Outside-vehicle monitoring system

• US 20050231339A1
• Filed: 02/14/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Subaru Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fuji Heavy Industries Limited (Subaru Corp.)
• Inventors: Kudo, Shinya
• Granted Patent: US 7,567,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/435
• 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 21/0134 responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle , e.g. using radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/34 Protecting non-occupants of a vehicle, e.g. pedestrians B60R19/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/106 using night vision cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/107 using stereoscopic cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/804 for lane monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 11/06 by comparison of two or more pictures of the same area
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/97 Determining parameters from multiple pictures depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/103 Static body considered as a whole, e.g. static pedestrian or occupant recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

The present invention includes a stereo camera for picking up a couple of images of outside a vehicle and a far-infrared sensor for detecting the temperature of an object outside the vehicle at least in a detection field overlapping a view field of the stereo camera in the vehicle-width direction. A stereo-image processing unit recognizes three-dimensional objects based on the couple of images and extracts a prospective pedestrian from the recognized three-dimensional objects. A pedestrian-determination unit determines whether or not the prospective pedestrian is a real pedestrian based on a temperature-detection value detected in the same direction the prospective pedestrian exists, where the temperature-detection value is obtained through the far-infrared sensor.

Claims

1. An outside-vehicle monitoring system comprising:

image-pickup means for picking up an image of an object outside a vehicle;

three-dimensional-object recognition means for recognizing a three-dimensional object outside the vehicle by processing the image picked up and for extracting a prospective pedestrian from the recognized three-dimensional object;

temperature-detection means for detecting a temperature of a detection field overlapping a view field of the image-pickup means in a vehicle-width direction; and

pedestrian-determination means for determining whether or not the prospective pedestrian is a pedestrian according to fluctuations in a value of the detected temperature in the same direction as position of the prospective pedestrian.

2. The outside-vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional-object recognition means extracts the recognized three-dimensional object as the prospective pedestrian, when the recognized three-dimensional object has a predetermined width in the real space.

3. The outside-vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the pedestrian-determination means determines a detection direction corresponding to a temperature-detection value that is higher than a previous temperature-detection value by as much as a predetermined temperature, as a direction showing a high probability that the pedestrian exists, and determines the prospective pedestrian, as the pedestrian, when the prospective pedestrian exists in the determined direction.

4. The outside-vehicle monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein the pedestrian-determination means determines the detection direction corresponding to the temperature-detection value that is higher than the previous temperature-detection value by as much as the predetermined temperature, as the direction showing the high probability that the pedestrian exists, and determines the prospective pedestrian, as the pedestrian, when the prospective pedestrian exists in the determined direction.

5. The outside-vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image-pickup means includes a pair of cameras for picking up an image of outside the vehicle from different points of view and the three-dimensional-object recognition means three-dimensionally recognizes the three-dimensional object based on a couple of images picked up by the pair of cameras and extracts the prospective pedestrian.