Method and device for determining a roadway state by means of a vehicle camera system
First Claim
1. A method of determining a roadway coating on a roadway with a vehicle camera system of a subject vehicle, wherein the roadway coating is formed by extraneous media or objects lying on the roadway, wherein plural different types of roadway coatings respectively exhibit different characteristic features when driven over by the subject vehicle or another vehicle, wherein the plural different types of roadway coatings comprise snow, water, slush, ice, leaves, and sand, and wherein the method comprises:
- with the vehicle camera system, recording camera images of surroundings of the subject vehicle including at least one camera image of the roadway coating on the roadway, which exhibits an actual characteristic feature resulting from the roadway coating being driven over by the subject vehicle or the another vehicle;
evaluating at least a partial region of the at least one camera image by image processing to detect, from only the at least one camera image, indications of a presence of the roadway coating including the actual characteristic feature of the roadway coating as the roadway is driven over by the subject vehicle or by the another vehicle;
determining the presence of the roadway coating on the roadway and making a conclusion about a type of the roadway coating among the plural different types of roadway coatings in consideration of and dependent on only the indications including the actual characteristic feature that were detected from only the at least one camera image, andoutputting a result of the determining of the presence and the conclusion about the type of the roadway coating.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and a device are for determining the presence and type of a roadway coating by a vehicle camera system. The vehicle camera system records at least one image of the surroundings of the subject vehicle. The at least one image is evaluated to detect indications of the presence of a roadway coating including a characteristic feature of the roadway coating that results as the roadway is traveled over by the subject vehicle or by another vehicle. The detected indications and characteristic feature are taken into consideration in the determination of the presence and type of a roadway coating. The result of the determination of the roadway coating, or a friction coefficient estimation derived therefrom, is output to a driver assistance function, a vehicle control function or as information to the driver.
66 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of determining a roadway coating on a roadway with a vehicle camera system of a subject vehicle, wherein the roadway coating is formed by extraneous media or objects lying on the roadway, wherein plural different types of roadway coatings respectively exhibit different characteristic features when driven over by the subject vehicle or another vehicle, wherein the plural different types of roadway coatings comprise snow, water, slush, ice, leaves, and sand, and wherein the method comprises:
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with the vehicle camera system, recording camera images of surroundings of the subject vehicle including at least one camera image of the roadway coating on the roadway, which exhibits an actual characteristic feature resulting from the roadway coating being driven over by the subject vehicle or the another vehicle; evaluating at least a partial region of the at least one camera image by image processing to detect, from only the at least one camera image, indications of a presence of the roadway coating including the actual characteristic feature of the roadway coating as the roadway is driven over by the subject vehicle or by the another vehicle; determining the presence of the roadway coating on the roadway and making a conclusion about a type of the roadway coating among the plural different types of roadway coatings in consideration of and dependent on only the indications including the actual characteristic feature that were detected from only the at least one camera image, and outputting a result of the determining of the presence and the conclusion about the type of the roadway coating. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A device for determining a roadway coating on a roadway, wherein the roadway coating is formed by extraneous media or objects lying on the roadway, wherein plural different types of roadway coatings respectively exhibit different characteristic features when driven over by a subject vehicle or another vehicle, wherein the plural different types of roadway coatings comprise snow, water, slush, ice, leaves, and sand, and wherein the device comprises:
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a vehicle camera system on the subject vehicle, which vehicle camera system is configured to record camera images of surroundings of the subject vehicle including at least one camera image of the roadway coating on the roadway, which exhibits an actual characteristic feature resulting from the roadway coating being driven over by the subject vehicle or the another vehicle, an evaluating unit which is configured to evaluate at least a partial region of the at least one camera image by image processing to detect, from only the at least one camera image, indications of a presence of the roadway coating including the actual characteristic feature of the roadway coating as the roadway is driven over by the subject vehicle or by the another vehicle, a determining unit which is configured to determine the presence of the roadway coating on the roadway and to make a conclusion about a type of the roadway coating among the plural different types of roadway coatings in consideration of and dependent on only the indications including the actual characteristic feature that were detected from only the at least one camera image, and an output unit which is configured to output a result of the determining of the presence and the conclusion about the type of the roadway coating.
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14. A method for a driver assistance system of a subject vehicle, comprising the following steps performed by the driver assistance system:
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a) with a camera system of the subject vehicle recording surroundings of the subject vehicle and producing corresponding camera image data including at least one camera image of a roadway coating on a roadway, wherein the roadway coating is formed by extraneous media or objects lying on the roadway, and wherein the roadway coating exhibits a characteristic feature resulting from being driven over by the subject vehicle or another vehicle; b) evaluating at least a partial region of the at least one camera image by image processing to detect, from only the at least one camera image, indications of a presence of the roadway coating including the characteristic feature of the roadway coating; c) classifying the characteristic feature, which has been detected from only the at least one camera image, among pre-determined plural different characteristic features that are respectively exhibited by plural different types of roadway coatings as a result of being driven over, wherein the plural different types of roadway coatings comprise snow, water, slush, ice, leaves, and sand; d) based on a result of the classifying, making a conclusion about a type of the roadway coating on the roadway among the plural different types of roadway coatings; and e) outputting the conclusion about the type of the roadway coating. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification