IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS

• US 20120133739A1
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Published: 05/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Subaru Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fuji Heavy Industries Limited (Subaru Corp.)
• Inventors: Morimitsu, Noboru
• Granted Patent: US 8,947,508 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/24 for measuring contours or curvatures
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 11/06 by comparison of two or more pictures of the same area
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/125 by using a video camera to detect fire or smoke

Abstract

An image processing apparatus which employs a basic configuration including an image processing controller which processes images captured by a stereo camera and a recognition processing controller which recognizes an object based on information from the image processing controller includes a target object area specifying unit, feature amount extracting unit and smoke determining unit as functions of enabling recognition of a smoky object. The target object specifying unit specifies an area of an object which is a detection target, by canceling the influence of the background, the feature amount extracting unit extracts an image feature amount for recognizing a smoky object in a target object area and the smoke deciding unit decides whether the object in the target object area is a smoky object or an object other than the smoky object, based on the extracted image feature amount.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus that processes an image captured by a stereo camera and detects an object, the image processing apparatus comprising:

a target object area specifying unit that uses distance data obtained by performing matching processing of the captured image of the stereo camera and specifies an image area in which an object is detected, as a target object area encircling an object at a same distance;

a feature amount extracting unit that performs spatial filter processing of the target object area and extracts an image feature amount; and

a smoke determining unit that decides whether or not the object in the target object area is a smoky object, based on the image feature amount in the target object area.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feature amount extracting unit extracts a spatial integral value of at least brightness as the image feature amount.