Vehicle vision system with multiple cameras

• US 10,127,463 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2015
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magna Electronics Incorporated (Magna International Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Magna Electronics Incorporated (Magna International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Fursich, Manfred
• Primary Examiner(s): Jones, Heather R
• Application Number:
  US14/946,853
• Publication Number:
  US 20160148062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,089 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/27 providing all-round vision, e.g. using omnidirectional cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/105 using multiple cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/304 using merged images, e.g. merging camera image with stored images
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/70 characterised by an event-triggered choice to display a specific image among a selection of captured images
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A vision system for a vehicle includes a plurality of cameras having respective fields of view exterior of the vehicle. The plurality of cameras includes driver and passenger side wide angle cameras having wide angle fields of view, driver and passenger side rearward viewing cameras having fields of view along the respective sides of the vehicle rearward of the vehicle, and a rearward camera having a wide angle field of view rearward of the vehicle. A display is operable to display images derived from image data captured by at least some of the cameras. The display is selectively operable to display images derived from image data captured by all of the plurality of cameras. An image processor is operable to process image data captured by at least some of the cameras to detect objects in the field of view of the at least some of the cameras.

Claims

1. A vision system for a vehicle, said vision system comprising:

a plurality of cameras configured to be disposed at a vehicle so as to have respective fields of view exterior of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a driver-side wide angle camera disposed at a driver-side location and having a wide angle field of view at the driver side of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said driver-side wide angle camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle, a ground region sideward of the vehicle and a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a driver-side rearward viewing camera disposed at or near the driver-side location and having a field of view along the driver side of the vehicle rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a passenger-side wide angle camera disposed at a passenger-side location and having a wide angle field of view at the passenger side of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said passenger-side wide angle camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle, a ground region sideward of the vehicle and a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a passenger-side rearward viewing camera disposed at or near a passenger-side location and having a field of view along the passenger side of the vehicle and rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a rearward camera disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle and having a wide angle field of view that encompasses a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a region at least 20 meters rearward of the vehicle and wherein the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a region at least 20 meters rearward of the vehicle;

wherein the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera overlaps the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera rearward of the vehicle;

an image processor operable to process image data captured by said cameras;

a display operable to display images derived from image data captured by at least some of said cameras;

wherein said display is operable to display images derived from image data captured by all of said plurality of cameras;

wherein, when providing a surround view display function, said display displays images derived from image data captured by all of said plurality of cameras, with (i) the images derived from image data captured by said driver-side wide-angle camera stitched with the images derived from image data captured by said driver-side rearward viewing camera, (ii) the images derived from image data captured by said passenger-side wide-angle camera stitched with the images derived from image data captured by said passenger-side rearward viewing camera, (iii) the images derived from image data captured by said driver-side rearward viewing camera stitched with the images derived from image data captured by said rearward camera, and (iv) the images derived from image data captured by said passenger-side rearward viewing camera stitched with the images derived from image data captured by said rearward camera;

wherein, when providing a panoramic view display function, said display displays rearward panorama images derived from image data captured by said rearward camera, said driver-side rearward viewing camera, and said passenger-side rearward viewing camera; and

wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by at least some of said cameras to detect objects in the field of view of the at least some of said cameras.

2. The vision system of claim 1, wherein the driver-side location where said driver-side rearward viewing camera is configured to be disposed is at a driver-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle and the passenger-side location where said passenger-side rearward viewing camera is configured to be disposed is at a passenger-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle.

3. The vision system of claim 2, wherein the driver-side location is at an outboard region of the driver-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle and wherein the passenger-side location is at an outboard region of the passenger-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle.

4. The vision system of claim 2, wherein said driver-side wide angle camera is disposed in the driver-side exterior rearview mirror and wherein said passenger-side wide angle camera is disposed in the passenger-side exterior rearview mirror.

5. The vision system of claim 1, wherein, when said driver-side wide angle camera is disposed at the vehicle, the wide angle field of view of said driver-side wide angle camera has its principal axis directed at least partially downwardly and away from the driver side of the vehicle, and wherein, when said passenger-side wide angle camera is disposed at the vehicle, the wide angle field of view of said passenger-side wide angle camera has its principal axis directed at least partially downwardly and away from the passenger side of the vehicle.

6. The vision system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a forward facing camera disposed at a front portion of the vehicle and having a wide angle generally downward field of view forward of the vehicle.

7. The vision system of claim 6, wherein, when providing a surround view display function, said display displays surround view images with (i) the images derived from image data captured by said driver-side wide-angle camera stitched with the images derived from image data captured by said forward facing camera, and (ii) the images derived from image data captured by said passenger-side wide-angle camera stitched with the images derived from image data captured by said forward facing camera.

8. The vision system of claim 1, wherein the field of view said driver-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a blind spot region at the driver side of the vehicle and the field of view said passenger-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a blind spot region at the passenger side of the vehicle.

9. The vision system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises (i) a driver-side blind spot viewing camera disposed at or near the driver-side location of the vehicle and having a field of view that encompasses a blind spot region at the driver side of the vehicle and (ii) a passenger-side blind spot viewing camera disposed at or near the passenger-side location of the vehicle and having a field of view that encompasses a blind spot region at the passenger side of the vehicle.

10. The vision system of claim 9, wherein the field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera is rearward of the field of view of said driver-side blind spot viewing camera and the field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera is rearward of the field of view of said passenger-side blind spot viewing camera.

11. The vision system of claim 9, wherein the field of said driver-side blind spot viewing camera is laterally outboard of the field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera and the field of view of said passenger-side blind spot viewing camera is laterally outboard of the field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera.

12. The vision system of claim 11, wherein said driver-side rearward viewing camera, said driver-side wide angle camera and said driver-side blind spot viewing camera are disposed in a driver-side exterior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle, and wherein said passenger-side rearward viewing camera, said passenger-side wide angle camera and said passenger-side blind spot viewing camera are disposed in a passenger-side exterior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle.

13. The vision system of claim 1, wherein said image processor processes image data of the overlapping portions of the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera and the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera as stereo vision.

14. The vision system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a second rearward camera disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle and having a narrower field of view than the wide angle field of view of said rearward camera, and wherein said second rearward camera views substantially rearward of the vehicle.

15. The vision system of claim 1, wherein said vision system comprises a driver side forward viewing camera having a field of view along the driver side of the vehicle forward of the vehicle and a passenger side forward viewing camera having a field of view along the driver side of the vehicle forward of the vehicle, and wherein the field of view of said driver side forward viewing camera overlaps the field of view of said passenger side forward viewing camera at a distance forward of the vehicle.

16. A vision system for a vehicle, said vision system comprising:

a plurality of cameras configured to be disposed at a vehicle so as to have respective fields of view exterior of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a driver-side wide angle camera disposed at a driver-side location and having a wide angle field of view at the driver side of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said driver-side wide angle camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle, a ground region sideward of the vehicle and a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a driver-side rearward viewing camera disposed at or near the driver-side location and having a field of view along the driver side of the vehicle rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a passenger-side wide angle camera disposed at a passenger-side location and having a wide angle field of view at the passenger side of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said passenger-side wide angle camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle, a ground region sideward of the vehicle and a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a passenger-side rearward viewing camera disposed at or near a passenger-side location and having a field of view along the passenger side of the vehicle and rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a rearward camera disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle and having a wide angle field of view that encompasses a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a forward camera disposed at a front portion of the vehicle and having a wide angle field of view forward of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said forward camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle;

wherein the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a region at least 20 meters rearward of the vehicle and wherein the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a region at least 20 meters rearward of the vehicle;

wherein the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera overlaps the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera rearward of the vehicle;

an image processor operable to process image data captured by said cameras;

a display operable to display images derived from image data captured by at least some of said cameras;

wherein said display is operable to display images derived from image data captured by selected ones of said plurality of cameras;

wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by at least some of said cameras to detect objects in the field of view of the at least some of said cameras;

wherein, when providing a panorama display function, said display displays rearward panorama images derived from image data captured by said rearward camera, said driver-side rearward viewing camera, and said passenger-side rearward viewing camera; and

wherein, when providing a surround view display function, said display displays surround view images derived from image data captured by all of said plurality of cameras, and wherein the displayed surround view images have a substantially larger extent rearward of the vehicle as compared to sideward of the vehicle and forward of the vehicle.

17. The vision system of claim 16, wherein the driver-side location where said driver-side rearward viewing camera is configured to be disposed is at a driver-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle and the passenger-side location where said passenger-side rearward viewing camera is configured to be disposed is at a passenger-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle, and wherein the driver-side location is at an outboard region of the driver-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle and wherein the passenger-side location is at an outboard region of the passenger-side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle, and wherein said driver-side wide angle camera is disposed in the driver-side exterior rearview mirror and wherein said passenger-side wide angle camera is disposed in the passenger-side exterior rearview mirror.

18. The vision system of claim 16, wherein said image processor processes image data of the overlapping portions of the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera and the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera as stereo vision.

19. A vision system for a vehicle, said vision system comprising:

a plurality of cameras configured to be disposed at a vehicle so as to have respective fields of view exterior of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a driver-side wide angle camera disposed at a driver-side location and having a wide angle field of view at the driver side of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said driver-side wide angle camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle, a ground region sideward of the vehicle and a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a driver-side rearward viewing camera disposed at or near the driver-side location and having a field of view along the driver side of the vehicle rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a passenger-side wide angle camera disposed at a passenger-side location and having a wide angle field of view at the passenger side of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said passenger-side wide angle camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle, a ground region sideward of the vehicle and a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a passenger-side rearward viewing camera disposed at or near a passenger-side location and having a field of view along the passenger side of the vehicle and rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a rearward wide angle camera disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle and having a wide angle field of view that encompasses a ground region rearward of the vehicle;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a rearward narrow angle camera disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle and having a narrower field of view than the wide angle field of view of said rearward wide angle camera, and wherein said second rearward camera views substantially rearward of the vehicle beyond the ground region encompassed by the wide angle field of view of said rearward wide angle camera;

wherein said plurality of cameras, when disposed at the vehicle, comprises a forward camera disposed at a front portion of the vehicle and having a wide angle field of view forward of the vehicle and wherein the wide angle field of view of said forward camera encompasses at least a ground region forward of the vehicle;

wherein the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a region at least 20 meters rearward of the vehicle and wherein the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera encompasses a region at least 20 meters rearward of the vehicle;

wherein the rearward field of view of said driver-side rearward viewing camera overlaps the rearward field of view of said passenger-side rearward viewing camera rearward of the vehicle;

an image processor operable to process image data captured by said cameras;

a display operable to display images derived from image data captured by at least some of said cameras;

wherein said display is operable to display images derived from image data captured by all of said plurality of cameras;

wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by at least some of said cameras to detect objects in the field of view of the at least some of said cameras;

wherein, when providing a panorama display function, said display displays rearward panorama images derived from image data captured by said rearward camera, said driver-side rearward viewing camera, and said passenger-side rearward viewing camera; and

wherein, when providing a surround view function, said display displays surround view images derived from image data captured by all of said plurality of cameras, and wherein the displayed surround view images have a substantially larger extent rearward of the vehicle as compared to sideward of the vehicle and forward of the vehicle.

20. The vision system of claim 19, wherein said image processor processes, as a panoptic light field, image data captured by said rearward narrow angle camera, said driver-side rearward viewing camera, said passenger side rearward viewing camera, and wherein said processor feeds the processed panoptic light field into one of (i) a 3D display and (ii) a machine vision driver assistance system of the vehicle.