JP2009214831A - Display for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display for a vehicle which can display an image of a blind area, produced by a forward vehicle, on a position of the forward vehicle on a windshield and, at the same time, can enhance the visibility of the forward vehicle from the driver. <P>SOLUTION: A display 10 for a vehicle includes an image acquisition means 11 that obtains an image of a blind area produced by a forward vehicle, an image preparation means 21 that processes the image obtained by the image acquisition means 11 to prepare a corrected image corresponding to an image from the driver's viewpoint, a masking means 23 that performs masking so that a part of the corrected image prepared by the image preparation means 21 is not displayed, and an image display means 13 that displays the corrected image, a part of which has been masked by the masking means 23, on a position of the forward vehicle on the windshield from the driver's viewpoint. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device for a vehicle, and more particularly, a corrected image corresponding to an image viewed from a driver's viewpoint is created by processing an image obtained by imaging a blind spot area generated by a preceding vehicle, and the corrected image is displayed on a windshield. The present invention relates to a vehicle display device that displays the position of a preceding vehicle above.

Conventionally, a display device for a vehicle that complements a blind spot region generated by a preceding vehicle is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The vehicle display device acquires an image captured by a camera of a preceding vehicle via a communication device, and converts the acquired image into an image displayed when the camera setting position is changed to the driver's viewpoint position. . This viewpoint conversion image data is displayed at the position of the windshield by a head-up display. When the marker is displayed on the windshield and the driver focuses on the marker, the eyeball camera detects the marker image formed on the cornea. When this marker image is detected, the viewpoint conversion image data is displayed. Is done. The viewpoint-converted image data includes a blind spot area generated by a forward vehicle located in the driver's field of view, and this image is displayed superimposed on the position of the windshield. For this reason, a transmission image of the blind spot area is projected on the vehicle ahead, and the driver recognizes the scenery on the other side as if he can see through the vehicle ahead.
JP 2004-114709 A

  However, in the above conventional vehicle display device, the transmission image of the blind spot area is displayed on the windshield so as to be superimposed on the front vehicle, so that the visibility of the front vehicle from the driver is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can display an image of a blind spot area generated by a forward vehicle at the position of the forward vehicle on the windshield, and can also display the forward vehicle from the driver. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular display device that can improve the visibility.

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention provides an image acquisition means for acquiring an image of a blind spot area generated by a preceding vehicle,
Image creating means for processing the image obtained by the image obtaining means to create a corrected image corresponding to an image viewed from the viewpoint of the driver;
Mask means for masking not to display a part of the corrected image created by the image creating means;
Image display means for displaying the corrected image partially masked by the mask means at the position of the vehicle ahead on the windshield;
It is a display apparatus for vehicles provided with.

2nd invention is the display apparatus for vehicles which concerns on 1st invention, Comprising: The position recognition means which recognizes the position of the predetermined object of the said front vehicle on the said windshield seen from the said viewpoint of the said driver | operator Prepared,
The mask means masks a portion corresponding to the position recognized by the position recognition means.

  A third invention is a vehicle display device according to the second invention, wherein the predetermined object is at least one of a driver, a driver's seat, a contour, a headlamp, a direction indicator, a brake lamp, and a license plate. Or one.

4th invention is the display apparatus for vehicles which concerns on any one 1st-3rd invention, Comprising: The vehicle type determination means which determines whether the said front vehicle is an emergency vehicle,
When the vehicle type determination means determines that the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle, an image display restriction means for restricting display by the image display means;
Is further provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to display the image of the blind spot area | region produced | generated by the front vehicle on the position of the front vehicle on a windshield, the visibility of the front vehicle from a driver | operator can be improved. A display device can be provided.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of the vehicle display device of the present invention. The vehicle display device 10 according to the present embodiment is configured around an image display ECU 20 mounted on a vehicle. The image display ECU 20 includes an image acquisition unit 11 such as a wireless communication device 11a and a beacon receiver 11b, an image display unit 13 such as a head-up display (HUD) 13a, etc. via an in-vehicle network such as a CAN (Controller Area Network). A navigation ECU 15, an in-vehicle camera 17, and an out-of-vehicle camera 19 are connected.

  The image display ECU 20 is constituted by a microcomputer, and includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM for storing a control program, a readable / writable RAM for storing calculation results, a timer for measuring time, and a counter for measuring the number of times of calculation and the like. , An input interface, and an output interface. The image display ECU 20 stores programs corresponding to the image creation means 21, mask means 23, position recognition means 25, vehicle type determination means 27, and image display restriction means 29 in a memory such as a ROM, and processes these programs. Each means is realized by causing the CPU to execute.

  The wireless communication device 11a acquires information provided by the preceding vehicle. For example, the wireless communication device 11a starts communication with the wireless communication device of the preceding vehicle in response to a predetermined switch operation, and acquires information provided by the preceding vehicle. Alternatively, the wireless communication device 11a may automatically start communication with the wireless communication device of the preceding vehicle when the vehicle outside the camera 19 detects the preceding vehicle, and acquire information provided by the preceding vehicle.

  The front vehicle collects images around the front vehicle using cameras outside the vehicle installed on the front, rear, left, and right sides of the vehicle exterior. This exterior camera is, for example, a CCD camera or a CMOS camera installed near the body panel, bumper, front grill, license plate, etc., and can be used for fish-eye cameras and omnidirectional cameras capable of wide-angle imaging, and imaging at night An infrared camera or the like may be used. In addition, the outside camera may be a single camera or a plurality of cameras, a camera that captures a moving image, or a camera that captures a still image.

  The image around the front vehicle captured by the front vehicle camera of the front vehicle includes an image of the blind spot area generated by the front vehicle, and the position information such as the installation location and shooting direction of the external camera is used as the image signal. At the same time, it is transmitted from the wireless communication device of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle.

  The vehicle ahead is information received from a GPS satellite by a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, vehicle orientation information detected by a gyro sensor, vehicle speed information detected by a vehicle speed sensor, a map in a map database of the navigation ECU Based on the information, location information on the map is collected. The position information of the preceding vehicle is transmitted from the wireless communication device of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle.

  The beacon receiver 11b receives information provided by a road traffic information communication system (VICS) center. For example, the beacon receiver 11b receives information from a large number of optical beacons installed along a road or the like according to a predetermined switch operation. Alternatively, the beacon receiver 11b automatically receives information from the optical beacon when the vehicle outside the camera 19 detects a forward vehicle.

  The VICS Center collects traffic information such as traffic congestion information on each road using a number of surveillance cameras installed on highways such as national and prefectural roads. The surveillance camera installed on the road is composed of a CCD camera, a CMOS camera, or the like, similar to the above-mentioned camera outside the vehicle. The image captured by the monitoring camera includes an image capturing the blind spot area generated by the vehicle ahead, and the image signal is sent from the optical beacon along with the positional information such as the installation location and shooting direction of the monitoring camera. Sent to.

  The HUD 13a includes an optical unit that projects an image and a transparent combiner. The optical unit is disposed on a dashboard in front of the driver's seat, a ceiling above the driver's seat, or the like, and a windshield is used as the combiner. The image projected from the optical unit is reflected toward the driver by a combiner provided at the position of the windshield. Therefore, the driver sees the outside scenery and the virtual image overlapping the windshield.

  For example, the HUD 13a starts projecting an image in response to a predetermined switch operation. Alternatively, image projection may be started automatically when a vehicle ahead is detected by the vehicle exterior camera 19.

  As described above, the navigation ECU 15 recognizes the position of the host vehicle on the map based on the information received from the GPS satellites by the GPS receiver 31 and the map information in the map database. In addition to the GPS receiver 31, the vehicle speed sensor 33 that detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and the gyro sensor 35 that detects the moving direction of the host vehicle are used for recognizing the position of the host vehicle on the map.

  The in-vehicle camera 17 images the interior of the vehicle, in particular, the driver, and is installed, for example, in the interior of the vehicle interior or near the rearview mirror. The in-vehicle camera 17 is constituted by a CCD camera, a CMOS camera, or the like, similar to the above-mentioned camera outside the vehicle in front.

  The vehicle exterior camera 19 images the front of the vehicle, and is installed at the front of the vehicle such as a front grill, for example. This vehicle exterior camera 19 is composed of a CCD camera, a CMOS camera, or the like, similar to the vehicle exterior camera described above.

  Next, various means 21, 23, 25, 27, and 29 included in the image display ECU 20 will be described.

  The image creating means 21 processes the image obtained by the image obtaining means 11 to create a corrected image corresponding to the image viewed from the viewpoint of the driver of the own vehicle. For example, the image creating means 21 moves the center point of the image to the left or right, or enlarges or reduces the image based on the relative positional relationship between the vehicle outside the front vehicle or the road surveillance camera and the host vehicle. To create a modified image.

  The image creating means 21 recognizes the position of the driver's eyes in the vehicle by the in-vehicle camera 17 and creates a corrected image in consideration of the position of the driver's eyes. Note that a corrected image may be created by virtually setting the position of the driver's eyes in the vehicle without using the in-vehicle camera 17.

  Further, the image creating means 21 uses the coordinate system of the image acquired by the image acquiring means 11 as a reference based on the position of the driver's eye from the coordinate system based on the position of the camera outside the vehicle ahead or the monitoring camera on the road. After the coordinate conversion into the system, the center point of the image is moved, or the image is enlarged or reduced or trimmed to create a corrected image without distortion.

  The HUD 13a projects a corrected image corrected to fit the driver's field of view on the position of the windshield so that the driver can visually recognize the image of the blind spot area generated by the preceding vehicle. At this time, the HUD 13a projects the corrected image on the position of the front vehicle on the windshield viewed from the viewpoint of the driver of the own vehicle based on the relative positional relationship between the front vehicle and the own vehicle.

  For this reason, a transmission image of the blind spot area is projected on the vehicle ahead, and the driver recognizes the scenery on the other side as if he can see through the vehicle ahead. Therefore, the driver can visually recognize the image of the blind spot area without taking his eyes off the windshield.

  The mask means 23 masks a part of the corrected image so as not to be displayed. For example, the mask unit 23 masks a part of the corrected image projected by the HUD 13a onto the position of the vehicle ahead on the windshield by image processing (hereinafter referred to as “mask processing”).

  The mask means 23 performs a mask process so that a masked portion (pixel represented by XY coordinates) of the corrected image is filled with a predetermined color (for example, black). Alternatively, the mask unit 23 prepares a mask image (for example, having the same image size as the corrected image) in which only the masked portion is displayed in a predetermined color (for example, black), and corrects the mask image on the mask image. Mask processing may be performed by superimposing an image and a mask image.

  The HUD 13a can prevent a portion of the corrected image from being projected by projecting the corrected image that has undergone the mask process. The optical unit that projects the corrected image is configured by a liquid crystal projector, for example. In the case of a liquid crystal projector, in a liquid crystal panel corresponding to each of red, blue, and green light sources, the liquid crystal corresponding to the masked portion is controlled to block the light so that the portion does not transmit light. Thereby, the portion to be masked is not projected.

  The part to be masked may be a part excluding the blind spot area generated by the vehicle ahead or a part corresponding to a position recognized by the position recognition unit 25 described later.

  The driver can visually recognize the portion excluding the blind spot area generated by the preceding vehicle without projecting the corrected image on the windshield. Further, by masking the portion excluding the blind spot region, it is possible to suppress the leakage of the projection light from the windshield to the outside. Thereby, the halation by projection of a correction image can be suppressed. In addition, the part except a blind spot area | region is recognized based on the relative positional relationship of a front vehicle and the own vehicle.

  The position recognition means 25 recognizes the position of a predetermined object of the preceding vehicle on the windshield as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver of the host vehicle. This predetermined object is, for example, a driver, a contour, a headlamp, a direction indicator, and a license plate when the traveling directions of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle are different. If it is difficult to recognize the position of the driver, the position of the driver's seat may be recognized instead of the driver. Further, the predetermined object is a brake lamp instead of the headlamp when the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle are the same.

  The position recognition means 25 recognizes the position and size of the front vehicle on the windshield based on the relative positional relationship between the front vehicle and the host vehicle, for example.

  Further, the position recognizing means 25 may pick up an image of the preceding vehicle with the outside camera 19 and perform image processing to recognize a predetermined object of the preceding vehicle and its coordinate position. For example, the position recognition means 25 performs image processing such as edge processing, gamma correction, binarization processing, etc., and performs matching processing using image data registered in advance, thereby recognizing a predetermined object of the vehicle ahead and its coordinate position. .

  Further, the position recognizing means 25 may recognize a predetermined object of the preceding vehicle and its coordinate position based on the result of communication with the preceding vehicle by the wireless communication device 11a instead of the above-described image processing. For example, the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle may be specified by communication, and the predetermined object and the coordinate position of the preceding vehicle may be recognized by referring to the registered vehicle type data. Moreover, you may acquire the vehicle interior image imaged with the vehicle camera of the front vehicle by communication, and may recognize the driver and its coordinate position of a front vehicle.

  The vehicle display device 10 recognizes the position of the predetermined object of the front vehicle on the windshield by the position recognition means 25 and masks the portion corresponding to the position of the predetermined object of the front vehicle by the mask means 23.

  If the mask process is not performed, the corrected image is projected on the position of a predetermined object of the vehicle ahead on the windshield. For this reason, the actual scenery that can be visually recognized by the driver via the windshield overlaps with the projected corrected image, and it becomes difficult for the driver to visually recognize the predetermined object of the preceding vehicle.

  The vehicle display device 10 can display an image of the blind spot area generated by the preceding vehicle at the position of the preceding vehicle on the windshield as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver of the host vehicle, and the predetermined object of the preceding vehicle. Can be easily recognized by the driver.

  The vehicle display device 10 performs mask processing on portions corresponding to the positions of the driver, contour, headlamp, direction indicator, and brake lamp of the preceding vehicle. For this reason, the driver can easily visually recognize the gesture of the driver of the vehicle ahead, the distance to the vehicle ahead, and the signal of turning left or right or deceleration of the vehicle ahead.

  Moreover, since the display apparatus 10 for vehicles masks the part corresponding to the position of the license plate of the preceding vehicle, the driver can easily see the registration number of the preceding vehicle and can easily confirm the number at the time of an accident. be able to.

  The vehicle type determination means 27 determines whether or not the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle. The vehicle type determination means 27 recognizes that the vehicle is an emergency vehicle such as a fire truck or an ambulance by, for example, capturing an image of the preceding vehicle with the camera 19 outside the vehicle, performing image processing, and performing matching processing based on pre-registered image data. I do. The vehicle type determination unit 27 may recognize that the vehicle is an emergency vehicle such as a fire engine, an ambulance, or a patrol car based on the result of communication with the vehicle ahead by the wireless communication device 11a instead of image processing.

  When it is determined that the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle, the image display restriction unit 29 restricts the display by the HUD 13a. Specifically, for example, the display of the HUD 13a is limited by stopping the projection of the corrected image or reducing the amount of projection light.

  The vehicle display device 10 determines whether or not the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle by the vehicle type determination means 27, and displays the display on the HUD 13a by the image display restriction means 29 in response to the determination that the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle. Restrict.

  When the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle, the general vehicle must yield the road so as not to hinder the travel of the emergency vehicle, and must slow down or stop at the left and right ends of the road until the emergency vehicle passes. And after an emergency vehicle passes, since the blind spot area | region produced | generated by an emergency vehicle disappears, the necessity for the display by HUD13a is low. Moreover, if the display by HUD13a is carried out, the actual scenery which a driver | operator can visually recognize via a windshield will overlap with the correction image projected, and it will become difficult for a driver | operator to visually recognize an emergency vehicle.

  In the vehicle display device 10 of the present embodiment, when the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle, the display by the HUD 13a is limited, so that the driver can easily recognize that the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle.

  Next, an example of processing in which the vehicle display device 10 generates a projection image will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a top view schematically showing an example of a running state of a vehicle on which the vehicle display device 10 is mounted. In FIG. 2, A is the own vehicle, B is the front vehicle on the opposite lane, C is the pedestrian, D is the blind spot area of the driver of the own vehicle A generated by the front vehicle B, E is the back camera of the front vehicle B This is an area that can be imaged by. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the scenery on the windshield G of the host vehicle A of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the host vehicle A waits for a right turn at an intersection, and the forward vehicle B, which is an oncoming vehicle, also waits for a right turn at the intersection. On the other hand, the pedestrian C is in a state of walking in a blind spot area D generated by the forward vehicle B. Therefore, the pedestrian C behind the front vehicle B cannot be visually recognized from the driver of the host vehicle A. The pedestrian C is scheduled to cross a pedestrian crossing in the traveling direction of the own vehicle A.

  FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing a scene on the windshield G before the vehicular display device 10 operates. On the windshield G, a driver B1, a contour B2, a headlamp B3, a direction indicator B4, and a license plate B5 of a forward vehicle B are shown. On the windshield G, the pedestrian C is hidden behind the front vehicle B and is not reflected.

  FIG. 3B shows a pedestrian C who is walking behind the front vehicle B, in which the corrected image created by the image creating means 21 is projected onto the position of the windshield. This corrected image is obtained by correcting the image of the back camera of the preceding vehicle B into an image viewed from the viewpoint of the driver of the host vehicle A.

  FIG. 3C is a projection of the mask image created by the mask means 23 onto the position of the windshield, and is generated by the portion P corresponding to the position recognized by the position recognition means 25 and the front vehicle B. A portion Q excluding the blind spot area D is masked. In FIG. 3C, P1 is a portion corresponding to the position of the driver B1, P2 is a portion corresponding to the position of the contour B2, P3 is a portion corresponding to the position of the headlamp B3, and P4 is the direction indicator B4. A portion corresponding to the position, P5, is a portion corresponding to the position of the license plate B5.

  FIG. 3D shows the driver when the corrected image in FIG. 3B and the mask image in FIG. 3C are superimposed and synthesized, and the synthesized image is projected onto the position of the windshield G by the HUD 13a. It is a schematic diagram which shows the scenery which is visually recognized. In FIG. 3D, a projection image by the HUD 13a is projected at the position of the front vehicle B on the windshield G. The pedestrian C is a projection image by the HUD 13a and is projected over the position of the vehicle B ahead. Therefore, the driver of the host vehicle A is recognized as if the scenery on the other side can be visually recognized through the front vehicle B. Thereby, safety can be improved.

  On the other hand, the projection light from the HUD 13a is not irradiated to the positions of the driver B1, the contour B2, the headlamp B3, the direction indicator B4, and the license plate B5 of the front vehicle B on the windshield G by the mask image. For example, as shown in FIG. 3D, a part of the pedestrian C (foot part) is not projected by the mask image at the position of the direction indicator B4 of the forward vehicle B. Therefore, the driver of the host vehicle A can easily visually recognize the predetermined objects B1, B2, B3, B4, and B5 of the front vehicle B. Accordingly, the driver can easily visually recognize the gesture of the driver B1 of the forward vehicle B, the distance to the forward vehicle B, and the signal of the left / right turn or deceleration of the forward vehicle B. Further, the registration number of the preceding vehicle B can be easily recognized by the driver, and the number can be easily confirmed at the time of an accident.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be added.

  For example, in the vehicle display device 10 of the present embodiment, the HUD 13a is used as the image display means 13, but a liquid crystal display may be used instead of the HUD 13a. This liquid crystal display is installed at the position of the windshield, and displays a part of the corrected image at the position of the vehicle ahead on the windshield as viewed from the driver's viewpoint. Instead of displaying the corrected image, a combined image obtained by superimposing the corrected image and the image of the preceding vehicle taken by the vehicle outside camera 19 of the host vehicle may be displayed.

It is a functional block diagram which shows one Example of a structure of the display apparatus for vehicles of this invention. It is a top view which shows typically an example of the driving | running | working state of the vehicle carrying the vehicle display apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows the scenery on the windshield of the own vehicle A of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display apparatus for vehicles 11 Image acquisition means 11a Wireless communication device 11b Beacon receiver 13 Image display means 13a Head-up display (HUD)
15 Navigation ECU
17 In-vehicle camera 19 Out-of-vehicle camera 20 Image display ECU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Image preparation means 23 Mask means 25 Position recognition means 27 Vehicle type determination means 29 Image display restriction means 31 GPS receiver 33 Vehicle speed sensor 35 Gyro sensor

Claims (4)

Image acquisition means for acquiring an image of a blind spot area generated by the preceding vehicle;
Image creating means for processing the image obtained by the image obtaining means to create a corrected image corresponding to an image viewed from the viewpoint of the driver;
Mask means for masking not to display a part of the corrected image created by the image creating means;
Image display means for displaying the corrected image partially masked by the mask means at the position of the vehicle ahead on the windshield as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver;
A vehicle display device comprising: Position recognition means for recognizing the position of a predetermined object of the preceding vehicle on the windshield as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver;
The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the mask means masks a portion corresponding to the position recognized by the position recognition means.   The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined object is at least one of a driver, a driver's seat, a contour, a headlamp, a direction indicator, a brake lamp, and a license plate. Vehicle type determination means for determining whether the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle;
When the vehicle type determination means determines that the preceding vehicle is an emergency vehicle, an image display restriction means for restricting display by the image display means;
The vehicle display device according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images