JP2003115100A - Vehicle peripheral image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle peripheral image processor highly convenient for a user. SOLUTION: An image of a vehicle rear part picked up by a camera is displayed as indicated in (a) on a monitor with a touch panel. In the case that a parking target position is inputted from the monitor with the touch panel, an image processing unit calculates a guide line from a parkable area corresponding to position coordinates on a screen to the present vehicle, calculates a present vehicle estimated course on the basis of a steering angle acquired from a steering sensor and displays them on the monitor with the touch panel as indicated in (b). Also, as a distance between a present vehicle position and the parking target position becomes short, the present vehicle position and the parking target position are fully displayed as largely as possible within a display screen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle peripheral image processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image of an area around a vehicle is taken by a camera, a bird's-eye view image is generated and displayed based on the picked-up image, and at a preset position. A vehicle peripheral image processing device for guiding is known. Such a vehicle peripheral image processing device,
Although it is already possible to guide the user to a predetermined position in the apparatus, there is a problem that the user cannot be guided to any desired position.

Further, in a vehicle peripheral image processing apparatus using a camera, a bird's-eye view image is generated from a picked-up image, an area disappearing from the camera's field of view due to the movement of the vehicle is stored, and a new image is taken and a bird's-eye view image is generated. We are also developing a device that displays them together, but when the vehicle is far from the parking target position, it displays an image of a wide area around the vehicle, and when the vehicle approaches the parking target position, To display the vicinity of the car,
There is a problem that the user needs to switch the display range while the vehicle is moving.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a vehicle peripheral image processing apparatus which is highly convenient for the user.

[0005]

According to the vehicle periphery image processing apparatus of claim 1 which is made to solve the above-mentioned problems, a bird's-eye view image of an image around the vehicle is displayed. When a parking target position is input from the displayed bird's-eye view image, a guide line is displayed on the bird's-eye view image. Therefore, it is possible to provide the driver with an indication of the vehicle operation when parking the vehicle at the parking target position designated by the driver. In this way, since the guide line to the position intended by the driver is displayed instead of the position preset by the device, the convenience for the user can be improved. The bird's-eye view image refers to an image viewed from a certain angle, for example, when the captured image is already a bird's-eye view image, the image as it is may be the bird's-eye view image, or the image viewed from a predetermined angle as the bird's-eye view image. Alternatively, the bird's-eye view image may be an image viewed from directly above. That is, the bird's-eye view image may be generated so that the driver can easily understand the surrounding situation.

Such a guide line can be calculated, for example, as shown in claim 2. Instead of directly guiding to the input parking target position, the driver estimates the parking target area based on the input parking target position and calculates the guidance line that can enter that area. There is no need to specify it, which improves convenience.

With respect to the guide line, for example, the wheel locus can be displayed as the guide line as described in claim 3. By doing so, it is possible to provide the driver with an image of the movement of the vehicle and a specific operation image of the steering in an easy-to-understand manner.

Such a guide line can be displayed as, for example, a straight line or a curve connecting the current vehicle position and the parking target position. However, if the obtained line has a portion smaller than the minimum turning radius of the vehicle, the vehicle cannot be moved according to the displayed guide line. Therefore, as described in claim 4, the guide line may be calculated in consideration of the minimum turning radius of the own vehicle.

Further, as described in claim 5, when the obstacle is detected, the guide line may be calculated so as to avoid the position of the obstacle. In this way, the driver can be notified of the guide line more appropriately. Then, in addition to the guide line, the expected course of the host vehicle may be displayed as described in claim 6. If you do this, you only have to steer to match the expected course with the guide line,
The vehicle can be guided to the parking target position.

Further, if the vehicle position is displayed in the bird's-eye view image, for example, the driver can easily grasp the positional relationship between the vehicle position and the surroundings. Claim 8
As described above, by automatically changing the display range of the bird's-eye view image optimally as the host vehicle moves, it is not necessary for the driver to manually switch the display range during driving, which improves convenience. . The display range of the parking target position and the position of the own vehicle may be adjusted so that the front part of the parking target position and the position of the own vehicle may be adjusted, or the display range may be adjusted so that a part of the parking target position and the own vehicle position are included. That is, the display range may be determined so that the driver can easily understand the positional relationship between the parking target position and the own vehicle position.

As described in claim 9, the vehicle peripheral image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is provided with the function according to claim 8 so that the driver can manually switch the display range during driving. Not only is it unnecessary, but the guide line and expected route can be displayed in a way that is easy for the driver to see.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the following examples, and various forms can be adopted as long as they are within the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle peripheral image processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment. The vehicle peripheral image processing device 1 includes a camera 10, a distance measuring sensor 12, a distance measuring sensor processing unit 14, and a steering sensor 1 for detecting a steering angle.
6, touch panel monitor 18, image processing unit 2
Equipped with 0.

As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 10 is installed so as to image the rear of the vehicle, and the image processing unit 20 is provided.
It is connected to the. The distance measuring sensor 12 is composed of a plurality of sensors that output the distance to an obstacle behind the vehicle, and is connected to the distance measuring sensor processing unit 14. Then, the distance measurement sensor processing unit 14 calculates the position coordinates of the obstacle based on the installation positions of the plurality of distance sensors from the distance measurement sensor 12, and outputs the position coordinates to the image processing unit 20.

The image processing unit 20 includes a camera 1
0, the distance measurement sensor processing unit 14, the steering sensor 16, and the monitor 18 with a touch panel,
Information is input from these devices and processing for controlling these devices is performed. The image processing unit 20 includes a CPU,
The touch panel is composed of a microcomputer having a ROM, a RAM, and an I / O, receives a captured image captured by the camera 10, performs known bird's-eye view conversion processing on the captured image, converts the bird's-eye view image into a touch panel. With monitor 18
To display.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a captured image captured by the camera 10 when the vehicle is moving backward and the vehicle is about to be parked in the parking frame. The image processing unit 20 inputs this captured image and performs bird's-eye view conversion processing (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-21).
1849), the ground plane is converted into a bird's-eye view image viewed from directly above, and the converted bird's-eye view image is displayed on the touch panel monitor 18, as shown in FIG. 3B. Since such a bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor with a touch panel 18, the driver can easily know the positional relationship between the vehicle and the parking frame, and can assist the driver in driving.

Further, the vehicle peripheral image processing apparatus 1 displays a guide line to the parking target position designated by the driver from the bird's-eye view image thus displayed on the monitor 18 with the touch panel. The driver's parking target position is designated by touching the bird's-eye view image displayed on the monitor 18 with a touch panel. For example, when the bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor with a touch panel 18 as shown in FIG. 4A, it is desired to park at the position indicated by the pointer shown by the “fingertip portion of the hand icon” in FIG. 4A. In that case, touch that part. Monitor with touch panel 1
8 transmits the touched position coordinates on the screen to the image processing unit 20, and the image processing unit 20 moves from the parking area corresponding to the position coordinates on the screen toward the own vehicle.
A guide line as shown in (b) is calculated and displayed on the monitor with a touch panel 18.

Further, based on the steering angle input from the steering sensor 16, an expected course of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 4B is calculated and displayed on the monitor with a touch panel 18. A series of vehicle peripheral image processing executed by the image processing unit 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In S110 of FIG. 5, the picked-up image signal from the camera 10 is input, and in the subsequent S120, it is converted into a bird's-eye view image. Then, in S130, it is determined whether or not an instruction to change the vehicle target position has been input from a change instruction input button of the monitor 18 with a touch panel (not shown). If the instruction to change has been input (S130: YES), the process proceeds to S140. If the change instruction has not been input (S130:
NO) Go to S150.

In S140, the monitor 1 with a touch panel
The input of the parking target position is accepted from 8, and the coordinates touched on the monitor with a touch panel 18 are input and stored. In S150, the parking available area and the position of the own vehicle are calculated based on the coordinates stored in S140 and the vehicle characteristic information such as the mounting position information of the camera 10 and the size of the vehicle stored in advance.

In subsequent S160, the position coordinates of the obstacle are acquired from the distance measuring sensor processing unit 14, and the guide line is calculated in S170. In S180, the steering sensor 1
The steering angle is acquired from 6, and the expected course of the host vehicle is calculated in S190. Then, in S200, it is determined whether or not to change the display range of the bird's-eye view based on the positional relationship between the parking area calculated in S150 and the own vehicle position, and if it is changed (S200: YES), the process proceeds to S210. If not changed (S200: NO), the process proceeds to S220.

In S210, the display range is set so that both the current position of the vehicle and the parking available area are displayed within the display screen on the monitor 18 with the touch panel and displayed as large as possible. That is, FIG. 6 (a) → (b) →
As shown in (c), the display range is narrowed and the scale of the displayed image is enlarged as the vehicle position approaches the parking available area. For example, the vehicle end and the end of the parking available area are enlarged so as to be the peripheral portion of the screen.

In S220, the bird's-eye view image of the display range set in S210, the icon of the own vehicle indicating the own vehicle position, the parking area, the guide line calculated in S170, and the S1
The predicted vehicle course calculated in 90 is drawn and displayed on the monitor with a touch panel 18. And again S110
Return to and repeat processing.

Next, a detailed example of the processing of S150 to S170 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Figure 7
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process of displaying a wheel locus as a guide line as an example of the guide line calculation process of S150 to S170. An example in which the guide line is calculated by this processing when the relationship between the current vehicle position and the target parking position is as shown in FIG. 8 will also be described.

In S310 of FIG. 7, a white line portion is searched from the position in the bird's-eye view image corresponding to the parking target position input from the monitor 18 with a touch panel toward the periphery of the position, and the white line portion is searched for inside the white line. Based on the vehicle width and the total length of the vehicle, the parking area in which the vehicle can be parked is determined. In general, a white line indicating a parking area of a vehicle is drawn in a parking lot, and this is used to calculate a parking available area. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, a parking feasible region center line that is the center line of the parking feasible region in the vehicle width direction is obtained. Further, the vehicle center axis which is the center line of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction is obtained, and the vehicle center axis passes through the intersection (point A (x, y) in FIG. 8) of the vehicle center axis and the rear wheel axis of the vehicle and becomes the parking area center line. A contacting circle is obtained (a circle having a radius R shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 8).

Then, in the following S320, for this circle,
Using the distance d from the vehicle center axis to the left and right tires as an offset, the loci of the left and right wheels are calculated from the parking area toward the rear end of the vehicle as shown in FIG. In subsequent S330, it is determined whether or not the locus of the wheel is a locus that can be taken only when the vehicle moves within the minimum turning radius.
330: YES) The process proceeds to S370, and if not (S330: YES) proceeds to S340.

In S340, the display locus is set to the calculated locus, and it is determined whether or not there is an obstacle within the range of the calculated locus in S350 from the position coordinates of the obstacle acquired from the distance measurement sensor processing unit 14 and calculated. If there is an obstacle in the locus area (S350: YES), the process proceeds to S360, and if there is no obstacle (S350: NO), the process proceeds to S390. In S360, the radius of the calculated trajectory is changed and the process proceeds to S330.

On the other hand, in S370, the display locus is set to the locus at the maximum cutting angle, not the calculated locus. That is, the locus is set to the minimum turning radius. And S3
At 80, it is judged whether or not there is an obstacle in the area of the locus at the time of the calculated maximum turning angle based on the position coordinates of the obstacle acquired from the distance measurement sensor processing unit 14, and the obstacle is found in the area. If there is (S380: YES) S400
Move to and set the guide line to hidden. On the other hand, if there is no obstacle in the area (S380: NO) S39
Move to 0.

In S390, the display locus is set as a guide line. Then, the process proceeds to S180 of FIG. 5, the above-described process is performed, and the result of the process of S220 is
Guide line set in S390 (guide line in FIG. 8)
Is displayed on the monitor 18 with a touch panel.

In this way, the guide line, which is a guide for the vehicle operation when parking the vehicle at the parking target position designated by the driver, can be displayed. The driver can perform a driving operation for parking with reference to the bird's-eye view image, the guide line, and the expected route of the vehicle displayed on the monitor 18 with the touch panel. Further, by moving the steering wheel so that the expected route of the vehicle matches the guide line, it is possible to easily park in the white line. Therefore, it becomes possible to easily park at the target parking position. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, as the vehicle approaches the parking target position, the image is automatically displayed in an enlarged manner, so there is no need to perform an operation to enlarge the screen, and the convenience of the driver is high. Also,
As the vehicle position approaches the parking target position, more detailed information around the vehicle can be obtained.

Other auxiliary lines such as the center line of the own vehicle and the center line of the parking area may be displayed on the monitor 18 with the touch panel. The icon of the own vehicle may be displayed so that the front part of the own vehicle is above the liquid crystal monitor 18 with the touch panel. The icon of the own vehicle may not be displayed entirely, but only a part of it may be displayed.

The method of calculating the guide line is not limited to the above-mentioned method, and various methods can be used. In addition, FIG.
As for the display range of the image, the distance between the vehicle position and the parking area may be changed in this range from how many meters to how many meters, and from this range to how many meters. , The display range may be changed continuously and smoothly.

The process shown in FIG. 5 may not be always executed in a loop, but may be repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals. Furthermore, vehicle speed, wheel speed, which detects the movement of the own vehicle,
Information such as steering angle, yaw rate, optical flow, and distance measuring sensor is acquired, and the movement of the vehicle is detected from them,
It may be executed only when there is a movement.

If the system has automatic steering and automatic braking, information on the guide line may be output to them. The distance measurement sensor processing unit 14 may be incorporated in the image processing unit 20. In the present embodiment, the camera 10 corresponds to the image pickup means, and the monitor 18 with a touch panel is provided.
The image processing unit 20 corresponds to the display unit and the parking target position input unit. Further, the image processing unit 20 corresponds to the bird's-eye view image generating means, the guide line calculating means, and the predicted course calculating means, and the distance measuring sensor 12, the distance measuring sensor processing unit 14, and the image processing unit 20 correspond to the obstacle detecting means.

The processing of S120 corresponds to the processing as the bird's-eye view image generating means, the processing of S140 corresponds to the processing as the parking target position inputting means, and S150 to S17.
The process of 0 corresponds to the process as the guide line calculation means,
The processing of S190 corresponds to the processing as the predicted course calculation means, and the processing of S200 to S220 corresponds to the processing as the display means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle peripheral image processing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the vehicle periphery image processing apparatus of the embodiment is installed in a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a captured image and a bird's-eye view image.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a target parking position, a guide line, and a predicted vehicle course on a monitor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of vehicle peripheral image processing.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display range of a bird's-eye view image on a monitor.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of displaying a vehicle trajectory as a guide line.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a guide line calculation method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Vehicle peripheral image processing device 10 ... Camera 12: Distance sensor 14 Distance measuring sensor processing unit 16 ... Steering sensor 18 ... Monitor with touch panel 20 ... Image processing unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G09G 5/36 510 G09G 5/36 520F (72) Inventor Yoshihisa Sato 1-chome, Showa-cho, Kariya city, Aichi prefecture In stock company DENSO (72) Inventor Katsuyuki Imanishi 14 Iwatani, Shimohakaku-cho, Nishio-shi, Aichi F-term in Japan Auto Parts Research Institute (reference) 5B057 AA16 AA19 BA02 BA11 CA12 CA16 CB12 CB16 CE08 5C082 AA00 AA21 AA27 BA12 BB02 BB42 CA33 CA56 CA81 CB05 DA22 DA42 DA73 DA86 MM05 MM09 MM10 5H180 AA01 CC04 LL02 LL08 LL17

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for picking up an image of the periphery of a vehicle, a bird's eye view image generating means for generating a bird's eye view image based on the image picked up by the image picking up means, and a bird's eye view image generated by the bird's eye view image generating means. In a vehicle peripheral image processing device having a display means, a parking target position input means for inputting a parking target position from the bird's-eye view image displayed by the display means, and a parking target position input by the parking target position input means. And a guide line calculating unit for calculating the guide line on the bird's-eye view image and displaying the guide line on the display unit. 2. The vehicle peripheral image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the guide line calculation means estimates a parking available area based on the parking target position input by the parking target position input means, and estimates the parking area. A vehicle peripheral image processing device, characterized in that the guide line capable of entering a feasible area is calculated. 3. The vehicle peripheral image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the guide line calculating means calculates the guide line as a wheel locus. 4. The vehicle peripheral image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the guide line calculation means calculates the guide line in consideration of a minimum turning radius of the own vehicle. Vehicle peripheral image processing device. 5. The vehicle peripheral image processing device according to claim 1, further comprising an obstacle detecting means for detecting a position of the obstacle, wherein the guide line calculating means is configured to operate by the obstacle detecting means. A vehicle peripheral image processing device, wherein when an obstacle is detected, the guide line is calculated so that a vehicle traveling along the guide line does not pass through the position of the obstacle. 6. The vehicle periphery image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an estimated route calculation means for displaying the estimated route of the own vehicle on the display means based on a current steering angle. Vehicle peripheral image processing device. 7. The vehicle periphery image display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the position of the vehicle in the bird's-eye view image. 8. An image pickup means for picking up an image of the periphery of a vehicle, a bird's-eye view image generation means for generating a bird's-eye view image based on the image picked up by the image pickup means, and a bird's-eye view image generated by the bird's-eye view image generation means. In the vehicle peripheral image processing device including a display unit that displays, the display unit sets the display range of the bird's-eye view image to the parking target position and the self-vehicle position based on the positional relationship between the set parking target position and the own vehicle position. A vehicle peripheral image processing device, characterized in that the display range of the bird's-eye view image is adjusted so that the vehicle position can be displayed within the display screen and displayed as large as possible within the display screen. 9. The vehicle peripheral image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is based on a positional relationship between the parking target position and the own vehicle position input by the parking target position input unit. The display range of the bird's-eye view image is adjusted so that the parking target position and the own vehicle position are completely within the display screen and are displayed as large as possible in the display screen. Vehicle peripheral image processing device.