Generating a graphic model of a geographic object and systems thereof
View Patent ↗Systems, devices, features, and methods for constructing a graphic model of a geographic object, such as a road sign or features thereof, from an image, such as, for example, to develop a navigation database are disclosed. For example, one method comprises receiving a plurality of images of regions, such as of roads or paths. An image of the plurality of images is identified. A process to determine scale-invariant components of a geographic object in the identified image may be performed. Other processes, such as generating a dictionary to facilitate optical character recognition may be performed. A graphic model of the geographic object is generated based on the scale-invariant components and/or the optical character recognition. The generated graphic model may be associated with a navigation or map database.
1. A method of automatically constructing a graphic model of a road sign from an image to enhance a navigation database, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of images of regions about roads;
identifying an image of the plurality of images that includes a road sign;
performing a scale-invariant feature transform on the road sign in the image;
generating a graphic model of the road sign based on results of the scale-invariant feature transform, wherein generating the graphic model includes:
matching scale-invariant components determined from performing the scale-invariant feature transform with reference scale-invariant components in a data library;
identifying a road sign symbol of the road sign in the image based on the matching; and
retrieving a graphic road sign symbol icon from a template database based on identifying the road sign symbol;
generating a local dictionary by retrieving text data of geographic features within a configurable area around a location associated with the identified image, the text data of the geographic features retrieved from the navigation database; and
associating the graphic model of the road sign with the navigation database.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the road sign in the image comprises a traffic guide sign.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the road sign in the image comprises an expressway sign.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of images comprise raster images.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphic model of the road sign is in a scalable vector graphics format.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing optical character recognition on the road sign in the image based on the generated local dictionary.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the graphic model is also based on results of the optical character recognition.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the configurable area is configured based on selecting a radius about the location.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the location comprises a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to performing the scale-invariant feature transform, performing image segmentation on the road sign in the image.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein generating the graphic model includes laying out the graphic road sign symbol icon as a function of the image segmentation.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting an arrow of the road sign in the image based on binary matching.
13. A computer-readable medium configured to store a computer program that performs a method of sign reconstruction from a path image, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of images of paths;
identifying an image of the plurality of images that includes a path sign;
selecting an image representation of the path sign from the identified image;
performing image segmentation on the image representation of the path sign, the image segmentation including identifying different regions of the path sign;
generating a dictionary by retrieving words associated with geographic features from a configurable area around a location associated with the identified image;
performing optical character recognition on at least one of the different regions in the image representation of the path sign as a function of the dictionary to identify text of the path sign;
performing a scale-invariant feature transform on at least one of the different regions in the image representation of the path sign to identify a path sign feature;
generating a graphic model of the path sign based on the image segmentation, the identified text of the path sign, and the identified path sign feature; and
associating the graphic model with the master navigation database.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating the graphic model comprises retrieving graphic template characters corresponding to the identified text.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating the graphic model comprises retrieving a graphic template symbol corresponding to the identified path sign feature.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein associating the graphic model with the master navigation database includes storing the graphic model as a geographic data attribute in a road segment data record.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein associating the graphic model with the master navigation database includes linking or indexing the graphic model with a road segment data record.
18. A method for constructing a graphic model of a geographic object from an image, the method comprising:
receiving an image from a plurality of collected images of geographic areas, the image including a desired geographic object;
determining scale-invariant components of the desired geographic object in the image;
matching the determined scale-invariant components with reference scale-invariant components in a map data library;
identifying a symbol of the desired geographic object in the image based on the matching;
generating a graphic model of the desired geographic object based on the identified symbol and based on a roadway associated with the desired geographic object.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the graphic model comprises selecting a symbol icon based on the identified symbol.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the identified symbol comprises a shield symbol of a road sign.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the map data library comprises a local library generated based on a location associated with the image.
22. A graphic model of a path object displayed on a navigation user interface, the graphic model generated from a method of reconstructing a geographic object from an image, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of images corresponding to paths;
identifying an image of the plurality of images that includes a path object;
determining scale-invariant features of the path object in the image to identify a symbol of the path object; and
generating a graphic model of the path object based on the identified symbol of the path object in the image, wherein generating the graphic model includes retrieving a graphical icon from a template database based on the identified symbol, wherein the graphic model includes an image representation of at least one path and the path object.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the determined scale-invariant features comprise gradient vectors.
24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the graphic model includes the image representation of the at least one path and the path object.
25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphic model includes the graphic road sign symbol icon positioned next to an image representation of a roadway.
26. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the location associated with the identified image, wherein the location is determined via a positioning system.