System and method for visibility range detection

• US 10,380,451 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2015
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Inventors: Falb, David M., Wright, David J., Jeromin, Oliver M., Schut, Jeremy A., Murillo Amaya, Sergio E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhou, Zhihan
• Application Number:
  US14/932,154
• Publication Number:
  US 20160132745A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,378 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/1423 Automatic dimming circuits, i.e. switching between high beam and low beam due to change of ambient light or light level in road traffic
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/20 Fog lights
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2603 Attenuation of the light according to ambient luminiosity, e.g. for braking or direction indicating lamps
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/054 Variable non-standard intensity, i.e. emission of various beam intensities different from standard intensities, e.g. continuous or stepped transitions of intensity
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/31 Atmospheric conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/00 Image analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/741 by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/534 depending on the spectral component
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/583 with different integration times

Abstract

A system for calculating a visibility range from a vehicle is disclosed. The system comprises a high dynamic range image sensor system comprising a pixel array including a plurality of pixels. The image sensor further includes readout circuitry in electrical communication with each pixel of the pixel array. The readout circuitry is operable to readout a distinct pixel value corresponding to one of a plurality of exposure times for each pixel in a single image frame. The system further comprises at least one processor in communication with the readout circuitry. The processor is operable to calculate a visibility range from the vehicle based on a plurality of image processing algorithms.

Claims

1. A system for calculating a visibility range for a vehicle comprising:

a high dynamic range image sensor system comprising;

a pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels;

readout circuitry in electrical communication with each pixel of the pixel array and operable to readout a distinct pixel value corresponding to one of a plurality of exposure times for each pixel in a single image frame; and

at least one processor in communication with the readout circuitry, wherein, the processor is operable to;

calculate color metric identifying a hue change in a scene represented by the pixel values in the single image frame;

identify a plurality of edges in the scene based on the hue change exceeding a predetermined hue change threshold for a plurality of neighboring pixels of the plurality of pixels;

quantify the plurality of edges in the scene by summing the plurality of edges;

calculate the color metric based on the number of edges; and

calculate a visibility range from the vehicle based on the color metric.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to identify at least one edge of an object in response to the hue change exceeding a predetermined hue change threshold.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of edges are identified based on a contrast identified between the distinct pixel values of at least two neighboring pixels of the pixel array.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of exposure times is selected from a plurality of integration periods for each pixel.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the integration periods for each pixel correspond to time durations identified in response to a comparison of an exposure of each of the pixels to a plurality of predetermined exposure thresholds.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein a selected integration period of the plurality of integration periods is determined by comparing the exposure of each pixel to the plurality of predetermined exposure thresholds.

7. The system according to claim 4, wherein the visibility range is determined from a comparison between at least two neighboring pixels, each of the neighboring pixels having an exposure value from a different integration period of the plurality of integration periods.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the color metric is calculated by calculating the number of edges vertically or horizontally.

9. An apparatus configured to identify a visibility range comprising:

an image sensor system comprising;

a pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels; and

readout circuitry in electrical communication with each pixel of the pixel array, the readout circuitry operable to capture pixel data for each pixel; and

at least one processor configured to;

identify hue values based on the pixel data;

calculate a number of hue changes based on hue values;

identify a plurality of edges in the current image frame based on the number of hue changes identified in the plurality of pixels;

quantify the plurality of edges by summing the plurality of edges; and

identify a visibility range based on the summation of the plurality of edges.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the number of hue changes is calculated in response to identifying changes in the hue values of the pixels proximate to each other exceeding a hue change threshold.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to identify the hue changes by comparing the hue values for the pixels along a comparison direction.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the comparison direction is at least one of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of the pixels in the pixel array.

13. A method for detecting a visibility range for a vehicle comprising:

capturing a first pixel value for a first pixel of a pixel array at a first integration period of a plurality of selectable integration periods in a current image frame of a plurality of image frames;

capturing a second pixel value for a second pixel of the pixel array at a second integration period in the current image frame;

comparing the first pixel value to the second pixel value to determine a hue change value;

identify a plurality of edges in the current image frame by summing a plurality of hue changes by comparing a plurality of pixel values in the current image frame;

quantify the plurality of edges in the scene by summing the plurality of edges; and

identifying a visibility range based on a quantity of the plurality of edges in the current image frame.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

sampling an exposure value of the first pixel a plurality of times to select the first integration period, and

sampling an exposure value of the second pixel a plurality of times to select the second integration period.