Method and device for determining a calibrating parameter of a stereo camera

• US 8,300,886 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2005
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CARIAD SE (Volkswagen AG)
• Original Assignee: Hella KGaA Hueck & Company
• Inventors: Hoffmann, Ingo
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Tom Y
• Application Number:
  US11/793,740
• Publication Number:
  US 20080144924A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,503 Days
• Field of Search: 382/103
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/85 Stereo camera calibration
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/584 of vehicle lights or traffic lights
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/246 Calibration of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/0085 Motion estimation from stereoscopic image signals

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for determining an object property of an object with the aid of images that have been recorded with the aid of a camera. Further, the invention relates to a method for determining a calibration parameter for a stereo camera. For determining the object property of an object, the object is defined in a first image recorded with the aid of the camera. Further, the brightness of a defined object is determined. Each time after a preset time interval, a further image is recorded with the aid of the camera. The object is defined in each of the further images and each time, the brightness of the defined object of each image is determined. Dependent on the brightness curve, an object property is assigned to the object.

Claims

1. A method for determining an object property of an object with the aid of images that have been recorded with the aid of a camera, the method comprising the steps of:

defining at least one object in a first image recorded with the aid of the camera,

determining the brightness of the defined object,

recording a further image at least each time after a preset time interval with the aid of the camera,

defining the object in each of the further images,

determining each time, the brightness of the defined object of each image,

assigning an object property to the object dependent on a curve defined by the brightness, and

wherein an actual brightness of the object is changed with a first frequency which differs from the sampling rate defined by the time interval between two images.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein with the aid of the brightness curve at least one of a characteristic brightness variation or characteristic brightness variations of the light emitted by the object is determined.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of determining whether at least one of the curve of brightness variation or, of brightness variations corresponds to a stored brightness variation curve.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of generating a sampling rate for determining the brightness of the object, and within a time interval between two images additional images are recorded with the aid of the camera, which are at least not used as further images for determining the curve of brightness, the image recording frequency being a multiple of the sampling rate.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first frequency is twice a mains frequency of an alternating voltage of a power supply network.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the object is a light source, powered with an alternating voltage, in particular with an alternating voltage from a public power supply network, which voltage preferably has a frequency of 50 HZ, 60 Hz, 16⅔

Hz or 16.7 Hz.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein in accordance with the time interval, a sampling rate for detecting the brightness of the object is generated which is lower than the first frequency, the brightness curve determined with the aid of the sampling rate having an oscillating curve with periodic amplitude variations that have a third frequency, the third frequency being lower than the sampling rate.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the oscillating curve with the periodic amplitude variations is the resulting oscillation from the sampling rate and the first frequency, in particular the beat of the sampling rate and the first frequency.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the brightness of the object is determined with the aid of a gray scale value of the object image.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the camera is moved at a speed in space during the recording of the images.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein dependent on the determined brightness curve it is determined that the object is a moving object or a stationary object.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the object and the brightness is determined with the aid of an image analysis method.

13. A device for determining an object property of an object with the aid of images that have been recorded with the aid of a camera, comprising:

a camera which at least at a preset time interval records images of at least one object,

means for defining at least one object in a first image recorded with the aid of the camera,

means for determining a brightness of the defined object,

means for defining the object in each of the further images recorded with the aid of the camera at the preset time interval,

means for each time, determining the brightness of the defined object of each image,

means for assigning an object property to the object dependent on the brightness curve, and

means for determining an actual brightness of the object with a first frequency which differs from the sampling rate defined by the time interval between two images.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein all of said means include a common control unit which preferably includes a DSP.

15. The device according to claim 13, wherein the camera is a camera of a stereo camera system.