Vehicle periphery monitoring system

• US 9,050,931 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2012
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Kinji, Watanabe, Kazuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelley, Christopher S
• Assistant Examiner(s): KWAN, MATTHEW K
• Application Number:
  US14/131,475
• Publication Number:
  US 20140152827A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,062 Days
• Field of Search: 348/148
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/27 providing all-round vision, e.g. using omnidirectional cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/607 from a bird's eye viewpoint
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4038 Image mosaicing, e.g. composing plane images from plane sub-images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle periphery monitoring system that facilitates a driver'"'"'s understanding about a photographing direction of an object which appears in an overlapping area of a bird'"'"'s-eye view image generated from multiple photographed images. A displaying bird'"'"'s-eye view image is generated by combining bird'"'"'s-eye view image segments generated from the multiple photographed images photographed in a partially overlapping manner with superimposing mutually overlapped areas thereof. In displaying the displaying bird'"'"'s-eye view image, a boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image formed by adding a boundary indicator to the overlapping area of the bird'"'"'s-eye view image is displayed on a display unit; then, a merged superimposed image is displayed. The merged superimposed image is obtained by merging the overlapped areas of the bird'"'"'s-eye view image according to a preset merger relationship.

Claims

1. A vehicle periphery monitoring system comprising:

a bird'"'"'s-eye view image generation section generating bird'"'"'s-eye view image segments from multiple photographed images photographed to be partially overlapped in a vehicle circumference direction;

a boundary indicator addition section adding a boundary indicator indicating a boundary area of the bird'"'"'s-eye view image segments adjacent each other to an overlapped area of the bird'"'"'s-eye view image segments;

a merger section generating a merged overlapped image by merging mutually overlapped areas of the bird'"'"'s-eye view image segments according to a preset merger relationship;

a display bird'"'"'s-eye view image generation section generating a merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image containing a boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image having the boundary indicator and the merged overlapped image as a bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display;

a displaying section displaying the bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display; and

a display image determination section displaying the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image in the displaying section after displaying the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image therein,

wherein in a display switchover process from g, of the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view to displaying of the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image as the displaying bird'"'"'s-eye view image, displaying is switched over to displaying of the merged overlapped image progressively and concentrically from vicinity of the vehicle.

2. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image is generated as the overlapped area in the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image appropriates the overlapped area of one bird'"'"'s-eye view image segment;

and the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is generated as this overlapped area is replaced by the merged overlapped image generated by the merger section.

3. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the display image determination section is configured to display the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image after lapse of a period set after displaying of the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image in the displaying section.

4. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein in a display switchover process from displaying of the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image to displaying of the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image as the bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display, displaying is switched over sequentially from displaying of an area of the boundary indicator to displaying of the merged overlapped image.

5. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the boundary indicator is displayed with emphasis in a display switchover process from displaying of the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image to displaying of the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image as the bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display.

6. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein in the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image, no merger process is effected for the overlapped area where the multiple bird'"'"'s-eye view image segments are overlapped with each other.

7. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the boundary-added bird'"'"'s-eye view image is displayed after startup of the vehicle periphery monitoring system.

8. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is added with a boundary indicator.

9. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein the boundary indicator added to the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is semitransparent.

10. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein the boundary indicator added to the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is shorter than the boundary indicator added to the bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display.

11. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein the boundary indicator added to the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is a dotted line.

12. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein the boundary indicator added to the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is thinner than the boundary indicator added to the bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display.

13. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the merged bird'"'"'s-eye view image is added with a boundary indicator in a displaying form different from a displaying form of the boundary indicator of the bird'"'"'s-eye view image for display.