VEHICLE SURROUNDINGS MONITORING APPARATUS AND VEHICLE SURROUNDINGS MONITORING METHOD

• US 20140300743A1
• Filed: 11/16/2012
• Published: 10/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kumon, Hitoshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,723,275 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/24 in front of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/303 using joined images, e.g. multiple camera images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus includes a processing device. The processing device outputs a surrounding image as viewed from an eyepoint behind a host vehicle, including a current location of the host vehicle, to a display device mounted on the host vehicle on the basis of an image captured by a camera located a predetermined distance behind the current location of the host vehicle while the host vehicle is travelling forward or the host vehicle is stopped.

Claims

1. A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus comprising:

a camera;

a display device that is mounted on a vehicle; and

a processing device that is mounted on the vehicle,

the processing device configured to outputs a surrounding image as viewed from an eyepoint behind the vehicle to the display device while the vehicle is travelling forward or the vehicle is stopped, the surrounding image including a current location of the vehicle, the processing device configured to output the surrounding image on the basis of an image captured by the camera at a location that is a predetermined distance behind the current location of the vehicle, and the predetermined distance corresponding to a distance from the vehicle to the eyepoint behind the vehicle.

2. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the camera captures an area ahead with reference to a forward travelling direction of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the camera is mounted on the vehicle, and

the image captured by the camera at the location that is the predetermined distance behind the current location of the vehicle is a first image captured by the camera at the time when the vehicle passed through a point that is the predetermined distance behind the current location of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the processing device generates the surrounding image by synthesizing the first image with a second image that shows the vehicle.

5. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the processing device determines a position at which the second image is synthesized on the basis of the current location of the vehicle.

6. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the processing device generates the surrounding image by synthesizing the first image with a third image that shows a surrounding mobile unit.

7. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

a detecting device that detects a relative positional relationship between the vehicle and the surrounding mobile unit and that outputs the relative positional relationship to the processing device, wherein

the processing device determines a position at which the third image is synthesized on the basis of the current relative positional relationship between the surrounding mobile unit and the vehicle, output from the detecting device.

8. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the processing device generates the surrounding image by erasing an image of a mobile unit in the first image.

9. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the processing device changes the predetermined distance.

10. (canceled)

11. A vehicle surroundings monitoring method, the vehicle having a camera, a processing device, and a display device, the method comprising:

acquiring, by the camera, a first image captured at a location that is a predetermined distance behind a current location of a vehicle;

generating, by the processing device, a surrounding image as viewed from an eyepoint behind the vehicle, including the current location of the vehicle, by using the first image, the predetermined distance corresponding to a distance from the vehicle to the eyepoint behind the vehicle; and

showing, by the display device, the surrounding image while the vehicle is travelling forward or the vehicle is stopped.