JP2004260460A - Road surface display method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a road surface display method capable of efficiently displaying and easily confirming the road surface around a vehicle, and its device. <P>SOLUTION: The road surface display method is for picking up the image of the road surface R on which the vehicle 1 moves from a plurality of parts of the vehicle 1 and displaying the road surface R inside the vehicle 1 on the basis of the picked up image information. The road surface is displayed on the basis of image information for display obtained by converting each image information into plan view image information, a compositing the respective pieces of the plan view image information generated by conversion and generating the peripheral image information of the vehicle compressing the image information corresponding to a prescribed part other than the moving direction of the vehicle of the peripheral image information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a road surface display method and an apparatus for imaging a road surface on which a vehicle moves and displaying the road surface in the vehicle based on the imaging information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art There is a device that assists a driver in driving by capturing an image of the rear of a vehicle with a camera (imaging unit) and displaying the image on a monitor (display unit) in the vehicle (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
These devices have a configuration in which the position of an obstacle can be confirmed by displaying, on a monitor, a portion that is a blind spot of the driver.
[0004]
Also, in addition to the above-described configuration, it is desired to display various information on a monitor. By mounting a plurality of cameras on a vehicle, it is possible to input not only a back of the vehicle but also multi-directional imaging. There is a display device that selectively displays an image required by a driver (for example, see Patent Document 2).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-5-638 [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-11-78692
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the monitor of such a device has to be mounted in a limited space in the vehicle only in a predetermined size, and there is a limit in displaying the entire periphery of the vehicle sharply and clearly.
[0007]
Therefore, the operation of selecting a required screen by the driver is required, which is troublesome. Further, since the screens are switched and displayed, the display contents are not uniform, and it is difficult to recognize the direction of the image.
[0008]
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a road surface display method and a road surface display method capable of displaying a road surface around a vehicle efficiently and easily checking the road surface. And
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a road surface display method of the present invention captures an image of a road surface on which a vehicle moves from a plurality of locations of the vehicle, and based on the captured image information, reads a road surface in the vehicle. A conversion process of converting each of the imaging information into plan view image information, and synthesizing each of the plan view image information generated by the conversion process to generate a peripheral image of the vehicle. Displaying a road surface based on display image information obtained by a synthesis process of generating information and a compression process of compressing image information corresponding to a predetermined portion of the peripheral image information other than the moving direction of the vehicle. Features.
[0010]
Also, as described in claim 2, in the road surface display method according to claim 1, in the compression processing, at least image information between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle in the peripheral image information is compressed. It is characterized by the following.
[0011]
Further, as described in claim 3, in the road surface display method according to claim 1 or 2, a road surface is displayed based on the display image information, and a position of the vehicle corresponding to the road surface display is determined. Displaying the pattern image shown.
[0012]
Further, the road surface display device of the present invention is a road surface display device that captures an image of a road surface on which a vehicle moves and displays the road surface in the vehicle based on the captured image information, as described in claim 4. A plurality of imaging units mounted on the vehicle and imaging the periphery of the vehicle including a road surface, and generating peripheral image information for showing a periphery of the vehicle in a plan view based on imaging information from each of the imaging units. Control means for generating image information for display by compressing at least image information between a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle out of the peripheral image information; and Display means for displaying a road surface.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of a road surface display method and an apparatus thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking an example in which the present invention is applied to a road surface display device that is mounted in a vehicle and captures a road surface around the vehicle.
[0014]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the road surface display device provided in the vehicle 1 mainly includes cameras (imaging means) 2 a to 2 d, a control means 3, and a monitor (display means) 4. Each is connected by wiring such as a cable (not shown).
[0015]
As the cameras 2a to 2d, those having a solid-state imaging device (CCD) are applied, and are provided so as to be able to image the periphery of the vehicle 1, and output images at predetermined time intervals to the control means 3 as imaging information. . The camera 2a is disposed in the vehicle 1 (between the windshield 1a and a room mirror (not shown)) so as to be slightly downwardly inclined above the windshield 1a in order to capture an image of the front side of the vehicle 1. Note that the camera 2a is desirably disposed on a road surface R illuminated by a light source such as a headlamp 1b mounted on the vehicle 1 and at a position where an image of the road surface R as near as possible can be taken. The camera 2b is disposed on a rear portion 1c such as a trunk cover for capturing an image of a road surface R behind the vehicle 1. The cameras 2c and 2d are provided in covers 1d and 1e of side mirrors mounted on the vehicle 1 in order to display a road surface R on the side of the vehicle 1.
[0016]
The control means 3 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as a means for performing arithmetic processing such as conversion processing and synthesis processing based on imaging information from the cameras 2a to 2d, and a read-only memory (ROM) storing a control program. ), And a working memory, which is a readable and rewritable memory (RAM) for temporarily storing the results of arithmetic processing in the CPU. The control means 3 has an input / output interface for electrically connecting to the cameras 2a to 2d, the monitor 4, and the like. Note that the CPU operates based on the program data stored in the program memory.
[0017]
The monitor 4 is disposed at a position where the driver can visually recognize the driver from the driver's seat of the vehicle 1, and displays and outputs an image based on the imaging information of the cameras 2 a to 2 d according to a control signal from the control unit 3. For example, the monitor 4 is provided on the dashboard 1f of the vehicle 1 and is shared with a color type liquid crystal display used as a display device of a navigation device.
[0018]
With the configuration described above, a road surface display device can be provided.
[0019]
Next, a processing procedure of the control unit 3 for displaying a road surface using the road surface display device will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0020]
The control unit 3 inputs imaging information from each of the cameras 2a to 2d (step S1), corrects the distortion by a predetermined operation, and then converts the corrected data into, for example, data of a ground plane coordinate system projected as a viewpoint of each of the cameras 2a to 2d. A conversion process is performed to convert the data into information of a plan view (bird's eye view) image (step S2). Thus, the imaging information does not indicate a distorted image captured by the cameras 2a to 2d, for example, but indicates a plan view image as viewed from above the ground (road surface). For example, an image (image information) A as shown in FIG. 5A is converted into a planar image (image information) B as shown in FIG.
[0021]
The control means 3 synthesizes the respective plan view image information generated by the conversion processing in step S2 based on the imaging information from the cameras 2a to 2d, and for example, as shown in an image C in FIG. The peripheral image information corresponding to the road surface around No. 1 is generated (step S3).
[0022]
The control unit 3 includes, among the peripheral image information generated in the synthesis processing in step S3, the image information between the front wheel 1g and the rear wheel 1h of the vehicle 1, that is, the image area corresponding to the side direction of the vehicle 1 ( The image information of the (predetermined location) D is compressed in the longitudinal direction (front-back direction) of the vehicle 1 (step S4). The compression process is performed on the image information of the region D by concatenating the average value of the pixel information adjacent in the longitudinal direction as the pixel information or by thinning out the pixel information every predetermined scanning line. 7, display image information having a compressed image area E as shown in the display image F of FIG.
[0023]
The control means 3 displays a display image F indicating a road surface around the vehicle 1 based on the display image information generated by the compression processing in step S4, and determines a position of the vehicle 1 with respect to the display image F. A control signal is output to the monitor 4 so that the pattern image G of the vehicle 1 that can be checked is superimposed and displayed (step S5). In this case, the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the road surface is easily understood by displaying the pattern image G that indicates the outline of the body of the vehicle 1.
[0024]
By repeating the processing from step S1 to step S5, the road surface around the moving vehicle 1 can be displayed.
[0025]
The road surface display method of the road surface display device is a road surface display method in which a road surface R on which the vehicle 1 moves is imaged from a plurality of locations of the vehicle 1 and the road surface R is displayed in the vehicle 1 based on the imaged information. A conversion process of converting the imaging information into plan view image information, a synthesis process of combining the respective plan view image information generated by the conversion process to generate peripheral image information of the vehicle, and the peripheral image When the vehicle 1 travels, the road surface is displayed based on the display image information obtained by a compression process of compressing image information corresponding to a predetermined portion of the information other than the moving direction of the vehicle. Can be sharply displayed in front and rear of the vehicle 1 in the moving direction of the vehicle 1, and in other image areas D corresponding to the side directions around the vehicle 1. Stomach, it is possible to display compressed to such an extent that can be confirmed in a simple manner. Therefore, a road surface display method can be efficiently displayed as a road surface around the vehicle in a limited display space of the monitor 4. In addition, the entire road surface around the vehicle 1 can be efficiently displayed, and the display content on the monitor 4 does not need to be switched each time. Therefore, not only is there no troublesome operation for the driver, but also the display content on the monitor 4 is low. Since the road surface is uniform, a road surface display method that can easily confirm the periphery of the vehicle 1 is provided.
[0026]
Also, by performing a road surface display based on the display image information and displaying a pattern image G indicating the position of the vehicle 1 corresponding to the road surface display, the relative positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the road surface on the monitor 4 can be determined. The road surface display method can be easily grasped.
[0027]
The control unit 3 according to the above-described embodiment synthesizes the respective plan view image information generated by the conversion process based on the imaging information from each of the cameras 2a to 2d, thereby obtaining the vicinity of the vehicle 1. Although the peripheral image information corresponding to the road surface is generated, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, vehicle position detecting means for detecting the moving direction and the moving distance of the vehicle 1, Storage means for storing based image information together with vehicle position information from the vehicle position detection means as stored image information, wherein the control means controls the storage image information and the imaging information stored in advance by the storage means. By generating the peripheral image information based on the image, an image serving as a blind spot of the cameras 2a to 2d (an image captured in advance) can be displayed. Therefore, more image information can be obtained. In this case, the vehicle position detecting means can be constituted by a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed and a yaw rate sensor for detecting the yaw rate.
[0028]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the pattern image G indicating the outer contour of the body of the vehicle 1 is shown. However, any method can be used as long as the positional relationship of the vehicle 1 with respect to the road surface can be determined. An image showing a part of the vehicle may be displayed, or an actual image of the vehicle may be displayed as a pattern image.
[0029]
In the embodiments of the present invention, the above-described road surface display device has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration is not limited as long as a similar effect can be obtained. For example, as long as a peripheral image of the vehicle can be obtained, it may be different from the above-described embodiment, such as the number of cameras mounted on the vehicle and the mounting position. Also, the monitor 4 serving as the display means has been described as an example in which the monitor 4 is shared with a liquid crystal display used as a display device of a navigation device, but may be provided exclusively.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention is a road surface display method for imaging a road surface on which a vehicle moves from a plurality of predetermined locations of the vehicle and displaying the road surface in the vehicle based on the imaging information, and efficiently displaying a road surface around the vehicle. In addition, it is possible to provide a road surface display method and its device that can be easily checked.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle mounting position of a road surface display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vehicle mounting position of the road surface display device according to the embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing a processing procedure by a control unit of the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of image information in a process according to the embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of image information in the processing according to the embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a monitor display according to the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 vehicle 1g front wheel 1h rear wheel 2a-2d camera (imaging means)
3 control means 4 monitor (display means)
AC imaging information D area (predetermined location)
G pattern image

Claims (4)

A road surface display method for imaging a road surface on which a vehicle moves from a plurality of locations of the vehicle, and displaying the road surface in the vehicle based on the image information, wherein each image information is converted into plan view image information. Processing, synthesizing processing for synthesizing each of the plan view image information generated by the conversion processing to generate peripheral image information of the vehicle, and a predetermined process in the peripheral image information other than the moving direction of the vehicle. A road surface display method, wherein a road surface is displayed based on display image information obtained by a compression process of compressing corresponding image information. The road surface display method according to claim 1, wherein, in the compression processing, at least image information between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle in the peripheral image information is compressed. The road surface display method according to claim 1, wherein a road surface is displayed based on the display image information, and a pattern image indicating a position of the vehicle corresponding to the road surface display is displayed. A road surface display device that images a road surface on which a vehicle moves and displays a road surface in the vehicle based on the imaging information, and a plurality of imaging units mounted on the vehicle and imaging the periphery of the vehicle including a road surface. Generating peripheral image information for showing a periphery of the vehicle in a plan view based on imaging information from each of the imaging units, and generating at least a portion of the peripheral image information between a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle. A road surface display comprising: control means for generating image information for display by compressing image information; and display means for displaying a road surface around the vehicle based on the image information for display. apparatus.

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