Patent Application
20220148150
The present invention relates to a crack evaluation apparatus, a crack evaluation method, and a non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a crack evaluation program, and particularly to a technique for evaluating cracks of a structure.
Various types of damage occur and progress over time in structures such as a bridge, a tunnel, a road, and a building. Thus, to ensure the safety of the structures, repairs need to be made in accordance with the situation of damage. Damage has been inspected by an operator visually or by using a tool. However, in terms of an operation time, cost, operation site environment, and the like, electronic processing has recently been performed by using an imaging apparatus and/or an image processing apparatus.
For example, JP1994-148089A (JP-H6-148089A) describes measurement of cracks in concrete or the like in which vector data of cracks is created and group numbers and information such as a continuation point, an end point, or a branch point are given. In addition, JP2002-257744A describes a concrete defect inspection in which vector data of cracks is created and information of crossing of cracks is written into a file.
In the case where crack vectors are created through image processing or the like, evaluation on the degree of damage based on the crack vectors may be different from an evaluation result on the degree of damage obtained by an operator visually tracing cracks.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a crack evaluation apparatus, a crack evaluation method, and a non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a crack evaluation program that can reduce the load of creating crack vectors through image processing and can obtain an evaluation result that is equivalent to an evaluation by an operator.
A crack evaluation apparatus according to a first aspect includes a crack information acquiring unit that performs image processing on a captured image of a structure and acquires crack information about cracks of the structure; a crack vector generating unit including a first generation unit that generates crack vectors on the basis of the crack information that is acquired, and a second generation unit that generates, among the crack vectors that are generated, a coupling crack vector that couples, according to a coupling standard, crack vectors that are spatially separated from each other; a display unit that displays, in a classified manner, the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are generated; an operating unit that accepts a user operation for editing the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are displayed; and an evaluation unit that acquires an evaluation result of the cracks of the structure on the basis of crack information of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are edited.
According to the first aspect, it is possible to reduce the load of creating the crack vectors, to check the coupling crack vector easily, and to obtain an evaluation result that is equivalent to an evaluation by an operator.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to a second aspect, the editing includes deleting the coupling crack vector and generating a new coupling crack vector that couples crack vectors that are spatially separated from each other. According to the second aspect, a user can delete the coupling crack vector and can create the new coupling crack vector.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to a third aspect, the display unit displays the new coupling crack vector in a classified manner from the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector.
According to the third aspect, the coupling crack vector created by the crack vector generating unit and the coupling crack vector created by the user can be easily recognized.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to a fourth aspect, the display unit displays the evaluation result. According to the fourth aspect, the user can easily check the evaluation result.
A crack evaluation apparatus according to a fifth aspect further includes an output unit that outputs data of the evaluation result. According to the fifth aspect, the data of the evaluation result can be effectively used.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to a sixth aspect, the display unit displays ground information of the evaluation result. According to the sixth aspect, the ground information of the evaluation result can be easily checked.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to a seventh aspect, the operating unit accepts a user operation for editing the evaluation result. According to the seventh aspect, the user can easily edit the evaluation result.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to an eighth aspect, the operating unit accepts a user operation for editing the coupling standard. According to the eighth aspect, the user can easily edit the coupling standard. A coupling crack vector desired by the user can be created.
In a crack evaluation apparatus according to a ninth aspect, the crack information is data including a crack region and a crack width. According to the ninth aspect, the crack vectors can be created.
A crack evaluation method according to a tenth aspect to be performed by a computer includes a step of performing image processing on a captured image of a structure and acquiring crack information about cracks of the structure; a step of generating a plurality of crack vectors on the basis of the crack information that is acquired, and generating, among the plurality of crack vectors that are generated, a coupling crack vector that couples a plurality of crack vectors that are spatially separated from each other; a step of displaying, in a classified manner, the plurality of crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are generated; a step of accepting a user operation for editing the plurality of crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are displayed; and a step of evaluating the cracks of the structure on the basis of crack information of the plurality of crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are edited.
According to the tenth aspect, substantially the same effects as those of the first aspect can be obtained.
A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a crack evaluation program according to an eleventh aspect causes the computer to execute the crack evaluation method. According to the eleventh aspect, the computer can execute the crack evaluation method.
According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load of creating crack vectors through image processing, to check a coupling crack vector easily, and to obtain an evaluation result that is equivalent to an evaluation by an operator.
Now, a crack evaluation apparatus, a crack evaluation method, and a crack evaluation program according to embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<Inspection Target Structure>
The inspection target structure (hereinafter also simply referred to as “structure”) to which the present invention is applied is a bridge in this example but may also be another type of structure, different from a bridge, such as a road, a tunnel, a dam, or a construction. In addition, the structure is not only an artificial structure, but also may be a natural structure.
<Acquisition of Image>
In a case of inspecting the bridge 1, an operator images the bridge 1 with an imaging apparatus 20 (see
<Configuration of Crack Evaluation Apparatus>
A crack evaluation apparatus 10 is an example of the crack evaluation apparatus according to the present invention and acquires crack information of a structure by acquiring a captured image obtained by imaging the structure with the imaging apparatus 20 (e.g., digital camera) and performing image processing on the captured image.
In addition, the crack evaluation apparatus 10 generates crack vectors from the crack information of the structure obtained through image processing and generates a coupling crack vector from the generated crack vectors.
In addition, the crack evaluation apparatus 10 displays, in a classified manner, the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector and accepts an operation for editing the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector.
In addition, the crack evaluation apparatus 10 evaluates cracks on the basis of crack information of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector after editing.
Examples of the crack evaluation apparatus 10 may be, but are not limited to, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, and a smartphone. The crack evaluation apparatus 10 may be constituted by a server apparatus. The crack evaluation apparatus 10 may also be constituted by a plurality of apparatuses.
The imaging apparatus 20 has an imaging function. Note that, if the crack evaluation apparatus 10 is a mobile terminal, the imaging apparatus 20 may be a digital camera incorporated in the mobile terminal and may be, for example, a digital camera incorporated in a tablet terminal or a smartphone or a digital camera mounted on a robot or a drone.
A database 30 stores various types of information for implementing crack evaluation of a structure. Note that the database 30 may be incorporated in the crack evaluation apparatus 10.
As illustrated in
The external input/output unit 102 has a communication interface for wired communication or wireless communication and a recording medium interface of a contact type or a contactless type.
A captured image from the imaging apparatus 20, the database 30, and a storage medium can be input to the external input/output unit 102. Information from an external device and an internal device of the crack evaluation apparatus 10 can be input to the external input/output unit 102.
From the database 30, various types of information accumulated in the database 30 can be input to the external input/output unit 102. In addition, the external input/output unit 102 can output various types of information generated in the crack evaluation apparatus 10 to, for example, an external device of the crack evaluation apparatus 10, such as the database 30, and an internal device of the crack evaluation apparatus 10.
The display unit 104 includes a display device that can display an image, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and displays a captured image, various types of information that are input from the database 30, and various types of information including crack vectors and a coupling crack vector generated in the crack evaluation apparatus 10.
The operating unit 106 includes an input device such as a touch panel or a keyboard and accepts an operation of a person for editing various types of information displayed on the display unit 104.
The storage unit 108 includes a non-volatile storage device and stores various programs for implementing crack evaluation of a structure and various types of information necessary to execute various programs.
The database 30 or the storage unit 108 stores various types of information.
The CPU 110 exerts various functions for crack evaluation by performing various types of processing for supporting crack evaluation in accordance with a program stored in the storage unit 108.
The CPU 110 includes a crack information acquiring unit 120. The crack information acquiring unit 120 performs image processing on a captured image of a structure and acquires crack information about a crack of the structure.
The CPU 110 includes a crack vector generating unit 122. As illustrated in
The first generation unit 122A generates a crack vector on the basis of the crack information that is acquired. The crack information is vectorized, and vector data of the crack (hereinafter “crack vector”) is generated. When a plurality of crack vectors are generated, a relative angle between the plurality of crack vectors is calculated. That is, an angle between a crack vector and another crack vector can be calculated.
The second generation unit 122B generates, among the crack vectors that are generated, a coupling crack vector according to a coupling standard, for coupling crack vectors that are spatially separated from each other. The coupling standard can be arbitrarily set. Note that the hierarchical structure information generating unit 122C generates hierarchical structure information indicating a hierarchical structure of the crack vectors.
The display unit 104 above can display, in a classified manner, the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector generated by the crack vector generating unit 122.
The operating unit 106 can accept a user operation for editing the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector displayed on the display unit 104.
The CPU 110 includes an evaluation unit 124. The evaluation unit 124 acquires an evaluation result of the cracks of the structure on the basis of crack information of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are edited. On the basis of at least the crack information of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector, the evaluation unit 124 evaluates the degree of crack damage and determines an evaluation class (hereinafter also referred to as “rank information”) of the degree of a crack of the structure. The determined rank information is added to the crack information of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector. The evaluation result acquired by the evaluation unit 124 is stored in the evaluation unit 124 or the storage unit 108.
A crack width is classified on the basis of the maximum-crack-width-based degree, and a crack interval is classified on the basis of the minimum-crack-interval-based degree.
For (2) the degree of damage, in (a) the maximum-crack-width-based degree, damage is evaluated by using three-stage classes, which are large, medium, and small. For (2) the degree of damage, in (b) the minimum-crack-interval-based degree, damage is evaluated by using two-stage classes, which are large and small.
Next, as illustrated in
The CPU 110 includes a control unit 126 and the control unit 126 controls the entire operation of the crack evaluation apparatus 10.
The crack evaluation apparatus 10 is not limited to the above configuration and can include a device, a program, and a storage device (not limited to these names) for performing requested processing.
<Crack Evaluation Method>
Next, a crack evaluation method using the crack evaluation apparatus 10 with the above configuration will be described with reference to some drawings.
First, a captured image of an inspection target structure is input by using the external input/output unit 102 (step S100). The captured image can be input directly from the imaging apparatus 20 to the external input/output unit 102 through wireless communication or wired communication with the imaging apparatus 20. If a captured image is stored in the database 30, the captured image can be input from the database 30 to the external input/output unit 102. If a captured image is stored in a recording medium, the captured image can be input from the recording medium to the external input/output unit 102.
The input captured image includes information about a date and time of imaging by the imaging apparatus 20. The imaging date and time is not necessarily the same throughout all captured images at the same inspection time and may be over a plurality of days. A plurality of captured images may be input at a time, or one captured image may be input at a time. Note that the “image” of the inspection target structure in the present invention may be a captured image in a state of being generated by the imaging apparatus 20 or may be an image after certain image processing is performed on the captured image generated by the imaging apparatus 20.
Subsequently, the crack information acquiring unit 120 performs image processing on the captured image of the inspection target structure to acquire crack information about cracks of the structure (step S110). For example, the crack information acquiring unit 120 acquires the crack information by extracting cracks from the captured image.
A crack can be extracted by various methods. For example, the crack detection method described in JP4006007B can be used. In this method, a wavelet coefficient table is created in advance by performing wavelet transformation on an image by changing concentrations of a crack and concrete in a pseudo image including the crack and concrete. Then, a wavelet coefficient obtained by performing wavelet transformation on an input image obtained by imaging a concrete surface that is a crack detection target is compared with the wavelet coefficient table created in advance, so that a crack region and a non-crack region are determined.
Note that the acquisition of the crack information by the crack information acquiring unit 120 is not limited to a case where a partial image of damage (hereinafter also referred to as “damage part image”) is extracted from the captured image. Extraction of damage by the crack information acquiring unit 120 includes a case where a damage region is only identified within the captured image, in which case information (hereinafter also referred to as “damage region information”) indicating at least a part of the damage region within the captured image is extracted by the crack information acquiring unit 120.
For example, on the basis of the captured image and the damage (at least one of the damage part image and the damage region information) extracted from the captured image, the crack information acquiring unit 120 generates the crack information. As the crack information, the crack information acquiring unit 120 acquires data including a crack region and a crack width. The crack region and the crack width can be calculated from the captured image. The length and angle can be calculated from a crack vector. Note that data of the length and direction (angle) can also be acquired on the basis of image information. The crack information acquired in step S110 in
On the basis of the crack information, the first generation unit 122A of the crack vector generating unit 122 vectorizes a crack part and generates crack vectors.
Upon vectorization, the first generation unit 122A binarizes and/or thins the detected cracks as necessary. The “vectorization” is to obtain a line segment defined by a start point and an end point for a crack. If a crack is curvy, the crack is divided into a plurality of sections such that a distance between a curve and a line segment becomes less than or equal to a threshold, and a crack vector is generated for each of the plurality of sections.
Upon generation of crack vectors, for example, a feature point of the deck slab 2 can be set as the origin of a coordinate system, and, regarding a group of crack vectors (vector group), an end point at which the distance from the origin is minimum can be set as a first start point, and an end point and a start point can be sequentially determined in a running direction of the crack vectors.
As illustrated in
When the crack vectors are generated in the above manner, a crack that is continuous inside the deck slab 2 but is separated on the surface may be regarded as separated crack vectors. On the basis of the coupling standard, the second generation unit 122B of the crack vector generating unit 122 generates a coupling crack vector that couples a plurality of crack vectors that are spatially separated from each other. Through this coupling processing, the plurality of crack vectors are coupled to each other by the coupling crack vector and are regarded as one crack vector. Coupling the crack vectors corresponds to processing in which an operator traces a plurality of cracks. The coupling standard is stored in the crack vector generating unit 122 or the storage unit 108.
Specifically, as illustrated in
Next,
Vector group C3 is constituted by crack vectors C3-1 to C3-3 . . . . Start points and end points of these crack vectors are points P31 to P34 . . . . The angle between crack vectors C3-1 and C1-2 is α, and the distance between point P31 and crack vector C1-2 is L. In this case, if angle α and distance L are less than or equal to threshold values, crack vectors C3-1 and C1-2 are coupled to each other. In
Specifically, as illustrated in
In this manner, by coupling, as appropriate, vectors that are spatially separated from each other on the surface of the deck slab 2, a coupling relationship between vectors can be accurately grasped.
Next, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Specifically, as illustrated in
Upon completion of processing by the first generation unit 122A and the second generation unit 122B, the hierarchical structure information generating unit 122C generates hierarchical structure information indicating a hierarchical structure of crack vectors. The hierarchical structure information is information expressing a coupling relationship between the crack vectors in a hierarchy. The hierarchical structure information includes hierarchy identification information (also referred to as “affiliation hierarchy information”) indicating which hierarchy each vector belongs to in a vector group constituted by a plurality of crack vectors. For the hierarchy identification information, for example, a hierarchical number represented by a numeral can be used. A code other than a numeral (e.g., including an alphabet or a symbol) may also be used for representation.
The crack vector generating unit 122 can add various types of attribute information (also referred to as “additional information”) to the crack information. For example, in a case of a crack, not only the position and direction where the crack occurs, but also various types of attribute information indicating the length and width of the crack, the interval between cracks, and the density of cracks may be added to the crack information.
<Crack Vector Information>
Information of a vector group (in a case of the table in
<Parent Vector, Sibling Vector, and Child Vector>
In this embodiment, if an end point of one crack vector is a start point of another crack vector, such one crack vector is referred to as “parent vector”, and the other crack vector is referred to as “child vector”. The number of parent vectors is determined to be zero or one for one crack vector, whereas any given number of child vectors, which is greater than or equal to zero, may be present for one parent vector. In addition, if an end point of a parent vector is start points of a plurality of child vectors, each of these plurality of child vectors is referred to as “sibling vector”. Any given number of sibling vectors, which is greater than or equal to zero, may be present.
In this manner, since the hierarchical structure information includes labels (identification information) of a parent vector, a sibling vector, and a child vector in this embodiment, on the basis of any given crack vector, by referring to the ID of the vector, the parent vector, the sibling vector, and the child vector can be sequentially determined. For example, it is possible to determine a parent vector of a crack vector and to further determine a parent vector of the parent vector. In this manner, with the crack evaluation apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily grasp a coupling relationship between crack vectors and to easily analyze and search for crack vectors.
<Additional Information>
The “width” included in the additional information indicates the width of a crack corresponding to each crack vector. A delete operation flag indicates whether a delete operation is performed on the vector, and is “1” if the delete operation is performed and is “0” if not. Referring to this delete operation flag, display and non-display of the crack vector can be switched. An add operation flag is related to an embodiment of detecting a crack vector, and is “0” if the vector is automatically detected, is “1” if the vector is manually added (by input of an instruction from a user), and is “2” if the vector is manually added and generated by connecting vectors with different labels.
For “inspection date”, a date on which an image of damage is captured is set, but may be edited by input of an instruction from a user via the operating unit 106. In addition, “repair” information can be generated on the basis of input of an instruction (type of repair and repair date) from a user via the operating unit 106. For example, the type of repair is cement filling, resin filling, leaving (follow-up observation), or the like (R1, R2, and R3 in the table in
<Hierarchy of Crack Vector>
Next, a hierarchy (level) to which crack vectors belong will be described. The hierarchy of the crack vectors can be determined by various methods as illustrated in the following examples, for example.
<Method of Determining Hierarchy>
Subsequently, the display unit 104 displays, in a classified manner, the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are generated (step S130).
In response to generation of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector, the display unit 104 can automatically display the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector. In addition, a user can receive a notification indicating that the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector are generated, and then, the user can cause the display unit 104 to display the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector.
As illustrated in
On the display screen 140, vector groups C1, C3, and C4 are displayed. Vector groups C1, C3, and C4 are created by the crack vector generating unit 122 in accordance with the processing illustrated in
Vector group C1 includes crack vectors C1-1 to C1-5, crack vectors C1-7 to C1-10, and coupling crack vector C1-6. In addition, vector group C3 includes crack vectors C3-1 to C3-5. Vector group C4 includes crack vectors C4-1 and C4-2.
In this embodiment, in vector group C1, coupling crack vector C1-6 generated by the crack vector generating unit 122 is displayed in a classified manner from crack vectors C1-1 to C1-5 and crack vectors C1-7 to C1-10. To display in a classified manner means to display in a visually distinguishable manner. The crack vectors and the coupling crack vector are displayed in a classified manner by using any of different colors, line types (e.g., solid line and dotted line), line widths, and brightness, or a combination of these.
In vector group C1 in
The crack evaluation apparatus 10 according to the embodiment creates the coupling crack vector on the basis of the coupling standard, thereby reducing the load on the user including an operator who traces cracks.
Subsequently, the operating unit 106 accepts a user operation for editing the plurality of crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are displayed (step S140).
The crack evaluation apparatus 10 according to the embodiment creates the coupling crack vector on the basis of the coupling standard. On the other hand, the coupling crack vector created by the crack vector generating unit 122 may be different from a trace of cracks obtained by an operator. As a result, an evaluation result based on the crack vectors through image processing may be different from an evaluation result of the degree of damage obtained by the operator.
The crack evaluation apparatus 10 can accept, by using the operating unit 106, editing of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are generated by the crack vector generating unit 122.
Since the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector are displayed on the display unit 104 in a classified manner, a user can easily determine good and bad of the coupling crack vector when editing.
Next, a specific editing operation will be described.
The user can cause the display unit 104 to display other crack vectors and another coupling crack vector by pressing the “next” button 156 and can determine good and bad of the coupling crack vector.
When crack vector C1-6 is deleted, vector group C1 becomes two vector groups. The hierarchical structure information of the crack vectors is rewritten. For example, vector group C1 is rewritten as vector group C1 including crack vectors C1-1 to C1-5 and vector group C2 including crack vectors C2-1 to C2-4.
The user presses the select button 144 to select crack vector C3-5 and crack vector C4-1 that are coupling targets and then presses the add button 146. New coupling crack vector C34 is displayed and couples crack vector C3-5 and crack vector C4-1 to each other. New coupling crack vector C34 is displayed in a classified manner from crack vectors C1-1 to C1-5, C1-7 to C1-10, C3-1 to C3-5, and C4-1 and C4-2 and crack vector C1-6. In the embodiment, new coupling crack vector C34 is displayed by a dotted line. The user can recognize the coupling crack vector generated by the crack vector generating unit 122 and the new coupling crack vector added by the user.
Subsequently, by the user pressing the approve button 148, addition of new coupling crack vector C34 is executed.
When new coupling crack vector C34 is added, vector group C3 and vector group C4 constitute one vector group. The hierarchical structure information of crack vectors is rewritten. For example, new vector group C3+4 is generated, and the vector groups are written as new vector group C3+4 including crack vectors C3-1 to C3-5 and C4-1 and C4-2 and new coupling crack vector C34.
Subsequently, the evaluation unit 124 acquires an evaluation result of cracks of the structure on the basis of crack information of the crack vectors and the coupling crack vector that are edited (step S150).
As illustrated in
A user can check details of the evaluation result by selecting an element number and pressing the approve button 148. The hierarchical structure information is displayed. In addition, the user can cause the display unit 104 to display ground information of the evaluation result, for example, an evaluation standard of the degree of crack damage illustrated in
The user can check details of the evaluation result and can edit the evaluation result. The user selects an evaluation result to edit. The display unit 104 is switched to, for example, an editing screen of the evaluation result. The user can directly input an evaluation class into a cell of the evaluation class with a keyboard or the like. In addition, the user can select the evaluation class from a drop-down list displayed in the cell of the evaluation class. In this manner, the user can edit the evaluation class. Then, by the user pressing the approve button 148, the evaluation class is edited.
In addition, the user can edit the coupling standard.
Hardware that implements the crack evaluation apparatus according to the present invention can be constituted by various processors. Various processors include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is a general-purpose processor that functions as various processing units by executing programs, a programmable logic device (PLD), which is a processor in which the circuit configuration is changeable after manufacture, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), a dedicated electric circuit, which is a processor having a circuit configuration that is specially designed to execute specific processing, such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and the like. One processing unit constituting the crack evaluation apparatus may be constituted by one of the above various processors or may be constituted by two or more processors of the same type or different types. For example, one processing unit may be constituted by a plurality of FPGAs or a combination of a CPU and an FPGA. In addition, a plurality of processing units may be constituted by one processor. As a first example for constituting a plurality of processing units by one processor, one processor may be constituted by a combination of one or more CPUs and software, and this processor may function as a plurality of processing units, as typified by a computer such as a client or a server. As a second example, a processor may be used that implements the functions of the entire system including a plurality of processing units with one IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, as typified by a system on chip (SoC) or the like. In this manner, various processing units are constituted by one or more of the above various processors in terms of hardware configuration. More specifically, the hardware configuration of these various processors is electric circuitry constituted by combining circuit elements such as semiconductor elements.
Although the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and various improvements or modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-135152 | Jul 2019 | JP | national |
This application is a Continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2020/021193 filed on May 28, 2020, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-135152 filed on Jul. 23, 2019. Each of the above application(s) is hereby expressly incorporated by reference, in its entirety, into the present application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2020/021193 | May 2020 | US |
| Child | 17580412 | US |
