Pixel-based texture-rich clear path detection
First Claim
1. Method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of a plurality of images of a view generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle, the method comprising:
- monitoring the images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels;
identifying a set of interest points from the plurality of pixels in each of two images, the two images comprising a current image and a preceding image;
matching pairs of interest points from the set of interest points from the current image and the set of interest points from the preceding image, wherein each of the matched pairs is estimated to correspond to a single viewed feature;
filtering the matched pairs of interest points to select a preferential set of matched pairs comprising analyzing the matched pairs with quality control criteria comprisingdetermining if a distance between interest points of a particular matched pair of interest points is less than a threshold distance based upon a speed of the vehicle, andincluding the particular matched pair of interest points in the preferential set of matched pairs if the distance between the interest points is less than the threshold distance;
determining positions of a plurality of points associated with features of objects in the view based upon the preferential set of matched pairs; and
determining the clear path based upon the mapped features.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of a plurality of images generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle includes monitoring the images wherein each image comprises a plurality of pixels, identifying a set of interest points from the plurality of pixels in a current image, finding their corresponding points in a preceding image through correspondence matching, filtering the matched pairs of interest points to select a preferential set of matched pairs, generating a three dimensional map of features in the view based upon the preferential set of matched pairs, determining the clear path based upon the mapped features, and utilizing the clear path to operate the vehicle.
41 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. Method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of a plurality of images of a view generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle, the method comprising:
-
monitoring the images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels; identifying a set of interest points from the plurality of pixels in each of two images, the two images comprising a current image and a preceding image; matching pairs of interest points from the set of interest points from the current image and the set of interest points from the preceding image, wherein each of the matched pairs is estimated to correspond to a single viewed feature; filtering the matched pairs of interest points to select a preferential set of matched pairs comprising analyzing the matched pairs with quality control criteria comprising determining if a distance between interest points of a particular matched pair of interest points is less than a threshold distance based upon a speed of the vehicle, and including the particular matched pair of interest points in the preferential set of matched pairs if the distance between the interest points is less than the threshold distance; determining positions of a plurality of points associated with features of objects in the view based upon the preferential set of matched pairs; and determining the clear path based upon the mapped features. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. Method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of a plurality of images of a view generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle, the method comprising:
-
monitoring the images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels; identifying a set of interest points from the plurality of pixels in each of two images, the two images comprising a current image and a preceding image; matching pairs of interest points from the set of interest points from the current image and the set of interest points from the preceding image, wherein each of the matched pairs is estimated to correspond to a single viewed feature; filtering the matched pairs of interest points to select a preferential set of matched pairs comprising analyzing the matched pairs with quality control criteria comprising determining if the interest points of a particular matched pair are within a predetermined threshold distance from an image boundary, including the particular matched pair of interest points in the preferential set of matched pairs if either of the interest points of the particular matched pair are within the predetermined threshold distance from the image boundary; determining positions of a plurality of points associated with features of objects in the view based upon the preferential set of matched pairs; and determining the clear path based upon the mapped features.
-
-
12. Apparatus for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of a plurality of images generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
-
the camera device; and a control module monitoring the images from the camera device and identifying a set of interest points from a plurality of pixels in each of two images from the camera device, the two images comprising a current image and a preceding image, matching pairs of interest points from the set of interest points from the current image and the set of interest points from the preceding image, wherein each of the matched pairs is estimated to correspond to a single viewed feature filtering the matched pairs of interest points to select a preferential set of matched pairs comprising analyzing the matched pairs with quality control criteria comprising determining if the interest points of a particular matched pair are within a predetermined threshold distance from an image boundary, and including the particular matched pair of interest points in the preferential set of matched pairs if either of the interest points of the particular matched pair are within the predetermined threshold distance from the image boundary, determining positions of a plurality of points associated with features of objects in the view based upon the preferential set of matched pairs, and determining the clear path based upon the mapped features.
-
-
13. Method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of a plurality of images generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle, the method comprising:
-
monitoring the images, each image comprising a plurality of pixels; utilizing a texture rich processing scheme to analyze the images comprising identifying a set of interest points from the plurality of pixels in each of two images, the two images comprising a current image and a preceding image, matching pairs of interest points from the set of interest points from the current image and the set of interest points from the preceding image, wherein each of the matched pairs is estimated to correspond to a single viewed feature, filtering the matched pairs of interest points to select a high quality set of matched pairs comprising analyzing the matched pairs with quality control criteria comprising determining if a distance between interest points of a particular matched pair of interest points is less than a threshold distance based upon a speed of the vehicle, and including the particular matched pair of interest points in the preferential set of matched pairs if the distance between the interest points is less than the threshold distance, and determining positions of a plurality of points associated with features of objects in the view generating a three dimensional map of features in the view-based upon the high quality set of matched pairs; utilizing a texture-less processing scheme to analyze the images comprising in each image, filtering the image to separate portions of the image indicating a clear surface upon which a potential road surface can be estimated from other portions of the image that do not indicate a potential road surface determining a clear path based upon the texture rich processing scheme and the texture-less processing scheme; and utilizing the clear path to operate the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification