REDUNDANT OBJECT DETECTION FOR DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS

• US 20140160252A1
• Filed: 05/07/2012
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Randler, Martin, Baratoff, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 9,592,764 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/47
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads

Abstract

A device for redundant object detection includes a stereo camera having two image sensors, a first processor for detecting objects by stereo image evaluation of image data from the two image sensors, and a second processor for classifying the detected objects by evaluation of image data from at least one of the two image sensors. A method and a program for such object detection and classification are also provided.

Claims

1. A device (10) for redundant object detection using a stereo camera that comprises two image sensors (12, 14), first processing means (16) for detecting objects by means of stereo image evaluation of image data from the two image sensors, and second processing means (18) for classifying the objects detected by the stereo path processing means through the evaluation of image data from at least one of the two image sensors.

2-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A device for redundant object detection comprising:

a stereo camera that comprises two image sensors configured and arranged to respectively produce respective image data of a scene including objects viewed by the image sensors,

a first processor that is connected to the two image sensors and that is configured to detect the objects by a first stereo image evaluation of the image data from the two image sensors, and

a second processor that is connected to an output of the first processor and to at least a first one of the two image sensors, and that is configured to classify the objects detected by the first processor, by a second image evaluation of the respective image data from at least the first one of the two image sensors.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the first processor is configured to generate and provide at the output thereof a detected object list of the objects that have been detected as obstacles which project from a road in the scene, based on disparities and/or optical flow in the image data during the first stereo image evaluation.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the second processor is configured to classify the obstacles in the detected object list by the second image evaluation of the respective image data from at least the first one of the two image sensors, and to generate at an output of the second processor a classified object list of classified obstacles.

14. The device according to claim 11, wherein the second processor is further connected to a second one of the two image sensors, and is configured to perform the second image evaluation on the respective image data from both the first image sensor and the second image sensor.

15. The device according to claim 11, further comprising a printed circuit board, wherein the two image sensors, the first processor and the second processor are all installed in common together on the printed circuit board.

16. The device according to claim 11, wherein the stereo camera including the two image sensors, the first processor and the second processor are integrated together in a unitary stereo camera module.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the output of the first processor and an output of the second processor are both lead out of the unitary stereo camera module.

18. The device according to claim 16, wherein the unitary stereo camera module does not include and is not connected to receive any input from any other sensor in addition to the two image sensors of the stereo camera.

19. A method of redundant object detection comprising the steps:

a) using a stereo camera that includes two image sensors, producing respective image data of a scene including objects viewed by the image sensors;

b) detecting the objects, by performing a first stereo image evaluation of the image data produced by the two image sensors; and

c) classifying the objects that have been detected, by performing a second image evaluation of the respective image data produced by at least a first one of the two image sensors.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the step b) further comprises generating a detected object list of the objects that have been detected as obstacles which project from a road in the scene, based on disparities and/or optical flow in the image data during the first stereo image evaluation.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the step c) further comprises classifying the obstacles in the detected object list by the second image evaluation of the respective image data from at least the first one of the two image sensors, and generating a classified object list of classified obstacles.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the step c) comprises performing the second image evaluation on the respective image data from both the first image sensor and a second one of the two image sensors.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein the second image evaluation is a mono image evaluation.

24. The method according to claim 19, further comprising outputting a first result of the first stereo image evaluation and/or a second result of the second image evaluation to a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle, and via the driver assistance system influencing an operation of the motor vehicle in response to and dependent on the first result and/or the second result.

25. A non-transitory tangible machine-readable storage medium encoded with a computer program which, when read out of the storage medium and executed by at least one processor connected to the stereo camera, carries out the method according to claim 19.