Camera calibration and image adjusting for drive assisting system

• US 7,756,618 B2
• Filed: 01/03/2004
• Issued: 07/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PANASONIC AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS CO., LTD. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Mizusawa, Kazufumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Black; Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kong; Sze-Hon
• Application Number:
  US10/566,104
• Publication Number:
  US 20060209188A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,383 Days
• Field of Search: 701/116, 701/36, 701/41, 701/42
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0295 by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a drive assisting apparatus capable of displaying a high-precision predicted locus in a camera picture in a superimposing manner while suppressing an increase of cost in a minimum value, and further, capable of displaying loci on a screen up to edges of the screen with respect to all of locus data irrespective of adjusting amounts of display positions.

Display data is formed which is used to display a travel prediction locus of a vehicle corresponding to a steering angle of a steering wheel on a screen of an on-vehicle monitor (5) in a superimposing manner; adjusting data used to adjust a display position of the travel prediction locus is set; and the display position of the travel prediction locus formed based upon the display data corresponding to the steering angle of the steering wheel in connection to steering operation of the steering wheel is adjusted based upon the adjusting data, and the position-adjusted travel prediction locus is displayed on the screen of the on-vehicle monitor (5) in the superimposing manner.

Claims

1. A drive assisting apparatus for displaying an image around a vehicle, which is acquired by an on-vehicle camera, on a screen of an on-vehicle monitor, comprising:

a data table for storing thereinto locus data which contains locus display data and adjusting data, said locus display data being used to display a travel predicted locus of the vehicle corresponding to a steering angle of a steering wheel on the screen, and said adjusting data being used to adjust a display position of the travel predicted locus on the screen based upon said locus display data;

steering angle detecting means for detecting the steering angle of the steering wheel; and

drive assisting image producing means for reading out said locus data corresponding to the steering angle detected by said steering angle detecting means from said data table during a normal driving operation subsequent to a setting operation, for producing a drive assisting image by superimposing the travel predicted locus on the image around the vehicle based upon the locus display data and the adjusting data, which are contained in said read locus data, and for outputting said drive assisting image to said on-vehicle monitor,

wherein said drive assisting apparatus includes display position adjusting amount setting means for setting a value of the adjusting data contained in the locus data corresponding to said steering angle, and

wherein based upon a value of adjusting data of said locus data with respect to a typical steering angle, said display position adjusting amount setting means calculates, during said setting operation, values of adjusting data of said locus data with respect to all of other steering angles.

2. A drive assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said locus data stored in said data table contains initial position setting data used to set an initial position of the travel prediction locus based upon locus display data in addition to both the locus display data and the adjusting data.

3. A drive assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said data table stores thereinto a plurality of different locus data sets as to a pan angle, or a roll angle as the locus data corresponding to the steering angle.

4. A drive assisting method for displaying an image around a vehicle, which is acquired by an on-vehicle camera, on a screen of an on-vehicle monitor, comprising the steps of:

forming display data which is used to display a travel prediction locus of a vehicle corresponding to a steering angle of a steering wheel on the screen of said on-vehicle monitor in a superimposing manner;

setting adjusting data used to adjust a display position of said travel prediction locus;

during a normal driving operation subsequent to a setting operation, adjusting the display position of the travel prediction locus formed based upon the display data corresponding to the steering angle of the steering wheel in connection to steering operation of the steering wheel based upon said adjusting data, and for displaying the position-adjusted travel prediction locus on the screen of the on-vehicle monitor in the superimposing manner;

setting a value of the adjusting data contained in locus data corresponding to said steering angle during said setting operation, and

based upon a value of adjusting data of locus data with respect to a typical steering angle, calculating values of adjusting data of locus data with respect to all of other steering angles during said setting operation.