Information processing apparatus, vehicle, information processing method, and storage medium

1 . An information processing apparatus, comprising:

an inertial sensor provided in a vehicle;

a position and orientation sensor provided in the vehicle separately from the inertial sensor, wherein the position and orientation sensor measures a position and an orientation of the vehicle; and

at least one processor or circuit configured to function as:

a position and orientation estimation unit configured to perform a first estimation processing by using an output from the inertial sensor to generate a first estimation result, perform a second estimation processing by using an output from the position and orientation sensor to generate a second estimation result, and to integrate the first estimation result and the second estimation result to perform estimation processing for a position and an orientation of the vehicle;

a movement state acquisition unit configured to acquire a movement state of the vehicle as to whether or not the vehicle is in a state of rest or is in a state of not rest;

a first weighting determining unit configured to determine, when the position and orientation estimation unit integrates the first estimation result and the second estimation result, a first weighting of the first estimation result to be weighted lower than the second estimation result in a case where the movement state of the vehicle that has been acquired by the movement state acquisition unit is in the state of rest than in the state of not rest;

a control unit configured to control a movement of the vehicle based on the estimation processing for the position and the orientation of the vehicle that has been estimated by the position and orientation estimation unit;

a degree of reliability acquisition unit configured to acquire a degree of reliability for the position and orientation that has been measured by the position and orientation sensor; and

a second weighting determining unit configured to determine a second weighting in relation to the output information from the position and orientation sensor based on the degree of reliability,

wherein the position and orientation estimation unit performs the estimation processing based on the output from the position and orientation sensor, the output from the inertial sensor, the first weighting, and the second weighting.

2 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the position and orientation sensor includes at least one of an image capturing unit configured to capture images of a subject, a distance measuring unit configured to measure a distance of a subject, a GPS, or a LiDAR.

3 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the movement state acquisition unit and the position and orientation sensor use the image capturing unit.

4 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the movement state acquisition unit acquires the movement state of the vehicle by using at least one of an image capturing unit, a distance measuring unit, an encoder, a GPS, or a drive command to a drive source.

5 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the movement state acquisition unit acquires, as the movement state, at least one of whether or not a movement amount of the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold, whether or not an acceleration of the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold, or whether or not an angular velocity of the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold.

6 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first weighting determining unit makes the first weighting in relation to the output information from the inertial sensor lower than a predetermined value in a case where at least one of a movement amount of the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold, an acceleration of the vehicle is below a predetermine threshold, or an angular velocity of the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold.

7 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the degree of reliability acquisition unit calculates the degree of reliability based on at least one from among a number or a distribution of feature points detected from an image from the output from the position and orientation sensor, a luminance of the image, change of the luminance, a number of moving bodies in the image, a presence or absence of a pre-determined subject in the image, or a radio wave reception state for a GPS.

8 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to move or change a posture of the vehicle.

9 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit performs control to make the vehicle accelerate or decelerate in a case where an acceleration of the vehicle is at or below a predetermined threshold.

10 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit performs control to change the movement or the posture of the vehicle in a case where an angular velocity of the vehicle is at or below a predetermined threshold.

11 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the

control unit is further configured to control a change in movement or posture of the vehicle to improve the degree of reliability in a case where the degree of reliability that has been acquired by the degree of reliability acquisition unit is at or below a predetermined threshold.

12 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a display unit configured to display a weighting determined by the first weighting determining unit along with a current position of the vehicle.

13 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the degree of reliability acquisition unit is configured to acquire the degree of reliability for the position and orientation based on at least one of the number of feature points in an image, a deviation in the distribution of feature points in an image, a brightness in the image, the number of objects, or the reception state for the radio wave.

14 . A vehicle comprising:

an inertial sensor provided in the vehicle;

a position and orientation sensor provided in the vehicle separately from the inertial sensor, wherein the position and orientation sensor measures a position and an orientation of the vehicle; and

at least one processor or circuit configured to function as:

a position and orientation estimation unit configured to perform a first estimation processing by using an output from the inertial sensor to generate a first estimation result, performs a second estimation processing by using an output from the position and orientation sensor to generate a second estimation result, and integrates the first estimation result and the second estimation result to perform estimation processing for a position and orientation of the vehicle;

a movement state acquisition unit configured to acquire a movement state of the vehicle as to whether or not the vehicle is in a state of rest or is in a state of not rest;

a first weighting determining unit configured to determine, when the position and orientation estimation unit integrates the first estimation result and the second estimation result, a first weighting of the first estimation result to be weighted lower than the second estimation result in a case where the movement state of the vehicle that has been acquired by the movement state acquisition unit is in the state of rest than in the state of not rest;

a movement control unit configured to control a movement of the vehicle based on the estimation processing for the position and the orientation of the vehicle that has been estimated by the position and orientation estimation unit;

a degree of reliability acquisition unit configured to acquire a degree of reliability for the position and orientation that has been measured by the position and orientation sensor; and

a second weighting determining unit configured to determine a second weighting in relation to the output information from the position and orientation sensor based on the degree of reliability,

wherein the position and orientation estimation unit performs the estimation processing based on the output from the position and orientation sensor, the output from the inertial sensor, the first weighting, and the second weighting.

15 . An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus provided with an inertial sensor provided in a vehicle, and a position and orientation sensor provided in the vehicle separately from the inertial sensor, wherein the position and orientation sensor measures a position and an orientation of the vehicle, the method executed by at least one processor or circuit and comprising:

a position and orientation estimating step of performing a first estimation processing by using an output from the inertial sensor to generate a first estimation result, performing a second estimation processing by using an output from the position and orientation sensor to generate a second estimation result, and integrating the first estimation result and the second estimation result to perform estimation processing for position and an orientation of the vehicle;

acquiring a state of movement of the vehicle as to whether or not the vehicle is in a state of rest or is in a state of not rest;

determining, when the position and orientation estimating step integrates the first estimation result and the second estimation result, a first weighting of the first estimation result to be weighted lower than the second estimation result in a case where the movement state of the vehicle that has been acquired by the acquiring is in the state of rest than in the state of not rest;

controlling a movement of the vehicle based on the estimation processing for the position and the orientation of the vehicle that has been estimated by the position and orientation estimating step;

a degree of reliability acquisition step of acquiring a degree of reliability for the position and orientation that has been measured by the position and orientation sensor; and

determining a second weighting in relation to the output information from the position and orientation sensor based on the degree of reliability,

wherein the position and orientation estimation step performs the estimation processing based on the output from the position and orientation sensor, the output from the inertial sensor, the first weighting, and the second weighting.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program executed by an information processing apparatus including an inertial sensor provided in a vehicle and a position an orientation sensor provided in the vehicle separately from the inertial sensor, wherein the position and orientation sensor measures a position and an orientation of the vehicle, the computer program comprising code to execute the following processes:

a position and orientation estimating step of performing a first estimation processing by using an output from the inertial sensor to generate a first estimation result, performing a second estimation processing by using an output from the position and orientation sensor to generate a second estimation result, and integrating the first estimation result and the second estimation result to perform estimation processing for position and an orientation of the vehicle;

acquiring a state of movement of the vehicle as to whether the vehicle is in a state of rest or is in a state of not rest;

determining, when the position and orientation estimating step integrates the first estimation result and the second estimation result, a first weighting of the first estimation result to be weighted lower than the second estimation result in a case where the movement state of the vehicle that has been acquired by the acquiring is in the state of rest than in the state of not rest;

controlling a movement of the vehicle based on the estimation processing for the position and the orientation of the vehicle that has been estimated by the position and orientation estimating step;

a degree of reliability acquisition step of acquiring a degree of reliability for the position and orientation that has been measured by the position and orientation sensor; and

determining a second weighting in relation to the output information from the position and orientation sensor based on the degree of reliability,

wherein the position and orientation estimation step performs the estimation processing based on the output from the position and orientation sensor, the output from the inertial sensor, the first weighting, and the second weighting.