TRAVEL DIVISION LINE RECOGNITION APPARATUS AND TRAVEL DIVISION LINE RECOGNITION PROGRAM

• US 20150269447A1
• Filed: 03/23/2015
• Published: 09/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: KUMANO, SYUNYA, KAWASAKI, NAOKI, SUZUKI, SHUNSUKE, TAKAFUJI, TETSUYA
• Granted Patent: US 9,665,780 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/256 of results relating to different input data, e.g. multimodal recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/811 the classifiers operating on different input data, e.g. multi-modal recognition
• 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: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road

Abstract

In a travel division line recognition apparatus, an extracting unit extracts a travel division line candidate from an image of a surrounding environment including a road, captured by an on-board camera. A calculating unit calculates a degree of reliability that the extracted travel division line candidate will be the travel division line. A recognizing unit selects the travel division line candidate based on the calculated degree of reliability, and recognizes the travel division line using the selected travel division line candidate. In the calculating unit, a solid object processing unit recognizes solid objects including vehicles, sets a suppression area including a frontal-face suppression area covering a frontal face of the other vehicle and a side-face suppression area covering a side face of the other vehicle, based on the recognized solid objects, and reduces the degree of reliability of the travel division line candidate present within the suppression area.

Claims

1. A travel division line recognition apparatus mounted to an own vehicle, comprising:

an extracting unit that extracts a travel division line candidate from an image of a surrounding environment including a road, captured by an on-board camera mounted in the own vehicle, the travel division line candidate being a candidate for a travel division line on the road;

a calculating unit that calculates a degree of reliability that the travel division line candidate extracted by the extracting unit will be the travel division line; and

a recognizing unit that selects the travel division line candidate based on the degree of reliability calculated by the calculating unit, and recognizes the travel division line using the selected travel division line candidate, the calculating unit including;

a solid object processing unit that recognizes solid objects including vehicles, sets a suppression area based on the recognized solid objects, and reduces the degree of reliability of the travel division line candidate present within the suppression area, the suppression area including;

a frontal-face suppression area that is set so as to cover a frontal face of another vehicle in a position in which the frontal face has been recognized; and

a side-face suppression area that is set so as to cover a side face that is formed by extending the frontal-face suppression area in a depth direction by a predetermined vehicle length.

2. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suppression area further includes a distant suppression area that is set so as to cover an area beyond the predetermined vehicle length from the frontal-face suppression area and wider in a lateral direction than the frontal-face suppression area.

3. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the solid object processing unit sets a lateral width of the distant suppression area in the lateral direction based on a curvature of the road.

4. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the solid object processing unit sets the predetermined vehicle length to become longer as a lateral width of the recognized other vehicle becomes wider.

5. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the solid object processing unit acquires vehicle length information of the recognized other vehicle, and when a reliability of the acquired vehicle length information is higher than a predetermined threshold, sets the acquired vehicle length information using the acquired vehicle length information.

6. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the solid object processing unit acquires the vehicle length information from the recognized other vehicle through inter-vehicle communication.

7. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the solid object processing unit estimates a vehicle type of the recognized other vehicle, and acquires the vehicle length information based on the estimated vehicle type.

8. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the solid object processing unit sets the predetermined vehicle length to become longer as a lateral width of the recognized other vehicle becomes wider.

9. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the solid object processing unit acquires vehicle length information of the recognized other vehicle, and when a reliability of the acquired vehicle length information is higher than a predetermined threshold, sets the acquired vehicle length information using the acquired vehicle length information.

10. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the solid object processing unit acquires the vehicle length information from the recognized other vehicle through inter-vehicle communication.

11. The travel division line recognition apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the solid object processing unit estimates a vehicle type of the recognized other vehicle, and acquires the vehicle length information based on the estimated vehicle type.

12. A computer-readable storage medium storing a travel division line recognition program for enabling a computer to function as a travel division line recognition apparatus that is mounted in a vehicle, the travel division line recognition apparatus comprising:

an extracting unit that extracts a travel division line candidate from an image of a surrounding environment including a road, captured by an on-board camera mounted in the own vehicle, the travel division line candidate being a candidate for a travel division line on the road;

a calculating unit that calculates a degree of reliability that the travel division line candidate extracted by the extracting unit will be the travel division line; and

a recognizing unit that selects the travel division line candidate based on the degree of reliability calculated by the calculating unit, and recognizes the travel division line using the selected travel division line candidate, the calculating unit including;

a solid object processing unit that recognizes solid objects including vehicles, sets a suppression area based on the recognized solid objects, and reduces the degree of reliability of the travel division line candidate present within the suppression area, the suppression area including;

a frontal-face suppression area that is set so as to cover a frontal face of another vehicle in a position in which the frontal face has been recognized; and

a side-face suppression area that is set so as to cover a side face that is formed by extending the frontal-face suppression area in a depth direction by a predetermined vehicle length.

13. A travel division line recognition method comprising:

extracting, by an extracting unit of a travel division line recognition apparatus mounted in an own vehicle, a travel division line candidate from an image of a surrounding environment including a road, captured by an on-board camera mounted in the own vehicle, the travel division line candidate being a candidate for a travel division line on the road;

calculating, by a calculating unit of the travel division line recognition apparatus, a degree of reliability that the travel division line candidate extracted by the extracting unit will be the travel division line; and

selecting, by a recognizing unit of the travel division line recognition apparatus, the travel division line candidate based on the degree of reliability calculated by the calculating unit, and recognizes the travel division line using the selected travel division line candidate, recognizing, by a solid object processing unit of the calculating unit, solid objects including vehicles, setting, by the solid object processing unit, a suppression area based on the recognized solid objects, the suppression area including;

a frontal-face suppression area that is set so as to cover a frontal face of another vehicle in a position in which the frontal face has been recognized; and

a side-face suppression area that is set so as to cover a side face that is formed by extending the frontal-face suppression area in a depth direction by a predetermined vehicle length; and

reducing, by the solid object processing unit, the degree of reliability of the travel division line candidate present within the suppression area.