IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An image processing apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of image capturing units with wide angle lenses for capturing at least partly overlapping images;
a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a speed of a local vehicle;
a distance measuring unit for calculating a distance from the local vehicle to an object imaged by the plurality of image capturing units on a basis of a plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing units;
a visual recognition image generating unit for generating a visual recognition image for recognition of conditions near the local vehicle from the plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing units; and
a mode determining unit for causing the distance measuring unit to calculate the distance to the object when the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold speed, and causing the visual recognition image generating unit to generate the visual recognition image when the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit is less than the predetermined threshold speed;
the distance measuring unit further comprising a pixel area determining unit for determining, for each of the plurality of image capturing units, sizes and positions of corresponding pixel areas in images output from each of the plurality of image capturing units, among all pixels usable for imaging in each of the plurality of image capturing units;
the pixel area determining unit making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit becomes faster.
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Abstract
An image processing apparatus comprises: first and second image capturing units with wide angle lenses which capture at least partly overlapping images; a vehicle speed detecting unit that detects the speed of a local vehicle; and a distance measuring unit that calculates the distance from the local vehicle to an object on the basis of a plurality of images captured by the first and second image capturing units. The higher the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit is, the smaller the distance measuring unit makes the size of the pixel areas of the images output from the first and second image capturing units.
43 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An image processing apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of image capturing units with wide angle lenses for capturing at least partly overlapping images; a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a speed of a local vehicle; a distance measuring unit for calculating a distance from the local vehicle to an object imaged by the plurality of image capturing units on a basis of a plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing units; a visual recognition image generating unit for generating a visual recognition image for recognition of conditions near the local vehicle from the plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing units; and a mode determining unit for causing the distance measuring unit to calculate the distance to the object when the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold speed, and causing the visual recognition image generating unit to generate the visual recognition image when the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit is less than the predetermined threshold speed; the distance measuring unit further comprising a pixel area determining unit for determining, for each of the plurality of image capturing units, sizes and positions of corresponding pixel areas in images output from each of the plurality of image capturing units, among all pixels usable for imaging in each of the plurality of image capturing units; the pixel area determining unit making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit becomes faster. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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2-8. -8. (canceled)
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10. An image processing method comprising:
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an image capturing step for capturing a plurality of at least partly overlapping images through wide angle lenses; a vehicle speed detecting step for detecting a speed of a local vehicle; a distance measuring step for calculating a distance from the local vehicle to an object imaged in the image capturing step on a basis of the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step; a visual recognition image generating step for generating a visual recognition image for recognition of conditions near the local vehicle from the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step; and a mode determining step for causing the distance measuring step to calculate the distance to the object when the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting step is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold speed, and causing the visual recognition image generating step to generate the visual recognition image when the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting step is less than the predetermined threshold speed; the distance measuring step further comprising a pixel area determining step for determining sizes and positions of corresponding pixel areas in images output in the image capturing step for each of the plurality of images, among all pixels usable for imaging in the image capturing step; the pixel area determining step making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the speed detected in the vehicle speed detecting step becomes faster. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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11-17. -17. (canceled)
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19. An image processing apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of image capturing units with wide angle lenses for capturing at least partly overlapping images; a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a speed of a local vehicle; a distance measuring unit including a pixel area determining unit for determining, for each of the plurality of image capturing units, sizes and positions of corresponding pixel areas in images output from each of the plurality of image capturing units, among all pixels usable for imaging in each of the plurality of image capturing units, a feature point detecting unit for detecting a feature point of the object in each of the images captured by the plurality of image capturing units and determining respective positions of the feature point, and a distance calculating unit for calculating a distance from the local vehicle to an object imaged by the plurality of image capturing units on a basis of a plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing units; a visual recognition image generating unit for generating a visual recognition image for recognition of conditions near the local vehicle from the plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing units; and a camera parameter setting unit for causing the plurality of image capturing units to output images with the pixel area size determined by the pixel area determining unit; the pixel area determining unit increasing a frame rate at which the images are read from the plurality of image capturing units by making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit becomes faster, determining the positions of the pixel areas so as to include the positions of the feature point determined by the feature point detecting unit, and increasing a frame rate at which the images are read from the plurality of image capturing units by making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the positions of the feature point determined by the feature point detecting unit lie further below a center of all the pixels usable for imaging in each of the plurality of image capturing units. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. An image processing method comprising:
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an image capturing step for capturing a plurality of at least partly overlapping images through wide angle lenses; a vehicle speed detecting step for detecting a speed of a local vehicle; a distance measuring step including a pixel area determining step for determining, for each of the plurality of images, sizes and positions of corresponding pixel areas in images output from the image capturing step, among all pixels usable for imaging in the image capturing step, a feature point detecting step for detecting a feature point of the object in each of the images captured in the image capturing step and determining respective positions of the feature point, and a distance calculating step for calculating a distance from the local vehicle to an object imaged in the image capturing step on a basis of a plurality of images captured in the image capturing step; a visual recognition image generating step for generating a visual recognition image for recognition of conditions near the local vehicle from the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step; and a camera parameter setting step for causing the image capturing step to output images with the pixel area size determined in the pixel area determining step; the pixel area determining step increasing a frame rate at which the images are read in the image capturing step by making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting step becomes faster, determining the positions of the pixel areas so as to include the positions of the feature point determined in the feature point detecting step, and increasing a frame rate at which the images are read in the image capturing step by making the size of the pixel areas smaller as the positions of the feature point determined in the feature point detecting step lie further below a center of all the pixels usable for imaging in the image capturing step. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification