Inter-Vehicle Distance Detecting Device And Inter-Vehicle Distance Detecting Method
First Claim
1. An inter-vehicle distance detecting device comprising:
- a radar that detects a distance to a neighboring vehicle by measuring a period from emission of an electromagnetic wave to reception of the wave reflected by the neighboring vehicle;
a camera that images the neighboring vehicle;
an image processing unit that determines a visual angle of the neighboring vehicle as viewed from said camera by applying an image recognition process to an image acquired by said camera;
a width calculating unit that calculates the width of the neighboring vehicle based on the distance to the neighboring vehicle detected by said radar and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle determined by said image processing unit;
a recording medium that stores information on the width of the neighboring vehicle calculated by said width calculating unit; and
a distance calculating unit that calculates the distance to the neighboring vehicle based on the information on the width of the neighboring vehicle stored in said recording medium and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle determined by said image processing unit.
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Abstract
There are provided an inter-vehicle distance detecting device and an inter-vehicle distance detecting method which can precisely measure an inter-vehicle distance from a user'"'"'s own vehicle to a neighboring vehicle even if a radar becomes unable to detect the neighboring vehicle due to the influence of multipath or the like. If the radar does detect a neighboring vehicle, a width of the neighboring vehicle is calculated based on a precise inter-vehicle distance determined by the radar and a precise vehicle visual angle determined from an image taken by a camera, and is stored in a memory, and if the radar becomes unable to detect the neighboring vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance to the neighboring vehicle is calculated according to a trigonometric function based on the precise width of the neighboring vehicle previously stored in the memory and a precise vehicle visual angle determined from an image taken by the camera at this time.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An inter-vehicle distance detecting device comprising:
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a radar that detects a distance to a neighboring vehicle by measuring a period from emission of an electromagnetic wave to reception of the wave reflected by the neighboring vehicle;
a camera that images the neighboring vehicle;
an image processing unit that determines a visual angle of the neighboring vehicle as viewed from said camera by applying an image recognition process to an image acquired by said camera;
a width calculating unit that calculates the width of the neighboring vehicle based on the distance to the neighboring vehicle detected by said radar and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle determined by said image processing unit;
a recording medium that stores information on the width of the neighboring vehicle calculated by said width calculating unit; and
a distance calculating unit that calculates the distance to the neighboring vehicle based on the information on the width of the neighboring vehicle stored in said recording medium and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle determined by said image processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An inter-vehicle distance detecting method comprising:
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a first act of determining whether a neighboring vehicle is detected by a radar based on a received signal strength of an electromagnetic wave received by the radar;
a second act of determining, upon a neighboring vehicle being detected by said first act, a distance to the neighboring vehicle based on a period from emission of the wave by the radar to reception of the wave reflected by the neighboring vehicle;
a third act of determining a visual angle of the neighboring vehicle as viewed from a camera by applying an image recognition process to an image acquired by the camera;
a fourth act of calculating the width of the neighboring vehicle based on the distance to the neighboring vehicle determined by said second act and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle determined by said third act, and storing information on the acquired width in a recording medium;
a fifth act of, upon a neighboring vehicle not being detected by said first act, determining a visual angle of the neighboring vehicle as viewed from the camera by applying an image recognition process to the image acquired by the camera; and
a sixth act of calculating the distance to the neighboring vehicle based on the information on the width of the neighboring vehicle stored in the recording medium and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle determined by said fifth act. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An inter-vehicle distance detecting method comprising:
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storing a width of a neighboring vehicle;
determining a visual angle of the neighboring vehicle as viewed from a camera associated with the user'"'"'s own vehicle by applying an image recognition process to an image of the neighboring vehicle acquired by the camera; and
calculating the distance from the user'"'"'s own vehicle to the neighboring vehicle using the stored width and the visual angle of the neighboring vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification