Vehicle surroundings monitoring device

• US 9,073,483 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2010
• Issued: 07/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Kadowaki, Jun, Kato, Takashi, Ikeda, Keigo, Nakamura, Yoshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jay
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUANG, FRANK F
• Application Number:
  US13/519,188
• Publication Number:
  US 20120300077A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,659 Days
• Field of Search: 348/148
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/27 providing all-round vision, e.g. using omnidirectional cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/607 from a bird's eye viewpoint
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/86 Combinations of sonar systems with lidar systems; Combinations of sonar systems with systems not using wave reflection
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/87 Combinations of sonar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• 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

Abstract

A vehicle surroundings monitoring device for clarifying the accuracy of detection results and providing notification so that a driver can intuitively ascertain the position in which an object exists, the vehicle surroundings monitoring device comprising: an object detection unit for detecting objects in the periphery of a vehicle; a vehicle image generation unit for generating an image of the vehicle with the point of view set above the vehicle; a periphery image generation unit for generating an image of the periphery of the vehicle including the image of the vehicle; a position-calculating unit for calculating a corresponding position in the image of the periphery on the basis of detection results of the object detection unit; and an indicator unit for indicating the corresponding position in the image of the periphery when the degree of confirmation of the detection results of the object detection unit meets or exceeds an assessment threshold, and for indicating the corresponding region in the image of the periphery when the degree of confirmation of the detection results is less than the assessment threshold.

Claims

1. A vehicle surroundings monitoring device comprising:

an object detection unit for detecting objects in the periphery of a vehicle, the object detection unit being provided to the vehicle;

a vehicle image generation unit for generating an image of the vehicle with the point of view set above the vehicle;

a periphery image generation unit for generating an image of the periphery of the vehicle from the point of view, the image being partitioned into a plurality of regions in the periphery of the image of the vehicle;

a position-calculating unit for calculating a corresponding position in the image of the periphery on the basis of detection results of the object detection unit;

a degree-of-confirmation assessment unit for assessing whether a degree of confirmation of the detection results detected by the object detection unit meets or exceeds an assessment threshold set in advance; and

an indicator unit for indicating a position indicating existence of the object in the image of the periphery based on the calculation results of the position-calculating unit when the degree of confirmation of the detection results meets or exceeds the assessment threshold, and for indicating a region of the plurality of partitioned regions which region indicates the existence of the object in the image of the periphery on the basis of the calculation results of the position-calculating unit when the degree of confirmation of the detection results is less than the assessment threshold.

2. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the object detection unit is configured from a plurality of object detection units having different detection methods;

and

the degree-of-confirmation assessment unit assesses the degree of confirmation as meeting or exceeding the assessment threshold when the detection results of at least two object detection units correlate among the plurality of object detection units.

3. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the at least two object detection units comprise a first object detection unit and a second object detection unit, the first object detection unit detects the direction from the vehicle in which the object exists, and the second object detection unit detects the distance to the object that exists at least within a detection range that is prescribed at a predetermined angle set in advance from the vehicle.

4. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device according to claim 3, wherein the first object detection unit detects the direction and detects by image recognition an object included in the captured image obtained by photographing the situation of the periphery of the vehicle;

the second object detection unit detects the distance on the basis of the difference between a transmitted wave that is transmitted within the detection range and a reflected wave in which the transmitted wave hits an object and reflects; and

the degree-of-confirmation assessment unit determines that a correlation exists when the direction that is detected by the first object detection unit is included within the detection range of the second object detection unit, which has detected the object that exists at a predetermined distance from the vehicle, and determines the degree of confirmation as meeting or exceeding the assessment threshold.

5. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device according to claim 3, wherein the first object detection unit detects the direction and detects by image recognition an object included in the captured image obtained by photographing the situation of the periphery of the vehicle;

the second object detection unit detects the distance on the basis of the difference between a transmitted wave that is transmitted within the detection range and a reflected wave in which the transmitted wave hits an object and reflects; and

the degree-of-confirmation assessment unit calculates by image recognition the distance between the vehicle and the object included in the captured image obtained by the first object detection unit, and assesses the degree of confirmation as meeting or exceeding the assessment threshold using the fact that a correlation exists when the results of the calculation and the distance detected by the second object detection unit substantially match.

6. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the indicator unit displays an indicator in a corresponding position in the image of the periphery when the degree of confirmation meets or exceeds the assessment threshold set in advance.

7. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the indicator unit colors the region indicating the existence of the object in the image of the periphery when the degree of confirmation is less than the assessment threshold set in advance.