Forward looking sensor system
First Claim
1. A forward looking vision system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a forward looking sensor configured to obtain a two-dimensional image of a space in front of the vehicle;
a region identification element that divides the two-dimensional image into a plurality of regions, each region representing a portion of the space in front of the vehicle, the region identification element comprising;
a sub-region location element that determines a plurality of subregions having homogenous characteristics within the two-dimensional image; and
a clustering element that performs a clustering analysis to combine spatially proximate subregions having similar characteristics to form the plurality of regions;
an image transform element that transforms the two-dimensional image to a three-dimensional coordinate system representing the space in front of the vehicle to calculate depth information for at least a portion of the image; and
a plurality of expert systems, each expert system having at least one associated region and each region having at least one associated expert system, that control respective vehicle functions according to data from their respective associated at least one associated regions and the calculated depth informationwherein the region identification element is operative to process sub-regions above a horizon line of the two-dimensional image separately from sub-regions beneath the horizon line such that the clustering element performs separate clustering analyses for the area above the horizon line to detect a sky region and the area below the horizon line to detect a road region, with any portion of the image not included in the sky region and road region combined into a side region.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for controlling a plurality of vehicle systems. A forward looking sensor (12) is configured to obtain a two-dimensional image of a space in front of the vehicle. A region identification element (14) divides the two-dimensional image into a plurality of regions. Each region represents a portion of the space forward of the vehicle. An image transform (16) transforms the two-dimensional image to a three-dimensional coordinate system representing the space in front of the vehicle to calculate depth information for at least a portion of the image. Each of a plurality of expert systems (18-20) have at least one associated region and control a vehicle system (22-24) according to data from their respective at least one associated region and the calculated depth information.
79 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A forward looking vision system for a vehicle, comprising:
-
a forward looking sensor configured to obtain a two-dimensional image of a space in front of the vehicle; a region identification element that divides the two-dimensional image into a plurality of regions, each region representing a portion of the space in front of the vehicle, the region identification element comprising; a sub-region location element that determines a plurality of subregions having homogenous characteristics within the two-dimensional image; and a clustering element that performs a clustering analysis to combine spatially proximate subregions having similar characteristics to form the plurality of regions; an image transform element that transforms the two-dimensional image to a three-dimensional coordinate system representing the space in front of the vehicle to calculate depth information for at least a portion of the image; and a plurality of expert systems, each expert system having at least one associated region and each region having at least one associated expert system, that control respective vehicle functions according to data from their respective associated at least one associated regions and the calculated depth information wherein the region identification element is operative to process sub-regions above a horizon line of the two-dimensional image separately from sub-regions beneath the horizon line such that the clustering element performs separate clustering analyses for the area above the horizon line to detect a sky region and the area below the horizon line to detect a road region, with any portion of the image not included in the sky region and road region combined into a side region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for controlling vehicle systems, comprising:
-
imaging the space in front of a vehicle to obtain a two-dimensional image; dividing the two-dimensional image into sky, road, and side regions, each region representing a portion of the space in front of the vehicle, wherein dividing the two-dimensional image comprises; locating a horizon line within the two-dimensional image; determining a plurality of subregions having homogenous characteristics within the two-dimensional image; performing a first clustering analysis on subregions above the horizon line to combine spatially proximate subregions having similar characteristics to form the sky region; and performing a second clustering analysis on subregions below the horizon line to combine spatially proximate subregions having similar characteristics to form the road and side regions; producing an image transform of the two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional coordinate system representing the space forward of the vehicle to calculate depth information for at least a portion of the image; controlling a first vehicle function with a first expert system that utilizes image data and calculated depth information from a first region of the plurality of regions; and controlling a second vehicle function with a second expert system that utilizes image data and calculated depth information from a second region of the plurality of regions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
-
-
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium, containing computer executable instructions for processing two-dimensional image data from a forward looking sensor within a vehicle, comprising:
-
a region identification element that divides the two-dimensional image data into a plurality of regions, with each region representing an area in front of the vehicle, the region identification element comprising; a texture classification element that determines a plurality of subregions having homogenous characteristics within the two-dimensional image data; and a clustering element that performs a first clustering analysis to combine spatially proximate subregions having similar characteristics above a horizon line to form a sky region and a second clustering analysis to combine spatially proximate subregions having similar characteristics below the horizon line to form a road and side regions; an image transform that transforms the two-dimensional image to a three-dimensional coordinate system representing the space forward of the vehicle to calculate depth information for at least a determined ground plane of the image; and a plurality of expert systems, each expert system having at least one associated region and each region having at least one associated expert system, that control respective vehicle functions according to data from their respective associated at least one associated regions and the calculated depth information. - View Dependent Claims (16)
-
Specification