IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE

• US 20100080419A1
• Filed: 07/14/2009
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: CHIBA, Masaki, OKUGI, Tomokazu
• Granted Patent: US 8,259,998 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

An image processing device comprising a camera to pick up frame images at the times, a basic template creating portion to create a basic template of a picked-up object in the first image, an image transformation parameter calculating portion to calculate a transformation matrix to execute an image transformation of an object of the first image to an object of the second image, a template transforming portion to create a transformation template by transforming the basic template with the transformation matrix, and a template matching processing portion to execute a template matching processing to the second image with the transformation template to detect the object and to determine that the picked-up object in the second image is identical to the basic template when a matching degree by the matching means is higher than a specified degree.

Claims

1. An image processing device for a vehicle, comprising:

an image picking-up means for picking up an image including an object around the vehicle, the image including a first image and a second image, the timing of the second image picked up being a specified time later than that of the first image picked up;

a basic template creating means for creating a basic template of a picked-up object in the first image;

a transformation matrix calculating means for calculating a transformation matrix to execute an image transformation of an object of the first image to an object of the second image;

a transformation template creating means for creating a transformation template by transforming said basic template with said transformation matrix;

a matching means for executing a template matching processing to the second image with said transformation template to detect the object; and

a determining means for determining that the picked-up object in the second image is identical to said basic template when a matching degree by said matching means is higher than a specified degree.

2. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a move-amount calculating means for calculating a move amount of said image picking-up means relative to the object, and a distance calculating means for calculating a distance between the object and the image picking-up means, wherein said transformation matrix calculating means calculates the transformation matrix in a manner of an analogous transformation matrix, affine transformation matrix, or projective transformation matrix in accordance with said move amount which is calculated by the move-amount calculating means and said distance which is calculated by the distance calculating means at the time the second image is picked up.

3. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 2, wherein said transformation matrix calculating means calculates the transformation matrix in a manner of the projective transformation matrix when said move amount is greater than a specified amount and said distance is a specified distance or smaller.

4. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 3, wherein said transformation matrix calculating means calculates the transformation matrix in a manner of the affine transformation matrix when the move amount is the specified amount or smaller and the distance is the specified distance or smaller, or when the move amount is greater than the specified amount and the distance is greater than the specified distance.

5. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 3, wherein said transformation matrix calculating means calculates the transformation matrix in a manner of the analogous transformation matrix when the move amount is the specified amount or smaller and the distance is greater than the specified distance.

6. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 2, further comprising a move-amount estimating means for estimating the move amount of said image picking-up, and a three-dimension coordinates-value calculating means for calculating a three-dimension coordinates value of vehicle surroundings by using said first and second images picked up, wherein said move-amount calculating means calculates the move amount of the image picking-up means relative to the object by using a feature in the first image, which is extracted from the first image, and a corresponding point in the second image which corresponds to said feature in the first image, which is extracted from the second image, and said extraction of the corresponding point is executed in such a manner that a predicted position of said corresponding point in the second image which is calculated based on the move amount estimated by said move-amount estimating means, a search area in the second image for extracting said corresponding point is determined having a center of the search area which is located at said predicted position calculated, and said corresponding point is extracted from said search area determined.

7. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 6, further comprising a feature-point selecting means for selecting specified numbers of feature points of said feature, wherein said move-amount calculating means calculates the move amount of the image picking-up means relative to the object by using said specified numbers of feature points of the future and corresponding points which correspond to the feature points, and said feature-point selecting means selects the feature points in such a manner that said numbers of epipolar lines which are determined by the selected feature points have a large angle therebetween.

8. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 7, wherein said feature-point selecting means selects the feature points in order of a further distance from an image center.

9. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 7, wherein said feature-point selecting means selects the feature points such that an area which is formed by connecting the feature points has the largest area in an image plane.

10. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 7, wherein said feature-point selecting means selects the feature points by selecting the feature points one by one from areas which are obtained by being split from an image plane into said specified numbers of the feature points.

11. The image processing device for a vehicle of claim 7, wherein said feature-point selecting means selects the feature points by selecting feature points which form relatively-large optical flow vectors, which are formed by said feature points and corresponding points and have half said specified numbers of feature points, and other feature points which form other relatively-small optical flow vectors, which are formed by said feature points and corresponding points and have half said specified numbers of feature points.