Method and device for analyzing trafficability
First Claim
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1. A method for a driver assistance system of a subject vehicle, comprising the steps:
- with a sensor system of the subject vehicle, producing image data comprising plural image pixels and three-dimensional position data respectively associated with each one of the image pixels, wherein the image pixels represent at least one image of an external environment in front of the subject vehicle;
with a processor arrangement of the subject vehicle, analyzing the image data including the three-dimensional position data to calculate respective spatial positions of the image pixels in three-dimensional space, and from the spatial positions of the image pixels determining an estimated ground plane in the at least one image;
with the processor arrangement, classifying the image pixels into ground plane pixels and other pixels based on the three-dimensional position data, wherein the ground plane pixels belong to the estimated ground plane and the other pixels do not belong to the estimated ground plane in the at least one image;
with the processor arrangement, analyzing only the ground plane pixels and not the other pixels to segment the estimated ground plane into ground plane zones that are distinguished from one another in the at least one image based on respective characteristic features of the ground plane pixels of the ground plane zones in the image data;
with the processor arrangement, analyzing the image data to determine and assign, respectively to the ground plane zones, respective trafficability values that indicate whether the subject vehicle can safely drive in the respective areas of the external environment represented by the respective ground plane zones in the at least one image; and
with the driver assistance system, outputting an information to a driver of the subject vehicle or autonomously actuating a vehicle control of the subject vehicle based and dependent on the trafficability values.
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Abstract
A method and a device for analyzing trafficability use a computer to perform the following steps:
- receiving image data representing an image of surroundings in front of a vehicle,
- analyzing the image data to identify different zones in the image of the surroundings, and
- analyzing the identified different zones in terms of trafficability thereof for the vehicle.
19 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for a driver assistance system of a subject vehicle, comprising the steps:
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with a sensor system of the subject vehicle, producing image data comprising plural image pixels and three-dimensional position data respectively associated with each one of the image pixels, wherein the image pixels represent at least one image of an external environment in front of the subject vehicle; with a processor arrangement of the subject vehicle, analyzing the image data including the three-dimensional position data to calculate respective spatial positions of the image pixels in three-dimensional space, and from the spatial positions of the image pixels determining an estimated ground plane in the at least one image; with the processor arrangement, classifying the image pixels into ground plane pixels and other pixels based on the three-dimensional position data, wherein the ground plane pixels belong to the estimated ground plane and the other pixels do not belong to the estimated ground plane in the at least one image; with the processor arrangement, analyzing only the ground plane pixels and not the other pixels to segment the estimated ground plane into ground plane zones that are distinguished from one another in the at least one image based on respective characteristic features of the ground plane pixels of the ground plane zones in the image data; with the processor arrangement, analyzing the image data to determine and assign, respectively to the ground plane zones, respective trafficability values that indicate whether the subject vehicle can safely drive in the respective areas of the external environment represented by the respective ground plane zones in the at least one image; and with the driver assistance system, outputting an information to a driver of the subject vehicle or autonomously actuating a vehicle control of the subject vehicle based and dependent on the trafficability values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A device for a driver assistance system of a subject vehicle, comprising:
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a sensor system that is configured and arranged to produce image data comprising plural image pixels and three-dimensional position data respectively associated with each one of the image pixels, wherein the image pixels represent at least one image of an external environment in front of the subject vehicle; a processor arrangement that is configured and arranged to perform a method including; analyzing the image data including the three-dimensional position data to calculate respective spatial positions of the image pixels in three-dimensional space, and from the spatial positions of the image pixels determining an estimated ground plane in the at least one image; classifying the image pixels into ground plane pixels and other pixels based on the three-dimensional position data, wherein the ground plane pixels belong to the estimated ground plane and the other pixels do not belong to the estimated ground plane in the at least one image; analyzing only the ground plane pixels and not the other pixels to segment the estimated ground plane into ground plane zones that are distinguished from one another in the at least one image based on respective characteristic features of the ground plane pixels of the ground plane zones in the image data; and analyzing the image data to determine and assign, respectively to the ground plane zones, respective trafficability values that indicate whether the subject vehicle can safely drive in the respective areas of the external environment represented by the respective ground plane zones in the at least one image; and an output configured and arranged to output an information to a driver of the subject vehicle or to output a control signal configured to autonomously actuate a vehicle control of the subject vehicle, based and dependent on the trafficability values. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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with a sensor system of a vehicle, producing image pixels; with a processor arrangement of the vehicle, performing the following steps; calculating three-dimensional position data respectively for each one of the image pixels; evaluating the three-dimensional position data of the image pixels to determine an estimated ground plane in the three-dimensional position data of the image pixels; analyzing only those of the image pixels of which the respective three-dimensional position data lie on the estimated ground plane and not others of the image pixels of which the respective three-dimensional position data lie above or below the estimated ground plane, and by said analyzing, segmenting the estimated ground plane into ground plane zones that are distinguished from one another based on respective characteristic features of the analyzed image pixels; determining and assigning respective trafficability indicators respectively to the ground plane zones, wherein each one of the trafficability indicators respectively indicates that the respective assigned ground plane zone is either trafficable or non-trafficable; and outputting a signal dependent on and indicative of the trafficability indicators respectively assigned to the ground plane zones; and with a driver assistance system of the vehicle, outputting an information to a driver of the vehicle dependent on the signal, or autonomously actuating a vehicle control of the vehicle dependent on the signal.
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Specification