Driving assistance device and method of detecting vehicle adjacent thereto
First Claim
1. A driving assistance device that provides a driver with various pieces of information from a result of capturing images around a first vehicle in a first traffic lane, comprising:
- an image capturing unit mounted on the first vehicle to capture images behind a side of the vehicle;
a computer that implements;
a viewpoint converter,a moving object detector,a candidate reflection region detector,a predetermined position brightness detector,a cause determiner, andan information provider;
wherein the viewpoint converter converts image data captured by the image capturing unit into bird'"'"'s eye view image data;
wherein the moving object detector and the candidate reflection region detector constitute a detection region setter that;
sets a first detection region for detecting, from image data captured by the image capturing unit, an existence of a second vehicle in a second traffic lane that is directly next to the first traffic lane; and
detects, as a first detection region, a high-brightness region in which brightness is equal to or higher than a first predetermined threshold value, within an image capturing region of the images captured by the image capturing unit, and detects brightness of the high-brightness region;
wherein the predetermined position brightness detectordetectsa first candidate light projecting region which projects light, in the first detection region, with brightness equal to or higher than the first predetermined threshold value; and
a second candidate light projecting region which projects light, from a third traffic lane that is adjacent to the second traffic lane, with brightness equal to or higher than a second predetermined threshold value different from the first predetermined threshold value in a second region of the third traffic lane; and
detects, as the second candidate light projecting region, a position located in a straight line direction linking a position of the high-brightness region detected by the candidate reflection region detector and the image capturing unit and separated from the first vehicle by a predetermined distance, and detects brightness of the position;
wherein the cause determiner constitutes a brightness difference detector and a second vehicle detector that;
detects a brightness difference between the brightness of the high-brightness region detected by the candidate reflection region detector and the brightness of the position detected by the predetermined position brightness detector; and
detects the second vehicle in the first detection region, based on the brightness difference detected by the brightness difference detector; and
determines that the light projected from the first candidate light projecting region is light projected from the second vehicle in the second traffic lane; and
makes the determination by calculating the position of the second candidate light projecting region is separated from the first vehicle by the predetermined distance, and in a direction from the first vehicle to the first candidate light projecting region;
wherein the information provider provides the driver with information of the existence of the second vehicle as signaled by the cause determiner that light is projected from the second vehicle in the second traffic lane, andwherein the predetermined position brightness detector specifies a position located in the straight line direction linking the position of the high-brightness region detected by the candidate reflection region detector and the image capturing unit, and located in the third traffic lane which is adjacent to the second traffic lane which is adjacent to the first traffic lane of the first vehicle, and scans and detects brightness values upward in a real space from the specified position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A driving assistance device includes a camera, a moving object detector, a candidate reflection region detector, a predetermined position brightness detector and a cause determiner. The moving object detector and the candidate reflection region detector set a detection region for detecting, from image data captured by the camera, an existence of an adjacent vehicle in an adjacent lane. The predetermined position brightness detector detects a candidate light projecting object which projects light with brightness equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value. The cause determiner determines whether or not there exists a candidate light projecting object which indicates the existence of the adjacent vehicle in the detection region.
21 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A driving assistance device that provides a driver with various pieces of information from a result of capturing images around a first vehicle in a first traffic lane, comprising:
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an image capturing unit mounted on the first vehicle to capture images behind a side of the vehicle; a computer that implements; a viewpoint converter, a moving object detector, a candidate reflection region detector, a predetermined position brightness detector, a cause determiner, and an information provider; wherein the viewpoint converter converts image data captured by the image capturing unit into bird'"'"'s eye view image data; wherein the moving object detector and the candidate reflection region detector constitute a detection region setter that; sets a first detection region for detecting, from image data captured by the image capturing unit, an existence of a second vehicle in a second traffic lane that is directly next to the first traffic lane; and detects, as a first detection region, a high-brightness region in which brightness is equal to or higher than a first predetermined threshold value, within an image capturing region of the images captured by the image capturing unit, and detects brightness of the high-brightness region; wherein the predetermined position brightness detector detects a first candidate light projecting region which projects light, in the first detection region, with brightness equal to or higher than the first predetermined threshold value; and a second candidate light projecting region which projects light, from a third traffic lane that is adjacent to the second traffic lane, with brightness equal to or higher than a second predetermined threshold value different from the first predetermined threshold value in a second region of the third traffic lane; and detects, as the second candidate light projecting region, a position located in a straight line direction linking a position of the high-brightness region detected by the candidate reflection region detector and the image capturing unit and separated from the first vehicle by a predetermined distance, and detects brightness of the position; wherein the cause determiner constitutes a brightness difference detector and a second vehicle detector that; detects a brightness difference between the brightness of the high-brightness region detected by the candidate reflection region detector and the brightness of the position detected by the predetermined position brightness detector; and detects the second vehicle in the first detection region, based on the brightness difference detected by the brightness difference detector; and determines that the light projected from the first candidate light projecting region is light projected from the second vehicle in the second traffic lane; and makes the determination by calculating the position of the second candidate light projecting region is separated from the first vehicle by the predetermined distance, and in a direction from the first vehicle to the first candidate light projecting region; wherein the information provider provides the driver with information of the existence of the second vehicle as signaled by the cause determiner that light is projected from the second vehicle in the second traffic lane, and wherein the predetermined position brightness detector specifies a position located in the straight line direction linking the position of the high-brightness region detected by the candidate reflection region detector and the image capturing unit, and located in the third traffic lane which is adjacent to the second traffic lane which is adjacent to the first traffic lane of the first vehicle, and scans and detects brightness values upward in a real space from the specified position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
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6. A driving assistance method that provides a driver with various pieces of information from a result of capturing images around a first vehicle in a first traffic lane by an image capturing unit, the method comprising:
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an image capturing step of capturing images behind a side of the first vehicle by the image capturing unit mounted on the first vehicle; a viewpoint converting step of converting image data captured in the image capturing step into bird'"'"'s-eye view image data; a detection region setting step of setting a first detection region for detecting, from image data captured in the image capturing step, an existence of a second vehicle in a second traffic lane that is directly next to the first traffic lane; and detecting, as the first detection region, a high-brightness region in which brightness is equal to or higher than a first predetermined threshold value, within an image capturing region of the images captured by the image capturing unit, and detecting brightness of the high-brightness region; a candidate light projecting object detecting step of detecting a first candidate light projecting region which projects light, in the first detection region, with brightness equal to or higher than the first predetermined threshold value in the first detection region, and a second candidate light projecting region which projects light, from a third traffic lane that is adjacent to the second traffic lane, with brightness equal to or higher than a second predetermined threshold value in a second region of the third traffic lane; and detecting, as the second candidate light projecting region, a position located in a straight-line direction linking a position of the high-brightness region and the image capturing unit and separated from the first vehicle by a predetermined distance, and detecting brightness of the position; a cause determination step of detecting a brightness difference between the brightness of the high-brightness region detected in the detection region setting step and the brightness of the position; and detecting the second vehicle in the first detection region, based on the brightness difference; and determining that the light projected from the first candidate light projecting region is light projected from the second vehicle in the second traffic lane; and making the determination by calculating the position of the second candidate light projecting region is separated from the first vehicle by the predetermined distance, and in a direction from the first vehicle to the first candidate light projecting region; and an information providing step of providing the driver with information of the existence of the second vehicle as signaled in the cause determination step that light is projected from the second vehicle in the second traffic lane, wherein the candidate light projecting object detecting step comprises specifying a position located in the straight-line direction linking the position of the high-brightness region and the image capturing unit, and located in the third traffic lane which is adjacent to the second traffic lane which is adjacent to the first traffic lane of the first vehicle, and scanning and detecting brightness values upward in a real space from a specified position.
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Specification