PARKING ASSISTANCE DEVICE

• US 20130120161A1
• Filed: 09/08/2011
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Wakabayashi, Haruki, Tanaka, Yu, Iga, Haruka
• Application Number:
  US13/811,076
• Publication Number:
  US 20130120161A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/932.2
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/028 Guided parking by providing commands to the driver, e.g. acoustically or optically
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0295 by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/133 within the vehicle ; Indicators inside the vehicles or at stops

Abstract

A parking assistance device generates a display overhead image with which a region to which attention is to be paid at the time of running to park is clearly displayed on a monitor. An overhead image generating portion that generates an overhead image as a display image of surroundings of a vehicle that is displayed on a monitor 21 through viewpoint conversion from a captured image, a parking route generating portion that generates a parking route, an image compositing portion that generates a display overhead image by compositing a vehicle image at a vehicle position in an overhead image obtained by trimming the overhead image, an attention region determining portion that determines an attention region to which attention is to be paid at the time of running to park along the parking route, and a trimming condition information generating portion that generates trimming condition information with which a vehicle image is offset from the center of the display image so as to include the attention region in the display overhead image, and provides the trimming condition information to an image trimming portion are provided.

Claims

1. A parking assistance device comprising:

an overhead image generating portion that generates an overhead image through viewpoint conversion from a captured image acquired by a camera that captures an image of surroundings of a vehicle;

a parking route generating portion that generates a parking route to a set parking target position;

an attention region determining portion that determines an attention region to which attention is to be paid at the time of running to park based on a variation in curvature with progression along the parking route; and

an image compositing portion that inputs, as a display image of the surroundings of the vehicle to be displayed on a monitor, an overhead image including the attention region that is in the overhead image generated by the overhead image generating portion, and generates a display overhead image by compositing a vehicle image at a vehicle position in the input overhead image.

2. The parking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein when a plurality of the attention regions exist, an attention region of high urgency is included in the display overhead image.

3. The parking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the high urgency is set in a case where the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the attention region.

4. The parking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the overhead image is trimmed to a smallest region that includes the attention region of the high urgency and the vehicle image so that the display overhead image is an enlarged image.

5. The parking assistance device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an image trimming portion that trims the overhead image so as to display the overhead image in an overhead image display area on the monitor; and

a trimming condition information generating portion that generates trimming condition information with which the vehicle image is offset from a center of the display overhead image so as to include the attention region in the display overhead image, and provides the trimming condition information to the image trimming portion.

6. The parking assistance device according to claim 5, wherein when a plurality of the attention regions exist, the trimming condition information generating portion calculates an urgency of the attention regions, and generates the trimming condition information so that the attention region of highest urgency is included in the display overhead image.

7. The parking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the trimming condition information generating portion calculates the urgency based on a distance between the vehicle and the attention regions.

8. The parking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the trimming condition information generating portion generates the trimming condition information so that the display overhead image is an enlarged image.

9. The parking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the attention region determining portion determines a region in which an edge of the vehicle significantly swings out from the parking route at the time of running to park along the parking route to be the attention region.

10. The parking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the attention region determining portion obtains an approach region in which the vehicle on the parking route approaches to within a predetermined distance from an obstacle, based on obstacle information about an existence of an obstacle around the vehicle, and additionally determines the approach region as a special attention region.