CAMERA DEVICE, THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT DETECTION DEVICE, AND LENS CLEANING METHOD
First Claim
1. A camera device comprising:
- an image capturing device installed on a vehicle and comprising a lens for forming an image of the vehicle surroundings;
a lens cleaning device configured to clean the lens by spraying a cleaning fluid on the lens in accordance with a predetermined lens cleaning step, in which at least a supply time for supplying cleaning fluid to the lens surface is predetermined;
an adhesion state assessment unit programmed to assess an adhesion state of contamination from a distribution of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens based on a captured image captured by the image capturing device; and
a lens cleaning controller programmed to extend the time until a time to start supplying the cleaning fluid in the lens cleaning step as the number of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens increases.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A camera device includes image capturing device, a lens cleaning device, an adhesion state assessment unit and a controller. The image capturing device is installed on a vehicle and has a lens for forming an image of the vehicle surroundings. The lens cleaning device cleans the lens by spraying a cleaning fluid on the lens in accordance with a predetermined lens cleaning step, in which at least a supply time for supplying cleaning fluid to the lens surface is predetermined. The adhesion state assessment unit is programmed to assess an adhesion state of contamination from a distribution of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens based on a captured image. The controller is programmed to extend the time until a time to start supplying the cleaning fluid in the lens cleaning step as the number of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens increases.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A camera device comprising:
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an image capturing device installed on a vehicle and comprising a lens for forming an image of the vehicle surroundings; a lens cleaning device configured to clean the lens by spraying a cleaning fluid on the lens in accordance with a predetermined lens cleaning step, in which at least a supply time for supplying cleaning fluid to the lens surface is predetermined; an adhesion state assessment unit programmed to assess an adhesion state of contamination from a distribution of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens based on a captured image captured by the image capturing device; and a lens cleaning controller programmed to extend the time until a time to start supplying the cleaning fluid in the lens cleaning step as the number of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens increases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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3. (canceled)
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5-13. -13. (canceled)
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14. A camera device characterized by comprising:
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an image capturing device installed on a vehicle and comprising a lens for forming an image of the vehicle surroundings; a lens cleaning device configured to clean the lens by spraying a cleaning fluid on the lens in accordance with a predetermined lens cleaning step, in which at least a supply time for supplying the cleaning fluid to the lens surface is predetermined; an adhesion state assessment unit programmed to assess an adhesion state of contamination from a distribution of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens, based on a captured image captured by the image capturing device; and a lens cleaning controller programmed to extend the time until a time to start supplying the cleaning fluid as the distribution of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens increases. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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25. A lens cleaning method that is executed by a camera device comprising:
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a lens; and a lens cleaning device for cleaning the lens by supplying cleaning fluid on the lens;
whereinthe camera device executes a step assessing an adhesion state of contamination from a number of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens, based on a captured image; and extends the time until a time to start supplying the cleaning fluid as the number of pixels corresponding to foreign matter adhered to the lens increases.
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Specification