Drive Assistance Device

• US 20100165104A1
• Filed: 03/23/2007
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishii, Yohei, Hongo, Hitoshi, Fujita, Hideto
• Granted Patent: US 9,308,862 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/30 characterised by the type of image processing
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/402 Image calibration
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/00 Geometric image transformations in the plane of the image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/047 Fisheye or wide-angle transformations
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/006 Geometric correction correction of chromatic aberrations adapted to be used in an image pickup device containing an electronic image sensor H04N23/10; detecting, correcting, reducing or removing artefacts resulting only from the lens unit, e.g. flare, shading, vignetting or "cos4" H04N25/61
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/80 Geometric correction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/61 the noise originating only from the lens unit, e.g. flare, shading, vignetting or "cos4"

Abstract

A drive assistance device has an imaging device (1) mounted on a vehicle body and imaging a region surrounding the vehicle body, lens distortion correction means (2) for performing lens distortion correction for an inputted image taken by the imaging device (1), and a display (3) for displaying the image obtained by the lens distortion correcting means (2). The lens distortion correction means (2) divides the inputted image into multiple regions and performs lens distortion correction for each of the regions with different distortion correction level.

Claims

1. A drive assistance device comprising:

an imaging device mounted on a vehicle body for imaging a region surrounding the vehicle body;

lens distortion correction means for performing lens distortion correction on an input image picked up by the imaging device; and

a display for displaying the image obtained by the lens distortion correction means, wherein

the lens distortion correction means divides the input image into a plurality of regions, and performs lens distortion correction with distortion correction level varying with the regions.

2. The drive assistance device according to claim 1, wherein

the lens distortion correction means divides the input image into the plurality of regions in response to the distance from the vehicle body and/or the angle of depression of a camera, and performs lens distortion correction with the distortion correction level varying with the regions.

3. The drive assistance device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising region setting means for setting the plurality of regions and distortion correction level decision means for deciding the distortion correction level every region set by the region setting means, wherein

the lens distortion correction means performs lens distortion correction responsive to the distortion correction level decided by the distortion correction level decision means every region on the input image.

4. The drive assistance device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising temporary region setting means for temporarily setting the plurality of regions, temporary distortion correction level decision means for temporarily deciding distortion correction level every region temporarily set by the temporary region setting means, means for displaying an effect of distortion correction responsive to the distortion correction level temporarily decided by the temporary distortion correction level decision means every region on the display with grid lines, and formal setting means for formally setting the distortion correction level temporarily decided by the temporary distortion correction level decision means every region as intrinsic distortion correction level every region, wherein

the lens distortion correction means performs lens distortion correction responsive to the distortion correction level formally set by the formal setting means every region on the input image.