JP2007038834A - Vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle capable of reducing a sense of incongruity given to a screen observer by reducing a difference between a shape of a vehicle body displayed on the screen and a shape of a real vehicle body on a vehicle periphery visualizing means to pick up an image of a vehicle periphery including a part of the vehicle in a visual field. <P>SOLUTION: A bumper 50 has a projected part projected toward the rear of the vehicle more than other parts on a part in the longitudinal direction. The head end of the projected part 51 is positioned immediately below the center of an optical axis of an image pick-up part 1. Consequently, the head end of the projected part 51 is image-formed on a central part in the horizontal direction of an image pick-up element 5 when an image of the bumper 50 is picked up by the image pick-up part 1. Additionally, a root of the projected part 51 is image-formed on an end in the horizontal direction of the image pick-up element 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle, and more particularly to a shape of a vehicle body part imaged by an imaging unit in a vehicle periphery visual recognition apparatus that images the vehicle periphery including a part of the vehicle body within a visual field.

  2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle periphery visual recognition device that takes a video around a vehicle with an in-vehicle camera and displays the image on a display screen that can be visually recognized by a driver has been put into practical use. For example, a rear camera, which is one of the vehicle periphery visual recognition devices, may employ a composition in which a part of the rear bumper is included in the shooting range, as an index of the positional relationship between the host vehicle and the background image. .

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a vehicle periphery visual recognition device in which a vehicle periphery is imaged so that a part of the bumper falls within the imaging field of view, and the bumper is displayed in a part of the image.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-86754 (FIG. 9)

  However, according to the conventional vehicle periphery visual recognition device, the bumper, which is actually substantially straight, is curved so that the end is warped upward than the center on the display screen due to the lens characteristics of the imaging unit. There is a problem that it is displayed and gives a strange feeling to the screen observer.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and in a vehicle periphery visual recognition device that captures the periphery of a vehicle by including a part of the vehicle body such as a bumper in the field of view, the vehicle body portion displayed on the screen is displayed. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a vehicle that can reduce the discomfort given to the screen observer by reducing the difference between the shape and the shape of the actual vehicle body part.

  A vehicle according to a first aspect of the present invention is a vehicle periphery visual recognition device that captures an image of the periphery of a vehicle including a part of a vehicle body within a field of view, and includes an image sensor and a lens having a characteristic that an image height is proportional to an angle of view. A vehicle including a vehicle body part imaged by a unit, wherein the vehicle body part includes a first part and a second part protruding from the first part, wherein the first part is a horizontal direction of the imaging element. The second portion is imaged at a horizontal central portion of the image sensor.

  The vehicle according to a second aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the vehicle according to the first aspect of the invention, the vehicle body part is formed in a bumper part of the vehicle.

  The vehicular bumper according to a third aspect of the invention relates to the vehicle according to the first or second aspect of the invention, and in particular, the radius of a circle that approximates the curvature of the outer edge of the vehicle body imaged on the imaging element is the imaging It is characterized by being larger than the horizontal size of the element.

  According to the vehicle according to the first aspect of the invention, the first part is imaged on the end of the image sensor, and the second part protruding from the first part is imaged on the center of the image sensor. The curvature of the outer edge of the vehicle body imaged on the element is reduced. This reduces the image distortion that the vehicle body part, which is actually a straight line, is curved so that the end part of the display part warps upwards from the center part on the display screen, thereby reducing the uncomfortable feeling given to the screen observer. be able to.

  According to the vehicle according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the image distortion that the bumper, which is substantially linear, is curved so that the end portion of the display screen warps more than the center portion on the display screen is reduced. The discomfort given to the person can be reduced.

  According to the vehicle of the third invention, even when the outer edge of the vehicle body imaged on the image sensor is curved, the radius of the circle that approximates the curvature of the outer edge is the horizontal size of the image sensor. The discomfort given to the screen observer can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the element which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in different drawing shall show the same or corresponding element.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a vehicle periphery visual recognition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle periphery visual recognition device according to the present embodiment includes an imaging unit 1, an image processing unit 2 connected to the subsequent stage of the imaging unit 1, and a display connected to the subsequent stage of the image processing unit 2. Part 3.

  The imaging unit 1 actually includes a lens 4 composed of a plurality of lens systems and an imaging element 5 such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor. As shown in FIG. 2, the imaging unit 1 is installed, for example, in the rear part of the vehicle, and includes a part of the rear bumper 50 in the field of view and images the rear region of the vehicle.

  The image signal S1 output from the imaging unit 1 is subjected to various types of image processing by the image processing unit 2, and then output as image data S2.

  The image data S2 is input to the display unit 3, and an image of the vehicle rear area captured by the imaging unit 1 is displayed on a display screen that can be viewed by the driver.

  FIG. 3 is a graph showing the image height characteristics of the lens 4. The horizontal axis is the angle of view θ, and the vertical axis is the image height y. FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing the definitions of the angle of view θ and the image height y in the present embodiment, and corresponds to a top view of the lens 4 and the image sensor 5 as viewed from above. A subject at a position shifted by an angle θ from the optical axis center of the lens 4 is imaged on the image sensor 5 by the lens 4. In the present embodiment, this angle θ is defined as “view angle θ”. On the image sensor 5, the distance y from the center of the optical axis of the lens 4 to the imaging position of the subject is defined as “image height y” in the present embodiment.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the lens 4 has a linear image height characteristic M in which the image height y is proportional to the angle of view θ. As the angle of view θ increases as θ1, θ2, θ3,..., The image height y increases as y1, y2, y3,.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an image of the bumper 100 formed on the image sensor 5 when a general bumper 100 having a substantially linear shape is imaged. The angle of view θ decreases toward the center of the image sensor 5 and increases toward the periphery. The lens 4 has a linear image height characteristic M (see FIG. 3), and the image height y increases in proportion to the angle of view θ. The image is curved so that the end is warped rather than the center in the horizontal direction. Note that the image sensor 5 has a horizontally-long rectangular imaging surface, and the dimension of the image sensor 5 in the horizontal direction is defined as 2 × Hc.

  Focusing on the portion of the bumper 100 located immediately below the optical axis center of the imaging unit 1, the angle of view θ is between θ2 and θ3, and the image height (distance from the lens center Lc) y is y100.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of the bumper 50 according to the present embodiment. The bumper 50 has a protruding portion 51 that protrudes toward the rear of the vehicle more than the other portion in a part in the longitudinal direction. The tip of the protrusion 51 is located directly below the center of the optical axis of the imaging unit 1. Accordingly, when the bumper 50 is imaged by the imaging unit 1, the tip portion of the projecting portion 51 is imaged at the center in the horizontal direction of the imaging element 5. Further, the root portion of the protruding portion 51 is imaged at the horizontal end of the image sensor 5. Further, the portion where the projecting portion 51 is not formed is imaged on the further end side in the horizontal direction of the image sensor 5.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the structure of another bumper 52 according to the present embodiment. Similar to the bumper 50, the bumper 52 has a protruding portion 53 that protrudes from other portions, and the tip of the protruding portion 53 is located directly below the center of the optical axis of the imaging unit 1.

  FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an image of the bumper 50 imaged on the image sensor 5 when the bumper 50 shown in FIG. 6 is imaged. It can be seen that the curvature of the outer edge B50 of the bumper 50 is reduced as compared with the outer edge B100 of the bumper 100 indicated by a broken line. This is because the angle of view θ of the portion corresponding to the protruding portion 51 is reduced due to the formation of the protruding portion 51, and as a result, the image height y is also reduced, and the central portion of the outer edge B50 is raised. is there.

  Focusing on the portion of the bumper 50 located directly below the optical axis center of the imaging unit 1, the angle of view θ is smaller than θ1, and the image height (distance from the lens center Lc) y is larger than y100 shown in FIG. A small y50.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, the outer edge B50 of the bumper 50 is slightly curved, but the outer edge B50 is changed by adjusting the size and curvature of the protruding portion 51, for example, by changing to the bumper 52 shown in FIG. It can also be drawn as a straight line. However, if the curvature is suppressed to such an extent that the radius of the circle approximated to the curvature of the outer edge B50 is larger than the horizontal size (2 × Hc) of the image pickup device 5, the screen viewer of the display unit 3 is sufficiently uncomfortable. To be reduced.

  As described above, according to the vehicular bumper according to the present embodiment, the bumper 50 is provided with the protruding portion 51, and the protruding portion 51 is imaged at the center of the imaging device 5, thereby forming an image on the imaging device 5. Further, the curvature of the outer edge B50 of the bumper 50 can be reduced. As a result, an image distortion that the bumper 50 that is substantially linear in reality is curved so that the end of the bumper 50 is warped upward rather than the center on the display screen of the display unit 3 is reduced. Discomfort can be reduced.

  In the above description, the bumper shape has been devised. However, the present invention is not limited to the bumper, and the same effect can be obtained by changing the shape of the ornament or garnish imaged by the imaging unit 1 in the same manner as described above. Obtainable.

  Moreover, although the example which imaged the back area | region of a vehicle with the back camera was described in the above description, it is applicable not only to a back camera but the camera which images the front area | region or side area | region of a vehicle.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the vehicle periphery visual recognition apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the installation location and imaging | photography range of an imaging part. It is a graph which shows the image height characteristic of a lens. It is a figure for demonstrating the definition of "view angle" and "image height" in embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the image of the bumper imaged on the image pick-up element, when imaging the substantially linear general bumper. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the bumper which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the other bumper which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the image of the bumper imaged on the image pick-up element, when imaging the bumper shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging part 2 Image processing part 3 Display part 4 Lens 5 Imaging element 50,52 Bumper 51,53 Protrusion part

Claims (3)

A vehicle periphery visual recognition device that captures an image of the periphery of a vehicle including a part of the vehicle body in a field of view includes a vehicle body portion that is imaged by an imaging unit that includes an imaging element and a lens having a characteristic that an image height is proportional to an angle of view. A vehicle,
The vehicle body part includes a first part and a second part protruding from the first part,
The vehicle, wherein the first portion is imaged at a horizontal end portion of the image sensor, and the second portion is imaged at a horizontal center portion of the image sensor.   The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body portion is formed in a bumper portion of the vehicle. 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a radius of a circle that approximates a curvature of an outer edge of the vehicle body imaged on the image sensor is larger than a horizontal size of the image sensor.

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