JP2000255319A - Vehicle running direction recognizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To keep the direction pointed by a photographing means optimum at all times, and obtain necessary image information on a running road in the running direction of your own vehicle to the maximum extent. SOLUTION: When a road dissipation point obtained based on image information is in an upper side above a normal range so as to let a slope in front be increased, a camera elevation angle is changed so as to be set up at the present slope based on a camera elevation angle as a standard when there exists no change in slope by a vertical pointing direction setting part 40. This processing is repeated until the road dissipation point comes again in a normal range, when a slope is increased, the camera elevation angle is increased upward by a vertical direction driving part 50. Reversely, when the road dissipation point is in a low side under the normal range so as to let a slope in front be decreased, the camera elevation angle is changed so as to be set up at the present slope when there exist no change in slope. This process is repeated until the road dissipation point comes again in the normal range, and when a slope is decreased, the camera elevation angle is thereby changed downward by the vertical direction driving part 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling direction recognizing device for recognizing a traveling direction of a host vehicle by directing an image pickup means such as a camera for detecting image information in the traveling direction of the host vehicle in an appropriate direction. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various techniques have been proposed for detecting and recognizing the shape and state of a forward traveling road, or an obstacle ahead of the vehicle, and performing vehicle behavior control, safe traveling control, and the like based on the recognition results.

[0003] Many of the traveling direction recognizing devices employed in such techniques collect image information in the traveling direction of the vehicle using an image pickup means such as a CCD camera. No. 225513 discloses that
There has been disclosed a technology of performing image processing on a road belt image in a traveling direction captured by a television camera to extract road information and perform travel control.

[0004]

However, for example, when descending a hill toward a valley bottom, a horizontal road surface (ungraded road surface) near the valley bottom or an uphill road surface immediately thereafter is taken as a scenery in the traveling direction. This causes a problem that necessary image information cannot be obtained. Conversely, there is a problem in that the sky occupies most of the image information near the pass where the road surface has no gradient when traveling on an uphill, and the necessary image information in the traveling direction cannot be obtained. Also,
When the front running road is curved, image information on the side of the road other than the running road increases, and it becomes impossible to obtain necessary image information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to keep the direction of the image pickup means always optimal and to obtain the maximum necessary image information on the traveling path in the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is intended to provide a direction recognition device.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle.
An image pickup means for picking up an image by directing in the direction of the traveling path of the own vehicle traveling direction, and a recognition means for recognizing the traveling direction of the own vehicle based on image information obtained from an image pickup signal from the image pickup means. In the traveling direction recognizing device, a directional direction setting unit that variably sets a direction in which the imaging unit directs at least in accordance with a change in a gradient of a traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction, and a direction set by the directional direction setting unit. Directing direction changing means for changing the direction of the imaging means.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle. The traveling direction of the host vehicle is recognized based on image information obtained from the imaging signal. Here, the pointing direction setting means sets the direction of the image pickup means variably according to at least a change in the gradient of the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction, and the pointing direction changing means picks up the image in the direction set by the pointing direction setting means. Change the direction of the means. For this reason, for example, when the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle increases from the present, the direction in which the imaging unit points is changed to be higher than the direction in which the imaging unit points at the current gradient. Conversely, when the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is smaller than the current direction, the direction of the imaging unit is changed so as to be lower than the direction of the imaging unit at the current gradient. Is always kept in the optimal direction in the vertical direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle, comprising: imaging means for directing an image in a traveling path direction of the own vehicle, and image information obtained from an imaging signal from the imaging means. And a recognition means for recognizing a traveling direction of the own vehicle based on the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is provided with a directivity setting means for setting, and a directivity changing means for changing the direction in which the imaging means is directed to the direction set by the directivity setting means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle, wherein the imaging means oriented in the traveling direction of the own vehicle captures an image of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the own vehicle. The traveling direction of the host vehicle is recognized based on image information obtained from the imaging signal. Here, the pointing direction setting means sets the direction of the imaging means to be variable according to the bending state of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and the pointing direction changing means sets the direction of the imaging means to the direction set by the pointing direction setting means. Change the pointing direction. Therefore, for example, in a state where the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is bent rightward, the direction in which the imaging unit is directed is changed so as to be more rightward than the current one. Conversely, in a state in which the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is bent leftward, the direction in which the imaging unit points is changed to be more leftward than the current time, and the direction in which the imaging unit points is always optimal in the left-right direction. Kept in the direction.

Further, the vehicle traveling direction recognizing device according to the third aspect of the present invention provides an image capturing means for capturing an image by directing the vehicle in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and image information obtained from an image signal from the image capturing means. And a recognizing means for recognizing the traveling direction of the host vehicle based on the vehicle direction. Directional direction setting means for variably setting according to the bending state of the traveling path in the vehicle traveling direction, and directing direction changing means for changing the direction of the imaging means to the direction set by the directing direction setting means. Things.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle, wherein imaging means oriented in the traveling direction of the own vehicle captures an image of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the own vehicle. The traveling direction of the host vehicle is recognized based on image information obtained from the imaging signal. Here, the pointing direction setting means sets the pointing direction of the imaging means variably according to at least the change in the gradient of the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction and the bending state of the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction, and the pointing direction changing means. Changes the direction in which the imaging unit points to the direction set by the pointing direction setting unit. For this reason, for example, when the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle increases from the present, the direction in which the imaging unit points is changed to be higher than the direction in which the imaging unit points at the current gradient. On the other hand, when the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is smaller than the current one, the direction in which the imaging unit points is changed to be lower than the direction in which the imaging unit points at the current gradient. On the other hand, in a state where the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is bent rightward, the direction in which the imaging unit points is changed so as to be more rightward than the current one. Conversely, in a state where the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is bent leftward, the direction in which the imaging unit points is changed so as to be more leftward than it is now. In other words, the direction in which the imaging unit is directed is always kept in the optimal direction in all of the vertical and horizontal directions.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle traveling direction recognition apparatus according to the first or third aspect, further comprising a navigation device for obtaining position and altitude information. The pointing direction setting means calculates a current gradient of the traveling path of the host vehicle based on the position and altitude information, and calculates a change in the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the own vehicle on the image information in the traveling direction of the own vehicle. Then, the left road end and the right road end of the traveling path of the own vehicle are extended in the traveling direction and are obtained by a vertical position change of the intersection obtained, and the current gradient and the gradient of the traveling road in the own vehicle traveling direction are obtained. Is set variably in accordance with the change of.

That is, when the intersection is located above the normal on the image information, it can be determined that the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the own vehicle increases. It can be determined that the gradient of the traveling path in the vehicle traveling direction decreases. Then, in the case where the intersection deviates upward or downward from the normal range, the direction of the image pickup means at the current gradient of the traveling road calculated based on the position and altitude information from the navigation device so that the intersection returns to the normal position. Change the direction.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a traveling direction recognition device of a vehicle, FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a traveling direction recognition device of a vehicle,
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for setting a directing direction, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a road vanishing point, and FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a vertical driving unit.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle (own vehicle) such as an automobile. The vehicle 1 captures an object outside the vehicle, processes the captured image, and recognizes the traveling direction of the vehicle 1. Traveling direction recognition device 2 is mounted.

The vehicle traveling direction recognizing device 2 is directed to a traveling road direction in the traveling direction (forward) of the vehicle 1, and a stereo optical system as an image pickup means for photographing the surrounding environment from different viewpoints. 10 and this stereo optical system 10
Generates a stereo image (original image), generates reference information corresponding to the distance information of the original image, and generates an object or obstacle such as a road ahead or a preceding vehicle based on the original image and the reference information. And an image recognition unit 20 as recognition means for recognizing the shape and position of the image.

Further, the traveling direction recognizing device 2 of the vehicle includes:
An up / down directional setting section 40 as directional setting means for variably setting the direction of the stereo optical system 10 based on information from the image recognition section 20 and the navigation device 30 mounted on the vehicle. It has a vertical drive unit 50 as a directivity changing means for changing the direction of the stereo optical system 10 to the set direction.

The stereo optical system 10 includes a pair of left and right CCD cameras 10L and 10R using a solid-state image pickup device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) and a mounting member 11 for holding the pair of CCD cameras 10L and 10R. The left and right (compound eye) CCD cameras 10L, 10R are provided in front of the ceiling in the passenger compartment at a fixed interval from each other by a mounting member 11 of a mounting mechanism as shown in FIG. It is directed in the direction of the traveling path and stereoscopically images the surrounding environment ahead from different viewpoints.

The vertical drive unit 50 mainly includes, for example, a reduction gear motor (not shown),
The reduction gear motor is connected to the control unit and the reduction gear motor is rotated in a predetermined manner by a signal from the vertical pointing direction setting unit 40, so that the mounting member 11 is connected to the pair of CCD cameras 10L and 1L.
The front side of 0R is vertically rotatable by the amount of movement set by the up / down direction setting unit 40 in the up / down direction drive unit 50, and the direction in which the pair of CCD cameras 10L and 10R is directed is changed. It is made variable.

The image recognition unit 20, the on-board navigation device 30, and the vertical pointing direction setting unit 40
Hereinafter, description will be made based on the functional block diagram of FIG. The image recognizing unit 20 generates a pair of original images based on an image pickup signal from the stereo optical system 10 and generates an image processing unit 21 that generates reference information corresponding to distance information of the original image as a distance image; It mainly comprises a road detecting unit 22 for detecting and recognizing a road ahead from the distance image and the distance image.

That is, the image processing section 21 obtains distance information over the entire image from a pair of original images generated by the imaging signal from the stereo optical system 10 by the principle of triangulation from the amount of displacement of corresponding positions. The processing is performed so that a distance image representing a three-dimensional distance distribution is generated and output to the road detecting unit 22.

The road detecting section 22 recognizes a road by performing histogram processing on the distance distribution of the distance image from the image processing section 21, and also calculates road information such as the road width. Specifically, for example, a white line is approximated by a polygonal line, and a range surrounded by left and right polygonal lines is recognized as the own lane,
The road information is calculated by calculating the road width from the interval between the left and right polygonal lines of the own lane.

The navigation device 30 is a general one, for example, a vehicle position detection sensor unit 31, an auxiliary storage unit 32, an information display unit 33, an operation unit 34, and a calculation unit 35.
Is mainly composed of

The above-mentioned vehicle position detecting sensor unit 31 is, specifically, a global positioning satellite system (Global Positioning Satellite System).
(GPS; System; GPS) for receiving a radio wave from a GPS satellite to measure its own position, a geomagnetic sensor for detecting the absolute traveling direction of the vehicle, and a rotor facing the outer periphery of a rotor fixed to wheels. A wheel speed sensor for detecting a protrusion on the outer periphery of the rotor that rotates with the running of the vehicle and outputting a pulse signal is connected to collect running information related to the vehicle position. It has become.

The auxiliary storage device 32 is a CD-ROM device, and is formed as a read-only storage device in which a CD-ROM storing road map information including road information and terrain information is set. In the CD-ROM, road map information is stored at each of a plurality of hierarchical levels having different scales. Further, road type information such as expressways, general national roads, and local roads, and traffic conditions such as intersections, etc., are stored. Information is stored. The road data in the road map information is point data (nodes) input at predetermined intervals.
And line data (link) formed by continuously connecting these points.

The information display section 33 is formed of a liquid crystal display which displays a map, a position of the vehicle (latitude / longitude / altitude), an azimuth, a position of the vehicle on the map, an optimum route to a destination, and the like. Then, a touch panel as an operation unit 34 is connected integrally with the information display unit 33 (liquid crystal display), and an operation input for changing a scale of a map, a detailed display of a place name, a display of area information, a route guidance, and the like is input. You can do it.

The arithmetic unit 35 stores the traveling information of the vehicle obtained from the vehicle position detecting sensor unit 31 and the auxiliary storage device 3.
2 is combined with the map information read from the control unit 2 while performing operations such as map matching, and the result is sent to the information display unit 33 based on the operation signal sent from the operation unit 34, and the current position of the vehicle and the map around the vehicle are displayed. , An optimal route to the destination, and the like are displayed. Further, the above-mentioned own vehicle position (latitude / longitude / altitude) information is read by the vertical pointing direction setting unit 40 as needed.

The vertical pointing direction setting unit 40 is mainly constituted by a gradient calculating unit 41, a road vanishing point detecting unit 42, a camera vertical angle calculating unit 43, a camera vertical angle limiting unit 44, and a camera vertical angle output unit 45. It is configured.

The gradient calculator 41 reads the vehicle position data of the latitude, longitude and altitude from the navigation device 30 at set time intervals (for example, every 0.5 seconds), and reads the current position from the altitude change at each position. Is calculated, and a change in the slope of the traveling road is calculated from the values of these gradients. The gradient of the road at the current position is estimated and calculated from the gradient change and the latest gradient value.

The road vanishing point detecting section 42 reads the recognition result of the road ahead on the image information from the image recognizing section 20 and detects a road vanishing point where the road disappears ahead. That is, the recognition result of the front road on the image information from the image recognition unit 20 is as shown in FIG. 4, and the vehicle travels on the left road edge and the right road edge of the front road of the own vehicle 1 on this image information. An intersection is obtained by extending in the direction, and this intersection is defined as a road vanishing point. If the right road edge is not detected in the image information, such as in the case of a wide road, the white line immediately to the right of the traveling road is extended to the traveling direction with the right road edge as the right road edge, and the intersection is determined. It will be a vanishing point. In addition, since it is considered that an error is included in the position of the vanishing point on a road that curves ahead, the left and right road edges extending forward are set in advance from below the image information (before the own vehicle 1). It shall be detected within the set range.

The camera vertical angle calculation unit 43 reads the gradient of the road at the current position from the gradient calculation unit 41 and the position of the road vanishing point on the image information from the road vanishing point detection unit 42. It is determined whether the position of the point is within a preset normal range, and a gradient change (increase or decrease of the gradient) ahead of the road is predicted based on the result, and the vertical angle (camera) of the CCD cameras 10L and 10R is determined. When the vertical angle is changed, the value is calculated from the gradient of the road at the current position, and is output to the camera vertical angle limiting unit 44.

The preset normal range of the road vanishing point is a road where the gradient does not change and the road vanishing point is located when it is sufficient to obtain road information ahead.
This is a range in the vertical direction that is set in advance by experiments, calculations, or the like in consideration of pitching, vibration, and the like of the vehicle.

That is, if the road vanishing point is located above the normal range on the image information, it can be determined that the gradient of the host vehicle 1 in front of the road increases, and the road vanishing point falls within the normal range. If it is located below, it can be determined that the gradient of the host vehicle 1 ahead of the road decreases.

When the road vanishing point is located above the normal range and the gradient in front of the road increases, the camera vertical angle is determined based on the camera vertical angle when there is no change in the gradient. Change the setting to. This process is repeated again until the road vanishing point falls within the above-described normal range (the increase in the gradient stops), and when the gradient increases, the camera vertical angle is also changed upward.

Conversely, when the road vanishing point is located below the normal range and the gradient in front of the road decreases, the camera vertical angle is determined based on the camera vertical angle when there is no change in the gradient. Change the setting to. In this process, the road vanishing point is again within the above-mentioned normal range (the decrease in the slope stops).
When the gradient decreases, the vertical angle of the camera is also changed downward.

The camera vertical angle limiting section 44 limits the camera vertical angle calculated by the camera vertical angle calculating section 43 to within a preset limit angle. That is, the camera vertical angle is set to a range in which the camera can be rotated in both the vertical direction (that is, the limit angle), and when the camera vertical angle calculation unit 43 sets an angle that exceeds this range, this is set. All such angles are changed to limit angles and reset.

The camera vertical angle output unit 45 outputs the camera vertical angle set by the camera vertical angle calculation unit 43 and determined by the restriction of the camera vertical angle limit unit 44 to the vertical drive unit 50. It is converted into a signal and output.

That is, in response to the output signal from the camera vertical angle output section 45, the vertical drive section 50 is driven, and the mounting member 11 is rotated to cause the pair of CCD cameras 10 to rotate.
The direction in which L and 10R point is changed in the vertical direction.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, a pair of left and right CCD cameras 10L and 10R take stereo images of the surrounding environment in front from different viewpoints. In the image recognition unit 20, the image processing unit 21 generates a pair of original images and a distance image, and the road detection unit 22
Thus, the road ahead is detected and recognized from the pair of original image and the distance image.

Further, in the navigation device 30, the operation information of the vehicle obtained from the vehicle position detection sensor unit 31 by the operation unit 35 and the map information read from the auxiliary storage device 32 are combined while performing operations such as map matching. Then, based on an operation signal sent from the operation unit 34, the result is sent to the information display unit 33, and a process of displaying the current position of the vehicle, a map around the vehicle, an optimal route to the destination, and the like are executed.

The vertical pointing direction setting section 40 sets and outputs the camera vertical angle in accordance with a pointing direction setting program described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
This pointing direction setting program is executed every predetermined time,
In step (hereinafter abbreviated as "S") 101, data from navigation device (own vehicle position (latitude / longitude / altitude) information)
Then, the process proceeds to S102, in which each gradient of the road that has traveled from the change in altitude at each position to the current position is calculated.

Then, the program proceeds to S103, in which a gradient change of the road on which the vehicle has traveled is calculated based on each gradient of the road which has traveled to the current position.

Then, the process proceeds to S104, in which the road gradient at the current position is estimated and calculated from the gradient change of the road on which the vehicle has traveled and the latest gradient value. That is, S101 to S101
S104 is processing in the gradient calculation unit 41.

Thereafter, the flow advances to S105, where the image recognition unit 20
In step S106, the left road edge and the right road edge of the road ahead of the own vehicle 1 are extended in the traveling direction on the image information to detect a road vanishing point. That is, the processing in S105 and S106 is performed by the road vanishing point detection unit 4
2 is the process.

Next, proceeding to S107, it is determined whether or not the position of the road vanishing point falls within the normal range set in advance. If the position of the road vanishing point falls within the normal range, the vertical angle of the camera is set to the slope. If it is determined that the position when traveling on a road with no change is acceptable, the processing from S101 is repeated, and if the position of the road vanishing point is not within the normal range, it is necessary to change the camera vertical angle. Judge and proceed to S108.

In step S108, the camera vertical angle is set based on the current gradient value and the position of the road vanishing point. That is, if the road vanishing point is located above the normal range and the gradient ahead of the road increases in S107, the camera vertical angle is set to the current gradient value based on the camera vertical angle when the gradient does not change. change. The above S1
If the road vanishing point is located below the normal range at 07 and the gradient ahead of the road decreases, the camera vertical angle is changed to the current gradient value based on the camera vertical angle when the gradient does not change. I do. This is repeated until the road vanishing point is within the normal range. As a result, if the road vanishing point is located above the normal range and the gradient in front of the road increases, the vertical angle of the camera is reduced. The setting is changed to the current gradient value based on the camera vertical angle when there is no change, and this process is repeated until the road vanishing point falls within the normal range again (the increase of the gradient stops), and when the gradient increases The vertical angle of the camera is also changed upward. Conversely, when the road vanishing point is located below the normal range and the gradient ahead of the road decreases, the camera vertical angle is set to the current gradient value based on the camera vertical angle when the gradient does not change. The settings are changed, and this process is repeated until the road vanishing point falls within the normal range again (the slope decreases).
When the gradient decreases, the vertical angle of the camera is also changed downward. The above S107 and S108 are the processing in the camera vertical angle calculation unit 43.

Then, the process proceeds to S109, where the camera vertical angle set in S108 is compared with a preset limit angle. If the camera vertical angle exceeds the limit angle, S1 is performed.
The process proceeds to step S10, where the vertical angle of the camera is changed to the limit angle and set, and then the process proceeds to step S111. On the other hand, if the camera vertical angle is within the limit angle in S109, the process proceeds to S111 with the camera vertical angle set in S108. That is, S10
Steps 9 and S110 are processing in the camera vertical angle restriction unit 44.

Then, when proceeding to S111, the camera vertical angle output unit 45 converts the set camera vertical angle into an output signal to the vertical driving unit 50 and outputs the signal, ending the program.

As described above, when an output signal is sent to the vertical driving unit 50 in accordance with the directivity setting program, the vertical driving unit 50 is driven, the mounting member 11 is rotated, and the pair of CCDs is driven. The direction in which the cameras 10L and 10R point is changed in the vertical direction.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the vertical directivity direction setting section 40 includes the stereo optical system 10.
Is variably set in accordance with the change in the current gradient of the road of the host vehicle 1 and the gradient of the road in front of the host vehicle 1, for example, the gradient of the road in front of the host vehicle 1 increases from the current level. In this case, the direction of the stereo optical system 10 is changed to be higher than the direction of the stereo optical system 10 at the current gradient. Conversely, when the gradient of the traveling path in front of the host vehicle 1 is smaller than the current one (when heading toward a pass), the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 points is the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 points at the current gradient. It is varied so that it faces downward from the direction. As a result, the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 is directed is always automatically kept in the optimal direction in the vertical direction, and the necessary image information relating to the front of the vehicle 1 can be obtained to the maximum.

Next, FIGS. 6 to 11 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a traveling direction recognition device of a vehicle, FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a traveling direction recognition device of a vehicle,
8 is a flowchart for setting a directivity direction, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of how to calculate a radius of curvature of a curve, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of correction of a radius of curvature of the obtained curve, and FIG. 11 is a vertical driving unit and a horizontal driving unit. FIG. Note that the second embodiment of the present invention enables the camera right and left angles to be set at appropriate positions in addition to the camera vertical angle, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. And a description thereof will be omitted.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the vehicle traveling direction recognition device 62 mounted on the vehicle 61 according to the second embodiment includes a stereo optical system 10 and an image recognition unit 20.
And the stereo optical system 1 in addition to the navigation device 30
A vertical direction setting unit 70 as a direction setting unit that variably sets the direction in which the 0 is directed in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction based on information from the image recognition unit 20 and the navigation device 30; A vertical driving unit 50 (common to the first embodiment) for directing the stereo optical system 10 in the vertical direction set by the directivity setting unit 70, and a horizontal driving unit 80 for directing the stereo optical system 10 in the horizontal direction. It is provided with.

The left-right driving unit 80 is provided with the vertical driving unit 50 (the rotation axis direction thereof) set in the vertical direction. Like the vertical driving unit 50, for example, a speed reducer motor (not shown) is used. It is mainly composed. The reduction gear motor of the left / right driving unit 80 is connected to substantially the center of the upper surface of the mounting member 11 of the stereo optical system 10, and the reduction gear motor is rotated at a predetermined speed by a signal from the up / down / left / right directivity setting unit 70. Accordingly, the mounting member 11 is rotated on a horizontal plane, and the left and right angles of the pair of left and right CCD cameras 10L and 10R, that is, the pointing directions can be changed in the left and right directions.

The end of the mounting member 11 is connected to the speed reducer motor of the vertical drive unit 50 in the same manner as in the first embodiment. By rotating the reduction gear motor of the vertical driving unit 50 in a predetermined manner, the mounting member 11 sets the front side of the pair of CCD cameras 10L and 10R to the vertical driving unit 50 by the vertical and horizontal pointing direction setting unit 70. A pair of CCD cameras 10
The direction in which L and 10R are directed can be changed. That is, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the directivity changing unit includes the vertical driving unit 50 and the horizontal driving unit 80.

The up / down / left / right directional setting section 70 will be described below with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. The up / down / left / right directivity direction setting unit 70 includes the gradient calculation unit 41,
In addition to the road vanishing point detection unit 42, the camera vertical angle calculation unit 43, the camera vertical angle limit unit 44, and the camera vertical angle output unit 45,
It mainly includes a curve information calculation section 71, a camera left / right angle calculation section 72, a camera left / right angle restriction section 73, and a camera left / right angle output section 74.

The curve information calculation unit 71 converts the data on the road width from the image recognition unit 20 and the data on the position from the navigation device 30 (point data of road data, road type information, data on current position, etc.) as necessary. This is for recognizing a shape including a bending state (curve information) ahead of the road which is read and currently running. Here, the curve information is obtained, for example, by a method proposed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-155409. Hereinafter, this technique will be briefly described.

From the point data of the road input from the navigation device 30, for example, three points on the road within a range of about 100 m ahead are sequentially arranged at predetermined intervals (as shown in FIG. 9). These are sequentially read as a first point Pn-1, a second point Pn, and a third point Pn + 1 (from the closest point). Here, the representative point of this curve is Pn. Therefore, the curve at point P1 is from points P0, P1, P2, the curve at point P2 is from points P1, P2, P3,..., And the curve at point Pn is at point Pn-1.
, Pn, and Pn + 1.

In the curve of the point Pn, the first point Pn-1
The first point Pn-1 and the second point Pn-1 are based on the position information of the second point Pn and the second point Pn.
Calculate the linear distance connecting the point Pn of the second point Pn and the third point Pn
The second point Pn and the third point Pn based on the position information of the point Pn + 1
Calculate the straight line distance connecting n + 1.

Then, the straight line distance connecting the first point Pn-1 and the second point Pn is compared with the straight line distance connecting the second point Pn and the third point Pn + 1. Is determined. As a result, based on each data (position, distance) of the short straight line, a half distance of the short straight line distance is calculated, and the midpoint position on the short straight line is determined. Here, for example, a straight line connecting the first point Pn-1 and the second point Pn is a short straight line, and the middle point is Pn-1, n.

On the other hand, each data (position,
Distance) and half the shorter linear distance,
A midpoint equidistant point is determined on the longer straight line at a position that is half of the shorter straight line distance from the second point. Here, for example, it is assumed that a straight line connecting the second point Pn and the third point Pn + 1 is a long straight line, and a midpoint equidistant point is Pn, n + 1.

Then, based on the position data of the midpoint Pn-1, n and the calculated position data of the midpoint equidistant point Pn, n + 1, a shorter straight line (here, Pn -1 Pn) and the straight line perpendicular to the longer straight line (here, Pn Pn + 1) at the midpoint equidistant point Pn, n + 1 is defined as the center position On of the curve of the travel road. Then, the radius of curvature Rn of the traveling road is calculated based on the curve center position On.

Further, as shown in FIG.
n and the distance L from the curve center position On to the second point Pn
The difference Deln from on is calculated, and when the difference Deln exceeds a preset error setting value described later, the curvature radius Rn is corrected to always keep the difference Deln within the error setting value. That is, the error set value is varied according to both the road width D and the shorter straight line distance, and is set so that (error set value) = αh · D (αh is the shorter straight line distance). (Hereinafter referred to as a point interval correction coefficient).

The road width D usually includes the image recognition unit 20.
Is used, but when data cannot be obtained from the image recognition unit 20, for example, road types such as expressways, general national roads, and local roads obtained from the navigation device 30 are used. The road width D is set based on the information. Here, as the road width D increases, the error set value increases and no correction is performed. This expresses that the radius of curvature Rn increases as the road width increases on an actual road. . In addition, the fact that the straight line distance is short means that correction is not performed because the point data is set finely and it can be regarded that the road is correctly represented. Therefore, the point interval correction coefficient αh is in a direction in which the shorter the straight line distance is, the larger the point interval correction coefficient αh becomes, the larger the error set value becomes, and no correction is performed. For example, when the shorter straight line distance is shorter than 20 m, αh =
1.2, αh = 0.6 for medium distance of 100m or less,
If it is larger than 100 m, αh = 0.3.

Thus, the final curve information (the position of the representative point Pn of the curve, the distance Ln between the point Pn-1 and the point Pn, the final radius of curvature Rn, the curve center position On, the straight line Pn-1)
The curve angle θn of each point determined from the angle between Pn and the straight line Pn Pn + 1, and the curve start point Lsn (curve center position O
n from Pn-1 perpendicular to the straight line Pn-1 Pn) and Pn-1
Distance, distance L from vehicle position to representative point of each curve
ssn etc.) are calculated.

The camera left / right angle calculation section 72 reads the curve information of the road ahead, particularly the curve angle θn from the curve information calculation section 71, and calculates the camera left / right angle based on the curve angle θn. Specifically, the curve angle θn
Set itself as the camera left-right angle. Note that the curve angle θ
n may be multiplied by a constant equal to or less than 1, and this may be used as the camera left / right angle.

The camera left / right angle limiting section 73 converts the camera left / right angle calculated by the camera left / right angle calculation section 72 into a preset limit angle (for example, when the road immediately before the vehicle 1 deviates from the view angle of the image information). Angle). That is, when the camera left / right angle calculation unit 72 sets an angle exceeding the limit angle, all such angles are changed to the limit angle and reset.

The camera left / right angle output section 74 outputs the camera left / right angle set by the camera left / right angle calculation section 72 and determined by the restriction of the camera left / right angle restriction section 73 to the left / right driving section 80. It is converted into a signal and output.

That is, in response to the output signal from the camera left / right angle output section 74, the left / right driving section 80 is driven, and the mounting member 11 is turned on a horizontal plane to direct the pair of CCD cameras 10L and 10R. The direction is also changed in the left-right direction.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
The operation of varying the vertical direction of the pair of left and right CCD cameras 10L and 10R is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore, the operation of varying the horizontal direction will be described below.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, the change of the camera left / right angle is performed independently of the change of the camera vertical angle. First, in step S201, the navigation device 30 sends each position-related data (point data of road data, road data). The type information, the current position, etc.) are read, the road recognized by the image recognition unit 20 in S202, that is, the road width data of the recognized road is read, and the process proceeds to S203, where the curve information (the position of the representative point Pn of the curve, The distance Ln between the point Pn-1 and the point Pn, the final radius of curvature Rn, the curve center position On,
Curve angle θn of each point determined from the angle between straight line Pn-1 Pn and straight line Pn Pn + 1, curve start point Lsn (point perpendicular to curve Pn-1 Pn from curve center position On)
, And the distance between the vehicle position and the representative point of each curve Lssn, etc.). S201 to S20 above
3 is a process in the curve information calculation unit 71.

Then, the process proceeds to S204, in which the camera left / right angle calculation section 72 calculates the camera left / right angle based on the curve information of the road ahead, in particular, the curve angle θn. Specifically, this curve angle θn itself is set as the camera left / right angle.

Then, the process proceeds to S205, where the camera left / right angle set in S204 is compared with a preset limit angle, and if the camera left / right angle exceeds the limit angle, S2 is performed.
Then, the process proceeds to step S06, where the left and right camera angles are changed and set to the limited angle, and then the process proceeds to step S207. On the other hand, if the camera left / right angle is within the limit angle in S205, the process proceeds to S207 with the camera left / right angle set in S204. That is, S20
5 and S206 are processing in the camera left / right angle limiting unit 73.

Then, when proceeding to S207, the camera left / right angle output unit 74 converts the set camera left / right angle into an output signal to the left / right driving unit 80 and outputs it, ending the program.

As described above, when an output signal is sent to the left / right driving unit 80 in accordance with the directional setting program, the left / right driving unit 80 is driven, and the mounting member 11 is turned to rotate the pair of CCDs. The direction in which the cameras 10L and 10R point is also changed in the left-right direction.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the up / down / left / right directional setting section 70 sets the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 points to the current gradient of the road of the own vehicle 1 and the own vehicle. In addition to being able to variably change the setting in the vertical direction in accordance with the change in the gradient of the road ahead of the host vehicle 1 and variably changing the setting in the left and right direction according to the curve (bending state) of the road in front of the host vehicle 1, for example, When the gradient of the road ahead of the vehicle 1 increases, the direction of the stereo optical system 10 is changed so as to be higher than the direction of the stereo optical system 10 at the current gradient. Conversely, when the gradient of the traveling road ahead of the vehicle 1 is smaller than the current one, the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 points is variable so as to be lower than the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 points at the current gradient. Is done.
When the road ahead of the vehicle 1 is curved to the right, the direction of the stereo optical system 10 is rightward. When the road is curved to the left, the direction of the stereo optical system 10 is left. Changed to the direction. As a result, the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 is directed is always kept in the optimum direction in all directions.

12 to 15 show a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognition device, and FIG. 13 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognition device. , FIG. 14 is a flowchart of setting the pointing direction, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a change in a pointing direction by an input image control unit.
In the third embodiment of the present invention, the setting of the camera vertical angle can be changed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, but the method of changing the directional direction of the camera is different. For this reason, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

That is, as shown in FIG. 13, a vehicle traveling direction recognition device 92 mounted on a vehicle 91 according to the third embodiment includes a stereo optical system 10 and an image recognition unit 20.
And the stereo optical system 1 in addition to the navigation device 30
The vertical pointing direction setting unit 100 as a pointing direction setting unit that variably sets the direction in which the 0 is directed in the vertical direction based on information from the image recognition unit 20 and the navigation device 30, and the vertical pointing direction setting unit 100. An input image control unit 110 is provided as a directing direction changing unit for directing the stereo optical system 10 in the set vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 15, the input image control unit 110 controls the CCD camera 10L of the stereo optical system 10,
The range of the input device from the CCD built in the 10R is electrically varied in units of the number of dots, and the input range is moved in the downward direction in the figure by the signal from the vertical directivity setting unit 100 so that the CCD camera can be moved. By moving the directivity of 10L, 10R upward and the input range upward in the figure, the directivity of CCD cameras 10L, 10R can be changed downward.

The above vertical direction setting unit 100
Hereinafter, description will be made based on the functional block diagram of FIG. The vertical pointing direction setting unit 100 mainly includes a camera vertical angle output unit 101 in addition to the gradient calculating unit 41, the road vanishing point detecting unit 42, the camera vertical angle calculating unit 43, and the camera vertical angle limiting unit 44. Have been.

The camera vertical angle output unit 101 sets the camera vertical angle set by the camera vertical angle calculation unit 43 and determined by the restriction of the camera vertical angle restriction unit 44 as the CC.
D is converted into the number of dots in the vertical direction and a signal is output.

The input image control unit 110 receives an output signal from the camera vertical angle output unit 101 and
By electrically changing (shifting) the range of the input device from in units of dots, the pointing of the CCD cameras 10L and 10R of the stereo optical system 10 is changed.

Next, the pointing direction setting program executed by the vertical pointing direction setting unit 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As in the first embodiment, S1
After the processing from 01 to S110 is executed and the camera vertical angle is set as it is or is limited, the process proceeds to S301, where the camera vertical angle to be changed is converted into the number of vertical dots of the CCD. Then, the process proceeds to S302, where the number of vertical dots to be converted is output to the input image control unit 110, and the program ends. In other words, S301 and S302 are processing in the camera vertical angle output unit 101.

As described above, when an output signal is sent to the input image control unit 110 in accordance with the directivity setting program, the input image control unit 110 electrically controls the range of the input element from the CCD in units of the number of dots. By changing to
The direction in which the CCD cameras 10L and 10R of the stereo optical system 10 point is changed in the vertical direction.

As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the direction in which the CCD cameras 10L and 10R point is electrically changed by the input image control unit 110. In addition to the effects described above, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the directivity changing means.

FIGS. 16 to 18 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognizing device, and FIG. 17 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognizing device. FIG. 18 is a flowchart for setting the directivity direction.

In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to change the setting of the camera vertical angle and the camera left / right angle in the same manner as in the second embodiment, but further, in the same manner as in the third embodiment. However, the method of changing the direction of the camera is different. Therefore, the same portions as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

That is, as shown in FIG. 17, a vehicle traveling direction recognizing device 122 mounted on a vehicle 121 according to the fourth embodiment includes a stereo optical system 10, an image recognizing unit 20, and a navigation device 30. In addition, the up / down / left / right directional direction setting unit 130 as directional direction setting means for variably setting the direction of the stereo optical system 10 in the vertical direction and the left / right direction based on information from the image recognition unit 20 and the navigation device 30. And an input image control unit 140 as a directing direction changing unit that directs the stereo optical system 10 in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction set by the vertical and horizontal pointing direction setting unit 130.

The input image control section 140 operates on the same principle as that described in the third embodiment, that is, the range of input elements from CCDs built in the CCD cameras 10L and 10R of the stereo optical system 10. It is electrically variable in units of the number of dots.
By moving the input range downward in the figure with the signal from 0, the directivity of the CCD cameras 10L and 10R is moved upward and the input range is moved upward in the figure.
The directivity of the D cameras 10L and 10R can be similarly changed in the downward direction, and also in the horizontal direction.

The vertical / horizontal direction setting section 130 will be described below with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. The up / down / left / right directivity direction setting unit 130 is provided with the gradient calculation unit 4.
1. Road vanishing point detector 42, camera vertical angle calculator 43,
Camera vertical angle limiting unit 44, camera vertical angle output unit 101,
In addition to a curve information calculation unit 71, a camera left / right angle calculation unit 72, and a camera left / right angle restriction unit 73, a camera left / right angle output unit 131
It is mainly configured with.

The camera left / right angle output unit 131 sets the camera right / left angle determined by the camera left / right angle calculation unit 72 under the control of the camera left / right angle restriction unit 73.
D is converted into the number of dots in the left-right direction and a signal is output.

The input image control section 140 is connected to the camera vertical angle output section 101 and the camera horizontal angle output section 13.
The CCD camera 10L, 10R of the stereo optical system 10 receives the output signal from the CCD camera 10L, 10R by electrically changing the range of the input element from the CCD in units of dots in the vertical or horizontal direction. To change the pointing.

Next, the pointing direction setting program (horizontal direction variable) executed by the camera left / right angle output unit 131 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As in the second embodiment, the processing from S201 to S206 is executed,
After setting the camera left-right angle as it is or after limiting it, the process proceeds to S401, where the camera left-right angle to be changed is converted into the number of dots in the horizontal direction of the CCD. Then, the process proceeds to S402, where the number of horizontal dots to be converted is determined by the input image control unit 14.
Output to 0 and end the program. That is, S401 and S402 are performed by the camera left / right angle output unit 131.
It is processing in.

As described above, when an output signal is sent to the input image control unit 140 in accordance with the directivity setting program, the input image control unit 140 electrically changes the range of the input element from the CCD in units of the number of dots. By changing to
The direction in which the CCD cameras 10L and 10R of the stereo optical system 10 point is also changed in the left-right direction.

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, similarly to the third embodiment, the input image control unit 14
Since the direction in which the CCD cameras 10L and 10R point is electrically changed by 0, in addition to the effect of the second embodiment, the pointing direction changing means can be reduced in size and weight.

In each of the above embodiments, the change in the gradient of the road ahead is determined by detecting the vanishing point of the road. However, the data (latitude, longitude, It may be calculated directly using the altitude information).

In each of the above embodiments, the direction in which the stereo optical system 10 is directed is linearly variable in the up-down direction. In this case, it is also possible to determine the current road gradient without determining the current road gradient and determine only the change in the road gradient ahead. That is, when the road vanishing point is located above the normal range and the gradient in front of the road increases, the camera vertical angle is set upward, and conversely, the road vanishing point is located below the normal range and the road vanishes. If the front gradient decreases, the vertical angle of the camera is set downward.

Further, the relationship between the amount of deviation of the road vanishing point from the reference range on the image information and the vertical angle of the camera is determined in advance, and the vertical angle of the camera is variably set according to the amount of deviation from the reference range. May be.

[0098]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up an image by directing the vehicle in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and an image obtained from an image pickup signal from the image pickup means. A traveling direction recognition device for recognizing a traveling direction of a host vehicle based on information, wherein a pointing direction setting unit sets a direction in which the imaging unit points to at least a change in a gradient of a traveling path in a traveling direction of the host vehicle. And the pointing direction changing means changes the direction of the imaging means to the direction set by the pointing direction setting means, so that the vertical direction of the imaging means is always kept in the optimal direction. Necessary image information on the traveling path in the traveling direction of the host vehicle can be obtained to the maximum.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup means for picking up an image by directing the vehicle in the traveling direction of the own vehicle, and the own vehicle based on image information obtained from an image pickup signal from the image pickup means. In a vehicle traveling direction recognizing device comprising a recognizing means for recognizing the traveling direction of the vehicle, the pointing direction setting means variably sets the direction in which the imaging means points according to the bending state of the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction, Since the pointing direction changing unit changes the direction of the imaging unit to the direction set by the pointing direction setting unit, the direction of the imaging unit is always kept in the optimal direction in the left and right direction, and the vehicle travels in the traveling direction of the own vehicle. The required image information on the road can be obtained to the maximum.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up an image by directing the vehicle in the traveling direction of the own vehicle, and the own vehicle based on image information obtained from an image pickup signal from the image pickup means. And a recognizing device for recognizing the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is set variably according to the bending state of the traveling path, and the pointing direction changing means changes the direction of the imaging means to the direction set by the pointing direction setting means. The direction in which the means points is always kept in the optimum direction, and the necessary image information on the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction can be obtained to the maximum.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle traveling direction recognizing device according to the first or third aspect, a navigation device for obtaining position and altitude information is mounted. The current gradient of the traveling path of the own vehicle is calculated based on the position and altitude information, and the change of the gradient of the traveling path in the traveling direction of the own vehicle is calculated based on the image information in the traveling direction of the own vehicle. By calculating the vertical position of the intersection determined by extending the end and the right road end in the traveling direction, and variably setting according to the change in the current gradient and the gradient of the traveling road in the own vehicle traveling direction, It can be easily realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of the traveling direction recognizing device of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for setting a directivity direction according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a vanishing point of a road;

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of a vertical drive unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognition device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of the traveling direction recognition device of the vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for setting a directivity direction according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a method for obtaining a curvature radius of a curve according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of correction of a radius of curvature of a calculated curve;

FIG. 11 is a schematic explanatory view of a vertical drive unit and a horizontal drive unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognition device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an overall configuration diagram of the traveling direction recognition device of the vehicle.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of setting a directivity direction according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a change in the directivity direction by the input image control unit.

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle traveling direction recognition device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an overall configuration diagram of the traveling direction recognition device of the vehicle.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for setting a directivity direction according to the first embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle (own vehicle) 2 vehicle traveling direction recognition device 10 stereo optical system (imaging unit) 20 image recognition unit (recognition unit) 30 navigation device 40 vertical direction setting unit (directional direction setting unit) 50 vertical direction driving unit ( Direction changing means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] An image pickup means for picking up an image by directing the vehicle in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and a recognition means for recognizing the heading direction of the host vehicle based on image information obtained from an image pickup signal from the image pickup means. A direction setting device for variably setting a direction of the image pickup device according to a change in a gradient of a traveling path in the own vehicle travel direction; and a direction setting device. And a pointing direction changing means for changing the direction of the image pickup means to the direction set in (1). 2. An image pickup means for picking up an image by directing the vehicle in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and a recognition means for recognizing the heading of the host vehicle based on image information obtained from an image signal from the image pickup means. A direction setting device for variably setting a direction in which the imaging means points in accordance with a bending state of a traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction; and setting the direction by the pointing direction setting means. A traveling direction recognizing device for recognizing a traveling direction of a vehicle, comprising: a directing direction changing unit configured to change a direction in which the imaging unit is directed in a predetermined direction. 3. An image pickup means for picking up an image by directing the vehicle in the direction of the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and a recognition means for recognizing the heading direction of the host vehicle based on image information obtained from an image pickup signal from the image pickup means. In the vehicle traveling direction recognizing device, the direction in which the imaging means is directed is variably set at least according to a change in a gradient of a traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction and a bending state of the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction. A traveling direction recognizing device, comprising: a directivity setting means for changing the direction of the image pickup means to the direction set by the directivity setting means. 4. A navigation device for obtaining position and altitude information, wherein the pointing direction setting means calculates a current gradient of a traveling path of the own vehicle based on the position and altitude information, and The vertical change of the intersection obtained by extending the gradient of the traveling road in the direction of travel on the image information of the traveling direction of the own vehicle by extending the left road end and the right road end of the traveling road of the own vehicle in the traveling direction. The traveling direction recognition device for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the setting is variably set in accordance with a change in the current gradient and a gradient of the traveling path in the own vehicle traveling direction.