Periphery surveillance apparatus and program

• US 9,902,323 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2015
• Issued: 02/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Kazuya, Maruoka, Tetsuya, Ohashi, Itsuko
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao, Andy
• Application Number:
  US14/797,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20160009225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 960 Days
• Field of Search: 348113-119, 348148
• 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 1/002 specially adapted for covering the peripheral part of the vehicle, e.g. for viewing tyres, bumpers or the like integrated in the windows B60R1/001; combined with rear-view mirrors B60R1/08
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/24 in front of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/04 Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/105 using multiple cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/304 using merged images, e.g. merging camera image with stored images
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/806 for aiding parking
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8073 for vehicle security, e.g. parked vehicle surveillance, burglar detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A periphery surveillance apparatus includes: a storage section storing captured image data from a capturing section capturing an image of a region including a road surface and a region upward therefrom, in a traveling direction of a vehicle; a display section selectively displaying at least one of past and present images, the past image based on captured image data corresponding to a current underfloor area among captured image data stored in the storage section, and the present image based on new captured image data captured and output by the capturing section; and a control section performing switching to the past image when a permission condition for permitting display of the past image is established during displaying the present image and performing switching to the present image when a recovery condition for performing recovery to the present image is established during displaying the past image.

Claims

1. A periphery surveillance apparatus comprising:

a storage section that stores captured image data output from a capturing section for capturing an image of a region including a road surface and a region upward from the road surface, in a traveling direction of a vehicle;

a display section that selectively displays at least one of a past image and a present image among pieces of captured image data which are stored in the storage section, the past image based on captured image data corresponding to a current underfloor area of the vehicle, and the present image based on new captured image data which is captured and output by the capturing section; and

a control section that performs switching to the past image when a permission condition for permitting display of the past image is established during a time when the present image is displayed in the display section and performs switching to the present image when a recovery condition for performing recovery to the present image is established during a time of displaying the past image is displayed in the display section.

2. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the control section performs switching to the present image regardless of whether or not a display requiring operation for the past image is performed by a user, when the recovery condition is established.

3. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the control section determines the recovery condition to be established and performs switching to the present image when a vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined speed during the time of displaying the past image.

4. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the control section estimates a current vehicle position based on the captured image data stored in the storage section and new captured image data output from the capturing section, when the past image is displayed, and superimposes an image indicating the estimated vehicle position on the past image so as to display a result of superimposition, and

the control section determines the recovery condition to be established when estimation accuracy for the vehicle position is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and performs switching to the present image.

5. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the control section causes the present image to be displayed in a first display mode and causes the past image to be displayed in a second display mode different from the first display mode.

6. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the display section displays the present image or the past image together with a present side image based on side captured image data outputted from a side capturing section that captures images of right or left side region of the vehicle in a vehicle width direction, regardless of controlling for switching between the present image and the past image.

7. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the control section causes images which have substantially the same viewpoint and field angle to be displayed as the present image and the past image.

9. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the permission condition is established when both conditions are satisfied, and the both conditions are a condition defined by a vehicle state and a condition defined by a switching request operation performed by a user.

10. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein it is determined whether or not an operation input section corresponding to image switching is caused to be active, on the basis of whether or not the condition defined by the vehicle state is established.

8. A periphery surveillance apparatus comprising:

a storage section that stores captured image data output from a capturing section for capturing an image of a region including a road surface and a region upward from the road surface, in a traveling direction of a vehicle;

a display section that selectively displays at least one of a past image and a present image among pieces of captured image data which are stored in the storage section, the past image based on captured image data corresponding to a current underfloor area of the vehicle, and the present image based on new captured image data which is captured and output by the capturing section; and

a control section that causes displaying to be performed in a first display mode when the present image is displayed, and causes an image having substantially the same viewpoint and field angle as the present image to be displayed in a second display mode different from the first display mode when the past image is displayed.

11. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the permission condition is established when both conditions are satisfied, and the both conditions are a condition defined by a vehicle state and a condition defined by a switching request operation performed by a user.

12. The periphery surveillance apparatus according to claim 11, wherein it is determined whether or not an operation input section corresponding to image switching is caused to be active, on the basis of whether or not the condition defined by the vehicle state is established.