SURROUNDINGS MONITORING SYSTEM FOR WORKING MACHINE

• US 20170018070A1
• Filed: 03/04/2015
• Published: 01/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: YUMIBA, Ryo, KOWATARI, Yoichi, ONUMA, Chieko, FUKUDA, Yoshibumi, KAWAMATA, Yukihiro, OOTA, Moritaka
• Granted Patent: US 10,160,383 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/002 specially adapted for covering the peripheral part of the vehicle, e.g. for viewing tyres, bumpers or the like integrated in the windows B60R1/001; combined with rear-view mirrors B60R1/08
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/27 providing all-round vision, e.g. using omnidirectional cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/04 Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/30 characterised by the type of image processing
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/607 from a bird's eye viewpoint
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/802 for monitoring and displaying vehicle exterior blind spot views
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/24 Safety devices , e.g. for preventing overload E02F9/226 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/261 Surveying the work-site to be treated
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30261 Obstacle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/11 Region-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/194 involving foreground-background segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/44 Local feature extraction by analysis of parts of the pattern, e.g. by detecting edges, contours, loops, corners, strokes or intersections; Connectivity analysis, e.g. of connected components
• 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: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A surroundings monitoring system for a working machine prevents its own vehicle shadow from having an influence on the detection of an object existing around the working machine. The surroundings monitoring system for a working machine includes: a monocular camera picks up an image of the surroundings of the working machine. A characteristic pattern extraction unit extracts characteristic patterns in the picked-up image based on a characteristic amount of the image. A shadow profile extraction unit extracts a profile of a region, which can be regarded as a shadow of the working machine in the image, based on the characteristic amount of the image; and an object detection unit detects an obstacle existing around the working machine based on the remaining characteristic patterns obtained by excluding a shadow profile characteristic patterns positioned on the profile extracted by the shadow profile extraction unit from the characteristic patterns.

Claims

1. A surroundings monitoring system for a working machine, comprising:

a monocular camera incorporated in the working machine and configured to pick up an image of the surroundings of the working machine;

a characteristic pattern extraction unit configured to extract characteristic patterns in the image based on a characteristic amount of the image;

a shadow profile extraction unit configured to extract a profile of a region regarded as a shadow of the working machine in the image, based on the characteristic amount of the image; and

an object detection unit configured to detect an obstacle existing around the working machine based on remaining characteristic patterns excluding characteristic patterns positioned on the profile extracted by the shadow profile extraction unit from the characteristic patterns extracted by the characteristic pattern extraction unit.

2. The surroundings monitoring system for a working machine according to claim 1, further comprising:

a notification unit configured to issue a notification that the obstacle is detected by the object detection unit.

3. The surroundings monitoring system for a working machine according to claim 2, further comprising:

an image synthesis unit configured to create a bird'"'"'s-eye view image including the working machine utilizing the image; and

a display unit configured to display the bird'"'"'s-eye view image thereon.

4. The surroundings monitoring system for a working machine according to claim 1, further comprising:

a processing target region setting unit for setting in the image a processing target region for which obstacle detection by the object detection unit is to be performed, wherein

the shadow profile extraction unit extracts the profile of the region that can be regarded as the shadow of the working machine in the processing target region, and

the object detection unit detects the obstacle based on the remaining characteristic patterns obtained by excluding the characteristic patterns positioned on the profile extracted by the shadow profile extraction unit from a portion, which exists in the processing target region, of the characteristic patterns extracted by the characteristic pattern extraction unit.

5. The surroundings monitoring system for a working machine according to claim 1, wherein

the characteristic pattern extraction unit extracts corners and/or edges as the characteristic patterns in the image.