Driver assistance system for avoiding collisions of a vehicle with pedestrians

• US 9,239,380 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2009
• Issued: 01/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ADC GmbH (TE Connectivity Ltd. (United Kingdom))
• Original Assignee: ADC GmbH (TE Connectivity Ltd. (United Kingdom))
• Inventors: Hegemann, Stefan, Yoda, Akitsugu, Adomat, Rolf, Darms, Michael, Pongsathorn, Raksincharoensak, Nagai, Masao, Shimizu, Ikuko
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Calvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): WEEKS, MARTIN A
• Application Number:
  US12/992,174
• Publication Number:
  US 20110184617A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,441 Days
• Field of Search: 701/70, 701/1, 340/435, 340/425.5
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0134 responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle , e.g. using radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/415 Identification of targets based on measurements of movement associated with the target
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/10 Recognition assisted with metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

A driver assistance system for avoiding collisions of a vehicle with pedestrians, the system including a camera sensor and/or a beam sensor. When an object moving at a given speed on a pedestrian crossing is detected, the object is detected as being a pedestrian with a probability that is sufficiently high to output a warning to the driver, reducing the likelihood of a potential collision.

Claims

1. A driver assistance system on a vehicle for avoiding collisions of the vehicle with pedestrians, the system on the vehicle comprising:

a camera sensor, on the vehicle, for capturing images of a roadway;

a beam sensor, on the vehicle, for detecting a position of an object located on the roadway; and

a processor, on the vehicle, for;

analyzing the captured images output by the camera sensor to identify a position of a pedestrian crossing which is a designated portion of the roadway for assisting pedestrians crossing the roadway,

analyzing a detection signal output from the beam sensor to identify that the detected object is a pedestrian,

in response to identifying the position of the pedestrian crossing and identifying that the detected object is a pedestrian, merging the position data, by superimposing the position of the identified pedestrian relative to the position of the identified pedestrian crosswalk, and

in response to the superimposing performed by the merging, determining that the position of the identified pedestrian is on or near the position of the identified pedestrian crossing and outputting a warning to the driver of the vehicle, and

wherein data from at least two of the camera sensor, the beam sensor, a digital map and other vehicles driving ahead are superimposed on each other in order to determine whether an object is moving on or near a pedestrian crossing.

2. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the camera sensor detects the pedestrian crossing.

3. The driver assistance system according to claim 2, wherein a pedestrian crossing is detected from camera data on the basis of the cross ratio between edges of the pedestrian crossing and the periodicity of markings of the pedestrian crossing.

4. The driver assistance system according to claim 2, wherein a pedestrian crossing is detected from camera data on the basis of a traffic sign that refers to a pedestrian crossing.

5. The driver assistance system according to claim 2, wherein the position and the motion of objects are detected from camera data by means of an optical flow method.

6. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein a beam sensor detects a position and a motion of an object.

7. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein data from a digital map are used for determining a position of a pedestrian crossing a path of the vehicle.

8. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein a position of a pedestrian crossing in a direction of traffic is transmitted by other vehicles driving ahead by means of car-to-car communication.

9. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein additional pedestrians are directly classified from the camera data.

10. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein a speed of the vehicle is reduced automatically when it is above a predetermined threshold value when the vehicle is approaching a zebra crossing.

11. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein an emergency braking is carried out when the driver does not react to a warning.

13. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the processor:

outputs a first internal vehicle warning to the driver of the vehicle in response to identifying the pedestrian crossing, and

outputs a second internal vehicle warning to the driver of the vehicle that is different than the first warning in response to determining that the detected object is a pedestrian located on the identified pedestrian crossing.

14. The driver assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the processor:

determines that a danger exists when it is determined from the sensor data that the object is moving on or near the pedestrian crossing at a speed characteristic of a pedestrian.

12. A device for a driver assistance system on a vehicle comprising:

a camera sensor, on the vehicle, for capturing images of a roadway;

a beam sensor on the vehicle, for detecting a position of an object located on the roadway; and

a processor, on the vehicle, for;

analyzing the captured images output by the camera sensor to identify a position of a pedestrian crossing which is a designated portion of the roadway for assisting pedestrians crossing the roadway,

analyzing a detection signal output from the beam sensor to identify that the detected object is a pedestrian,

in response to identifying the position of the pedestrian crossing and identifying that the detected object is a pedestrian, merging the position data, by superimposing the position of the identified pedestrian relative to the position of the identified pedestrian crosswalk, and

in response to the superimposing performed by the merging, determining that the position of the identified pedestrian is on or near the position of the identified pedestrian crossing and is moving at a given speed and outputting a warning to the driver to prevent a potential collision between the vehicle and the detected object, and

wherein data from at least two of the camera sensor, the beam sensor, a digital map and other vehicles driving ahead are superimposed on each other in order to determine whether an object is moving on or near a pedestrian crossing.