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System And Method For Evaluating Geotagged Attributes Of Roads

Abstract: The present invention provides a highly scalable and precise system and method for evaluation of various geotagged attributes of roads in order to assess road conditions along with conditions of other surrounding and linked objects and propose steps that can highlight problems along with giving possible solutions to identified problems.

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Patent Information

Application #
Filing Date
17 January 2013
Publication Number
34/2014
Publication Type
INA
Invention Field
COMMUNICATION
Status
Email
Parent Application

Applicants

PROOF OF PERFORMANCE DATA SERVICES PVT. LTD.
F-300, SECTOR-63, NOIDA 201307, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA.

Inventors

1. MANN, HARJAAP SINGH
F-300, SECTOR-63, NOIDA 201307, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA.

Specification

The present disclosure relates to geotagged images or videos. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to analysis of captured geotagged imagelvideo to identify anomalies in geotagged attributes and comparing captured imageslvideos with previously recorded and stored geo-tagged imagehide0 data. BACKGROUONFD T HE INVENTION [21 The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art. 131 Geotagging is a process of associating geographical identification information of one or more objectdattributes such as buildings, parks, restaurants, among other points of interest to various media such as to a photograph or video, website, SMS message, or RSS feed, and storing such geographical identification information along with geospatial metadata content about the object. Geographical identification information for a geotagged object usually comprises of latitude and longitude coordinates, though they can also include information such as altitude, bearing, distance, date and time, accuracy data, and place names. In application, geo-tagging (also interchangeably used as geotagging hereinafter) can help users find wide variety of location-specific information. For instance, one can find images taken near a given location by entering latitude and longitude coordinates into a suitable image search engine and at the same time another user can also be notified of a geotagged object when helshe passes by the location where the object is positioned. Geo-taggingenabled information services can also potentially be used to find location-based news, websites, or other resources. Geotagging can further allow users to search and identify location of content in given picture or any other media and at the same time also allow media platforms to show media relevant to a given 1ocation.GPS systems can also be operatively coupled with recorded geotagged videos such that while travelling through a stretch of road that has been recorded, all locations that have been geotagged in the video can be presented as and when they are bypassed or arrived at. 141 Existing geotagging, also commonly referred to as geo-referencing techniques, pose certain threats and complications during their actual implementation for broader additional applications. One such complication involves inability of a user to be able to differentiate between alterations made to a geo-location. This differentiation is typically required by a user when helshe wishes to compare current metadata to previous metadata of stored geotagged information, and to observe changes that have taken place between the two comparisons. Existing geotagging techniques also suffer from ,limitations of providing detailed view of alterations and fail to provide any calculative difference between current and previous metadata. Therefbre, in present solutions, alteration or changes that take place in parameters of one or more geo-locations go unnoticed and may deprive a user from having a detailed change report that presents changes that have taken place across days/months/years for one or more geotagged objects. 151 Existing geotagging systems also typically tend to store conventional and manually entered information about geo-referenced locations/objects and do not provide for capture of intelligent information about geotagged objects, which may or may not be captured automatically through use of one or more sensors. Furthermore, existing solutions and geotagging technologies also do not cater to analysis of multiple similar or dissimilar geotagged objects that are captured together, say within a video. For instance, in a video that is recorded from point A to point B with six objects including points of interest being geotagged therein, existing solutions do not intelligently link such geotagged objects in order to offer certain industrial solutions. With increasing interest and commercial applicability in the location based services, it has become very desirable for users to be able to periodically capture and analyze videos or images having one or more geotagged objectslattributes and take an action based on the behaviour or evaluation of objects. Such analysis can either be done within a single video or can include comparison of a given video having geotagged objects with previously stored one or more geo-referenced videos. Users in such cases can vary from a road authority to a foreignfdomestic tourist/visitor who visits a given location at varied time intervals or a potential investor looking to open a commercial establishment such as but not limited to an eatery or departmental store at a particular site and looking to assess how road condition~placeso f interestlbusiness potential have changed over a period of time. Such time intervals can range from hours to days to month to years depending on the interest of the interested party. OR? '. ,"AL 0 " P? 1 7 JAN 2014 7 rg \ ' c " J h [61 Therefore, availability of comprehensive and reliable information about geotagged objects is very much desirable for an informed decision-making and its lack leaves a serious cavity for the concerned stakeholders. In an application, road authorities and other such stakeholders periodically require road safety audits to be conducted to assess condition of roads, surrounding elementslattributes, compliance with policy guidelines, clarity in direction boards, condition of traffic lights, pollution level, among other considerations, which are typically done manually and only take into consideration the current audit without any sort of comparison or assessment in view of previous audits. Such manual road safety audits are highly inefficient both in terms of cost and time and are also significantly error prone. In order to overcome these above mentioned and other such deficiencies of existing geotagging techniques, there exists a need of an automated system for recording and geotagging multiple road attributes, analysing andlor comparing recorded videos with previous stored video to assess the change in conditions that have taken place, and accordingly propose more reliable decisions or steps that need to be taken to improve the road conditions and/or architecture. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 171 It is an object of present disclosure to resolve problems and disadvantages with present methods of geotagging. 181 It is an object of present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus of geotagging of attributes so that changes in attributes of a geo location over a period of time may be differentiated. 191 It is an object of present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus for geotagging and capturing intelligent information about geotagged objects which may or may not be captured automatically using one or more sensors. 1101 It is another object of present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus for analysis of multiple similar or dissimilar geotagged objects. 11 11 It is yet another object of the disclosure to provide a method and apparatus to provide calculative difference between current and previous metadata of a geotagged object. 1121 It is another object of present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus to record and analyse road attributes affecting the safety of road users and empower road authorities with tools for informed decision making. F+ :*;. " ' ;J~ ir . .. ' $ 1 7 JAN 2014 * [I31 It is an object of the disclosure to provide road users with information on road attributes for safe driving. [I41 It is an object of the disclosure to provide a method and apparatus that may help traffic police authorities to manage traffic in a scientific manner. 1151 It is another object of the present disclosure to to compare existing plan of roads network one or more videoslimages to detect absence of planned features in the actual road. SUMMAROYF THE INVENTION 1 161 The present disclosure provides a highly scalable and precise system and method for evaluation of various geotagged attributes of roads in order to assess road conditions along with conditions of other surrounding and linked objects and propose steps that can highlight problems along with giving possible solutions to identified problems. According to one embodiment, system of the present invention can be configured to geotag and/or geo-reference various attributes of a road, such as but not limited to traffic lights, specific road portions, turns, sign boards, buslmetro stops, lanes, surrounding buildingsltrees, road bumps, speed breakers, zebra crossing, among other such attributes by capturing videoslimages of corresponding roads and surrounding objects. System and method of the present invention can also be configured to compare and/or analyze one or more of such geotagged attributes across captured videoslimages or compare the attributes within a single videolimage and generate a report indicating evaluation outputs such as changes in one or more geotagged attributes, extent of change, level of compliance, level of non-compliance with desired regulations, among other such outputs. [ 171 Proposed system and method can also be configured to compare changes in a given geotagged road attribute across different time intervals based on one or more attribute parameters so as to assess change in pattern of the road attributes such as reduction,increase in number of road bumps across a given stretch of road, increase in dimensions of a given road bump, reductiodincrease in traffic densitylcongestion across a given stretch of road, among other such changes, which can help present evaluation output that are based on such changes to concerned stakeholders. [I81 According to one embodiment, systems and methods are also provided for reporting outcome of assessment of a geotagged attribute of one or more roads across different time periods, wherein the time periods can range from seconds to decades or even more. As discussed above, assessment of geotagged road attributes can be done based on changes in parameters that define such attributes, which parameters can be automatically andor manually recordedentered each time a video is captured, say once during the day and then during the night. [191 According to one embodiment, in implementation, video of one or more road attributes can first be recorded by a capturing module, wherein road attributes of interest can then be geotagged or geo-referenced by means of a geotagging module. Such road attributes can include traffic lights, objects indicative of road condition, turns, sign boards, buslmetro stops, lanes, surrounding buildingsltrees, road bumps, speed breakers, zebra crossing, among other such attributes, wherein each geotagged road attribute can be defined by one or more parameters such as a road bumplpothole can be assessed based on its heightJdepth, width, location, among other such parameters, which can help describe and evaluate the concerned road surface abnormality. Such evaluation of one or more geotagged attributeslparameters can be done by means of an evaluation module. Once a video is recorded, value of each geotagged road attribute can be measured through its respective parameters and associated with the concerned attribute. During evaluation, in an implementation, evaluation module can be configured to evaluate each attribute independently to check for its compliance with industry norms1Govt. regulation standards among others aspects to help present the overall condition of the road as part of a road safety audit. In another implementation, a second video having same or different geotagged road attributes can also be captured in a different time periodlduration (say a few days later) by the capturing module and can be processed by evaluation module to compare the second video with one or more previously recorded videos such that geotagged road attributes and changes in their respective parameters can be compared and an output giving such changes along with their magnitude, reasons for change, among other details can be presented so that a preventive/corrective action can be taken by concerned stakeholders/authorities. It would be appreciated that although most of the present disclosure would be explained with respect to few road attributes, many more road attribute can be assessed in parallel, and videos can completelylpartially be replaced by images of geotagged road attributes, wherein multiple images taken at different time intervals can be collectively assessed to analyze road attribute characteristics and effectiveness for same locations. In an exemplary application, special road attributes may be compiled targeting the requirements of specific road users such as children, cyclists, slow moving vehicles, pedestrians, elderly people, people with disabilities etc. to study their exposure to risks and help in decision making to provide better facilities for these specific groups. In such cases road attributes have to be recorded taking the mode of transport or taking the specific 17 JAN 20\4 07 5,- y.' - pipm a $ , % -. .:,* - 4 category of person along for which it is being recorded, to get a faithful recording from the perspective of the special user. I201 In yet another exemplary application, impact of land use development projects on road attributes may be undertaken. Land use development projects have great potential to change traffic volumelpattern, vehicle mix and road environment. Recording these attributes over the period of development of land and analyzing them may provide authorities with data to chalk out improvement plans. [211 In an application, recording of geotagged road attributes and their evaluation may help road accident victims while claiming compensation from civil authorities, as geotagged road attributes can show that authorities have done something, which a reasonable road authority would not have done or have failed to do something which a reasonable road authority would have done. In another aspect of this application, recording of geotagged road attributes may help civil authorities to defend compensation suites or prosecute those whose actions endanger road safety. In yet another application, evaluation of geotagged road attributes such as traffic volume, time taken to travel a stretch between traffic signals may help synchronize series of traffic signals along a stretch of busy road so that road users may navigate the stretch without encountering red lights. Alternatively geotagged recordings of different time periods may be used to program and time the traffic signals in accordance with the changes in volume of traffic during the day. 1221 It is another objective of the disclosure to compare existing plan of roads network, that was made on planning software such as Autocad, with the video so that the algorithm can detect absence of planned features in the actual road. For example, the drawing or plan's digital version can be automatically compared with the actual video to point out that the sign board planned is not actually there or a lighting system is not present in the spot. This is possible because the plan will give the georeference of the spot where the planned feature should be there and the software will compare with the video frame of that very spot in the video and the image processing algorithm will try and find the match. I231 Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. [241 Figure 1 illustrates a schematic of a geotagged road attribute evaluation system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 1251 Figure2illustratesa flowchart for evaluating geotagged attributes of roads in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [261 Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary screen shots of user interfacetinput-output device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILEDDE SCRIPTION [271 It should be noted that while the following description is drawn to a system and method for evaluating roads over a particular route, various alternative modifications are also deemed suitable and may employ various devices including cameras, vehicles, computing devices, servers, systems, databases, controllers, or other types of processing devices operating individually or collectively. One should appreciate the devices comprise a processor configured to execute software instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory readable storage medium (e.g., hard drive', solid state drive, RAM, flash, ROM, etc.). The software instructions can preferably configure the device to perform various operations, or other functionality as discussed below with respect to the disclosed system. Data exchanges preferably are conducted over a data bus, a packet-switched network, internet, LAN, WAN, VPN, or other type of packet switched network. [281 The following discussion describes the inventive subject matter with respect to various modules or units of road evaluation system. One skilled in the art will recognize that the inventive subject matter can scale as necessary to any number of items without departing from the inventive subject matter.In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. 1291 Generally a system can be made up of several different units such as, one or more processor, memory (e.g., RAM, SDRAM, DDR RAM, ROM), CODEC circuitry, Inputloutput ("110") circuitry, or any other suitable components. Each of these components can generally be fabricated on their own, distinct microchip or fabricated as a discrete and distinct "entity". For example, the processor of a system may be on one component, the memory of the system may be on a different component, and some embodiments may be a separate entity from embodiments mentioned herein. In this manner, all of the system components can be discrete or coupled together. Data exchanges preferably are conducted over a data bus, a packet-switched network, internet, LAN, WAN, VPN, or other type of packet switched network. 1301 As used herein, the term "entity" can refer to a component when it is included in a system as a discrete, pre-packaged part or microchip. As used herein, the term "unit" can refer to any suitable part or constituent of a system and can be embraced or modified accordingly. Various uses and advantages explained herein are not confined or limited to descriptions given below. Descriptions of well known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein.It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as restraining the scope of embodiments herein and can be protracted to other uses. 1311 Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to systems and methods for evaluating geotagged road attributes in order to identify characteristics of respective road, compliance of road with regulations, overall road condition, changes that have taken place from previous road condition, among all other objectives that can be achieved by such evaluation of road attributes. Systems and methods of the present invention further relate to capturing videos of geotagged road attributes across different time periods such as across dayslmonths, and analyzing one or more of such videos to identify changeslalterations that have taken placed in road attributes of interest. 1321 The following discussion describes the inventive subject matter with respect to various modules or units of geotagged road attributes evaluation system and method One skilled in the art will recognize that the inventive subject matter can scale as necessary to any number of items without departing from the inventive subject matter. [331 In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. [341 Embodiments of the present invention include various steps, which will be described below. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or specialpurpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software, firm-ware andfor by human operators. 1351 Embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives, magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memories, such as ROMs, PROMs, random access memories (RAMS), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable PROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or other type of medialmachine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions (e.g., computer programming code, such as software or firmware). [361 Various methods described herein may be practiced by combining one or more machine-readable storage media containing the code according to the present invention with appropriate standard computer hardware to execute the code contained therein. An apparatus for practicing various embodiments of the present invention may involve one or more computers (or one or more processors within a single computer) and storage systems containing or having network access to computer program(s) coded in accordance with various methods described herein, and the method steps of the invention could be accomplished by units, routines, subroutines, or subparts of a computer program product. [37] If the specification states a component or feature "may", "can", "could", or "might" be included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included or have the characteristic FIG. 1 illustrates a geotagged road attribute evaluation system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. According to one embodiment, the system 100 comprises a capturing module 102, a geotagging module 104 operatively coupled with the capturing unit 102, an evaluation module 106 operatively coupled with the geotagging module 104, and a report generation module 108. It should be appreciated that although present units have been shown as being interconnected with each other, each of the units can be implemented on different or same computing devices and configured to operatively couple with each other to implement system 100.In an exemplary embodiment in application, while capturing road attributes, only capturing module 102 coupled with a geotagging module 104 along with a temporary storage (J\<*;.J... ;,- fi

Documents

Application Documents

# Name Date
1 123-del-2013-GPA-(19-07-2013).pdf 2013-07-19
2 123-del-2013-Form-1-(19-07-2013).pdf 2013-07-19
3 123-del-2013-Correspondence-Others-(19-07-2013).pdf 2013-07-19
4 123-del-2013-Form-5.pdf 2013-08-20
5 123-del-2013-Form-3.pdf 2013-08-20
6 123-del-2013-Form-2.pdf 2013-08-20
7 123-del-2013-Form-1.pdf 2013-08-20
8 123-del-2013-Drawings.pdf 2013-08-20
9 123-del-2013-Correspondence-others.pdf 2013-08-20
10 123-del-2013-Abstract.pdf 2013-08-20
11 123-DEL-2013-Form-5-(17-01-2014).pdf 2014-01-17
12 123-DEL-2013-Form-3-(17-01-2014).pdf 2014-01-17
13 123-DEL-2013-Form-2-(17-01-2014).pdf 2014-01-17
14 123-DEL-2013-Correspondence-Others-(17-01-2014).pdf 2014-01-17
15 123-del-2013-Correspondence-Others-(21-04-2014).pdf 2014-04-21
16 123-DEL-2013-Other Patent Document-170117.pdf 2017-01-19
17 123-DEL-2013-Form 18-170117.pdf 2017-01-19
18 123-DEL-2013-FORM 4(ii) [29-04-2021(online)].pdf 2021-04-29
19 123-DEL-2013-PETITION UNDER RULE 137 [29-05-2021(online)].pdf 2021-05-29
20 123-DEL-2013-FER_SER_REPLY [29-05-2021(online)].pdf 2021-05-29
21 123-DEL-2013-CORRESPONDENCE [29-05-2021(online)].pdf 2021-05-29
22 123-DEL-2013-COMPLETE SPECIFICATION [29-05-2021(online)].pdf 2021-05-29
23 123-DEL-2013-CLAIMS [29-05-2021(online)].pdf 2021-05-29
24 123-DEL-2013-ABSTRACT [29-05-2021(online)].pdf 2021-05-29
25 123-DEL-2013-FER.pdf 2021-10-17
26 123-DEL-2013-US(14)-HearingNotice-(HearingDate-09-11-2023).pdf 2023-10-26
27 123-DEL-2013-US(14)-ExtendedHearingNotice-(HearingDate-22-11-2023).pdf 2023-11-06
28 123-DEL-2013-Correspondence to notify the Controller [20-11-2023(online)].pdf 2023-11-20
29 123-DEL-2013-Correspondence to notify the Controller [22-11-2023(online)].pdf 2023-11-22

Search Strategy

1 search_strategyE_28-10-2020.pdf