JP2007038773A - On-vehicle camera inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle camera inspection device capable of quickly giving an occupant a warning when an on-vehicle camera mounted on a vehicle is out of focus, and enabling the occupant to surely discriminate deviation or dirt of the on-vehicle camera. <P>SOLUTION: In a picked-up image by an image pickup part 12, a focus judging part 16A performs focus judgment. The focus judgment is carried out by edge extraction. A reference image 31 is stored in a storage part 16B, and deviation of an installation attitude of the image pickup part 12 is determined by collating the reference image 31 with the picked-up image 41. When a non-change area is detected by a vehicle speed sensor 15 and a collating part 16C irrespective of movement of the vehicle 11, the dirt 42 adhering to a lens surface of the image pickup part 12 is determined. When the camera is out of focus or when the installation attitude deviates, or when it is determined that the dirt 42 adheres to the lens surface, the warning is given to the occupant from a warning part 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle camera inspection device that inspects a camera mounted on a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle periphery monitoring device has been put into practical use in which an area that becomes a blind spot for a vehicle driver is imaged with an in-vehicle camera to provide driving assistance.

  However, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to determine whether the captured image captured by the in-vehicle camera is in focus.

  In addition, it is practically difficult for the user to discriminate even when dirt is attached to the lens surface of the in-vehicle camera, or when the in-vehicle camera itself is misaligned, and it is difficult for the user to discriminate between them. Many people continue to drive.

  Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle camera inspection device capable of promptly issuing a warning to an occupant when the in-vehicle camera mounted on the vehicle is out of focus. It is a second object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle camera inspection device that can reliably determine dirt.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to an in-vehicle camera mounted on a vehicle, a focus determination unit that determines whether a captured image by the in-vehicle camera is in focus, A warning unit that issues a warning to an occupant and a control unit that issues a warning to the warning unit when the focus determination unit determines that the subject is not in focus.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the in-vehicle camera inspection device according to the first aspect, wherein the focus determination unit includes an edge extraction unit that extracts an edge from a captured image taken by the in-vehicle camera.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the in-vehicle camera inspection device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the in-vehicle camera is stored at a predetermined position and stores a reference image when the image is captured. And a collation unit that collates the image captured by the in-vehicle camera and the reference image, and the control unit shifts between the image captured by the in-vehicle camera and the reference image by collation in the collation unit. Is detected, a warning is issued to the warning section.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the in-vehicle camera inspection device according to the third aspect, wherein the in-vehicle camera is mounted at a position where a part of the vehicle body of the vehicle is imaged in a part of the captured image. In the storage unit, an image of a part of the vehicle body of the vehicle is stored, and the collation unit includes an image of the part of the vehicle body stored in the storage unit and an image captured by the in-vehicle camera. And a part of the vehicle body in the vehicle.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the in-vehicle camera inspection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the movement detector detects the movement of the vehicle, and the movement detector detects the movement of the vehicle. A non-change area detection unit that detects the presence or absence of an area that does not change in the captured video, and the control unit detects the non-change area by the non-change area detection unit. In this case, a warning is issued to the warning unit.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the in-vehicle camera inspection apparatus according to the fifth aspect, wherein the movement detection unit includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects a traveling speed of the vehicle.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the focus determination unit determines that the captured image is not in focus, the warning unit issues a warning. When the in-vehicle camera is not in focus, A warning can be issued promptly to the passenger.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the focus determination is performed by edge extraction, it is possible to reliably determine the focus of the captured image.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the reference video when the in-vehicle camera is mounted at a predetermined position and captured is stored, and the deviation is detected by comparing the captured video with the reference video. Therefore, it is possible to reliably discriminate the deviation of the installation posture of the in-vehicle camera.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the in-vehicle camera is mounted at a position where a part of the vehicle body can be imaged, and the deviation of the captured image is determined based on the position where the part of the vehicle body is projected. It is possible to determine the displacement of the in-vehicle camera with certainty.

  According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the present invention, since the movement detection unit for detecting the movement of the vehicle and the non-change region detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of a region that does not change in the captured image are provided. Thus, it is possible to reliably determine the dirt attached to the lens surface of the in-vehicle camera.

{First embodiment}
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an in-vehicle camera inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, an in-vehicle camera inspection device 10 includes an imaging unit (on-vehicle camera) 12 mounted on a vehicle 11, a display unit 13, a warning unit 14 (see FIG. 2), and a vehicle speed sensor (movement detection unit). 15 and a control unit 16.

  The imaging unit 12 includes a plurality of lens systems and an imaging device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), for example, the front end of the vehicle 11. It is installed at the center, and images a part of the vehicle 11 and the surrounding scenery.

  As the display unit 13, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) applied to a car navigation device or the like is used in combination, and displays a captured image or the like from the imaging unit 12 under the control of the control unit 16.

  The warning unit 14 issues a warning to the occupant of the vehicle 11 under the control of the control unit 16. For example, a warning sound is generated from a speaker (not shown) installed in the vehicle interior of the vehicle 11 or displayed. A warning image is superimposed on the display screen of the unit 13.

  The vehicle speed sensor 15 is a sensor that detects that the vehicle 11 is traveling by its own power or traction.

  The control unit 16 is a functional component that operates according to a predetermined software program in a CPU (microphone processor) of a general computer to which a ROM, a RAM, and the like are connected. For example, as shown in FIG. A storage unit 16B and a collation unit 16C are provided.

  The focus determination unit 16A determines whether or not the captured image by the imaging unit 12 is in focus, and controls the warning unit 14 to warn the passenger to that effect (out of focus) with an image or sound. As a method for determining the focus, edge extraction processing is performed on the captured video by the edge extraction unit, and it is determined that the image is out of focus when the boundary of the grayscale image exceeds a predetermined line width.

  The storage unit 16B is, for example, a rewritable nonvolatile storage device such as a flash ROM or HDD, and the imaging unit 12 takes a correct posture with respect to the vehicle 11 as shown in FIG. A reference image 31 on which a part of the vehicle body of the vehicle 11 when mounted, for example, a bumper 32 (see FIG. 1) is projected, and an image captured by the imaging unit 12 that is sequentially updated and stored are stored.

  The collation unit 16C collates the image captured by the image capturing unit 12 with the reference image 31 stored in the storage unit 16B, and determines the image capturing unit 12 according to the position where the bumper 32 is projected (whether the image matches the reference image 31). It is determined whether or not is mounted in the correct posture. In addition, although the vehicle speed sensor 15 detects that the vehicle 11 is traveling, as shown in FIG. 4, an area that does not change in the captured image 41 that is sequentially updated and stored in the storage unit 16B, That is, it is also determined whether or not the dirt 42 attached to the lens surface of the imaging unit 12 is present (no change area detection). When determining whether or not the dirt 42 exists, the imaging target is cut out and detected by converting the captured image 41 into a binary image. As a result, it is possible to detect the dirt 42 with an ambiguous outline.

  Here, when the collation unit 16C determines that the position and direction of the imaging unit 12 are deviated from the reference image 31, or when the dirt 42 is detected, the warning unit 14 is controlled to notify the passenger. Warning of camera misalignment or dirt by image or sound.

<Operation>
The operation of the vehicle-mounted camera inspection device 10 having the above configuration will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, as soon as the ignition of the vehicle 11 is turned on, the in-vehicle camera inspection device 10 is also started (step ST51).

  Then, when the imaging unit 12 is selected by driving support or an operation input from the occupant, imaging is started (step ST52), and the captured video 41 is transmitted to the control unit 16 as shown in FIG.

  The control unit 16 first transmits the captured image 41 from the imaging unit 12 to the focus determination unit 16A, and determines whether or not the captured image 41 is in focus (step ST53).

  Here, if it is determined that the captured image 41 is not in focus, the warning unit 14 is controlled to warn the passenger by an image or sound (step ST55).

  When the captured image 41 is in focus, the captured image 41 is collated with the reference image 31 transmitted to the verification unit 16C and stored in the storage unit 16B, and the imaging unit is selected according to the position where the bumper 32 is projected. It is determined whether or not the vehicle 12 is mounted in the correct posture, and the contamination 42 in the captured image 41 sequentially updated and stored in the storage unit 16B while being detected by the vehicle speed sensor 15 while the vehicle 11 is moving. Is determined (step ST54).

  Here, when it is determined that the mounting posture of the image pickup unit 12 is not correct or the dirt 42 is attached to the lens surface of the image pickup unit 12, the warning unit 14 is controlled to display an image or a message to the passenger. A warning is given by voice (step ST55).

  If the mounting posture of the imaging unit 12 is correct and the lens surface is not dirty, the above operation is repeated until the ignition of the vehicle 11 is turned off (return to step ST52).

  In the present embodiment, the imaging unit 12 is installed at the center of the front end of the vehicle 11. However, the imaging unit 12 may be installed at the rear end or side of the vehicle 11. is there. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the mounting posture shift of the imaging unit 12 is detected based on the position where the side portion 62 of the vehicle 11 is projected in the captured image 61.

  As described above, when the focus determination unit 16A determines that the captured image is not in focus, the warning unit 14 issues a warning. Therefore, if the image capture unit 12 is not in focus, the occupant can promptly A warning can be issued.

  In addition, since the focus determination is performed by edge extraction, it is possible to reliably determine the focus of the captured image 41.

  Further, the reference image 31 when the image pickup unit 12 is mounted at a predetermined position and picked up is stored, and the misalignment is detected by comparing the image pickup image 41 with the reference image 31. It is possible to reliably determine the deviation of the installation posture.

  In addition, since the imaging unit 12 is mounted at a position where a part of the vehicle body of the vehicle 11 can be imaged and the deviation of the captured image 41 is determined based on the position where a part of the vehicle body is projected, the imaging unit 12 is more reliably detected. It is possible to determine the deviation.

  Further, since the vehicle speed sensor 15 that detects the movement of the vehicle 11 and the collation unit 16C that detects the presence or absence of a region that does not change in the captured image 41 are provided, the dirt 42 attached to the lens surface of the image capturing unit 12 can be reliably detected. Can be determined.

It is a figure which shows the vehicle-mounted camera inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the vehicle-mounted camera inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the reference | standard image | video which the memory | storage part of the vehicle-mounted camera inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows the picked-up image of the vehicle-mounted camera inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted camera inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the picked-up image of the vehicle-mounted camera inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 In-vehicle camera inspection apparatus 11 Vehicle 12 Imaging part 13 Display part 14 Warning part 15 Vehicle speed sensor 16 Control part 16A Focus determination part 16B Storage part 16C Collation part

Claims (6)

An in-vehicle camera mounted on the vehicle,
A focus determination unit that determines whether or not an image captured by the in-vehicle camera is in focus;
A warning unit that issues a warning to the vehicle occupant;
A vehicle-mounted camera inspection device comprising: a control unit that issues a warning to the warning unit when the focus determination unit determines that focus is not achieved. The in-vehicle camera inspection device according to claim 1,
The focus determination unit
A vehicle-mounted camera inspection device including an edge extraction unit that extracts an edge from an image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera. The in-vehicle camera inspection device according to claim 1 or 2,
A storage unit for storing a reference image when the in-vehicle camera is mounted and imaged at a predetermined position;
A collation unit that collates the image captured by the in-vehicle camera and the reference image;
The control unit is a vehicle-mounted camera inspection device that issues a warning to the warning unit when the deviation between the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera and the reference image is detected by collation in the collation unit. The in-vehicle camera inspection device according to claim 3,
The in-vehicle camera is mounted at a position where a part of the vehicle body is imaged in a part of the captured image,
In the storage unit, an image of a part of the vehicle body is stored.
The collation unit is an in-vehicle camera inspection device that collates an image of a part of the vehicle body stored in the storage unit and a part of the vehicle body in a video image taken by the in-vehicle camera. The in-vehicle camera inspection device according to claim 1 or 2,
A movement detector for detecting movement of the vehicle;
When the movement of the vehicle is detected by the movement detection unit, further comprising a non-change region detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of a region that does not change in the captured video,
The control unit is an in-vehicle camera inspection device that issues a warning to the warning unit when the non-change region is detected by the non-change region detection unit. The in-vehicle camera inspection device according to claim 5,
The movement detector is
An in-vehicle camera inspection device comprising a vehicle speed sensor that detects a traveling speed of the vehicle.