Image processing apparatus

• US 6,731,332 B1
• Filed: 01/28/1999
• Issued: 05/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Iisaka, Atsushi, Yasui, Nobuhiko, Nomura, Noboru
• Primary Examiner(s): Christensen, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): WISDAHL, ERIC D
• Application Number:
  US09/238,611
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: 348/148, 348/149
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/246 using feature-based methods, e.g. the tracking of corners or segments
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

In an image processing apparatus carried on a vehicle, an image of a scene around the vehicle, which is photographed by an image pick-up, is inputted into a white line failure extractor. Then, outline points of a white line on a road and a guardrail, which is parallel to the white line, are sought. Further, the outline points are detected as a polynomial. Moreover, the image photographed by the image pick-up is also inputted into an intermittent image obtainer. Then, the images from the image pick-up are intermittently obtained at constant periodical intervals, and further the images are compressed using JPEG compression method. Further, in a synthesizer, the feature data from the white line feature extractor and the image data from the intermittent image obtainer are aligned in order of time. Moreover, the image data and feature data, which are aligned in order of time, are conserved within a given constant period by a recorder. Thus, accurate data as to condition of the road can be recorded using a small capacity memory.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus to be carried on a movable body, said apparatus comprising:

an image pick-up means for continuously photographing a scene outside of the movable body to continuously form an image corresponding to the scene;

a feature extracting means for processing the image formed by the image pick-up means to continuously extract a predetermined feature in the scene by seeking outline points of the image and then detecting the outline points as a polynomial;

an intermittent image getting means for intermittently getting a stationary image at a predetermined periodic interval from the image formed by the image pick-up means;

a synthesizing means for synthesizing the feature extracted in the periodic interval by the feature extracting means and the stationary image obtained by the intermittent image getting means so as to form a whole image during the periodic interval;

a transmitting means for transmitting the image formed by the synthesizing means to an external device; and

a recording means for recording therein the image formed by the synthesizing means.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermittent image getting means is operable to change a procedure to obtain the stationary image, according to a change of the feature extracted by the feature extracting means.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermittent image getting means is operable to change compressibility of the image, according to a change of the feature extracted by the feature extracting means.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable body is a vehicle.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermittent image getting means is operable to change the periodic interval to get the image, according to a change of the feature extracted by the feature extracting means.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a danger estimating means for estimating a dangerous affair which may be caused in the movable body based on the feature extracted by the feature extracting means.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the movable body is a vehicle.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable body is a vehicle.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature extracting means is operable to process the image, which is formed by the image pick-up means, corresponding to the scene which moves wholly relative to the vehicle so as to extract a moving object in the scene as the above-mentioned feature.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature extracting means is operable to process the image, which is formed by the image pick-up means, corresponding to the scene which does not move wholly relative to the vehicle so as to extract a moving object in the scene as the above-mentioned feature.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature extracting means is operable to process the image, which is formed by the image pick-up means, corresponding to the scene which moves wholly relative to the vehicle so as to extract velocity of the center of gravity of a moving object in the scene as the above-mentioned feature.

12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature extracting means is operable to process the image, which is formed by the image pick-up means, corresponding to the scene which does not move wholly relative to the vehicle so as to extract velocity of the center of gravity of a moving object in the scene as the above-mentioned feature.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature extracting means is operable to extract outlines of a road in the scene and a traffic lane, on which the vehicle is moving, in the scene as the above-mentioned feature.

14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the feature extracting means is operable to extract a guardrail in the scene as the above-mentioned feature.