Vehicle surrounding monitoring device

• US 20060192660A1
• Filed: 02/23/2006
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Kazuya, Yoshinaga, Yukihiko, Aikyo, Hideyuki
• Application Number:
  US11/359,602
• Publication Number:
  US 20060192660A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/435
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/24 in front of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/105 using multiple cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/302 combining image information with GPS information or vehicle data, e.g. vehicle speed, gyro, steering angle data
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/303 using joined images, e.g. multiple camera images
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/307 virtually distinguishing relevant parts of a scene from the background of the scene
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/806 for aiding parking
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A vehicle surrounding monitoring device includes a first capturing device provided at a side of a vehicle in order to capture a first image, a second capturing device provided at front relative to the first capturing device in order to capture a second image, a displaying device for displaying the first image and the second image and for monitoring a vehicle surrounding, an image process device by which a borderline between the first image and the second image is defined in a combined image of the first image and the second image so as to be identical with a straight line connecting a position of the first capturing device and a position of the second capturing device.

Claims

1. A vehicle surrounding monitoring device comprising:

a first capturing means provided at a side of a vehicle in order to capture a first image;

a second capturing means provided at front relative to the first capturing means in order to capture a second image;

a displaying means for displaying the first image and the second image and for monitoring a vehicle surrounding;

an image process means by which a borderline between the first image and the second image is defined in a combined image of the first image and the second image so as to be identical with a straight line connecting a position of the first capturing means and a position of the second capturing means.

2. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the first capturing means and the second capturing means are provided on the same side of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein a virtual viewpoint is provided upon the straight line connecting the position of the first capturing means and the position of the second capturing means, an image seen from the virtual viewpoint is created by converting a viewpoint of the first image and a viewpoint of the second image into the virtual view point, and the image seen from the virtual viewpoint is displayed on the displaying means.

4. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 3, wherein the virtual viewpoint is provided at the central position between the position of the first capturing means and the position of the second capturing means.

5. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle surrounding monitoring device extracts an image of a solid object from the first image captured by the first capturing means and from the second image captured by the second capturing means, and detects an obstacle from the solid object which may collide with the vehicle, and the vehicle surrounding monitoring device further includes a highlighting process means for creating a highlighting mark which is applied to the obstacle, a drawing process means for superposing the highlighting mark created by the highlighting process means on the combined image displayed on the displaying means.

6. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 5, wherein the vehicle surrounding monitoring device further includes:

a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed;

a traveling direction detecting means for detecting a traveling direction of the vehicle;

a estimated locus creating means for estimating a traveling locus of the vehicle on the basis of the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means and the traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the traveling direction detecting means; and

a first collision determining process means for determining whether or not the solid object is located on the estimated traveling locus estimated by the estimated locus creating means, and when it is determined that the solid object is located on the estimated traveling locus, making the highlighting process means create the highlighting mark to be applied to the obstacle.

7. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle surrounding monitoring device further includes:

a moving direction and speed of obstacle calculating means for calculating a traveling direction and a traveling speed of the obstacle by detecting a difference of the position of the obstacle, and estimating the position of the obstacle after a predetermined time; and

a second collision determining process means for determining whether or not the estimated position of the obstacle is located upon the estimated traveling locus estimated by the estimated locus creating means, and when it is determined that the estimated position of the obstacle is located upon the estimated traveling locus, making the highlighting process means create the highlighting mark to be applied to the obstacle.

8. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 5, wherein a similar image detecting process means detects an image, which is similar to the shape of the obstacle in the first image captured by the first capturing means and the second image captured by the second capturing means, and the highlighting process means creates the highlighting mark to be applied to the image detected by the similar image detecting process means.

9. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 5, wherein the vehicle surrounding monitoring device further includes an alert outputting means for outputting an alert when the combined image, in which the highlighting mark created by the highlighting process means is superposed by the drawing means, is displayed on the displaying means.

10. The vehicle surrounding monitoring device according to claim 5, wherein an icon representing the vehicle is superposed on the image displayed on the displaying means.