Vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system

• US 20020145665A1
• Filed: 04/09/2002
• Published: 10/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Inventors: Ogura, Hiroyuki, Ishikawa, Naoto
• Application Number:
  US10/118,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20020145665A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• 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 2300/30 characterised by the type of image processing
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/804 for lane monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads

Abstract

A vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system which prevents a stationary object from being detected as an approaching object thereby to improve a detection accuracy of the approaching object. An onboard image-taking means 1 image-takes the surroundings of a vehicle to obtain a taken-image. An approaching object detecting means 3a-1 detects a real approaching object except a stationary object to be mis-detected as an approaching object by making use of the same point (corresponding points) in two images taken by an image-taking means with an interval of a specified time.

Claims

1. A vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system comprising:

an image-taking means to take an image of surroundings of a subject vehicle to obtain a taken-image; and

an approaching object detecting means to detect an approaching object approaching the subject vehicle by making use of a same point in two images obtained by the image-taking means with an interval of a specified time,

wherein the approaching object detecting means detects a real approaching object except a stationary object to be mis-detected as the approaching object.

2. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a storing means to have stored moving object images giving shape of respective moving objects,

wherein the approaching object detecting means detects the real approaching object by using the moving object images.

3. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 2, wherein

the storing means includes a motor vehicle image, a man'"'"'s image, and a light vehicle image as the moving object images, and

the approaching object detecting means detects the real approaching object by using the motor vehicle image when the subject vehicle is travering with a speed over a predetermined speed

and detects the real approaching object by using the motor vehicle image, the man'"'"'s image, and the light vehicle image when the subject vehicle is travering with a speed not more than the predetermined speed.

4. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a storing means to have stored stationary object images giving shape of stationary objects which can be mis-detected as respective approaching objects,

wherein the approaching object detecting means detects the real approaching object by using the stationary object images.

5. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 2, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an extracting means to extract an area, where a characteristic point group with a plurality of characteristic points exists, in the taken-image, and a similarity calculating means to calculate a similarity-degree of an image in the area extracted against the moving object images or the stationary object images and

detects the real approaching object based on the calculated similarity-degree.

6. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 4,

the approaching object detecting means has an extracting means to extract an area, where a characteristic point group with characteristic points exists, in the taken-image, and a similarity calculating means to calculate a similarity-degree of an image in the area extracted against the moving object images or the stationary object images and

detects the real approaching object based on the calculated similarity-degree.

7. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 5, wherein

the extracting means extracts the area with the characteristic point group forming the approaching object.

8. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 5, wherein

the storing means stores two or more kinds of moving object images or of the stationary object images on one frame memory, and

the similarity calculating means shifts the image in the extracted area onto the frame memory so as to execute an matching with the moving object images or the stationary object images and calculates the similarity-degree.

9. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

10. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 2, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

11. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 3, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

12. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 4, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

13. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 5, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

14. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 6, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

15. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 7, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.

16. The vehicle-use surroundings monitoring system as set forth in claim 8, wherein

the approaching object detecting means has an optical flow detecting means to detect, as an optical flow, a movement of the same point in the two images obtained by the image-taking means with the interval of the specified time and detects the approaching object based on the optical flow.