Mobile apparatus

• US 7,277,559 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2003
• Issued: 10/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Higaki, Nobuo, Matsunaga, Shinichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns; Andrew W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MACKOWEY, ANTHONY M
• Application Number:
  US10/702,478
• Publication Number:
  US 20040096083A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,425 Days
• Field of Search: 382/103, 382/104, 382/106, 382/107, 382/153, 382/218
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 5/00 Manipulators mounted on wheels or on carriages B25J1/00 takes precedence; programme-controlled manipulators B25J9/00 ; vehicle aspects B60, B62, e.g. remote-controlled steering for motor vehicles B62D1/24; control of position of vehicles G05D1/00
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1676 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0251 extracting 3D information from a plurality of images taken from different locations, e.g. stereo vision stereoscopic image analysis H04N13/00; depth recovery from images G06T7/593
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

A mobile apparatus is provided, which includes a plurality of imaging devices, a measurement device for measuring a current position and direction of the imaging devices, a map data storing section which stores map data including at least registered information on positions of stationary objects, a recognized distance calculating section which obtains a parallax for a plurality of images, a reference distance calculating section which calculates a reference distance from the imaging devices to a front border of each stationary object, a retracting section for determining a range of image processing, which selects a set of pixels to be processed so as to generate a retracted image, a detecting section for detecting objects from the retracted image, a transport device, and a transport controller for controlling movement of the transport device according to information about the objects detected by the detecting section.

Claims

1. A mobile apparatus comprising:

a plurality of imaging devices, wherein the apparatus travels recognizing objects based on a plurality of images thereof captured by the imaging devices;

a measurement device, wherein the device measures a current position and direction of the imaging devices;

a map data storing section, wherein the section stores map data including at least registered information on positions of stationary objects that exist within a region where the apparatus travels;

a recognized distance calculating section, wherein the section calculates a recognized distance for each pixel according to a parallax of pixels for the plurality of images;

a reference distance calculating section, wherein the section calculates a reference distance from the imaging devices to a front border of each stationary object according to the current position and direction measured by the measurement device and the map data;

a retracting section for determining a range of image processing, wherein the section compares the recognized distance of a pixel of each image with the reference distance corresponding thereto, thereby selecting a set of pixels to be processed so as to generate a retracted image;

a detecting section for detecting the objects from the retracted image;

a transport device; and

a transport controller for controlling movement of the transport device according to information about the objects detected by the detecting section.

2. A mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the retracting section is adapted to select the set of pixels out of the images, whose recognized distances are smaller than reference distances thereof, so that the section can generate the retracted image.

3. A mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the retracting section is adapted to generate the retracted image incorporating a whole image when number of pixels, whose recognized distances are greater than reference distances by a first predetermined value or more, is equal to or greater than a second predetermined value.

4. A mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference distance calculating section has a limiter for setting an upper limit of distance which controls the reference distance to be less than or equal to the upper limit.

5. A mobile apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a map managing section, wherein the map managing section labels to store the data of an object detected by the detecting section, and if the object is detected repeatedly at a position equal to or greater than a predetermined times, the map managing section commands the map data storing section to store at least the information about the position correlated with the object as the map data.

6. A mobile apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the map managing section comprises an updating section which deletes a stationary object registered in the map data from the map data storing section if the stationary object is not detected.

7. A mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a change rate of recognized distance is equal to or greater than a third predetermined value in a distribution of recognized distance calculated by the recognized distance calculating section, the transport controller judges that the mobile apparatus is in an alert zone and gives a command ordering a reduction in traveling speed of the transport device.

8. A mobile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the transport controller judges that the mobile apparatus is in the alert zone, the transport controller changes a direction of the imaging devices.

9. A mobile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the transport controller judges that the mobile apparatus is in the alert zone, the transport controller gives alarming to surrounding people with one of audio and visual methods.

10. A mobile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a change rate of reference distance is equal to or greater than a fourth predetermined value in a distribution of reference distance calculated by the reference distance calculating section, the transport controller judges that the mobile apparatus is in an alert zone and gives a command ordering a reduction in traveling speed of the transport device.

11. A mobile apparatus according to claim 10, wherein when the transport controller judges that the mobile apparatus is in the alert zone, the transport controller changes a direction of the imaging devices.

12. A mobile apparatus according to claim 10, wherein when the transport controller judges that the mobile apparatus is in the alert zone, the transport controller gives alarming to surrounding people with one of audio and visual methods.