Moving obstacle detecting device
First Claim
1. A moving obstacle detecting device installed in or on a moving body for detecting moving obstacles in the vicinity of the moving body, the moving obstacle detecting device comprising:
- an image capturing unit configured and arranged to capture an image of the surroundings of the moving body;
an optical flow calculating unit configured to find an optical flow corresponding to characteristic points in the image captured with the camera;
a focus of expansion calculating unit configured to calculate focus or foci of expansion of the motion vectors in the optical flow found by the optical flow calculating unit;
a histogram creating unit configured to create a histogram of the distribution of the focus or foci of expansion calculated by the focus of expansion calculating unit;
a peak test unit configured to detect at least one moving obstacle to test peaks in the histogram, said test determining whether or not the peaks correspond to the same object if two or more peaks exist in the histogram created by the histogram creating unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aspect of the present invention provides a moving obstacle detecting device installed in or on a moving body for detecting moving obstacles in the vicinity of the moving body, the moving obstacle detecting device that includes an image capturing unit configured and arranged to capture an image of the surroundings of the moving body, an optical flow calculating unit configured to find an optical flow corresponding to characteristic points in the image captured with the camera, a focus of expansion calculating unit configured to calculate focus or foci of expansion of the motion vectors in the optical flow found by the optical flow calculating unit, a histogram creating unit configured to create a histogram of the distribution of the focus or foci of expansion calculated by the focus of expansion calculating unit, a peak test unit configured to detect at least one moving obstacle to test peaks in the histogram, the test determining whether or not the peaks correspond to the same object if two or more peaks exist in the histogram created by the histogram creating unit.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A moving obstacle detecting device installed in or on a moving body for detecting moving obstacles in the vicinity of the moving body, the moving obstacle detecting device comprising:
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an image capturing unit configured and arranged to capture an image of the surroundings of the moving body; an optical flow calculating unit configured to find an optical flow corresponding to characteristic points in the image captured with the camera; a focus of expansion calculating unit configured to calculate focus or foci of expansion of the motion vectors in the optical flow found by the optical flow calculating unit; a histogram creating unit configured to create a histogram of the distribution of the focus or foci of expansion calculated by the focus of expansion calculating unit; a peak test unit configured to detect at least one moving obstacle to test peaks in the histogram, said test determining whether or not the peaks correspond to the same object if two or more peaks exist in the histogram created by the histogram creating unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A moving obstacle detecting method for detecting moving obstacles existing in the vicinity of a moving body, comprising:
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(1) capturing an image of the surroundings of the moving body; (2) finding an optical flow corresponding to characteristic points in the captured image; (3) calculating focus or foci of expansion of the motion vectors in the optical flow; (4) creating a histogram of the distribution of the focus or foci of expansion calculated; and (5) detecting at least one moving obstacle to test peaks in the created histogram to determine whether or not the peaks correspond to the same object determine if two or more peaks exist in the histogram of the foci of expansion created. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification