Method for Determining Whether a Vehicle can Pass Through an Object by Means of a 3-D Camera

• US 20140218481A1
• Filed: 07/06/2012
• Published: 08/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG (Continental AG), Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG (Continental AG), Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Hegemann, Stefan, Lueke, Stefan, Hassenpflug, Christoph
• Granted Patent: US 9,495,603 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/46
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/894 3D imaging with simultaneous measurement of time-of-flight at a 2D array of receiver pixels, e.g. time-of-flight cameras or flash lidar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/593 from stereo images
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/271 wherein the generated image signals comprise depth maps or disparity maps

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and to a device for determining whether a vehicle can pass through an object by means of a (spatially resolving) 3-D camera.

At least one image of the surroundings of the vehicle is recorded by a 3-D camera.

At least one trajectory is ascertained on which the vehicle is likely to move.

From the image data of the 3-D camera it is determined whether an object located above the trajectory is recognized and whether said object has one or more connections to the ground.

For a corresponding object the dimensions and shape of the area or space between said object and the roadway through which the vehicle is to pass according to the trajectory are determined from the image data. By comparing the dimensions and shape of the entry area or the space which can be passed through with the dimensions and shape of the vehicle, it is determined whether and how the vehicle can pass through the object, and further suitable actions can be taken.

Claims

1. A method for determining whether a vehicle driving on a roadway can pass through an object using a 3-D camera, wherein

at least one image of surroundings ahead of the vehicle is recorded by the 3-D camera to provide image data;

at least one trajectory is ascertained on which the vehicle is likely to move;

from the image data of the 3-D camera, a determination is carried out in which it is determined;

whether an object is present which is located above the trajectory, and

whether said object has one or more connection(s) to the ground; and

it is further determined whether it is possible for the vehicle to pass through the object, wherein dimensions and a shape of an entry area between the object and the roadway are determined from the image data.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein also dimensions and a shape of a passage space between the object and the roadway are determined or estimated from the image data.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made using a depth map from the image data of the 3-D camera.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the depth map is a disparity map.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein edges of the entry area are determined from the depth map.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein edges of the entry area are determined from the image data by using an edge detection algorithm.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determination of the dimensions and the shape of the entry area made using the depth map is combined with a determination made using edge detection.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dimensions and the shape of the entry area or the passage space are determined from a sequence of multiple images in said image data provided by the 3-D camera.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the dimensions and the shape of the entry area or of the passage space are determined taking into account a motion of the 3-D camera.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a 3-D scene reconstruction is made from the image data provided by the 3-D camera.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the 3-D camera is a stereo camera.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the 3-D camera is a photonic mixing device camera.

13. A device for determining whether a vehicle driving on a roadway can pass through an object, comprising

a 3-D camera configured and arranged to record at least one image of surroundings ahead of the vehicle;

a circuit arrangement configured to ascertain at least one trajectory on which the vehicle is likely to move;

a circuit arrangement configured to determine from the image data of the 3-D camera

whether an object is present which is located above the trajectory, and

whether said object has one or more connections to the ground; and

a circuit arrangement configured to determine whether it is possible for the vehicle to pass through the object by determining from the image data dimensions and a shape of an entry area between the object and the roadway.