APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COMBINING LANE INFORMATION WITH A FAR-INFRARED NIGHT VISION IMAGE
First Claim
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1. A night vision system of a vehicle comprising:
- a lane recognition module comprising a lane detection image capturing device and a first controller configured to receive lane detection image data from the lane detection image capturing device and output the lane detection image data to a second controller;
a far-infrared night vision module comprising a far-infrared image capturing device and the second controller, wherein the second controller is configured to receive the lane detection image data from the first controller, receive a far-infrared image from the far-infrared image capturing device, combine the image data from the first controller with the far-infrared image, and output the combined image to a display means.
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Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for combining lane information with a far-infrared image, by combining an image taken by a far-infrared image capturing device with a lane information image, and displaying the combined image such that a driver can visualize the location and position of the road lanes on a night vision image that allows visualization of objects such as, for example, animals, people, vehicles, and the like, in the road at night, or in inclement weather conditions, thereby ensuring safe driving while preventing the driver from veering out of a road lane.
8 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A night vision system of a vehicle comprising:
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a lane recognition module comprising a lane detection image capturing device and a first controller configured to receive lane detection image data from the lane detection image capturing device and output the lane detection image data to a second controller; a far-infrared night vision module comprising a far-infrared image capturing device and the second controller, wherein the second controller is configured to receive the lane detection image data from the first controller, receive a far-infrared image from the far-infrared image capturing device, combine the image data from the first controller with the far-infrared image, and output the combined image to a display means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for combining a lane information image with a far-infrared image comprising:
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capturing a lane information image with a lane recognition module comprising a lane detection image capturing device and a first controller configured to receive lane detection image data from the lane detection image capturing device and output the lane detection image data to a second controller; capturing a far-infrared image with a far-infrared night vision module comprising a far-infrared image capturing device and the second controller, wherein the second controller is configured to receive the lane detection image data from the first controller and a far-infrared image from the far-infrared image capturing device; combining the image data from the first controller with the far-infrared image from the second controller; and outputting the combined image to a display means. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions executed by at least one controller, the computer readable medium comprising:
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program instructions that request at least one lane information image from a lane recognition module comprising a lane detection image capturing device and a first controller configured to receive lane detection image data from the lane detection image capturing device and output the lane detection image data to a second controller; program instructions that request at least one far-infrared image from a far-infrared night vision module comprising a far-infrared image capturing device and the second controller, wherein the second controller is configured to receive the lane detection image data from the first controller and a far-infrared image from the far-infrared image capturing device; program instructions that transmit the at least one image from the lane detection module to the far-infrared night vision module; program instructions that data process the at least one image from the lane detection module and the at least one image from the far-infrared detection image capturing device and create at least one combined image; and program instructions that display the at least one combined image to a driver.
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8. The computer readable media of claim 9, further comprising:
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program instructions that data process the at least one image from the far-infrared night vision module to create a reference coordinate image; and program instructions that compare the at least one image from the lane detection module to the reference coordinate image and data process the at least one image from the lane detection module to correct the lane detection image to match the reference coordinate image.
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Specification