Method and device for detecting elliptical structures in an image
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of providing assistance to a driver of a vehicle, the method comprising:
- producing images of a surrounding of the vehicle by means of at least one camera;
detecting elliptical structures in the images by detecting circular arc-shaped structures in the image by means of a circle Hough transform (CHT) of the image, wherein a radius and a center point are determined for each circular arc-shaped structure, identifying pairs of circular arc-shaped structures consisting of two of the detected circular arc-shaped structures with substantially equal radii, defining, for each of the pairs of circular arc-shaped structures, a search area within the image depending on the center points of the respective pair of circular arc-shaped structures, searching, for each of the pairs of circular arc-shaped structures, in the search area defined for the pair of circular arc-shaped structures, for a pair of edges connecting the two circular arc-shaped structures of this pair of circular arc-shaped structures, and identifying, if a pair of edges connecting the two circular arc-shaped structures of a pair of circular arc-shaped structures is found, an area enclosed by this pair of edges and this pair of circular arc-shaped structures as an elliptical structure; and
identifying circular traffic signs using information about detected elliptical structures.
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Abstract
The invention relates to method of detecting elliptical structures (10) in an image (9), comprising:
- detecting circular arc-shaped structures (11) in the image (9) using a circle Hough transform (CHT) of the image (9), wherein a radius and a center point (12) are determined for each circular arc-shaped structure (11),
- identifying pairs of circular arc-shaped structures (11) consisting of two of the detected circular arc-shaped structures (11) with substantially equal radii,
- defining, for each one of these pairs, a search area (14) within the image (9) depending on the center points (12) of the respective pair of circular arc-shaped structures (11),
- searching in the search area (14) defined for any given pair of circular arc-shaped structures (11), for a pair of edges (16) connecting these two circular arc-shaped structures (11). The invention further relates to a device for detecting elliptical structures in an image.
8 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of providing assistance to a driver of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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producing images of a surrounding of the vehicle by means of at least one camera; detecting elliptical structures in the images by detecting circular arc-shaped structures in the image by means of a circle Hough transform (CHT) of the image, wherein a radius and a center point are determined for each circular arc-shaped structure, identifying pairs of circular arc-shaped structures consisting of two of the detected circular arc-shaped structures with substantially equal radii, defining, for each of the pairs of circular arc-shaped structures, a search area within the image depending on the center points of the respective pair of circular arc-shaped structures, searching, for each of the pairs of circular arc-shaped structures, in the search area defined for the pair of circular arc-shaped structures, for a pair of edges connecting the two circular arc-shaped structures of this pair of circular arc-shaped structures, and identifying, if a pair of edges connecting the two circular arc-shaped structures of a pair of circular arc-shaped structures is found, an area enclosed by this pair of edges and this pair of circular arc-shaped structures as an elliptical structure; and identifying circular traffic signs using information about detected elliptical structures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A driver assistance system, comprising:
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at least one camera for producing images of a surrounding of a vehicle, a device for detecting elliptical structures in an image, comprising a data processing unit detecting circular arc-shaped structures in the image by means of a circle Hough transform (CHT) of the image, a radius and a center point being determined for each circular arc-shaped structure, identifying pairs of circular arc-shaped structures consisting of two of the detected circular arc-shaped structures with substantially equal radii, defining, for each of the pairs of circular arc-shaped structures, a search area within the image depending on the center points of the respective pair of circular arc-shaped structures, searching, for each of the pairs of circular arc-shaped structures, in the search area defined for the pair of circular arc-shaped structures, for a pair of edges connecting the two circular arc-shaped structures of this pair of circular arc-shaped structures, and identifying, if a pair of edges connecting the two circular arc-shaped structures of a pair of circular arc-shaped structures is found, an area enclosed by this pair of edges and this pair of circular arc-shaped structures as an elliptical structure, wherein the data processing unit of the device is coupled to the at least one camera to receive the images from the camera, a driver information unit coupled to the data processing unit and providing information on identified circular traffic signs to the driver. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification