System for monitoring condition outside vehicle using imaged picture by a plurality of television cameras
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring conditions outside a vehicle having at least a pair of cameras mounted on said vehicle for taking pictures of one or more objects outside of said vehicle, comprising:
- a picture imaging system for imaging said one or more objects in pictures taken by said cameras in a predetermined region outside said vehicle and for generating a picture signal representative of said pictures;
picture processing means responsive to said picture signal for calculating a distance distribution over an entire picture;
first three dimensional window setting means for setting a first three dimensional window representative of a three dimensional space area including a white line of a road imaged by said picture imaging system, based upon an estimated position of the white line on the road;
linear element detecting means responsive to said distance distribution for detecting three-dimensional linear elements within said first three dimensional window and for producing a road model based upon one or more detected linear elements;
road shape judgment means responsive to said road model for judging a reasonableness of said three-dimensional linear elements and for modifying said road model based upon said judging;
road shape estimation means for estimating a position of the white line on the road on a basis of said distance distribution;
object detection means responsive to said distance distribution and said road model for detecting a presence of an object within said entire picture by dividing said picture into a plurality of picture information portions;
second three-dimensional window setting means responsive to a detected object for setting a second three-dimensional window representative of a second three-dimensional space area including an object imaged by said picture imaging system;
object contour image extraction means responsive to said distance distribution and said second three dimensional window for extracting only data within said second three-dimensional window from said plurality of picture information portions in order to derive a contour and a position of a detected object so as to precisely predict a sudden movement of a detected object.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distance between a running vehicle and an object is determined over an imaged picture with high reliability. Three-dimensional objects or a road shape along with accurate position or dimension are also detected. An object within a set region outside a vehicle is imaged by a stereoscopic optical system to input the imaged picture of the object into a stereoscopic picture processing apparatus. The stereoscopic picture processing apparatus processes the picture imaged by the stereoscopic optical system to calculate a distance distribution over the entire picture. A road/three-dimensional object detecting apparatus calculates three-dimensional positions of respective portions of objects corresponding to information of the distance distribution to detect the shape of the road and a plurality of three-dimensional objects by using information of these three-dimensional positions securely and with high reliability.
704 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring conditions outside a vehicle having at least a pair of cameras mounted on said vehicle for taking pictures of one or more objects outside of said vehicle, comprising:
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a picture imaging system for imaging said one or more objects in pictures taken by said cameras in a predetermined region outside said vehicle and for generating a picture signal representative of said pictures; picture processing means responsive to said picture signal for calculating a distance distribution over an entire picture; first three dimensional window setting means for setting a first three dimensional window representative of a three dimensional space area including a white line of a road imaged by said picture imaging system, based upon an estimated position of the white line on the road; linear element detecting means responsive to said distance distribution for detecting three-dimensional linear elements within said first three dimensional window and for producing a road model based upon one or more detected linear elements; road shape judgment means responsive to said road model for judging a reasonableness of said three-dimensional linear elements and for modifying said road model based upon said judging; road shape estimation means for estimating a position of the white line on the road on a basis of said distance distribution; object detection means responsive to said distance distribution and said road model for detecting a presence of an object within said entire picture by dividing said picture into a plurality of picture information portions; second three-dimensional window setting means responsive to a detected object for setting a second three-dimensional window representative of a second three-dimensional space area including an object imaged by said picture imaging system; object contour image extraction means responsive to said distance distribution and said second three dimensional window for extracting only data within said second three-dimensional window from said plurality of picture information portions in order to derive a contour and a position of a detected object so as to precisely predict a sudden movement of a detected object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification