OBJECT DETECTOR

• US 20110037853A1
• Filed: 06/26/2009
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Shiraishi, Tatsuya
• Application Number:
  US12/937,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20110037853A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 8/10 Detecting, e.g. by using light barriers by reflection from the object G01S17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/269 using gradient-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Provided is an object detector capable of setting an appropriate image processing area even when the behavior of a host vehicle is changed. The object detector performs image processing on a specific image processing area of a captured image of the surroundings of a host vehicle and acquires information on an object in the surroundings of the host vehicle. The object detector includes a millimeter-wave sensor (2) and an ECU (4) that acquire position information of an object in the surroundings of the host vehicle and a camera (3) that captures an image of the surroundings of the host vehicle. The object detector sets an image processing area in an image captured by the camera (3) based on the position information of the object acquired by the millimeter-wave sensor (2) and the ECU (4), detects a change in the behavior of the host vehicle, and corrects the set image processing area in accordance with the detected change in the behavior of the host vehicle.

Claims

1. An object detector that performs image processing on a specific image processing area of a captured image of the surroundings of a host vehicle and acquires information on an object in the surroundings of the host vehicle, comprising:

a position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of an object in the surroundings of the host vehicle;

an image capturing means for capturing an image of the surroundings of the host vehicle;

an image processing area setting means for setting an image processing area in the image captured by the image capturing means based on the position information of the object acquired by the position information acquisition means;

a vehicle behavior detection means for detecting a change in the behavior of the host vehicle; and

a correction means for correcting the image processing area set by the image processing area setting means in a direction opposite to the change in the behavior of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle behavior detection means.

2. The object detector according to claim 1, wherein the correction means corrects the position of the image processing area.

3. The object detector according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle behavior detection means calculates an optical flow between plural images which are captured at different times by the image capturing means and detects the change in the behavior of the host vehicle based on the optical flow.

4. The object detector according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle behavior detection means calculates an optical flow between plural images which are captured at different times by the image capturing means and detects the change in the behavior of the host vehicle based on the optical flow.