In-vehicle camera and in-vehicle camera system
First Claim
1. An in-vehicle camera, comprising:
- a plurality of image capturing devices that captures an image outside a vehicle;
a disparity calculating unit that calculates disparity information from a plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing devices;
a distance calculating unit that calculates distance information to an object that is present outside the vehicle based on the disparity information calculated in the disparity calculating unit;
an irradiating timing determining unit that determines whether the disparity information is calculated in the disparity calculating unit within a predetermined set time and determines whether to irradiate invisible pattern light or visible pattern light to the outside of the vehicle based on the result of determination; and
a collision determining unit that determines a probability of collision based on the distance information calculated in the distance calculating unit,wherein even when the disparity information is not calculated in the disparity calculating unit within the predetermined set time, if the plurality of image capturing devices captures an image of the irradiating region after the irradiating timing determining unit outputs a signal to irradiate the pattern light and the disparity calculating unit calculates the disparity information from the captured image data, the distance calculating unit calculates distance information from the disparity information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In the present invention, images at a front side or a rear side of a vehicle are obtained from a plurality of image capturing devices and a disparity and a distance to the captured object are calculated from the images, if the disparity is not sufficiently obtained, pattern light is irradiated onto a capturing object and an image of the object onto which the pattern light is irradiated is obtained again from the plurality of image capturing devices and the disparity and the distance to the captured object are calculated. Therefore, it is possible to provide an in-vehicle camera and system that recognizes an obstacle even in a situation where it is difficult to obtain the disparity of the obstacle around the vehicle.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. An in-vehicle camera, comprising:
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a plurality of image capturing devices that captures an image outside a vehicle; a disparity calculating unit that calculates disparity information from a plurality of images captured by the plurality of image capturing devices; a distance calculating unit that calculates distance information to an object that is present outside the vehicle based on the disparity information calculated in the disparity calculating unit; an irradiating timing determining unit that determines whether the disparity information is calculated in the disparity calculating unit within a predetermined set time and determines whether to irradiate invisible pattern light or visible pattern light to the outside of the vehicle based on the result of determination; and a collision determining unit that determines a probability of collision based on the distance information calculated in the distance calculating unit, wherein even when the disparity information is not calculated in the disparity calculating unit within the predetermined set time, if the plurality of image capturing devices captures an image of the irradiating region after the irradiating timing determining unit outputs a signal to irradiate the pattern light and the disparity calculating unit calculates the disparity information from the captured image data, the distance calculating unit calculates distance information from the disparity information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification