Image detection system of vehicle

• US 10,200,676 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2016
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: H.P.B. Optoelectronic Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: H.P.B. Optoelectronic Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Hsu, Hsuan-Yueh, Wang, Szu-Hong
• Primary Examiner(s): Rahman, Mohammad J
• Application Number:
  US15/379,967
• Publication Number:
  US 20170180707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 782 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/46 Indirect determination of position data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9317 Driving backwards
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/254 in combination with electromagnetic radiation sources for illuminating objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/633 for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/745 Detection of flicker frequency or suppression of flicker wherein the flicker is caused by illumination, e.g. due to fluorescent tube illumination or pulsed LED illumination
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

The present invention discloses an image detection system of a vehicle for detecting at least one target object around a vehicle, and further detecting a distance between the at least one target object and the vehicle. The image detection system of the vehicle at least includes a light source unit, an image capturing unit and an alarm unit. The present invention primarily employs a laser beam incident onto the target object to form at least one optical pattern, and variation of the optical pattern and a motion object detection are collocated to effectively calculate the distance between the target object and the vehicle, thereby achieving an advantage of alarming and alerting a driver to safety of driving.

Claims

1. An image detection system of a vehicle for detecting at least one target object around the vehicle and further detecting a distance between the at least one target object and the vehicle, comprising:

a light source unit externally provided on the vehicle and configured to comprise at least one light source for emitting a light beam used to show at least one optical pattern on the target object, the optical pattern varying according to the distance between the target object and the vehicle;

an image capturing unit externally provided on the vehicle corresponding to the light source unit, and comprising a lens, an image sensor connected to the lens, and a microprocessor connected to the image sensor, the lens capturing and transmitting an image of the target object and the optical pattern thereon to the image sensor, the microprocessor calculating the distance between the target object and the vehicle based on the varying optical pattern on the target object by combining a motion object detection (MOD) according to the varying image of the target object; and

an alarm unit electrically connected to the microprocessor and internally provided in the vehicle, wherein the microprocessor transmits a message to the alarm unit when the distance between the target object and the vehicle is smaller than a threshold value, and the alarm unit generates an alarm signal based on the received message;

wherein the light source unit is a light flickering source having a flickering frequency as the same as a capturing frequency of the image capturing unit, and the microprocessor compares two sequential images to determine variation of the optical patterns.

2. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image detecting system of the vehicle is further disposed a display unit internally provided in the vehicle, the display unit is electrically connected to the image capturing unit, and comprises at least one display screen, the display unit has an image display region and a distance display region, the image display region is used to show the image of the target object captured by the lens and the optical pattern on the target object, and the distance display region is configured to show a distance value between the target object and the vehicle.

3. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the image display region and the distance display region are displayed on one display screen and different display screens.

4. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motion object detection (MOD) is implemented by the lens capturing the image of the target object, and the microprocessor determining the distance between the target object and the vehicle based on a density variation in images of the target object.

5. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one light source is a laser, a light emitting diode, and a phosphor capable of emitting the light beam.

6. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light beam is a visible light and invisible light.

7. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one optical pattern is implemented by a pattern formed of meshes, straight lines and regularly arranged dots.

8. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is implemented by one of a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) and a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor).

9. The image detection system of the vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alarm signal generated by the alarm unit is implemented by sound, light, and vibration.