Vehicle periphery monitoring system
First Claim
1. A vehicle periphery monitoring system comprising:
- an obstacle detecting unit for detecting the presence of an obstacle, wherein the detecting unit includes means for measuring a distance from the vehicle to the obstacle;
an indicating unit for indicating the presence of the obstacle;
a control unit for controlling said indicating unit to indicate the presence of the obstacle when the presence of the obstacle is detected by said obstacle detecting unit; and
an imaging unit for capturing an image of a periphery of the vehicle;
wherein if the detected distance from the vehicle to the obstacle detected in said obstacle detecting unit is equal to or greater than a preset distance,said control unit is configured to generate a first viewpoint-changed image by changing a first viewpoint of a first image that is captured by said imaging unit at a moment just after said image unit captured said obstacle, and to generate a second viewpoint-changed image by changing second viewpoint of a second image that is captured by said imaging unit at a predetermined time after said image unit has captured said obstacle,said control unit is configured to perform an image processing process only on a part of said second viewpoint-changed image when a second feature point of said obstacle contained in said second viewpoint-changed image that corresponds to a first feature point in said first viewpoint-changed image is searched, thereby acquiring the height of the detected obstacle,said control unit is configured to control said indicating unit to either indicate the detected obstacle as a safe obstacle or inhibit the detected obstacle from being indicated if the acquired height of the detected obstacle is less than a preset height, andsaid control unit is configured to control said indicating unit to indicate the detected obstacle as a dangerous obstacle if the acquired height of the detected obstacle is equal to or greater than said preset height.
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Accused Products
Abstract
If the detected distance from a vehicle to a detected obstacle is equal to or greater than a preset distance, then a vehicle periphery monitoring system performs an image processing process on a captured image of the periphery of the vehicle to acquire the height of the vehicle. If the acquired height of the obstacle is less than a preset height, then the obstacle is displayed as a safe obstacle. If the acquired height of the obstacle is equal to or greater than the preset height, then the obstacle is displayed as a dangerous obstacle. The vehicle periphery monitoring system is able to indicate to the vehicle driver whether the detected obstacle is dangerous or safe. The vehicle periphery monitoring system is not required to perform the image processing process on the entire area of the captured image, and does not require a CPU having a high processing capability.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A vehicle periphery monitoring system comprising:
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an obstacle detecting unit for detecting the presence of an obstacle, wherein the detecting unit includes means for measuring a distance from the vehicle to the obstacle; an indicating unit for indicating the presence of the obstacle; a control unit for controlling said indicating unit to indicate the presence of the obstacle when the presence of the obstacle is detected by said obstacle detecting unit; and an imaging unit for capturing an image of a periphery of the vehicle; wherein if the detected distance from the vehicle to the obstacle detected in said obstacle detecting unit is equal to or greater than a preset distance, said control unit is configured to generate a first viewpoint-changed image by changing a first viewpoint of a first image that is captured by said imaging unit at a moment just after said image unit captured said obstacle, and to generate a second viewpoint-changed image by changing second viewpoint of a second image that is captured by said imaging unit at a predetermined time after said image unit has captured said obstacle, said control unit is configured to perform an image processing process only on a part of said second viewpoint-changed image when a second feature point of said obstacle contained in said second viewpoint-changed image that corresponds to a first feature point in said first viewpoint-changed image is searched, thereby acquiring the height of the detected obstacle, said control unit is configured to control said indicating unit to either indicate the detected obstacle as a safe obstacle or inhibit the detected obstacle from being indicated if the acquired height of the detected obstacle is less than a preset height, and said control unit is configured to control said indicating unit to indicate the detected obstacle as a dangerous obstacle if the acquired height of the detected obstacle is equal to or greater than said preset height. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A vehicle periphery monitoring system comprising:
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an obstacle detecting unit for detecting the presence of an obstacle in a periphery of vehicle, wherein the obstacle detecting unit includes means for measuring a distance from the vehicle to the obstacle; an indicating unit for indicating the presence of the obstacle; a control unit for controlling said indicating unit to indicate the presence of the obstacle is detected by said obstacle detecting unit; and an imaging unit for capturing an image of a periphery of the vehicle; wherein said control unit is configured to generate a first viewpoint-changed image by changing a first viewpoint of a first image that is captured by said imaging unit at a moment just after said image unit captured said obstacle, and to generate a second viewpoint-changed image by changing a second viewpoint of a second image that is captured by said imaging unit at a predetermined time after said image unit has captured said obstacle, wherein said control unit is configured to perform an image processing process only on a part of said second viewpoint-changed image when a second feature point of said obstacle contained in said second viewpoint-changed image that corresponds to a first feature point in said first viewpoint-changed image is searched, thereby acquiring the height of the detected obstacle, wherein said control unit is configured to control said indicating unit to either indicate the detected obstacle as a safe obstacle or inhibit the detected obstacle from being indicated if the acquired height of the detected obstacle is less than a preset height, and wherein said control unit is configured to control said indicating unit to indicate the detected obstacle as a dangerous obstacle if the acquired height of the detected obstacle is equal to or greater than said preset height.
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8. A system for selectively indicating objects in the periphery of a vehicle, comprising:
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an object detector mounted on the vehicle for detecting the presence of an object in the periphery of the vehicle; an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle for capturing an image of an area in the periphery of the vehicle; an object indicator mounted on the vehicle for indicating the presence of an object detected in the periphery of the vehicle by said object detector; and a controller mounted on the vehicle for controlling said object indicator to indicate the presence of an object detected by said obstacle detecting unit if the height of the object, which is acquired from processed image data of first and second viewpoint-changed images generated by changing viewpoints of first and second images that are captured by said image unit at a moment just after said imaging unit captured said obstacle and at a predetermined time after said image unit has captured said obstacle, respectively, is equal to or greater than a preset height, wherein when a second feature point of said obstacle contained in said second viewpoint-changed image that corresponds to a first feature point in said first viewpoint-changed image is searched, said controller performs an image processing process only on a part of said second viewpoint-changed image. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification