Apparatus for compensating camera image and operating method thereof

• US 9,330,319 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2014
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Jeon, Mi Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Kassa, Yosef
• Application Number:
  US14/525,253
• Publication Number:
  US 20150139556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 553 Days
• Field of Search: 382/115, 382/116, 382/124, 382/209, 382/218, 340/5.53, 340/5.83
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30244 Camera pose
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/73 using feature-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

Disclosed is a camera image compensating apparatus for a vehicle, including a detecting unit which detects a base line and a vehicle body contour line; a coordinate storing unit which stores a first reference image coordinate value and a second reference image coordinate value; a first coordinate calculating unit which calculates a first base line image coordinate value and calculates a first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value; a coordinate comparing unit which compares the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value and compares the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value; and a correcting unit which calculates angle change information of the camera, calculates correction information based on the angle change information, and corrects the camera parameter using the correction information.

Claims

1. A camera image compensating apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

a detecting unit which detects a base line and a vehicle body contour line by analyzing an image signal which is created by a camera which uses a predetermined camera parameter;

a coordinate storing unit which stores a first reference image coordinate value and a second reference image coordinate value;

a first coordinate calculating unit which calculates a first base line image coordinate value with respect to the base line and calculates a first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value with respect to the vehicle body contour line;

a coordinate comparing unit which compares the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value to calculate a first comparison result and compares the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value to calculate a second comparison result;

a correcting unit which calculates angle change information of the camera based on the first and second comparison results, calculates correction information based on the angle change information, and corrects the camera parameter using the correction information; and

a second coordinate calculating unit which calculates a second base line image coordinate value with respect to the base line and calculates a second vehicle body contour line image coordinate value with respect to the vehicle body contour line by applying the corrected camera parameter to the image signal created by the camera.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a verifying unit which compares the first reference image coordinate value and the second base line image coordinate value to calculate a third comparison result, compares the second reference image coordinate value and the second vehicle body contour line image coordinate value to calculate a fourth comparison result, and verifies whether differences in accordance with the third and fourth comparison results fall within a predetermined error range.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the verifying unit verifies that the differences in accordance with the third and fourth comparison results fall within the predetermined error range, the correcting unit resets the corrected camera parameter as a camera parameter of the camera.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when a difference between Y axis values of the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value in accordance with the first comparison result and a difference between Y axis values of the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value in accordance with the second comparison result have the same sign, the correcting unit determines that a pitch angle of the camera is changed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when a difference between X axis values of the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value in accordance with the first comparison result and a difference between X axis values of the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value in accordance with the second comparison result have the same sign, the correcting unit determines that a yaw angle of the camera is changed.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the correcting unit calculates a first direction which is a rotating direction of a straight line corresponding to the first base line image coordinate value with respect to a straight line corresponding to the first reference image coordinate value based on the first comparison result and calculates a second direction which is a rotating direction of a straight line corresponding to the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value with respect to a straight line corresponding to the second reference image coordinate value based on the second comparison result.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein when the first and second rotating directions are the same, the correcting unit determines that the roll angle of the camera is changed.

8. An operating method of a camera image compensating apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

detecting a base line and a vehicle body contour line by analyzing an image signal which is created by a camera which uses a predetermined camera parameter;

calculating a first base line image coordinate value with respect to the base line and calculating a first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value with respect to the vehicle body contour line;

comparing a first reference image coordinate value which has been stored in advance with the first base line image coordinate value to calculate a first comparison result and comparing a second reference image coordinate value which has been stored in advance with the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value to calculate a second comparison result;

calculating angle change information of the camera based on the first and second comparison results;

correcting the camera parameter using correction information corresponding to the angle change information; and

calculating a second base line image coordinate value with respect to the base line and calculating a second vehicle body contour line image coordinate value with respect to the vehicle body contour line by applying the corrected camera parameter to the image signal created by the camera.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

comparing the first reference image coordinate value and the second base line image coordinate value to calculate a third comparison result and comparing the second reference image coordinate value and the second vehicle body contour line image coordinate value to calculate a fourth comparison result; and

verifying whether differences in accordance with the third and fourth comparison results fall within a predetermined error range.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

resetting the corrected camera parameter as a camera parameter of the camera when it is verified that the differences in accordance with the third and fourth comparison results fall within the predetermined error range.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the calculating of angle change information determines that a pitch angle of the camera is changed when a difference between Y axis values of the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value in accordance with the first comparison result and a difference between Y axis values of the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value in accordance with the second comparison result have the same sign.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the calculating of angle change information determines that a yaw angle of the camera is changed when a difference between X axis values of the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value in accordance with the first comparison result and a difference between X axis values of the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value in accordance with the second comparison result have the same sign.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the calculating of angle change information calculates a first direction which is a rotating direction of a straight line corresponding to the first base line image coordinate value with respect to a straight line corresponding to the first reference image coordinate value based on the first comparison result and calculates a second direction which is a rotating direction of a straight line corresponding to the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value with respect to a straight line corresponding to the second reference image coordinate value based on the second comparison result.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the calculating of angle change information determines that the roll angle of the camera is changed when the first and second rotating directions are the same.