is nearly complete, for example 95%, it is determined that the number of parameter estimations to be performed thereafter should be small. In this case, the adjustment unit increases the threshold value so that the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines that parameter estimation should be performed fewer times. Alternatively, if parameter estimation is performed once and the parameter estimation status is far from completion, for example 10%, it is determined that the number of parameter estimations to be performed thereafter should be large. In this case, the adjustment unit decreases the threshold value so that the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 determines that parameter estimation should be performed more times.

In this modified example, the information processing device 100 includes an adjustment unit. The adjustment unit refers to the conditions used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130 to determine whether to perform parameter estimation and the parameter estimation results in the parameter estimation unit 160, and then adjusts the conditions used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130. Specifically, the adjustment unit adjusts the threshold value set in the conditions.

In this modified example, the provision of the adjustment unit described above makes it possible to more accurately set the conditions used by the parameter estimation implementation determination unit 130. This adjustment unit makes it possible to set conditions taking into account individual differences in the inertial sensor and the tendency of the moving body to move.

The present invention can also be realized by executing the following process. That is, software (programs) that realize the functions of the above-described embodiments are supplied to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads and executes the programs. The programs may also be provided by recording them on a computer-readable recording medium. MPU is an abbreviation for Micro Processing Unit.

Other Embodiments
The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

The above describes preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention.

The disclosure of this embodiment includes the following configurations and methods.
(Configuration 1)
An information processing device that estimates parameters of an inertial sensor mounted on a moving object, comprising:
an inertial sensor information acquisition means for acquiring information from the inertial sensor;
A motion information acquisition means for acquiring information on the motion of the moving object;
a motion amount calculation means for calculating a motion amount of the moving object based on the motion information acquired by the motion information acquisition means;
a parameter estimation execution determination means for determining whether or not to execute parameter estimation based on the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation means;
a position and orientation information acquisition means for acquiring position and orientation information of the moving body;
When the parameter estimation execution determination means determines that parameter estimation is to be executed,
a parameter estimation means for estimating parameters of the inertial sensor based on the position and orientation information of the moving body acquired by the position and orientation information acquisition means and the information acquired by the inertial sensor information acquisition means;
13. An information processing device comprising:
(Configuration 2)
the parameter estimation execution determination means determines to execute parameter estimation when a change in position of the moving object is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or a change in attitude of the moving object is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or when both of these conditions are satisfied;
2. The information processing device according to configuration 1.
(Configuration 3)
the parameter estimation implementation determination means determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the inertial sensor started acquiring information, whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the inertial sensor started acquiring information, whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the inertial sensor started acquiring information, whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the inertial sensor started acquiring information,
If any one of the above conditions is satisfied, it is determined that parameter estimation is to be performed.
2. The information processing device according to configuration 1.
(Configuration 4)
the motion information acquisition means acquires position and orientation information of the moving object;
the motion amount calculation means calculates an amount of change in a position and orientation of the moving body from a point where the moving body starts moving to a current point as a motion amount;
4. The information processing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 3.
(Configuration 5)
When at least one of the cases where the parameter estimation means has performed parameter estimation a predetermined number of times or more, or the motion amount calculated by the motion amount calculation means is a predetermined amount or more, is satisfied,
The method further includes a parameter estimation end determination means for determining to end the parameter estimation.
5. An information processing device having any one of configurations 1 to 4.
(Configuration 6)
The method further includes a moving object control means for changing at least one of a position or a posture of the moving object so that the amount of movement exceeds a condition that satisfies a condition for determining that parameter estimation is to be performed by the parameter estimation execution determination means.
6. The information processing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 5.
(Configuration 7)
the motion information of the moving object acquired by the motion information acquisition means, the motion amount calculated by the motion amount calculation means, the conditions and the determination result used in the determination performed by the parameter estimation implementation determination means,
and further comprising a display means for displaying at least one of the estimation result and the estimation status of the parameter estimation means.
7. The information processing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 6.
(Configuration 8)
The parameter execution determination means further includes an adjustment means for adjusting the conditions used by the parameter execution determination means.
8. The information processing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 7.
(Method 1)
A method for controlling an information processing device that estimates parameters of an inertial sensor mounted on a moving object, comprising:
an inertial sensor information acquisition step of acquiring information from the inertial sensor;
a motion information acquisition step of acquiring information on the motion of the moving object;
a motion amount calculation step of calculating a motion amount of the moving object based on the motion information acquired in the motion information acquisition step;
a parameter estimation execution determination step of determining whether or not to perform parameter estimation based on the amount of motion calculated in the amount of motion calculation step;
a position and orientation information acquisition step of acquiring position and orientation information of the moving body;
When it is determined that parameter estimation is to be performed in the parameter estimation execution determination step,
a parameter estimation step of estimating parameters of the inertial sensor based on the position and orientation information of the moving body acquired in the position and orientation information acquisition step and the information acquired in the inertial sensor information acquisition step;
A control method comprising the steps of:

100 Information processing device 110 Motion information acquisition unit 120 Motion amount calculation unit 130 Parameter estimation implementation determination unit 140 Position and orientation information acquisition unit 150 Sensitivity sensor information acquisition unit 160 Parameter estimation unit

Claims (9)

An information processing device that estimates parameters of an inertial sensor mounted on a moving object, comprising:
an inertial sensor information acquisition means for acquiring information from the inertial sensor;
A motion information acquisition means for acquiring information on the motion of the moving object;
a motion amount calculation means for calculating a motion amount of the moving object based on the motion information acquired by the motion information acquisition means;
a parameter estimation execution determination means for determining whether or not to execute parameter estimation based on the amount of motion calculated by the motion amount calculation means;
a position and orientation information acquisition means for acquiring position and orientation information of the moving body;
a parameter estimation means for estimating a parameter of the inertial sensor based on the position and orientation information of the moving body acquired by the position and orientation information acquisition means and the information acquired by the inertial sensor information acquisition means when the parameter estimation execution determination means determines that parameter estimation is to be executed;
13. An information processing device comprising: the parameter estimation execution determination means determines to execute parameter estimation when a change in position of the moving object is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or a change in attitude of the moving object is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or when both of these conditions are satisfied;
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the parameter estimation execution determination means determines to execute parameter estimation when any one of the following conditions is satisfied: when a time elapsed since the inertial sensor started acquiring information exceeds a predetermined time, when the moving body starts moving and a change in position of the moving body is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and when a change in attitude of the moving body is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the motion information acquisition means acquires position and orientation information of the moving object;
the motion amount calculation means calculates an amount of change in a position and orientation of the moving body from a point where the moving body starts moving to a current point as a motion amount;
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, The method further includes a parameter estimation end determination means for determining to end the parameter estimation when at least one of the following cases is satisfied: the parameter estimation means has performed parameter estimation a predetermined number of times or more; or the motion amount calculated by the motion amount calculation means is a predetermined amount or more.
2. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 . The method further includes a moving object control means for changing at least one of a position or a posture of the moving object so that the amount of movement exceeds a condition that satisfies a condition for determining that parameter estimation is to be performed by the parameter estimation execution determination means.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, The method further comprises display means for displaying at least one of the motion information of the moving object acquired by the motion information acquisition means, the motion amount calculated by the motion amount calculation means, the conditions and the judgment result used in the judgment performed by the parameter estimation implementation judgment means, and the estimation result and the estimation status of the parameter estimation means.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, The parameter execution determination means further includes an adjustment means for adjusting the conditions used by the parameter execution determination means.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, A method for controlling an information processing device that estimates parameters of an inertial sensor mounted on a moving object, comprising:
an inertial sensor information acquisition step of acquiring information from the inertial sensor;
a motion information acquisition step of acquiring information on the motion of the moving object;
a motion amount calculation step of calculating a motion amount of the moving object based on the motion information acquired in the motion information acquisition step;
a parameter estimation execution determination step of determining whether or not to perform parameter estimation based on the amount of motion calculated in the amount of motion calculation step;
a position and orientation information acquisition step of acquiring position and orientation information of the moving body;
a parameter estimation step of estimating parameters of the inertial sensor based on the position and orientation information of the moving body acquired in the position and orientation information acquisition step and the information acquired in the inertial sensor information acquisition step, when it is determined in the parameter estimation execution determination step that parameter estimation is to be performed;
A control method comprising the steps of: