Distance measuring device

• US 6,288,774 B1
• Filed: 12/14/1999
• Issued: 09/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Shiohara, Morito, Takubo, Masayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Buczinski, Stephen C.
• Application Number:
  US09/460,732
• Time in Patent Office: 637 Days
• Field of Search: 356/3.14, 356/4.03, 180/167, 180/169
• US Class Current: 356/4.03
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/12 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9325 for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9329 cooperating with reflectors or transponders

Abstract

A distance measuring device using markers and capable of accurately measuring distance irrespective of the distance to an object. An optical system converges light from markers affixed to an object on the light receiving surface of a light receiving section. The light receiving section generates an image signal by photoelectric conversion and outputs the generated signal. First marker image acquiring means acquires images of markers, and second marker image acquiring means also acquires images of markers. Selecting means selects the output of the first marker image acquiring means if the distance to the object is short, and selects the images acquired by the second marker image acquiring means if the distance to the object is large. Based on the distance between the marker images selected by the selecting means, computing means computes the distance to the object by trigonometry.

Claims

1. A distance measuring device for measuring a distance to an object having a plurality of markers by obtaining a distance between images of the markers projected on a light receiving section thereof, comprising:

first marker image acquiring means for acquiring images of a pair of markers separated at a first distance from each other, from among images of the markers projected on the light receiving section;

second marker image acquiring means for acquiring images of another pair of markers separated at a second distance from each other, from among the images of the markers projected on the light receiving section;

selecting means for selecting the marker images acquired by said first marker image acquiring means or the marker images acquired by said second marker image acquiring means in accordance with a predetermined condition; and

computing means for computing a distance to the object based on the marker images selected by said selecting means.

2. The distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein said selecting means selects the marker images acquired by said first marker image acquiring means or the marker images acquired by said second marker image acquiring means in accordance with the distance to the object computed by said computing means.

3. The distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein said selecting means selects the marker images acquired by said first marker image acquiring means or the marker images acquired by said second marker image acquiring means in accordance with distance between the marker images projected on the light receiving section and acquired by said first or second marker image acquiring means and resolution of the light receiving section.

4. The distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of markers separated at the first distance from each other is identical with one of the pair of markers separated at the second distance from each other.