Onboard fog determining apparatus
First Claim
1. An onboard fog determining apparatus in a vehicle having an onboard camera, the apparatus comprising:
- foggy image determining means for performing a determination as to whether or not an image captured by the onboard camera is foggy;
road shape determining means for determining, in the image, a shape of a road for driving of the vehicle; and
distant road area determining means for determining, in the image, a distant road area equivalent to an area on a road at a specified distance far from the vehicle, based on the shape of the road,wherein the foggy image determining means uses, of the image, an image portion corresponding to the distant road area so as to perform the determination.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An image process for determining whether an image is foggy determines a shape of a road for driving of a vehicle in an image captured by an onboard camera based on white road line recognition. Based on the road shape, the process determines, in the image, a distant road area on the road for driving at a specified distance from the vehicle. The process processes, of the entire image captured by the camera, an image portion corresponding to the distant road area to determine whether an image is foggy. Thus, a load on image processing decreases compared with analysis of the entire image. The distant road area is located on the road at the specified distance far from the vehicle in the image. Generally, a road continues in the distance. Since the corresponding area possibly captures a distant part, the fog determination accuracy can be ensured.
50 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An onboard fog determining apparatus in a vehicle having an onboard camera, the apparatus comprising:
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foggy image determining means for performing a determination as to whether or not an image captured by the onboard camera is foggy; road shape determining means for determining, in the image, a shape of a road for driving of the vehicle; and distant road area determining means for determining, in the image, a distant road area equivalent to an area on a road at a specified distance far from the vehicle, based on the shape of the road, wherein the foggy image determining means uses, of the image, an image portion corresponding to the distant road area so as to perform the determination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method used in a fog determination apparatus in a vehicle having an onboard camera, the method comprising:
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determining, in an image captured by the onboard camera, a shape of a road for driving of the vehicle; determining, in the image, a distant road area equivalent to an area on a road at a specified distance far from the vehicle, based on the shape of the road; and determining whether or not an image captured by the onboard camera is foggy, by using, of the image, an image portion corresponding to the distant road area.
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12. An onboard fog determining apparatus in a vehicle having an onboard camera, the apparatus comprising:
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a road shape determining unit that determines, in an image captured by the onboard camera, a shape of a road for driving of the vehicle; a distant road area determining unit that determines, in the image, a distant road area equivalent to an area on a road at a specified distance far from the vehicle, based on the shape of the road; and a foggy image determining unit that determines whether or not an image captured by the onboard camera is foggy, by using, of the image, an image portion corresponding to the distant road area.
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Specification