Detecting device, detecting method, and program

• US 10,339,397 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2017
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lin, Ching-Yung, Murata, Masayuki, Shimizu, Shuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta, Bhavesh M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lemieux, Ian L
• Application Number:
  US15/720,444
• Publication Number:
  US 20180025236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10021 Stereoscopic video; Stereoscopic image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30261 Obstacle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/74 involving reference images or patches
• 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

Abstract

To detect a distant object that may become an obstacle to a traveling destination of a moving vehicle or the like more accurately than the conventional, there is provided a detecting device, a program used in the detecting device, and a detecting method using the detecting device, where the detecting device includes: an acquisition section for acquiring two or more images captured in two or more imaging devices provided at different heights; and a detection section for detecting a rising portion of an identical object toward the imaging devices based on a difference between the lengths of the identical object in the height direction in the two or more images.

Claims

1. A detecting device comprising:

an acquisition section for acquiring a plurality of images obtained at a same time from a plurality of imaging devices provided at different heights; and

a detection section for detecting a rising portion of an identical object toward the imaging devices based on a difference between lengths of the identical object in a height direction in the plurality of images;

wherein the detection section detects the rising portion based on a length ratio between regions corresponding to the identical object in the height direction in the plurality of images;

wherein the detecting device further comprises;

an extraction section for extracting, from the plurality of images obtained at a same time from the plurality of imaging devices, an obstacle candidate as a candidate for an obstacle;

wherein the extraction section is configured to;

divide one of the plurality of images into a plurality of regions, each region comprising a plurality of pixels and having a predetermined size and shape;

extract as a candidate obstacle, each of the plurality of regions that differs from surrounding regions by more than a reference amount; and

identify, as the identical object, a region similar to the extracted candidate obstacle from one of the plurality of images not used to extract the candidate obstacle;

a distance calculation section for calculating distance to an identical object corresponding to the obstacle candidate based on amounts of parallax of the plurality of images in the height direction and in a longitudinal direction using the focal lengths and relative positions of the plurality of imaging devices, at least three of the plurality of imaging devices located at respective vertices of a triangle having a horizontal base; and

a determination section for determining whether the identical object is an obstacle;

wherein the detection section generates a plurality of template images obtained by reducing an image of the obstacle candidate included in one image of the plurality of images at each of a plurality of magnification candidates, performs template matching using each of the plurality of template images on another image of the plurality of images, calculates a matching score at a best matching position in the other image, and calculates a magnification giving a maximum matching score from among the plurality of magnification candidates;

wherein a value of the calculated magnification indicates a ratio of the length of the identical object in the height direction in a first image captured from a lower position to the length of the identical object in the height direction in a second image captured from a higher position;

wherein, on condition that the value of the magnification giving the maximum matching score is larger than a threshold value based on distance to the identical object, the determination section determines the identical object to be an obstacle; and

an output section configured to display a direction of the determined obstacle and the distance to the determined obstacle on a display.