Method for the displaying information in a motor vehicle

• US 6,472,977 B1
• Filed: 06/15/2000
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Pöchmüller, Werner
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US09/486,205
• Time in Patent Office: 866 Days
• Field of Search: 340/435, 340/903, 340/937, 340/425.5, 340/436, 340/426, 180/167, 180/169, 180/270, 348/135, 348/136, 348/137, 348/140, 348/148, 348/149, 348/142
• US Class Current: 340/425.5
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/152 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/22 Display screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/54 for indicating speed outside of the vehicle
• 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 2300/207 using multi-purpose displays, e.g. camera image and navigation or video on same display
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/30 characterised by the type of image processing
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/302 combining image information with GPS information or vehicle data, e.g. vehicle speed, gyro, steering angle data
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/804 for lane monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/08 Lane monitoring; Lane Keeping Systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/082 using alarm actuation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/582 of traffic signs
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096758 where no selection takes place on the transmitted or the received information
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element

Abstract

A method for the display of information in a motor vehicle, in which a segment of an image from a camera is displayed on a display unit and the image segment contains a road sign after analysis by a control and analysis unit.

Claims

1. A method for displaying information in a motor vehicle associated with a camera that is coupled to an image recognition arrangement for performing a control operation and an analysis operation, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining an image of a road sign using the camera;

analyzing the image of the road sign using the image recognition arrangement in order to provide an image segment containing the road sign; and

displaying the image segment directly to a driver of the motor vehicle on a display unit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

analyzing information from at least one additional vehicle sensor using the image recognition arrangement; and

displaying results of the analyzing step in addition to the image segment.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of displaying at least one of a distance and a time occurring since a prior recognition of a prior road sign.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying a classification of a most recently recognized road sign.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the image segment includes an outline of the road sign and a supplemental sign.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising a performance of at least one of the steps of:

retrievably filing a most recently recognized road sign in a database; and

presenting the most recently recognized road sign to the driver.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing to the driver at least one of an acoustic warning and an optical warning if a comparison of a setpoint value and an actual value relating to speeds of the motor vehicle indicates an excess speed.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

recognizing a lane change by the motor vehicle using the image recognition arrangement; and

triggering at least one of an acoustic warning and an optical warning if the lane change is in a prohibited passing zone.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the camera includes at least one of a non-linear CMOS image sensor and a logarithmic CMOS image sensor.

10. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

improving the image segment using an algorithmic method.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the algorithmic method used includes image brightening.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein the algorithmic method used includes image darkening.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the algorithmic method used includes contrast intensification.

14. A method according to claim 10, wherein the algorithmic method used includes edge sharpening.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an optical warning if a comparison of a setpoint value and an actual value relating to speeds of the motor vehicle indicates an excess speed.

16. An apparatus for displaying information in a motor vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a camera for obtaining an image of a road sign; and

an arrangement for image recognition coupled to the camera, wherein the arrangement for image recognition is adapted for analyzing the image of the road sign and for providing an image segment containing the road sign for display on a display unit to a driver of the motor vehicle.