Vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus

• US 7,388,476 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2005
• Issued: 06/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Tsuji, Takayuki, Nagaoka, Nobuharu, Watanabe, Masahito
• Primary Examiner(s): GOINS, DAVETTA WOODS
• Application Number:
  US11/287,871
• Publication Number:
  US 20060126898A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 340/436, 340/435, 340/903, 348/148, 348/149, 382/104, 701/96
• US Class Current: 340/436
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/785 on or in relation to the windshield or windows
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/785 on or in relation to the windshield or windows
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• 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: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/14 Yaw
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/7864 T.V. type tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication

Abstract

A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus that extracts a body present in the surroundings of a vehicle as an object, based on an image captured by an infrared imaging device, including a binarized object extraction device that extracts a binarized object from image data obtained by binarizing a gray scale image of the image; a horizontal edge detection device that detects a horizontal edge in the gray scale image; a horizontal edge determination device that determines whether or not the horizontal edge detected by the horizontal edge detection device exists in a prescribed range from the top end or bottom end of the binarized object extracted by the binarized object extraction device; and an object type determination device that determines a type of object based on a determination result of the horizontal edge determination device.

Claims

1. A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus that extracts a body present in the surroundings of a vehicle as an object, based on an image captured by an infrared imaging device, comprising:

a binarized object extraction device that extracts a binarized object from image data obtained by binarizing a gray scale image of the image;

a horizontal edge detection device that detects a horizontal edge in the gray scale image;

a horizontal edge determination device that determines whether or not the horizontal edge detected by the horizontal edge detection device exists in a prescribed range from top end or bottom end of the binarized object extracted by the binarized object extraction device; and

an object type determination device that determines a type of object based on a determination result of the horizontal edge determination device.

2. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a pedestrian recognition device that recognizes pedestrians present in the surroundings of a vehicle based on the image, the pedestrian recognition device executing pedestrian recognition processing on the object when the object is determined to be something other than a manmade structure, or to be a pedestrian, by the object type determination device.

3. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a warning output device that outputs a warning directed to the object when the object is determined by the object type determination device to be something other than a manmade structure or to be a pedestrian.