ESTIMATING TRAVELER VOLUME BY EVALUATING AERIAL IMAGES
Estimates may be compiled of a volume of travelers in an area, such as vehicles, pedestrians, and migratory wildlife. Such estimates are often compiled through human observation and/or the deployment of regional monitoring equipment, such as roadside cameras and road-embedded sensors; however, such techniques may entail significant costs in equipment purchase, deployment, monitoring, and maintenance, and may exhibit inadequate accuracy and/or rapidity of data collection. Presented herein are techniques for estimating a traveler volume in an area by using an aerial device, such as a drone, to capture an aerial image of the area from an aerial perspective, and applying object recognition machine vision techniques to recognize and count the travelers depicted in the aerial image. Such data may be used to estimate traveler volume; to evaluate transit patterns of the travelers throughout a region; and/or to control transit patterns of the travelers using transit control devices.
1 . A method of estimating a traveler volume of an area using a device having a processor and an image evaluator, the method comprising:
executing, on the processor, instructions that cause the device to:
receive an aerial image of the area captured from an aerial perspective;
invoke the image evaluator with the aerial image to recognize travelers in the aerial image;
count the travelers recognized in the aerial image; and
estimate the traveler volume of the area according to the count of the travelers and an area size of the area depicted in the aerial image.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to, for the respective travelers recognized in the aerial image, identify a transit direction for the traveler.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to, for the respective travelers recognized in the aerial image, identify a transit speed for the traveler.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to, for the respective travelers recognized in the aerial image, identify a duration of a presence of the traveler within the area.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to:
identify a period during which the aerial image of the area was captured; and
add the traveler volume for the period to a data set identifying a typical traveler volume for the area during respective periods.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the respective travelers of the aerial image are of a traveler type selected from a traveler type set; and
executing the instructions further causes the device to, for the respective travelers recognized in the aerial image:
using the aerial image of the traveler, recognize the traveler type of the traveler; and
classify the traveler according to the traveler type.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to:
compare the traveler volume with a traveler volume threshold; and
upon determining that the traveler volume exceeds the traveler volume threshold, identify a transit event for the area.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein:
respective transit events are of a transit event type selected from a transit event type set; and
executing the instructions further causes the device to:
using the aerial image of the area, identify the transit event type of the event; and
classify the transit event according to the transit event type.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to:
for a selected traveler depicted in the aerial image, identify a visual feature that reveals an identity of the selected traveler; and
obscure the visual feature of the selected traveler in the aerial image.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to:
determine whether the identity of the selected traveler is associated with an anonymous identifier;
responsive to determining that the selected traveler is not associated with an anonymous identifier, assign a new anonymous identifier to the selected traveler; and
store an activity record of the selected traveler in the aerial image according to the anonymous identifier.
11 . A method of causing an aerial device having a processor, a camera, and an image evaluator to report, to a transit service, a traveler volume of an area, the method comprising:
navigating the aerial device to an aerial perspective of the area;
executing, on the processor, instructions that cause the aerial device to:
using the camera, capture an aerial image of the area from the aerial perspective;
invoke the image evaluator with the aerial image to recognize travelers in the aerial image;
count the travelers recognized in the aerial image; and
transmit the count of the travelers to the transit service; and
estimating the traveler volume according to the count of the travelers and an area size of the area depicted in the aerial image.
12 . A transit server that estimates a traveler volume of an area, the transit server comprising:
a processor;
a communicator device that receives an aerial image of the area from an aerial perspective; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, provides a system comprising:
an image evaluator that:
recognizes travelers in the aerial image, and
counts the travelers recognized in the aerial image; and
a traveler volume estimator that estimates the traveler volume of the area according to the count of the travelers and an area size of the area depicted in the aerial image.
13 . The transit server of claim 12 , wherein:
the area is associated with an environment; and
the system further comprises: an environmental impact evaluator that evaluates an environmental impact of the traveler volume on the environment.
14 . The transit server of claim 12 , wherein:
the area is associated with a transit control that imposes a transit restriction on the respective travelers of the area; and
the system further comprises: a transit control adjuster that adjusts the transit restriction of the transit control in proportion with the traveler volume of the area.
15 . The transit server of claim 14 , wherein:
the transit control further comprises a transit toll that is assessed to travelers in the area; and
the transit control adjuster adjusts the transit toll in proportion with the traveler volume of the area.
16 . The transit server of claim 14 , wherein:
a detour area presents to travelers an alternative to traveling through the area, and is associated with a transit control that imposes a transit restriction on the respective travelers of the detour area; and
the system further comprises: a detour transit control adjuster that adjusts the transit restriction of the transit control in proportion with the traveler volume of the area.
17 . The transit server of claim 14 , wherein the system further comprises: a transit event notifier that, responsive to the traveler volume exceeding a traveler volume threshold and indicating a transit event, notifies a user of the transit event.
18 . The transit server of claim 17 , wherein:
the system further comprises a region map indicating, for respective areas of the region, a traveler volume for the area; and
the transit event notifier further updates the region map to indicate the traveler volume of the area on the map.
19 . The transit server of claim 14 , wherein:
a selected traveler is associated with a route through the area to a destination; and
the system further comprises: a route adjuster that adjusts an estimated arrival time of the user at the destination according to the traveler volume of the area.
20 . The transit server of claim 14 , wherein:
a selected traveler is associated with a route through the area to a destination; and
the system further comprises: a detour presenter that, responsive to the traveler volume exceeding a traveler volume threshold, presents to the user an alternative route to the destination that does not pass through the area.