Rear obstruction detection
First Claim
1. A system mountable in a vehicle, the system comprising:
- (a) a camera operable to capture a plurality of image frames from a region outside of the vehicle in a direction of motion of the vehicle, wherein the region outside of the vehicle is behind an end of the vehicle in the direction of motion in a field of view of said camera;
(b) a processor attached to said camera operable to receive the image frames and to process the image frames for detection in the region outside of the vehicle of at least one object which, if present, obstructs the motion of the vehicle; and
(c) at least one light attached to the vehicle, wherein the at least one light is capable of illuminating the region outside of the vehicle,wherein the detection of the object is performed based on a change in illumination between one of the image frames captured before the at least one light is turned on to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle and another one of the image frames captured after the at least one light is turned on to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is provided using a system mounted in a vehicle. The system includes a rear-viewing camera and a processor attached to the rear-viewing camera. When the driver shifts the vehicle into reverse gear, and while the vehicle is still stationary, image frames from the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle are captured. The immediate vicinity behind the vehicle is in a field of view of the rear-viewing camera. The image frames are processed and thereby the object is detected which if present in the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle would obstruct the motion of the vehicle. The processing is preferably performed in parallel for a plurality of classes of obstructing objects using a single image frame of the image frames.
30 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A system mountable in a vehicle, the system comprising:
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(a) a camera operable to capture a plurality of image frames from a region outside of the vehicle in a direction of motion of the vehicle, wherein the region outside of the vehicle is behind an end of the vehicle in the direction of motion in a field of view of said camera; (b) a processor attached to said camera operable to receive the image frames and to process the image frames for detection in the region outside of the vehicle of at least one object which, if present, obstructs the motion of the vehicle; and (c) at least one light attached to the vehicle, wherein the at least one light is capable of illuminating the region outside of the vehicle, wherein the detection of the object is performed based on a change in illumination between one of the image frames captured before the at least one light is turned on to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle and another one of the image frames captured after the at least one light is turned on to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method comprising:
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(a) capturing, using a camera, a plurality of image frames from a region outside of a vehicle in a direction of motion of the vehicle, wherein the region outside of the vehicle is behind an end of the vehicle in the direction of motion in a field of view of the camera; (b) processing the image frames to detect in the region outside of the vehicle at least one object which if present obstructs the motion of the vehicle, and wherein the detection of the object is performed based on a change in illumination between one of the image frames captured before a light attached to the vehicle is turned on to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle and another one of the image frames captured after the light is turned on to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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(a) capturing, by a rear viewing camera of a vehicle, a first image frame without illuminating an outside region of the vehicle; (b) while illuminating the outside region of the vehicle by a light attached to the vehicle, capturing a second image frame, by the rear viewing camera; and (c) comparing said first image frame and said second image frame, thereby detecting an object in the outside region of the vehicle based on a change in illumination between the first image frame and the second image frame. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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capturing, by a rear viewing camera of a vehicle, a first image frame without illuminating the vicinity of the vehicle with at least one light attached to a rear of the vehicle; after turning on the light and while illuminating a region outside of the vehicle by the light, capturing a second image frame by the rear viewing camera, wherein the illuminating by the light is performed during the capturing of the second image frame but not during the capturing of the first image frame; comparing the first image frame and the second image frame; and detecting an object in the region outside of the vehicle based on a result of the comparing. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system mountable in a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a rear viewing camera; and a processor associated with the rear viewing camera, wherein the processor is configured to; cause the rear review camera to capture a first image frame of a region outside of the vehicle without illuminating the region outside of the vehicle with at least one light attached to a rear of the vehicle; cause the rear review camera to capture a second image frame after turning on the light to illuminate the region outside of the vehicle; wherein the light illuminates an object in the region outside of the vehicle while the second image frame is being captured but not while the first image frame is being captured; compare the first image frame and the second image frame; and detect the object in the region outside of the vehicle based on a result of the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method comprising:
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(a) capturing, by a rear viewing camera of a vehicle, a first image frame of an outside region of the vehicle while the outside region is illuminated by a brake light and a reverse light; (b) capturing a second image frame, by the rear viewing camera, of the outside region while the outside region is illuminated by the reverse light and while the brake light is turned off; and (c) comparing the first image frame and the second image frame to detect an object in the outside region of the vehicle based on a change in illumination between the first image frame and the second image frame.
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36. A system mountable in a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a rear viewing camera; and a processor associated with the rear viewing camera, wherein the processor is configured to; (a) capture a first image frame of an outside region of the vehicle while the outside region is illuminated by a brake light and a reverse light; (b) capture a second image frame of the outside region while the outside region is illuminated by the reverse light and while the brake light is turned off; and (c) compare the first image frame and the second image frame to detect an object in the outside region of the vehicle based on a change in illumination between the first image frame and the second image frame.
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Specification