Vehicle periphery monitoring device

• US 8,401,715 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2010
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arriver Software AB (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Aimura, Makoto, Nagaoka, Nobuharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Badii, Behrang
• Application Number:
  US13/265,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20120041617A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,160 Days
• Field of Search: 701/45, 701/1, 701/31.4, 701/300, 701/301, 701/32.2, 340/436, 340/435, 340/932.2, 340/937, 340/903, 340/904, 180/271, 180/168, 356/4.01, 356/141.1, 348/135, 348/47, 342/70, 342/175
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30261 Obstacle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/593 from stereo images
• 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 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle periphery monitoring device having: a first distance calculating unit (25) which calculates a distance between a vehicle (10) and an object, using a parallax gradient of image sections of the same object among a plurality of images captured by infrared cameras (2R, 2L) at different times within a predetermined sampling interval; a vehicular velocity sensor (4) which detects a vehicular velocity of the vehicle (10); and a sampling interval setting unit (23) which sets the sampling interval shorter with the increase of the vehicular velocity of the vehicle (10).

Claims

1. A vehicle periphery monitoring device configured to monitor a periphery of a vehicle on the basis of an image captured by an imaging unit mounted in the vehicle, comprising:

a distance calculating unit configured to calculate a distance between the vehicle and an object by using a variation degree of predetermined elements of image sections of the same object among a plurality of images captured by the imaging unit at different times within a predetermined sampling interval for each predetermined control cycle;

a vehicular velocity detecting unit configured to detect a vehicular velocity of the vehicle; and

a sampling interval setting unit configured to calculate an estimated distance between the vehicle and the object in a current control cycle by using the distance between the vehicle and the object calculated by the distance calculating unit in a previous control cycle, the vehicular velocity of the vehicle, and an elapsed time from the time point when the distance between the vehicle and the object is calculated in the previous control cycle, and to set the sampling interval in the current control cycle shorter as the estimated distance is shorter.

2. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the sampling interval setting unit is configured to set the sampling interval shorter as the vehicular velocity of the vehicle is slower.