System for assisting traffic safety of vehicles

• US 6,377,191 B1
• Filed: 05/22/2000
• Issued: 04/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Takubo, Masayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): TRIEU, VAN THANH
• Application Number:
  US09/576,414
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: 340/436, 340/901, 340/903, 340/933, 340/937, 340/907, 340/435, 340/911, 701/118, 701/120, 701/123, 701/211, 701/213
• US Class Current: 340/937
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/04 using optical or ultrasonic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles for improving the visibility, including a camera monitoring the road of an oncoming lane of a vehicle making a right turn at an intersection; a display board placed at a position above the road leading up to the intersection in a manner visible to the driver of the vehicle; a control device for control so that the image of the road obtained by the camera is displayed on the display board, a near infra-red illumination unit for illuminating the road so as to enable an image of the road to be obtained by the camera and so as not to temporarily blind the drivers of the vehicles on the road, an image recognizing device for recognizing an object moving on the road approaching the intersection based on the image of the road obtained by the camera, a radar for emitting a radar wave to an object moving on the road approaching the intersection to obtain information on the position and speed of the moving object from the reflected wave, and a vehicle-mounted voice output device for voice output of the information drawing the attention of the driver.

Claims

1. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

an imaging device that monitors an oncoming lane of a road at an intersection;

a radar device that obtains a position and a speed of an object moving on the road approaching the intersection;

a display board placed at a position above the road that is visible to a driver of an approaching vehicle; and

a control device that controls the display board to show an image of the oncoming lane of the road obtained by the imaging device and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection.

2. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a near infra-red illuminating device that illuminates the oncoming lane of the road.

3. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

an image recognizing device that recognizes an object approaching the intersection based on the image of the oncoming lane of the road obtained by the imaging device, and the control device displays the image of the moving object recognized by the image recognizing device on the display board.

4. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a voice output placed near the display board that outputs the alarm information.

5. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control device analyzes a position and a speed of the moving object and displays information drawing the attention of the driver to the display board when a determination is made that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

6. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 5, filter comprising:

a voice output device that outputs information drawing the attention of the driver.

44. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 2, further comprising:

a voice output device, mounted in the vehicle that voice outputs information.

7. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

an image device mounted at or near an intersection that monitors an oncoming lane of a road;

a radar device that obtains a position and a speed of an object moving on the road approaching the intersection;

a display device with a screen mounted in the vehicle; and

a communications control device that sends radio communication between the imaging device and the display device and that controls a display of the image of the oncoming lane and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection of the road obtained from the imaging device on the screen of the display device.

8. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 7, further comprising a near infra-red illuminating device that illuminates the oncoming lane of the road.

9. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 7, further comprising:

an image recognizing device for recognizing an object moving on the road approaching the intersection based on the image of the road obtained by the imaging device, and the communication control device displays the image of the moving object recognized by the image recognizing device on the display device.

10. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 7, wherein the communication control device analyzes the position and speed of the moving object detected by the radar type vehicle information detecting device and displays information drawing the attention of the driver to the moving object on the display device when it is judged that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

11. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

a voice output device mounted in the vehicle for voice output of information.

12. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

a near infra-red illumination unit provided at or near a light source for a high beam of a headlight illuminating the road in front of the vehicle that emits near-infra red light to substantially the area illuminated by the high beam;

a near infra-red camera provided at the front end of the vehicle that monitors the road in front of the vehicle illuminated by the near infra-red illumination unit; and

a display device that displays the image of the road in front of the vehicle obtained by the near infra-red camera.

13. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 12, further comprising:

an image recognizing device that recognizes an object in front of the vehicle based on the image obtained by the near infra-red camera, and the display device displays the image of the object recognized by the image recognizing device.

14. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 13, wherein the display device analyzes a position and a speed of the object and displays information drawing the attention of the driver to the screen of the display device when a determination is made that the object is liable to contact the vehicle.

15. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 12, further comprising:

a voice output device mounted in the vehicle for voice output of the information.

16. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 13, further comprising:

a visible light camera placed at the front end of the vehicle and monitoring the road in front of the vehicle illuminated by the high beam of the headlight, and the display device displays a color image of the road in front of the vehicle obtained from the visible light camera.

20. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 14, further comprising:

a voice output device mounted in the vehicle for voice output of the information.

17. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

a near infra-red illumination unit provided at or near the light source of a tail light that illuminates the road to the rear of a vehicle;

a near infra-red camera provided at the rear end of the vehicle that monitors the road to the rear of the vehicle illuminated by the near infra-red illumination unit; and

a display device that displays an image of the road to the rear of the vehicle obtained from the near infra-red camera.

18. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 17, further comprising:

an image recognizing device that recognizes a moving object at the rear of the vehicle based on the image obtained by the near infra-red camera, and the display device displays the image of the moving object recognized by the image recognizing device on the screen of the display device.

19. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 18, wherein the display device analyzes a position and a speed of the moving object based on the data of the image of the moving object recognized by the image recognizing device and displays information drawing the attention of the driver to the screen of the display device when a determination is made that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

21. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 17, further comprising:

a visible light camera placed at the rear end of the vehicle that monitors the road to the rear of the vehicle illuminated by the near infra-red illumination unit, and the display device displays a color image of the road to the rear of the vehicle obtained by the visible light camera.

22. A computer readable storage medium used in a system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles including an imaging device that monitors an oncoming lane of a road at an intersection, a radar device that obtains a position and a speed of an object on the road approaching the intersection and a display board provided at a position above the road that is visible to a driver of an approaching vehicle, wherein the storage medium stores a program for making a computer function as a control device that displays an image of the oncoming lane of the road obtained by the imaging device on the display board and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection.

23. A computer readable storage medium used in a system for assisting the traffic safety or vehicles including an imaging device mounted at or near an intersection that monitors an oncoming lane of a road, a radar device that obtains a position and a speed of an object moving on the road approaching the intersection and a display device with a screen mounted in a vehicle, wherein the storage medium stores a program that makes a computed function as a communication control device for radio communication between the imaging device and the display device and that controls a display of the image of the oncoming lane and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection of the road obtained by the imaging device on the screen of the display device.

24. A computer readable storage medium used in a system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles including a near infra-red illumination unit provided at or near the position of a high beam of a headlight illuminating the road in front of the vehicle that emits near-infra red light to substantially the area illuminated by the high beam and a near infrared camera provided at the front end of the vehicle that monitors the road in front of the vehicle illuminated by the near infra-red illumination unit, wherein the storage medium stores a program that makes a computer function as a display device that displays an image of the road in the front of the vehicle obtained from the near infra-red camera.

25. A computer readable storage medium used in a system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles including a near infra-red illumination unit provided at or near a tail light illuminating the road to the rear of the vehicle that emits near infra-red light to the road to the rear of the vehicle and a near infra-red camera provided at the rear end of the vehicle that monitors the road to the rear of the vehicle, wherein the storage medium stores a program that makes a computer function as a display device that displays an image of the road to the rear of the vehicle obtained from the near infra-red camera.

26. A method for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

capturing an image of at least an oncoming lane for a vehicle making a turn at an intersection;

obtaining a position and a speed of an object moving on the road approaching the intersection;

displaying the image and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection at a position above the road leading up to the intersection in a manner visible to a driver of the vehicle.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the oncoming lane is illuminated using at least one of visible light, radar waves and near infrared waves.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising recognizing an object moving on the road approaching the intersection based on the image captured and displaying the image of the moving object recognized by the image recognizing device.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising analyzing and displaying the position and speed of the moving object.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the analyzing and displaying includes displaying at least one of the object detected'"'"'s position and the speed of the moving object in such a way that the attention of the driver is drawn to the image when a determination is made that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising using sound to notify the driver of information gathered by the imaging device.

37. The method of claim 26, further comprising using sound to notify the driver of information gathered by the imaging device.

32. A method for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

capturing an image of at least an oncoming lane for a vehicle making a turn at an intersection;

obtaining a position and a speed of an object moving on the road approaching the intersection;

displaying the image and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection on a display device mounted in the vehicle leading up to the intersection in a manner visible to a driver of the vehicle.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising illuminating the oncoming lane with at least one of visible light, radar waves and near infrared waves.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising recognizing and displaying an object moving on the road approaching the intersection based on the image captured.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the recognizing and displaying includes displaying the position and speed of the moving object.

36. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

displaying the at least one of the detected object'"'"'s position and the speed in such a way that the attention of the driver is drawn to the image when a determination is made that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

38. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

an imaging device that monitors an oncoming lane of a road at an intersection;

an image recognition circuit that recognizes an object moving on the road approaching the intersection based on an image of the road obtained by the imaging device;

a radar device that obtains a position and a speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection;

a display board placed at a position above the road that is visible to a driver of an approaching vehicle; and

a control device that controls the display board to show an image of the road obtained by the imaging device, the object recognized by the image recognition circuit and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection.

39. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 38, further comprising a near infra-red illuminating device that illuminates the oncoming lane of the road.

40. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 39, further comprising:

a voice output device, mounted in the vehicle that voice outputs information.

41. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 38, wherein the control device analyzes the position and speed of the moving object detected by the radar device and displays information drawing the attention of the driver to the moving object on the display board when it is judged that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

42. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 41, further comprising:

a voice output device, mounted in the vehicle that voice outputs information.

43. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 38, further comprising:

a voice output device, mounted in the vehicle that voice outputs information.

45. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles comprising:

an image device mounted at or near an intersection that monitors an oncoming lane of a road;

an image recognition circuit that recognizes an object moving on the road approaching the intersection based on an image of the road obtained by the imaging device;

a radar device that emits a radar wave and obtains a position and a speed of an object moving on the road approaching the intersection from the reflected wave;

a display device with a screen mounted in the vehicle; and

a communications control device that sends radio communication between the imaging device and the display device and that controls a display of the image of the oncoming lane and an alarm information obtained by analyzing the position and the speed of the object moving on the road approaching the intersection of the road obtained from the imaging device on the screen of the display device.

46. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 45, further comprising a near infra-red illuminating device that illuminates the oncoming lane of the road.

47. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 45, wherein the communication control device analyzes the position and speed of the moving object detected by the radar device and displays information drawing the attention of the driver to the moving object on the display device when it is judged that the moving object is liable to contact the vehicle.

48. A system for assisting the traffic safety of vehicles as set forth in claim 45, further comprising:

a voice output device, mounted in the vehicle that voice outputs information.