Distance detecting apparatus for a vehicle
First Claim
1. A vehicle mounted distance detecting apparatus, comprising:
- a) a pair of laterally spaced first and second image sensors (3,4;
3'"'"'4'"'"') including a pair of optical systems (1,
2) for optically sensing a plurality of objects;
b) a first memory for storing the images of said objects sensed by said first image sensor as first image signals;
c) a second memory for storing the images of said objects sensed by said second image sensor as second image signals;
d) a display (11) with a screen for displaying the images of said objects as sensed by said image sensors on the screen;
e) window defining means (12) for defining a plurality of windows (15-19) at specific locations on the screen of said display;
f) distance calculating means for electrically detecting deviations between the images of said objects within the respective windows as sensed by said image sensors and individually calculating the distance to each object in each window based on the calculated deviations; and
g) obstacle discriminating means for discriminating, among the objects around the vehicle as sensed by said image sensors, obstacles to the travel of the vehicle on the basis of the positions of the windows on the screen and the calculated distances to the objects in said respective windows.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distance detecting apparatus enables the driver of a vehicle to readily and concurrently recognize the location and direction of each of a plurality of objects present in the driver'"'"'s field of view, in daylight or darkness, and at the same time determine whether each of the objects is an obstacle to the vehicle travel. The objects sensed by a pair of first and second image sensors 3, 4 are displayed on a screen 11 in a plurality of windows 15-19. Deviations between the images of the objects within the respective windows are electrically detected so that the distance to an object within each window is individually calculated based on the deviations. Obstacles to the travel of the vehicle can be discriminated on the basis of the positions of the windows on the screen and the distances to the objects in the respective windows as detected. Infrared light can be projected onto objects present within the fields of view of the image sensors when natural visible light is insufficient for the image sensors which, in this case, are sensitive to infrared light.
-
Citations
8 Claims
-
1. A vehicle mounted distance detecting apparatus, comprising:
-
a) a pair of laterally spaced first and second image sensors (3,4;
3'"'"'4'"'"') including a pair of optical systems (1,
2) for optically sensing a plurality of objects;b) a first memory for storing the images of said objects sensed by said first image sensor as first image signals; c) a second memory for storing the images of said objects sensed by said second image sensor as second image signals; d) a display (11) with a screen for displaying the images of said objects as sensed by said image sensors on the screen; e) window defining means (12) for defining a plurality of windows (15-19) at specific locations on the screen of said display; f) distance calculating means for electrically detecting deviations between the images of said objects within the respective windows as sensed by said image sensors and individually calculating the distance to each object in each window based on the calculated deviations; and g) obstacle discriminating means for discriminating, among the objects around the vehicle as sensed by said image sensors, obstacles to the travel of the vehicle on the basis of the positions of the windows on the screen and the calculated distances to the objects in said respective windows. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
Specification