JP3138135B2 - Turn alarm - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used by installing it on an automobile or other vehicles passing on a road. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitable for use in a large-sized vehicle, a towing vehicle, and other vehicles in which the trajectory drawn by the front wheels and the trajectory drawn by the rear wheels at the time of turning are significantly different. The "vehicle side" observed by the device of the present invention may be on both sides of the vehicle, but in countries where the road travels on the left, only the left side,
In countries where the road is on the right, it is quite useful even on the right.

[0002] The present invention relates to an alarm device using image processing technology by a computer.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle turns, when a trajectory drawn by a front wheel on a road surface and a trajectory drawn by a rear wheel on a road surface become large, a bicycle or a motorcycle approaching a rear wheel position that is difficult to be seen by a driver is required. It is necessary for the driver to drive carefully so as not to get involved. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a device for warning in advance a danger that occurs at a rear wheel position that is difficult to see. Conventional devices detect obstacles approaching the rear wheels using light waves, radio waves, ultrasonic waves, sound waves, etc., and display a warning in the driver's seat when the danger level is high, and provide the driver with a warning. It calls attention. In some cases, a computer device is used to detect the degree of danger (Japanese Patent Application Nos. 5-45373 and 5-164805, both of which have not been disclosed at the time of filing the present application).

[0004] A television set is provided on the vehicle side or behind the vehicle.
There is also known a device which supports a situation where a driver is difficult to see, for example, by installing a camera and displaying an image of the television camera in a driver's seat (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 5 (1993) -108).
No. 17570, unpublished at the time of filing the present application).

[0005]

It is desirable that the bend alarm device surely generate an alarm when the danger level is high. However, from a practical point of view, the alarm is frequently generated when the danger level is low. Those who bother the person are undesirable. If the driver finds it bothersome, he switches off and tires the driver.

In the present invention, the image processing technology by a computer has been considerably advanced in recent years, and it has become relatively inexpensive. The focus is on the development of devices that can do this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can more accurately determine the degree of danger of an obstacle detected at the time of turning and generate an alarm.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is provided in a vehicle in which the trajectory drawn by the front wheels and the trajectory drawn by the rear wheels are greatly different, and detects an obstacle at the time of turning to generate an alarm. A camera arranged to be a shooting area, a memory for developing a video taken by the camera, and an image processing unit for performing image processing on the video developed on the memory. Zone setting means for setting at least a part of the subject area as the A zone with the highest risk and the B zone with the next highest risk, and first detecting means for detecting that there is an obstacle in the A zone And an alarm circuit for generating an alarm in the driver's seat based on the output of the first detecting means.

[0009] A steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle input to a steering device, and a vehicle speed sensor, wherein the zone setting means adaptively expands and contracts the range of the A zone in accordance with outputs of the two sensors. Wherein the image processing means includes: means for recognizing an object moving on a road surface as the obstacle; second detecting means for detecting an object moving in a vehicle direction in the B zone; and second detecting means. And an alarm circuit for generating an alarm in the driver's seat by the output of the camera, and activating the camera and / or the image processing means in conjunction with the output of the steering angle sensor and / or the direction indicating switch operated by the driver. It is possible to provide two cameras for the same vehicle side.

[0010]

The video taken by the camera arranged so that the vehicle side is the subject area is developed on the memory, and the developed video is processed. At least a part of the subject area is set as the high-risk A zone and the next highest-risk B zone, and when an obstacle is detected in the A zone, the detection output is provided in the driver's seat. And sends an alarm to the alarm circuit.

The setting of the A zone and the B zone can be performed by adaptively expanding and contracting according to outputs of a steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle and a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed.

In the image processing, an object moving on the road surface as an obstacle and an object moving in the direction of the vehicle in the zone B are also taken into consideration. Generate an alarm.

[0013] Starting the camera and image processing may be performed in conjunction with the output of the output, or either direction indicating switch output and the driver steering angle sensor operates.

Two cameras can be provided for the same vehicle side. In this case, an object is decomposed for each surface from an image taken by each camera, and a three-dimensional object is obtained when the decomposed light and dark tones match. Is determined.

This makes it possible to more accurately determine the degree of danger of an obstacle detected on the vehicle side at the time of turning of the vehicle, generate an alarm, and maintain safe driving.

[0016]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mounting position of a camera and an area to be photographed in the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a camera 1 arranged so that the vehicle side is an object area, a memory 2 for expanding an image taken by the camera 1, and an image expanded on the memory 2 Image processing means 3 for performing image processing, wherein the image processing means 3 includes at least a zone setting means 4 for setting at least a part of the subject area as an A zone having a higher risk and a B zone having the next higher risk. , A first detecting means 5 for detecting that there is an obstacle in the A zone,
And an alarm circuit 6 for generating an alarm in the driver's seat by the output of the driver.

Further, a steering angle sensor 7 for detecting a steering angle input to the steering device and a vehicle speed sensor 8 are provided, and the zone setting means 4 includes the steering angle sensor 7 and the vehicle speed sensor 8.
Means for adaptively expanding and contracting the range of the zone A in accordance with the output of the image processing means 3. The image processing means 3 includes: an object recognizing means 9 for recognizing an object moving on the road surface as an obstacle; A second detecting means for detecting a moving object and generating an alarm from the alarm circuit; The camera 1 and / or the image processing means 3 are activated in conjunction with the output of the steering angle sensor 7 and / or the output of the direction switch 11 operated by the driver. Two cameras 1 can be provided for the same vehicle side.

The alarm circuit 6 is provided with an alarm lamp 6a which emits an alarm when turned on and an alarm buzzer 6b which generates an alarm by sound, and a display device 12 for displaying an image taken by the camera 1 is connected. Is done.

When the camera 1 is a right-hand drive, as shown in FIG. 2, the optical axis is set to a certain height with the optical axis being slightly backward so that the left side in the traveling direction of the vehicle is the subject area. If the mounting height changes depending on the vehicle type, it can be easily handled by changing a part of the software.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention thus configured will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the overall operation in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the image processing operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

First, the image processing means 3 captures the detection output of the steering angle sensor 7 and determines whether or not the vehicle is going to turn left. If the user is going to turn left, the video from the camera 1 is stored in the memory 2. Next, the output of the vehicle speed sensor 8 is fetched, and the zone setting means 4 sets an A zone with a high risk and a B zone with a high risk in the subject area as shown in FIG. The setting of the A zone and the B zone is set according to the steering angle and the vehicle speed at that time. That is, when the vehicle speed is high, the A zone and the B zone expand. Further, when the steering angle is large, the angles formed by the centers of the A zone and the B zone in the vehicle direction are large. Each time the vehicle turns, the range is adaptively expanded and contracted and moved.

Next, image processing of the video recorded in the memory 2 is performed. In this image processing, input information is _first decomposed into a plurality of memory cells M _{1 to} M _n and expanded according to the flow of operation shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. A part of this memory cell is allocated to the A zone and the B zone. The data developed on the memory cells in the A zone and the B zone set as described above is processed, and the contour of the obstacle is processed. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example, even if the pedestrian crossing or the guardrail is displayed as a shadow image, it is recognized based on data (pattern) input in advance that these are not obstacles to be targeted. Deleted.

Subsequently, the processed contour data is collated with obstacle data of a person, a bicycle, a motorcycle or the like which has been input in advance, and it is determined whether or not the contour data is an obstacle. If it is an obstacle, the process proceeds to the determination process by the first detection unit 5 as to whether or not the vehicle is in the zone A shown in FIG. If it is not an obstacle, the shadow data is checked to see if it is a three-dimensional object. If it is a three-dimensional object, its size is determined, and it is again determined whether or not it is an obstacle. If it is not an obstacle, the process returns to its original state. If it is an obstacle, the obstacle shown in FIG. The processing shifts to the determination processing by the first detection means 5 as to whether or not it is within. Some software for collating the contour data with the obstacle data is commercially available for factory automation, and can be easily realized by partially modifying the software.

In this determination processing, if the obstacle is in the zone A, it is determined whether or not the direction indicating switch 11 is in a left-turn state. If the obstacle is in the left-turn state, the first detecting means 5 sends an alarm signal to the alarm circuit 6. It sends the alarm circuit 6 with lights the alarm lamp 6a by the warning signal, to notify that at risk to generate an alarm sound from the alarm buzzer 6b driver. If the direction indication switch 11 is not in the left turn state,
It is determined whether or not the steering angle exceeds a predetermined value on the left side, and if so, an alarm signal is sent to the alarm circuit 6. The alarm circuit 6 turns on the alarm lamp 6a and outputs the alarm buzzer 6
The b is sounded to notify the driving car that the vehicle is in danger.

When there is no obstacle in zone A,
The second detecting means 10 determines whether or not there is an obstacle moving in the direction of the vehicle in the zone B, and if there is no obstacle, the processing is returned to the original. When the object recognizing means 9 recognizes that there is an obstacle moving in the direction of the vehicle, the direction of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle and the relative speed thereof are calculated.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the vehicle is in the position shown by the solid line when trying to make a left turn and the obstacle shown by the black circle is already in the zone A, the alarm is issued as described above and the Is prompted. However the position of P _1, that is, the vehicle when there is an obstacle in the B zone is to be moved in a direction bent, the vehicle becomes the position indicated by a broken line after t seconds, and obstacles to the position of P ₂ Moving. At that time, the obstacle has reached the zone A and is very likely to touch. In order to avoid such a situation in advance, the movement of an obstacle is predicted as described above, the direction and the relative speed with respect to the obstacle are calculated, and it is determined whether there is a possibility of contact. I do.

If there is no possibility of contact, the process is returned to its original state. If it is determined that there is a possibility of contact, it is determined whether or not the direction indicating switch 11 is in a left-turn state as described above. If so, an alarm signal is sent to the alarm circuit 6 to turn on the alarm lamp 6a and to sound the alarm buzzer 6b. If the direction indication switch 11 is not in the left turn state, it is determined whether or not the steering angle is at a position exceeding a predetermined value toward the left angle, and if so, an alarm is generated.

When the direction indicating switch 11 is returned to the neutral position, the process is returned to the original position, and the same operation as described above is repeated from the process of taking in the output of the steering angle sensor 7.

The alarm circuit 6 may be provided with either an alarm lamp 6a or an alarm buzzer 6b, and may be configured to generate an alarm by blinking a frame on the image of the display device 12. it can.

FIG. 10 shows two cameras according to the embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the example which installed a stand. In this case, a three-dimensional object is detected using the shadow generated on the object. That is, the object photographed by the two cameras 1 is decomposed for each plane, and if the decomposed light and dark gradations match for two cameras, it is determined that the object is a three-dimensional object, and thereafter, the same operation as described above is performed. This technique can also be easily realized by modifying it using commercially available software.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to more accurately determine the degree of danger of an obstacle detected on the vehicle side at the time of turning a vehicle, separately from the display device, and generate an alarm. As a result, it is possible to eliminate an accident such as involving a bicycle or motorcycle approaching the rear wheel position that is difficult to be seen by the driver, and it is possible to always maintain safe driving.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mounting position of a camera and an area to be photographed in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an overall operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of an image processing operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an A zone and a B zone displayed on the screen of the display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining development to a memory cell in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a pedestrian crossing on a screen in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a guardrail on a screen in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining turning of a vehicle and movement of an obstacle in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example in which two cameras are installed in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 camera 2 memory 3 image processing means 4 zone setting means 5 first detection means 6 alarm circuit 6a alarm lamp 6b alarm buzzer 7 steering angle sensor 8 vehicle speed sensor 9 object recognition means 10 second detection means 11 direction indication switch 12 display device 13 Key switch 14 battery

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI B60R 21/00 626 B60R 21/00 626D 626G 1/00 1/00 A G06T 1/00 G08G 1/16 C G08G 1/16 H04N 7/18 J H04N 7/18 G06F 15/62 380 (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 21/00 622 B60R 21/00 626 B60R 21/34 652-672 G08G 1/16 H04N 7/18

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A camera towards the car both sides are arranged so that the photographic region, a memory for developing image photographed by the camera, image processing for image processing an image developed on the memory Means, a steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle input to a steering device, and a vehicle speed sensor, wherein the image processing means sets at least a part of the subject area to an A zone having a high degree of danger and then to a danger degree A zone setting means for setting as a high B zone, and a first detection means for detecting that there is an obstacle in the A zone, and an alarm circuit for generating an alarm in a driver's seat by an output of the first detection means. A turning alarm device, wherein the zone setting means includes means for adaptively expanding and contracting the range of the A zone and the B zone in accordance with outputs of the steering angle sensor and the vehicle speed sensor. 2. The image processing means includes means for recognizing an object moving on a road surface as the obstacle.
1 Symbol placement of bent alarm device. 3. The image processing means includes: a second detection means for detecting an object moving in a vehicle direction in the B zone; and an alarm circuit for generating an alarm in a driver's seat by an output of the second detection means. 3. The bending alarm device according to claim 1, further comprising: Wherein to output and or the driver of the steering angle sensor claims 1 to start the camera and or image processing unit in conjunction with the direction indicating switch for operating 3 Neu
Turn alarm device described in any of the above. 5. The bending alarm device according to claim 1, wherein two cameras are provided on the same vehicle side.