METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING BRIGHTNESS VALUES IN SENSOR IMAGES OF IMAGE-EVALUATING ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEMS, ESPECIALLY WITH RESPECT TO DAY/NIGHT DISTINCTION
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Abstract
The invention proposes a method and an arrangement for evaluating sensor images of an image-evaluating environment recognition system on a carrier, in which, in order to distinguish the light conditions in the area of the image-evaluating environment recognition system with regard to day or night, at least the gain and/or the exposure time of the at least one image sensor detecting the environment is/are monitored, a profile of the gain and/or the exposure time against time with relatively high gain or relatively long exposure times characterizing night-time light conditions, and a profile of the gain and/or the exposure time with relatively low gain and/or relatively short exposure times characterizing daytime light conditions. The environment recognition system according to the invention can also be used to search the detected environment for bright objects, the headlights of another carrier being used as additional information, for example.
7 Citations
31 Claims
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1-11. -11. (canceled)
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12. A method for setting a parameter of an image-based driving assistance system on a vehicle, the driver assistance system including a lane-keeping assistance system, the method comprising:
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creating a state recognition profile including a plurality of respective previous instantaneous gains and previous instantaneous exposure times associated with one of an instantaneous daytime state and an instantaneous night-time state; recording a current frame; reading at least one of a current instantaneous gain and a current instantaneous exposure time associated with the frame; identifying, based on the state recognition profile, if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state, the instantaneous night-time state, and a neither daytime nor night-time state; if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state, adding the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time to the state recognition profile as an additional one of the previous instantaneous gains and previous instantaneous exposure times associated with the one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state; if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state, setting a parameter of the driver assistance system based on the corresponding state of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time; and if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time do not correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state, maintaining a current state of the parameter of the driver assistance system. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus used within an image-evaluating environment recognition system on a vehicle having a driver assistance system, the driver assistance system including a lane-keeping assistance system having logic capable performing:
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monitoring at least one of respective gains and exposure times of images detected by an image sensor distinguishing light conditions with regard to day and night; sensing instantaneous images in regular cycles using at least one of the gain and the exposure time of the image sensor; creating a state recognition profile by storing at least one of instantaneous gains and instantaneous exposures of respective previously identified daytime and night-time states of previous images; determining one of a daytime state, a night-time state, and a neither daytime nor night-time state associated with the current image based on the previously stored instantaneous gains and instantaneous exposures; if the state of the current image is determined as one of the daytime state and the nigh-time state, setting a parameter of the driver assistance system of the image-evaluating environment recognition system based on the state associated with the current image; and if the current image is associated with the neither daytime nor night-time state, maintaining a previously set state of the driver assistance system of the image-evaluating environment recognition system. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus used within an image-evaluating environment recognition system on a vehicle having a driver assistance system, the driver assistance system including a lane-keeping assistance system, the apparatus including:
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means for creating a state recognition profile including a plurality of respective previous instantaneous gains and previous instantaneous exposure times associated with one of an instantaneous daytime state and an instantaneous night-time state; an image sensor recording a current frame; means for reading at least one of a current instantaneous gain and a current instantaneous exposure time associated with the frame; means for identifying, based on the state recognition profile, if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state, the instantaneous night-time state, and a neither daytime nor night-time state; if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state, the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time are added to the state recognition profile as an additional one of the previous instantaneous gains and previous instantaneous exposure times associated with the one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state; means for setting a parameter of the driver assistance system based on the corresponding state of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time, if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state; and if the at least one of the current instantaneous gain and the current instantaneous exposure time do not correspond to one of the instantaneous daytime state and the instantaneous night-time state, the means for setting maintains a current state of the parameter of the driver assistance system. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification