Vehicle data recording system

• US 10,523,904 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2019
• Issued: 12/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magna Electronics Incorporated (Magna International Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Magna Electronics Incorporated (Magna International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Mahmoud, Hossam, Traub, Christian, Krapf, Arno
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Sath V
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tchoussou, Boubacar Abdou
• Application Number:
  US16/380,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20190238799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 265 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/30 characterised by the type of image processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/65 Control of camera operation in relation to power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/651 for reducing power consumption by affecting camera operations, e.g. sleep mode, hibernation mode or power off of selective parts of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A vision system for a vehicle includes at least one camera having a field of view exterior the vehicle. An image processor is operable to process image data captured by the camera. When the vehicle is parked, a control controls the camera to capture frames of image data at a first capture rate. The control compares a frame of captured imaged data to at least one previous frame of captured image data. Responsive to the comparison determining a change in the frames of captured image data beyond a threshold degree of change, (i) the control increases the capture rate to a second capture rate, (ii) the at least one camera captures frames of image data at the second capture rate and (iii) the control activates a recording device to record images captured by the camera at the second capture rate.

Claims

1. A vehicular vision system, said vehicular vision system comprising:

at least one camera disposed at a vehicle equipped with said vehicular vision system, wherein said at least one camera has a field of view exterior the equipped vehicle and is operable to capture frames of image data;

a control comprising at least one data processor, wherein image data captured by said at least one camera is processed at said control;

wherein said vehicular vision system is operable to record frames of image data captured by said at least one camera;

wherein said vehicular vision system, responsive to the equipped vehicle being in a parked state, controls said at least one camera to capture frames of image data at a first capture rate, and wherein said vehicular vision system does not record frames of image data captured by said at least one camera at the first capture rate;

wherein, responsive to processing at said control of captured image data when the vehicle is in the parked state, said vehicular vision system compares a frame of captured image data to at least one previous frame of captured image data to determine change at an area of the frames of captured image data that is indicative of movement at a region of the field of view of said at least one camera;

wherein, when the vehicle is in the parked state and when said at least one camera is capturing frames of image data at the first capture rate and when said vehicular vision system is not recording frames of captured image data, and responsive to determination of change at the area of the frames of captured image data beyond a threshold degree of change, (i) said vehicular vision system controls said at least one camera to capture frames of image data at a second capture rate that is higher than the first capture rate and (ii) said vehicular vision system starts recording frames of image data captured by said at least one camera at the second capture rate;

wherein, responsive to determination of change at the area of the frames of captured image data beyond the threshold degree of change, said vehicular vision system updates a disturbance counter associated with the area;

wherein, responsive to the disturbance counter satisfying a threshold value, said vehicular vision system updates an ignore area mask for the area;

wherein, responsive to updating the ignore area mask for the area, image data captured by said at least one camera at the area in subsequent frames of captured image data is not compared at said control to at least one previous frame of captured image data; and

further comprising at least one non-imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, wherein said at least one non-imaging sensor has a field of sensing exterior of the equipped vehicle and is operable to capture sensor data, and wherein sensor data captured by the at least one non-imaging sensor is processed at said control, and wherein, responsive to processing at said control of captured sensor data when the vehicle is in the parked state, said vehicular vision system determines a change in the captured sensor data that is indicative of movement in the field of sensing of said at least one non-imaging sensor, and wherein, when the vehicle is in the parked state and when said at least one camera is capturing frames of image data at the first capture rate and when said vehicular vision system is not recording captured images, and responsive to determination, via processing of captured sensor data at said control, of change in the captured sensor data beyond another threshold degree of change, (i) said vehicular vision system increases the capture rate to the second capture rate, (ii) said at least one camera captures frames of image data at the second capture rate and (iii) said vehicular vision system starts recording frames of image data captured at the second capture rate.

2. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein, responsive to determination of said threshold degree of change, said vehicular vision system activates at least one other camera or sensor to capture data and said vehicular vision system records information captured by said at least one other camera or sensor.

3. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein, responsive to determination, via processing of sensor data at said control, of change in the captured sensor data beyond the other threshold degree of change, said vehicular vision system updates a sensitivity counter associated with the at least one non-imaging sensor, and wherein the other threshold degree of change is associated with the sensitivity counter.

4. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein the threshold degree of change is dependent upon an amount of time that the vehicle has been in the parked state.

5. The vehicular vision system of claim 4, wherein the threshold degree of change increases as the amount of time that the vehicle has been in the parked state increases.

6. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said camera comprises an imaging array having multiple rows and columns of photosensing pixels, and wherein each pixel of said imaging array has an individual disturbance counter, and wherein, responsive to a respective disturbance counter of a respective pixel satisfying the threshold value, said vehicular vision system updates the ignore area mask for that respective pixel so that data captured by that pixel in subsequent frames of captured image data is not compared at said control to at least one previous frame of captured image data.

7. The vehicular vision system of claim 6, wherein, responsive to the determination of change at the area of the frames of captured image data beyond the threshold degree of change, said vehicular vision system decreases the disturbance counters for other areas of said imaging array that are not associated with the area.

8. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said vehicular vision system, responsive to a determination, via processing at said control of frames of image data captured by said at least one camera, of a pedestrian in the field of view of said at least one camera, generates a signal to other vehicles indicative of the determined pedestrian.

9. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said vehicular vision system, responsive to determination of an interruption in a signal communicated to said vehicular vision system from a remote transmitter, at least temporarily disables an access system of the equipped vehicle.

10. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said at least one camera comprises a plurality of cameras having respective exterior fields of view, said cameras comprising at least a part of a surround view system of the equipped vehicle.

11. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said at least one camera comprises a forward viewing camera of the equipped vehicle, and wherein frames of image data captured by said forward viewing camera when the vehicle is operating are processed at said control for at least one of (i) a headlamp control system of the equipped vehicle, (ii) a lane change assistance system of the equipped vehicle and (iii) a lane departure warning system of the equipped vehicle.

12. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein said at least one camera comprises a rearward viewing camera of the equipped vehicle, and wherein frames of image data captured by said rearward viewing camera when the vehicle is operating are processed at said control for at least one of (i) a rear backup assist system of the equipped vehicle and (ii) a surround view system of the equipped vehicle.

13. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein, responsive to the determination of change at the area of the frames of captured image data beyond the threshold degree of change, said vehicular vision system increases the disturbance counter associated with the area.

14. A method for recording image data captured by a vehicular vision system, the method comprising:

providing at least one camera disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular vision system so as to have a field of view exterior the equipped vehicle;

providing a control having at least one data processor;

capturing, by the at least one camera disposed at the equipped vehicle when the vehicle is in a parked state, multiple frames of image data at a first capture rate;

comparing, at the control, a second frame of captured image data to a first frame of captured image data that was captured prior to a second frame of captured image data;

responsive to the comparison of the second frame of captured image data to the first frame of captured image data, determining, at the control, a change at an area of the first and second frames of captured image data that is indicative of a movement at a region of the field of view of the at least one camera;

responsive to determining the change at the area of the first and second frames of captured image data, determining, at the control, whether the change at the area of the frames of captured image data is greater than a threshold degree of change;

responsive to determining that the change at the area of the first and second frames of captured image data is beyond the threshold degree of change;

capturing, by the at least one camera, multiple frames of image data in a field of view exterior the equipped vehicle at a second capture rate that is greater than the first capture rate;

recording, by the vehicular vision system, frames of image data captured by the at least one camera at the second capture rate;

updating, by the vehicular vision system, a disturbance counter associated with the area at which the change is determined;

determining, by the vehicular vision system, whether the disturbance counter satisfies a threshold value; and

responsive to the disturbance counter satisfying the threshold value, updating, by the vehicular vision system, an ignore area mask to include the area at which the change is determined;

after updating the ignore area mask to include the area at which the change is determined, capturing a third frame of image data;

comparing, at the control, the third frame of captured image data to a fourth frame of captured image data that was captured prior to the third frame of captured image data;

when comparing the third frame of captured image data to the fourth frame of captured image data, ignoring image data at areas of the frames of captured image data included in the ignore area mask;

determining, at the control, and via the comparison of the third frame of captured image data to the fourth frame of captured image data, change at another area of the frames of captured image data that is indicative of movement at another region of the field of view of the at least one camera; and

further comprising;

capturing sensor data by at least one non-imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle and having a field of sensing exterior the equipped vehicle;

determining, at the control, a change in the captured sensor data that is indicative of movement in the field of sensing of the at least one non-imaging sensor;

responsive to determining the change in the captured sensor data, determining, at the control, whether the determined change in the captured sensor data is beyond another threshold degree of change;

responsive to determining that the change in the captured sensor data is beyond the other threshold degree of change;

capturing, by the at least one camera, frames of image data at the second capture rate; and

recording, by the vehicular vision system, frames of image data captured by the at least one camera at the second capture rate.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first frame of captured image data and the fourth frame of captured image data are the same frame of captured image data.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein, responsive to determining that the change at the area of the frames of captured image data is beyond the threshold degree of change, activating at least one other camera or sensor, capturing data by the at least one other camera or sensor, and recording information captured by the at least one other camera or sensor.

17. The method of claim 14, comprising, responsive to determination that the change in the captured sensor data is beyond the other threshold degree of change, updating, by the vehicular vision system, a sensitivity counter associated with the at least one non-imaging sensor, wherein the other threshold degree of change is associated with the sensitivity counter.

18. The method of claim 14, comprising adjusting the threshold degree of change based upon an amount of time the vehicle has been in the parked state.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising increasing the threshold degree of change as the amount of time the vehicle has been in the parked state increases.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein each pixel of frames of captured image data has an individual disturbance counter, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining, at the control, whether a respective disturbance counter of a respective pixel satisfies the threshold value; and

responsive to determining the respective disturbance counter of the respective pixel satisfies the threshold value, updating, at the control, the ignore area mask to include the respective pixel.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising, responsive to determining that the change at the area of the frames of captured image data is beyond the threshold degree of change, decreasing the disturbance counters for areas not included in the ignore area mask.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising, responsive to determining that the change at the area of the frames of captured image data is beyond the threshold degree of change, increasing, at the control, the disturbance counter associated with the area.

23. A vehicular vision system, said vehicular vision system comprising:

at least one camera disposed at a vehicle equipped with said vehicular vision system, wherein said at least one camera has a field of view exterior the equipped vehicle and is operable to capture frames of image data;

a control comprising at least one data processor, wherein image data captured by said at least one camera is processed at said control;

wherein said vehicular vision system is operable to record frames of image data captured by said at least one camera;

wherein said vehicular vision system, responsive to the equipped vehicle being in a parked state, controls said at least one camera to capture frames of image data at a first capture rate, and wherein said vehicular vision system does not record frames of image data captured by said at least one camera at the first capture rate;

wherein, responsive to processing at said control of captured image data when the vehicle is in the parked state, said vehicular vision system compares a frame of captured image data to at least one previous frame of captured image data to determine change at an area of the frames of captured image data that is indicative of movement at a region of the field of view of said at least one camera;

wherein, when the vehicle is in the parked state and when said at least one camera is capturing frames of image data at the first capture rate and when said vehicular vision system is not recording frames of captured image data, and responsive to determination of change at the area of the frames of captured image data beyond a threshold degree of change, (i) said vehicular vision system controls said at least one camera to capture frames of image data at a second capture rate that is higher than the first capture rate and (ii) said vehicular vision system starts recording frames of image data captured by said at least one camera at the second capture rate;

wherein the threshold degree of change is dependent upon an amount of time that the vehicle has been in the parked state;

wherein, responsive to determination of change at the area of the frames of captured image data beyond the threshold degree of change, said vehicular vision system increases a disturbance counter associated with the area;

wherein, responsive to the disturbance counter satisfying a threshold value, said vehicular vision system updates an ignore area mask for the area;

wherein, responsive to updating the ignore area mask for the area, image data captured by said at least one camera at the area in subsequent frames of captured image data is not compared at said control to at least one previous frame of captured image data; and

further comprising at least one non-imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, wherein said at least one non-imaging sensor has a field of sensing exterior of the equipped vehicle and is operable to capture sensor data, and wherein sensor data captured by the at least one non-imaging sensor is processed at said control, and wherein, responsive to processing at said control of captured sensor data when the vehicle is in the parked state, said vehicular vision system determines a change in the captured sensor data that is indicative of movement in the field of sensing of said at least one non-imaging sensor, and wherein, when the vehicle is in the parked state and when said at least one camera is capturing frames of image data at the first capture rate and when said vehicular vision system is not recording captured images, and responsive to determination, via processing of captured sensor data at said control, of change in the captured sensor data beyond another threshold degree of change, (i) said vehicular vision system increases the capture rate to the second capture rate, (ii) said at least one camera captures frames of image data at the second capture rate and (iii) said vehicular vision system starts recording frames of image data captured at the second capture rate.