Single camera system and method for range and lateral position measurement of a preceding vehicle
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for determining range of a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a camera configured to view a first region of interest including the vehicle and generate an electrical image of the region;
a sonar sensor configured to detect objects within a second region of interest;
processor in electrical communication with the camera to receive the electrical image, wherein the processor is configured to identify a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window of the plurality of windows corresponding to a predetermined physical size and target range from the camera, the processor being further configured to evaluate characteristics of a candidate object in relation to each window to identify the vehicle;
the processor in electrical communication with the sonar sensor, the processor configured to identify objects detected by the sonar sensor and determine the range of the objects detected by the sonar sensor;
wherein the window position is determined based on an elevation angle of the camera; and
wherein the lower edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship θ
1=a tan(−
rc/hc) where hc is the height of the camera from the road surface, rc is the range of window from the camera, and the module is [0, π
].
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for determining range and lateral position of a vehicle is provided. The system includes a camera, a sonar and a processor. The camera is configured to view a long range region of interest and generate an electrical image of the region. The sonar is configured to view a short range region of interest an output a sonar signal. The processor is in electrical communication with the camera and the sonar to receive the electrical image and the sonar signal. The processor analyzes the image and the sonar signal in order to determine the range of an object.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A system for determining range of a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a camera configured to view a first region of interest including the vehicle and generate an electrical image of the region; a sonar sensor configured to detect objects within a second region of interest; processor in electrical communication with the camera to receive the electrical image, wherein the processor is configured to identify a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window of the plurality of windows corresponding to a predetermined physical size and target range from the camera, the processor being further configured to evaluate characteristics of a candidate object in relation to each window to identify the vehicle; the processor in electrical communication with the sonar sensor, the processor configured to identify objects detected by the sonar sensor and determine the range of the objects detected by the sonar sensor; wherein the window position is determined based on an elevation angle of the camera; and wherein the lower edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship θ
1=a tan(−
rc/hc) where hc is the height of the camera from the road surface, rc is the range of window from the camera, and the module is [0, π
]. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for determining range of a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a camera configured to view a first region of interest including the vehicle and generate an electrical image of the region; a sonar sensor configured to detect objects within a second region of interest; a processor in electrical communication with the camera to receive the electrical image, wherein the processor is configured to identify a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window of the plurality of windows corresponding to a predetermined physical size and target range from the camera, the processor being further configured to evaluate characteristics of a candidate object in relation to each window to identify the vehicle; the processor in electrical communication with the sonar sensor, the processor configured to identify objects detected by the sonar sensor and determine the range of the objects detected by the sonar sensor; wherein the window position is determined based on an elevation angle of the camera; and wherein the upper edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship θ
1h=a tan(r1/(hw−
hc)) where hw is a window height, hc is the height of the camera from the road surface, r1 is the range of window from the camera, and the module is [0, π
].
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16. A system for determining range of a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a camera configured to view a first region of interest including the vehicle and generate an electrical image of the region; a sonar sensor configured to detect objects within a second region of interest; a processor in electrical communication with the camera to receive the electrical image, wherein the processor is configured to identify a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window of the plurality of windows corresponding to a predetermined physical size and target range from the camera, the processor being further configured to evaluate characteristics of a candidate object in relation to each window to identify the vehicle; the processor in electrical communication with the sonar sensor, the processor configured to identify objects detected by the sonar sensor and determine the range of the objects detected by the sonar sensor; wherein the position of each window is determined based on an azimuth angle of the camera; and wherein the right edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship φ
1=a tan(−
width_w/(2r1))+π
/2 where window w is the distance from the center of the window to the horizontal edges, r1 is the horizontal range of the window from the camera, and the module is [−
π
/2,π
/2].
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17. A system for determining range of a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a camera configured to view a first region of interest including the vehicle and generate an electrical image of the region; a sonar sensor configured to detect objects within a second region of interest; a processor in electrical communication with the camera to receive the electrical image, wherein the processor is configured to identify a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window of the plurality of windows corresponding to a predetermined physical size and target range from the camera, the processor being further configured to evaluate characteristics of a candidate object in relation to each window to identify the vehicle; the processor in electrical communication with the sonar sensor, the processor configured to identify objects detected by the sonar sensor and determine the range of the objects detected by the sonar sensor; wherein the position of each window is determined based on an azimuth angle of the camera; and wherein the left edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship φ
1h=a tan(width_w/r1)+π
/2 where window w is the distance from the center of the window to the horizontal edges, r1 is the horizontal range of the window from the camera, and the module is [−
π
/2,π
/2].
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18. A method for determining range of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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receiving an optical image of a first region of interest onto a camera; receiving a sonar signal of a second region of interest onto a sonar; generating an electrical image based on the optical image; identifying a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window corresponding to a predetermined physical size and a target range from the camera; evaluating characteristics of a candidate object within each window signal to identify the vehicle; evaluating the sonar signal to determine if objects are located within the second region of interest; wherein the window Position is determined based on an elevation angle of the camera; and wherein the lower edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship θ
1=a tan(−
r1/hc) where hc is the height of the camera from the road surface, r1 is the range of window from the camera, and the module is [0, π
]. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for determining range of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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receiving an optical image of a first region of interest onto a camera; receiving a sonar signal of a second region of interest onto a sonar; generating an electrical image based on the optical image; identifying a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window corresponding to a predetermined physical size and a target range from the camera; evaluating characteristics of a candidate object within each window signal to identify the vehicle; evaluating the sonar signal to determine if objects are located within the second region of interest; wherein the window position is determined based on an elevation angle of the camera; and wherein the upper edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship θ
1h=a tan(r1/(hw−
hc)) where hw is a window height, hc is the height of the camera from the road surface, r1 is the range of window from the camera, and the module is [0, π
].
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43. A method for determining range of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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receiving an optical image of a first region of interest onto a camera; receiving a sonar signal of a second region of interest onto a sonar; generating an electrical image based on the optical image; identifying a plurality of windows within the electrical image, reach window corresponding to a predetermined physical size and a target range from the camera; evaluating characteristics of a candidate object within each window signal to identify the vehicle; evaluating the sonar signal to determine if objects are located within the second region of interest; wherein the position of each window is determined based on an azimuth angle of the camera; and wherein the right edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship φ
1=a tan(−
width13 /(2*r1))+π
/2 where window w is the distance from the center of the window to the horizontal edges, r1 is the horizontal range of the window from the camera, and the module is [−
π
/2,π
/2].
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44. method for determining range of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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receiving an optical image of a first region of interest onto a camera; receiving a sonar signal of a second region of interest onto a sonar; generating an electrical image based on the optical image; identifying a plurality of windows within the electrical image, each window corresponding to a predetermined physical size and a target range from the camera; evaluating characteristics of a candidate object within each window signal to identify the vehicle; evaluating the sonar signal to determine if objects are located within the second region of interest; wherein the position of each window is determined based on an azimuth angle of the camera; and wherein the left edge of each window is calculated based on the relationship φ
1h=a tan(width_w/(2*r1))+π
/2 where window w is the distance from the center of the window to the horizontal edges, r1 is the horizontal range of the window from the camera, and the module is [−
π
/2,π
/2].
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Specification