Vehicular collision warning system

• US 8,310,355 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2009
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Automotive Research & Testing Center
• Original Assignee: Automotive Research & Testing Center
• Inventors: Chen, Chia-Tseng, Liao, Yu-Sheng, Kao, Hsiang-Chun
• Primary Examiner(s): MULLEN, THOMAS J
• Application Number:
  US12/588,185
• Publication Number:
  US 20100321174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,133 Days
• Field of Search: 340/435, 340/436, 340901-904, 700/300, 700/301, 382/103, 382/104, 382/106, 382/107, 701/300, 701/301
• US Class Current: 340/435
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes

Abstract

A vehicular collision warning system comprises at least one image capture device capturing images of blind spots, a processing unit receiving the images of blind spots from the image capture device, and at least one alert device. The processing unit identifies at least one barrier from the images and calculates the speed and transverse displacement of the barrier according to the positional change with respect to time. The processing unit presets at least one attention area on the image, estimates whether the barrier will appear in the attention area, sends out an alert-triggering signal to trigger the alert devices to generate sound, light, or pictures to warn the driver early. Cooperating with the speed sensor, brake system and turn light system, the vehicular collision warning system can trigger different alert signals according to the grading of danger to actively warn the driver early.

Claims

1. A vehicular collision warning system, which is used to detect barriers in at least one blind spot of a driver of a large-size vehicle, comprising:

at least one image capture device installed on said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of said at least one blind spot;

a processing unit electrically connected to said at least one image capture device for identifying at least one barrier from one or more captured images, said barrier having an upper speed limit defined as a preset speed, calculating a speed and a displacement of each of said at least one barrier according to positional change of each of said at least one barrier with respect with time, defining at least one attention area in images of said at least one blind spot, and sending out at least one alert-triggering signal when determining that one of said at least one barrier has said calculated displacement and said calculated speed lower than said preset speed in one of said at least one attention area; and

at least one alert device electrically connected to said processing unit for receiving said alert-triggering signal and generating an alert signal of sound, light or displayable alert pictures;

wherein said processing unit calculates informational quantities of traffic lanes of each of said images of said at least one blind spot, calculates difference of informational quantities of said traffic lanes of every two adjacent said images, compares a curve of said difference with a preset threshold, determines a position where said difference exceeds said preset threshold to be a position of a barrier, and determines positions where said difference is below said preset threshold to be a background.

2. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit further comprises a signal processor calculating informational quantities of traffic lanes of each of said imnes of said at least one blind spot according to the following equations:

3. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 2, wherein said signal processor calculates said preset threshold according to an equation expressed by

4. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 2, wherein said signal processor calculates said displacement according to an equation expressed by

Δ

I_t(x)=I_t(x)−

I_t-1(x);

wherein Δ

I_t(x) is a difference of information quantities of images of a traffic lane, and I_t(x) and I_t-1(x) are respectively information quantities of images of a traffic lane at a time point oft and a time point of t−

1.

5. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 4, wherein said signal processor uses a ratio of an image size in pixels to a physical distance and a change of a pixel distance with respect to time, said change of a pixel distance being defined as the displacement of said barrier with respect to the pixels in which said barrier appears in a first image from the pixels in which said barrier appears a second image, to calculate a physical displacement and a physical speed of said barrier according to the following equations:

physical displacement of barrier (m)=[physical distance (m)/image size (pixels)]×

change of pixel distance (pixels); and

physical speed of barrier (m/s)=physical displacement of barrier (m)/time interval of frames (s).

6. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 1, wherein a front side, a left side and a right side of said large-size vehicle respectively have at least one said blind spot;

said at least one image capture device includes a first image capture device installed in a front portion of said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of a first blind spot at said front side of said large-size vehicle, a second image capture device installed in a left portion of said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of a second blind spot at said left side of said large-size vehicle, and a third image capture device installed in a right portion of said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of a third blind spot at said right side of said vehicle.

7. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 6, wherein for said first blind spot at said front side of said large-size vehicle, said displacement is a transverse displacement;

and for said second and third blind spots at said left side and said right side respectively of said large-size vehicle, said displacement is a longitudinal displacement.

8. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 6, wherein said at least one attention area defined by said processing unit includes a first attention area defined in an image of said first blind spot, a second attention area defined in an image of said second blind spot, and a third attention area defined in an image of said third blind spot;

said at least one alert device includes a first alert zone corresponding to said first attention area, a second alert zone corresponding to said second attention area, and a third alert zone corresponding to said third attention area; and

said first alert zone, said second alert zone and said third alert zone use said light or displayable alert pictures to indicate which of said attention areas where said barrier exists.

9. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 8, wherein said large-size vehicle has a speed sensor detecting a speed of said large-size vehicle, a brake system and a turn signal system;

said processing unit further comprises;

a microprocessor electrically connected to said speed sensor, said brake system and said turn signal system;

said microprocessor receives a speed signal from said speed sensor, a braking signal from said brake system and a turning signal from said turn signal system;

said microprocessor includes a speed limit for said large-sized vehicle, and said microprocessor processes and analyzes the first, second and third attention areas;

whereby if said speed of said large-sized vehicle is greater than said speed limit of said large-sized vehicle, said microprocessor abandons processing and analyzing said first attention area but continues processing and analyzing said second attention area and said third attention area, and sends out one of two alert-triggering signals to indicate an emergency situation in said second attention area or said third attention area responsive to said turning signal when a barrier is present in said second attention area or said third attention area;

whereby if said speed of said large-size vehicle is less than said speed limit, said microprocessor firstly processes and analyzes said first attention area and sends out one of two alert-triggering signals to indicate an emergency situation in said first attention area responsive to said braking signal when a barrier is present in said first attention area, and then processes and analyzes said second attention area and said third attention area, and sends out one of two alert-triggering signals to indicate an emergency situation in said second attention area or said third attention area responsive to said turning signal when a barrier is present in said second attention area or said third attention area.

10. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 9, wherein said speed limit for said large-sized vehicle is 20 km/h.

11. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 9, wherein said at least one alert device includes a first alert device and a second alert device;

said microprocessor sends out a first alert-triggering signal to trigger said first alert device and sends out a second alert-triggering signal to trigger said second alert device.

12. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 1, wherein said preset speed is a value selected from within a range of 0 km/h to 22.5 km/h.

13. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one alert device is a buzzer, a voice system, a LED (Light Emitting Diode) light, or a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen.

14. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one image capture device is a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) element or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) camera.

15. A vehicular collision warning system, which is used to detect barriers in at least one blind spot of a driver of a large-size vehicle, comprising:

at least one image capture device installed on said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of said at least one blind spot;

a processing unit electrically connected to said at least one image captured device for identifying at least one barrier from one or more captured images, said barrier having an upper speed limit defined as a preset speed, calculating a speed and a displacement of each of said at least one barrier according to positional change of each of said at least one barrier with respect with time, defining at least one attention area in images of said at least one blind spot, and sending out at least one alert-triggering signal when determining that one of said at least one barrier has said calculated displacement and said calculated speed lower than said preset speed in one of said at least one attention area; and

at least one alert device electrically connected to said processing unit for receiving said alert-triggering signal and generating an alert signal of sound, light or displayable alert pictures;

wherein a front side, a left side and a right side of said large-size vehicle respectively have at least one said blind spot;

said at least one image capture device includes a first image capture device installed in a front portion of said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of a first blind spot at said front side of said large-size vehicle, a second image capture device installed in a left portion of said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of a second blind spot at said left side of said large-size vehicle, and a third image capture device installed in a right portion of said large-size vehicle and used to capture images of a third blind spot at said right side of said vehicle;

for said first blind spot at said front side of said large-size vehicle, said displacement is a transverse displacement; and

for said second and third blind spots at said left side and said right side respectively of said large-size vehicle, said displacement is a longitudinal displacement; and

said at least one attention area defined by said processing unit includes a first attention area defined in an image of said first blind spot, a second attention area defined in an image of said second blind spot, and a third attention area defined in an image of said third blind spot;

said at least one alert device includes a first alert zone corresponding to said first attention area, a second alert zone corresponding to said second attention area, and a third alert zone corresponding to said third attention area; and

said first alert zone, said second alert zone and said third alert zone use said light or displayable alert pictures to indicate which of said attention areas where said barrier exists.

16. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 15, wherein said large-size vehicle has a speed sensor detecting a speed of said large-size vehicle, a brake system and a turn signal system;

said processing unit further comprises;

a microprocessor electrically connected to said speed sensor, said brake system and said turn signal system;

said microprocessor receives a speed signal from said speed sensor, a braking signal from said brake system and a turning signal from said turn signal system;

said microprocessor includes a speed limit for said speed of said large-sized vehicle, and said microprocessor processes and analyzes the first, second and third attention areas;

whereby if said speed of said large-size vehicle is greater than said speed limit of said large-sized vehicle, said microprocessor abandons processing and analyzing said first attention area but continues processing and analyzing said second attention area and said third attention area, and sends out one of two alert-triggering signals to indicate an emergency situation in said second attention area or said third attention area responsive to said turning signal when a barrier is present in said second attention area or said third attention area;

whereby if said speed of said large-size vehicle is less than said speed limit, said microprocessor firstly processes and analyzes said first attention area and sends out one of two alert-triggering signals to indicate an emergency situation in said first attention area responsive to said braking signal when a barrier is present in said first attention area, and then processes and analyzes said second attention area and said third attention area, and sends out one of two alert-triggering signals to indicate an emergency situation in said second attention area or said third attention area responsive to said turning signal when a barrier is present in said second attention area or said third attention area.

17. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 16, wherein said speed limit for said large-sized vehicle is 20 km/h.

18. The vehicular collision warning system according to claim 16, wherein said at least one alert device includes a first alert device and a second alert device;

said microprocessor sends out a first alert-triggering signal to trigger said first alert device and sends out a second alert-triggering signal to trigger said second alert device.