METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A SURROUNDING IMAGE

• US 20110285848A1
• Filed: 12/24/2009
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beyond Corporation
• Original Assignee: Imagenext Co., Ltd. (CHEMTRONICS Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Han, Young In, Back, Won In, Song, Young Gi
• Granted Patent: US 8,928,753 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/27 providing all-round vision, e.g. using omnidirectional cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/102 using 360 degree surveillance camera system
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/105 using multiple cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/402 Image calibration
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/607 from a bird's eye viewpoint
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/70 characterised by an event-triggered choice to display a specific image among a selection of captured images

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for generating a surrounding image. The method for generating a surrounding image according to the present invention comprises the steps of: taking, as an input, images captured by cameras installed in the front and the rear of a vehicle and in the left and right sides of the vehicle, via respective channels connected to the cameras; correcting the captured images into a top view form to generate a plurality of corrected images; performing an overlaying process on the plurality of corrected images using a mask image containing region information on each channel and weight information for pixels constituting each region to generate a surrounding image of the vehicle; and displaying the thus-generated surrounding image. The present invention removes blind spots around the vehicle, and corrects the overlapped images captured by a plurality of cameras into natural images, thus enabling drivers to accurately recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle. Therefore, a driver may park a vehicle in a convenient manner, and drive the vehicle in a forward or a backward direction in a safe manner even without looking at a side-view mirror or a rearview mirror.

Claims

1. A method for generating a vehicle surrounding image comprising:

receiving images captured by cameras installed to front, rear, left, and right sides of a vehicle via channels connected to the cameras respectively;

generating a plurality of corrected images by correcting the captured images in a top view form;

generating a surrounding image of the vehicle by overlay-processing the plurality of the corrected images using a mask image containing region information per channel and weight information for pixels constituting each region; and

displaying the surrounding image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the plurality of the corrected images comprises:

correcting distortion of the captured images according to lens distortion of the cameras;

transforming a viewpoint of the captured images into the top view form; and

rotating, translating, or scaling the captured images transformed into the top view form.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the plurality of the corrected images comprises:

correcting distortion of the captured images according to lens distortion of the cameras; and

projective transforming the captured images into a rectangular top view form

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of the corrected images is generated using a look up table.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the overlapping regions between the plurality of the corrected images are overlay-processed using the following equation:

I′

(t+1)=α

I₁(t)+(1−

α

)I₂(t), 0≦

α

≦

1

where I₁(t) and I₂(t) denote image information for the overlapping region input via two channels respectively, α

denotes a weight for pixels in the overlapping region, and I′

(t+1) denotes the overlay-processed image information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the mask image is set to attain a Gradient weight for the pixels in the overlapping region.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating an average brightness value of four indicators through the camera installed to the front side and applying the average brightness value to the surrounding image.

8. An apparatus for generating a vehicle surrounding image comprising:

an image input part for receiving images captured by cameras installed to front, rear, left, and right sides of a vehicle via channels connected to the cameras respectively;

an image processing part for generating a plurality of corrected images by correcting the captured images into a top view form;

an image synthesis part for generating a surrounding image of the vehicle by overlay-processing the plurality of the corrected images using a mask image containing region information per channel and weight information for pixels constituting each region; and

a display part for displaying the surrounding image.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the image processing part corrects distortion of the captured images according to lens distortion of the cameras, transforms a viewpoint of the captured images into the top view form, and rotates, translates, or scales the captured images transformed into the top view form.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a control part for overlay-processing the overlapping regions between the plurality of the corrected images using the following equation;

I′

(t+1)=α

I₁(t)+(1−

α

)I₂(t), 0≦

α

≦

1

where I₁(t) and I₂(t) denote image information for the overlapping region input via two channels respectively, a denotes a weight for pixels in the overlapping region, and I′

(t+1) denotes the overlay-processed image information.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the mask image is set to attain a Gradient weight for the pixels in the overlapping region.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a communication part for receiving and providing driving state information of the vehicle to the control part,

wherein the control part determines whether to display the surrounding image according to the driving state of the vehicle.

13. A system for generating a vehicle surrounding image comprising:

a plurality of cameras installed to front, rear, left, and right sides of a vehicle for outputting captured images via respective channels;

an image generating apparatus for generating a plurality of corrected images by correcting the input captured images into a top view form, and generating a surrounding image of the vehicle by overlay-processing the plurality of the corrected images using a mask image containing region information per channel and weight information for pixels constituting each region; and

a display apparatus for displaying the surrounding image.