JP2007102691A - View-field support apparatus for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clearly display contents of an image reflected on a reflecting mirror. <P>SOLUTION: A view-field support apparatus 1 for vehicles includes a control circuit 2, a forward-monitoring camera 3, an HUD 9 and a position detection apparatus 13. If it is decided that the distance between own vehicle position and a specific point, such as a crossing, reaches a set distance, the control means 2 captures the image of the vehicle's front with the forward monitoring camera 3. Then, based on the captured image data, the reflecing mirror is recognized. The image reflected on the reflecing mirror is expanded, and an expanded image of the reflecing mirror is displayed on the HUD 9, based on the expanded/captured image data. Consequently, the image reflected on the reflecing mirror at the specific point can be expanded to be displayed to the user, thereby clearly displaying the contents of the image reflected on the reflecing mirror, and displaying the passing situation at the specific point to be easily understood. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular field-of-view support apparatus that displays an image of a reflector installed at an intersection or the like in an easily viewable manner.

In general, reflectors are installed at intersections with no traffic lights and poor visibility. In this case, it is sometimes difficult to see the image reflected on the reflecting mirror. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a traffic light or a road sign is zoomed / focused by a CCD camera and displayed on a monitor. Patent Document 2 describes a configuration in which a road sign is photographed by a camera, and road sign data is taken out and displayed on a display when a remote control request is issued.
JP-A-11-306489 JP 2003-329464 A

  Conventionally, it has not been made easy to see the image reflected on the reflector, and a countermeasure has been awaited. In addition, the thing of patent document 1 and patent document 2 is not recognizing a reflecting mirror and making this easy to see, and is not directly related to this invention. By the way, in the thing of patent document 1, when this infrared light source was imaged with the camera which has arrange | positioned the infrared light source in the traffic light or the road sign, and formed the light-receiving part which has a sensitivity in an infrared light region, it is The traffic light or road sign performs the processing to be the center of the screen, and further performs the zoom / focus described above. An infrared light source is required for the traffic light or the road sign, and the installation of a CCD in the infrared light range is necessary. There is a drawback that the equipment cost is enormous. Moreover, in the thing of patent document 2, in order to reconfirm the past road sign, it displays an image.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular field-of-view support apparatus that can easily display video content reflected on a reflecting mirror.

  The invention of claim 1 is a distance measuring means for measuring a distance between the vehicle position and a specific point, an imaging means for imaging the traveling direction of the own vehicle, a display means, and the own vehicle measured by the distance measuring means. Reflector recognition means for recognizing a reflector at a specific point from image data picked up by the image pickup means when the distance between the position and the specific point reaches a set distance, and the reflector is recognized by the reflector recognition means. And a magnifying means for enlarging and imaging the image reflected on the reflecting mirror, and a display control means for displaying the enlarged image of the reflecting mirror on the display means based on the image data magnified and imaged by the magnifying means. It is characterized by the provision.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when it is determined by the distance measuring means that the distance between the own vehicle position and a specific point such as an intersection has reached the set distance, the imaging means is imaged and the front of the own vehicle is Image. The reflecting mirror recognizing means recognizes the reflecting mirror at the specific point from the captured image data. The enlargement means enlarges the video image reflected on the reflecting mirror, and the display control means causes the display means to display the enlarged video image of the reflecting mirror based on the enlarged and imaged image data. As a result, the video image reflected on the reflector at the specific point can be enlarged and displayed to the user (driver), the content of the video image reflected on the reflector can be easily displayed, and the traffic situation at the specific point can be displayed in an easily understandable manner.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided distance measuring means for measuring a distance between the vehicle position and a specific point, imaging means for imaging the traveling direction of the own vehicle, display means, and the vehicle measured by the distance measuring means. Reflector recognition means for recognizing a reflector at a specific point from the image data picked up by the image pickup means when the distance between the position and the specific point reaches a set distance, and whether there is a moving body in the image data of the reflector It is characterized by comprising a moving body judging means for judging whether or not and a display control means for displaying on the display means a figure indicating the approaching of the moving body when the moving body judging means judges that there is a moving body. Have.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the moving body judging means judges whether or not there is a moving body in the image data of the reflecting mirror, and when the moving body judging means judges that there is a moving body, the display control means Since the image indicating the approach of the moving object is displayed on the display means, the approaching of the moving object can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner in the video content reflected on the reflecting mirror, and the traffic situation at a specific point can be displayed in an easily understandable manner.
In this case, the reflecting mirror recognizing means includes reflecting mirror determination data, compares the captured image data with the reflecting mirror determination data, and recognizes the reflecting mirror when both data are substantially similar. (Invention of claim 3). In this way, the reflecting mirror can be reliably recognized.

  In addition, when the reflecting mirror is recognized, the reflecting mirror recognizing means compares the size of the reflecting mirror and the size of the image data estimated from the distance between the vehicle position and the specific point, and the size of the image data. Is smaller than the estimated size of the reflecting mirror, the image data of the reflecting mirror may not be used (invention of claim 4). If a specific point is continuous and there is no reflector at the specific point that passes first, and there is a reflector at the specific point that is going to pass next, the reflector at the next specific point is recognized. It doesn't make much sense to do display processing. That is, it is meaningful to perform a display process or the like when there is a reflecting mirror at a specific point to be passed. In this regard, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the size of the image data is compared with the size of the outer shape of the reflector estimated from the distance between the vehicle position and the specific point, and the size of the image data is estimated. Since it is smaller than the size of the outer shape of the reflecting mirror, it can be determined that there is no reflecting mirror at a specific point to be passed. Therefore, according to the invention of claim 4, when the specific points are continuous, there is no reflector at the specific point to be passed, and there is a reflector at the specific point to be passed next. The display process can be omitted for the reflector at the next specific point.

  In addition, when the reflecting mirror recognizing means passes the specific point where the reflecting mirror is recognized again, the reflecting mirror may be specified based on the previous image data (invention of claim 5). If it does in this way, when passing the specific point which recognized the reflecting mirror again, the installation position of a reflecting mirror can be specified easily.

  Further, the display means may be constituted by a head-up display using a front windshield of a vehicle as a display screen. In this way, the driver can easily confirm the display contents by moving the line of sight slightly.

  The specific point may be an intersection without a traffic light (invention of claim 7). In most cases, a reflector is installed at an intersection without a traffic light. Therefore, as in the invention of claim 7, when a specific point is an intersection without a traffic signal, it has a high practical value. Become.

  Further, the display control means may horizontally invert the image data captured by the enlargement means and display the horizontally reversed video of the reflecting mirror on the display means based on the inverted image data. (Invention of Item 8) In this way, an image reflected in the reverse left-right relationship on the reflecting mirror can be displayed in a form returned to the actual left-right relationship.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a vehicle vision support apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicular visibility support apparatus. The field-of-view assistance device 1 for a vehicle according to this embodiment includes a control circuit 2, a front monitoring camera 3 as an imaging unit that images the traveling direction of the vehicle, a GPS receiver 4, a distance sensor 5, an operation switch group 6, a display device 7, and a voice. An output device 8, a head-up display (hereinafter referred to as “HUD”) 9, a vehicle speed sensor 10, a communication device 11, and a magnetic disk device (hereinafter referred to as “HDD”) 12 as external storage means are configured.

  The control circuit 2 controls the overall operation of the vehicle vision support device 1 and is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and has a well-known CPU, RAM, ROM, a bus line connecting them, a power supply circuit, etc. Is provided. The control circuit 2 functions as camera control means for controlling the front monitoring camera 3, video signal output means for outputting a video signal to the HUD 9, distance measurement means, reflector recognition means, enlargement means, and display control means. To do.

  The front monitoring camera 3 is attached from the passenger compartment of the host vehicle 22 (see FIG. 2) toward the front of the vehicle, acquires an analog image of a front view, and outputs an image signal to the control circuit 2. The GPS receiver 4 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS artificial satellites, calculates the current position of the vehicle, and transmits it to the control circuit 2. The distance sensor 5 is a sensor for measuring the travel distance, and measures the travel distance by counting the number of rotations of the front wheel, for example. The vehicle speed sensor 10 measures the speed of the host vehicle. The measured values of the vehicle speed sensor 10 and the distance sensor 5 are used for correcting the current position coordinates calculated by the GPS receiver 4. The GPS receiver 4, the distance sensor 5, and the vehicle speed sensor 10 constitute a position detection device 13 (position detection means). In addition to this position detection means, a vehicle body direction sensor or the like may be used to improve position detection accuracy.

  The operation switch group 6 is used to input commands and data to the control circuit 2 and includes, for example, a touch switch and a remote control switch formed on a color liquid crystal display. The display device 7 is for superimposing and displaying the current vehicle position detected by the position detection device 13 on a road map, and is composed of, for example, a color liquid crystal display. The voice output device 8 is used for changing the output information from the control circuit 2 to an artificial voice and transmitting it to the driver, and is usually used for route guidance.

The communication device 11 is for receiving road traffic information such as traffic congestion, construction / traffic regulation, and required time from a VICS (Vehicle Information & Communication System) as a digital signal.
Map data is recorded (stored) in the HDD 12. This map data includes road maps including intersections with traffic lights, intersections without traffic lights (this corresponds to a specific point in this embodiment), expressways, 3D data such as buildings, road width data, etc. Includes various facility data and landmarks. This map data is used for confirming the position on the map where the vehicle is traveling, route searching, which is a general navigation function, route guidance, and the like.

  Next, the HUD 9 will be described. The HUD 9 is a device that allows the driver to see driving information without taking his / her line of sight out of the traveling direction. Usually, the driving information is formed as a virtual image in a front field outside the front windshield. .

  The HUD 9 will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 2, the HUD 9 includes a light source 14, a transmissive liquid crystal panel 15, a reflector 16 including a concave mirror, and a dustproof cover 17, which are provided on the back side of the instrument panel 18. The light emitted from the light source 14 passes through the liquid crystal panel 15, is reflected by the reflector 16, passes through the dust cover 17, and enters the front windshield 19 as imaging light (display image). As a result, the driver 20 can visually recognize the display information on the liquid crystal panel 15 as the virtual image 21 in front of the front windshield 19.

  Next, the control contents of the control circuit 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. While traveling, the control circuit 2 acquires the vehicle position information from the vehicle position detection device 13 and the vehicle speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 10 (step S1). When the vehicle reaches a set distance before the intersection position (obtained from map data) without a traffic signal (determined in step S2), the front monitoring camera 3 is caused to perform an imaging operation to acquire forward image data and execute image processing. (Step S3). Then, the mirror image data is extracted from the image data after the image processing (step S4). In this reflector extraction method, outline data (circular and square) of a reflector is provided as determination data in advance, and a shape similar to the outline data is determined as a reflector and extracted. In this case, it is also possible to provide outer shape data including the support of the reflecting mirror. Further, road sign determination data may be provided, and a shape similar to the road sign determination data may be determined as a road sign (not determined as a reflector). High reflector extraction is possible.

  After step S4, in step S5, the reflector outer shape estimated from the distance between the vehicle and the intersection (the longer the distance is, the smaller the reflector outer shape) is compared with the outer shape of the reflector from which the image data is extracted. Then, it is determined whether or not the outer shape of the image data is larger than a predetermined value. That is, when the outer shape of the reflecting mirror in the image data is smaller than the specified value, it can be determined that there is no reflecting mirror at the intersection that is about to pass from now on, and that there is a reflecting mirror at the next intersection that is about to pass. Therefore, when it is determined that the reflector outer shape in the image data is smaller than the specified value (“NO” in step S5), the process returns to step S1. In other words, the reflecting mirror whose image data outer shape is determined to be smaller than the specified value is not used for enlargement processing and display described later.

  If it is determined that the reflector is installed at the intersection that is about to pass ("YES" in step S5), HUD9 display data is created in step S6. That is, the front monitoring camera 3 is zoomed up / focused, and the reflecting mirror is partially photographed, so that the reflected image reflected on the reflecting mirror is enlarged and captured. Then, the enlarged image data is subjected to left / right inversion processing to create HUD9 display data. The purpose of the left-right reversal processing is that the reflected image reflected on the reflector is reversed left and right with respect to the actual situation as shown in FIG. It is to adapt to the actual situation. In FIG. 4, FIG. 4 (a) is an actual view situation seen from the front monitoring camera 3, FIG. 4 (b) is an actual view situation seen from right above the intersection, and FIG. 4 (c) is a reflector. This is a reflection image reflected in H.

  As can be seen from FIG. 4 (b), the moving body M (person on the bicycle) is traveling in the direction of the intersection near the wall A ′ on the other side of the building A. In this case, in the reflected image HE of the reflecting mirror H in FIG. 4C, it appears that the moving body M is traveling near the wall B ′ of the building B. Accordingly, the image data D (see FIG. 5A) D of the reflected image HE in FIG. 4C is inverted about the axis J in the vertical direction, and the left-right inverted image data D shown in FIG. Create ´. Accordingly, it can be seen that the moving body M is moving near the wall A ′.

  In step S8, three-dimensional data (3D information such as a building) of the intersection is acquired from the map data, and an obstacle (the building A on the left side, or the like on the front windshield 19 (display screen) is obtained from the 3D information. A position where the opposite side of the building C on the right side can be imaged is determined (step S9). Then, depending on whether the reflecting mirror H is for left direction confirmation or right direction confirmation, the reflector image is displayed at the position determined by the HUD 9 (step S10). That is, when the reflecting mirror H is a left-direction confirming mirror, an enlarged and horizontally inverted reflecting mirror image display image G (a display image similar to that shown in FIG. 5B) is displayed on the left side. The side where the obstacle is facing is displayed at a position where it can be imaged (see FIG. 6). When the reflecting mirror H is used for checking the right direction, the side where the obstacle on the left side is facing is displayed. When there are two reflecting mirrors H for left direction confirmation and right direction confirmation, they are displayed at the corresponding positions. Whether the reflecting mirror H is for left direction confirmation or right direction confirmation can be determined based on how the eyelid Ha (FIG. 4) on the upper part of the reflecting mirror looks and the convergence directions (perspective method) of a plurality of lines of the reflecting mirror image. Is. If the vehicle passes through the intersection (determined in step S11), the display is turned off (step S12).

Further, FIG. 7 shows a display example at an intersection where the installation positions and the number of reflection mirrors are different. In this case, two reflection mirrors H1 and H2 are installed, and each of the reflection mirrors H1 and H2 is provided. The image is enlarged and displayed horizontally reversed. In this case, the display image of the enlarged / left-right inverted image of the left direction confirming mirror is displayed on the left side of the front windshield 19 (a position where the left obstacle can be imaged), and the right direction confirming reflector. The display image of the enlarged / left / right inverted video is displayed on the right side of the front windshield 19.
The arrows X in FIGS. 6 and 7 are virtual arrows for helping understanding, and are not displayed by the HUD 9. However, the arrow X may be displayed by the HUD 9.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, when the control circuit 2 determines that the distance between the own vehicle position and a specific point such as an intersection has reached the set distance, the front monitoring camera 3 is caused to perform an imaging operation and the front of the own vehicle is detected. Image. Then, the reflecting mirror at the intersection is recognized from the imaged image data, the image reflected on the reflecting mirror is enlarged, and the enlarged image of the reflecting mirror is displayed on the HUD 9 based on the enlarged imaged image data. As a result, the image reflected on the reflector at the intersection can be enlarged and displayed to the user (driver), the contents of the image reflected on the reflector can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner, and the traffic situation at the intersection with no traffic light at a specific point can be easily understood. Can be displayed.
Further, according to the present embodiment, reflecting mirror determination data is provided, and the captured image data is compared with the reflecting mirror determination data, and the reflecting mirror is recognized when both data are substantially similar. Therefore, it is possible to reliably recognize the reflecting mirror.

  According to the present embodiment, when the reflecting mirror is recognized, the size of the reflecting mirror estimated from the distance between the vehicle position and the intersection is compared with the size of the image data. When the size of the reflecting mirror is smaller than the estimated size of the reflecting mirror, the reflecting mirror image data is not used for enlargement processing and display. Therefore, the intersection is continuous, and there is no reflecting mirror at the intersection to be passed. When there is a reflecting mirror at the next intersection to be passed, the display processing can be omitted for the reflecting mirror at the next intersection.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the enlarged and captured image data is horizontally reversed, and the horizontally reversed video of the reflecting mirror is displayed on the HUD 9 based on the reversed image data. The image shown in the relationship can be displayed in the form of returning to the actual left-right relationship.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the display means is composed of the HUD 9 having the front windshield of the vehicle as a display screen, so that the driver can easily confirm the display contents by moving the line of sight slightly. Further, the display screen can be displayed in relation to the actual field of view ahead of the host vehicle.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the specific point is an intersection without a traffic light, an image of the reflecting mirror can be enlarged and displayed at the intersection without a traffic signal, and the practical value is high.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the function of the enlargement means in the control circuit 2 is omitted, and the function of the moving body determination means is added instead. Different from the example. More specifically, in the flowchart of FIG. 8 showing the control contents of the control circuit 2, step T6, step T7, and step T10 are different from the flowchart of the first embodiment. In step T6, it is determined whether or not there is a moving object in the image of the reflecting mirror. In this case, it is preferable to determine whether or not there is a moving body based on the extraction of a linear change object in the image of the reflecting mirror and the extraction of the characteristic shape of the vehicle, the motorcycle, or the bicycle. In step T7, a predetermined figure representing the approach of the moving body is used as display data for HUD. This predetermined shape is displayed by the HUD 9 in step T10. An example of this display is shown in FIG. The predetermined figure Gs shown in FIG. 9 is set as a figure representing the vehicle. In this case, it is assumed that the moving body is not confirmed in the reflecting mirror H1, and it is determined that the moving body exists only in the reflecting mirror H2. The predetermined shape Q may not be the shape of the vehicle, and may be any mark, for example.

According to the second embodiment, it is possible to easily display the approach of the moving body in the video content reflected on the reflecting mirror, and it is possible to easily display the traffic situation at the intersection.
In addition, this invention is not limited to each Example mentioned above, You may implement as changed as follows. For example, the reflecting mirror recognition means included in the control circuit 2 may specify the installation position of the reflecting mirror based on the previous image data when passing through a specific point where the reflecting mirror is recognized again. If it does in this way, when passing the specific point which recognized the reflecting mirror again, the installation position of a reflecting mirror can be specified easily. The display device may be a route guidance display device. Moreover, as a specific point, the curve point with a bad view may be sufficient besides the intersection without a traffic signal.

1 is a block diagram of a vehicular field-of-view support apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of the HUD Flow chart showing control contents It is a figure for demonstrating the reflective image of a reflective mirror, (a) shows the visual field condition from a front surveillance camera direction, (b) shows a planar visual field condition, (c) shows the image of a reflective mirror. Figure Diagram for explaining left / right reversal of reflected image Figure showing the display image on the front windshield The figure which shows the example of a display in the different intersection from FIG. FIG. 3 equivalent view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 6 equivalent diagram

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a vehicle vision support device, 2 is a control circuit (distance measuring means, reflecting mirror recognition means, magnifying means, display control means), 3 is a front monitoring camera (imaging means), and 9 is HUD (display means). , 13 is a position detecting device, and 19 is a front windshield.

Claims (8)

Distance measuring means for measuring the distance between the vehicle position and a specific point;
Imaging means for imaging the traveling direction of the vehicle;
Display means;
Reflector recognition means for recognizing a reflector at a specific point from image data picked up by the image pickup means when the distance between the vehicle position measured by the distance measuring means and the specific point reaches a set distance;
When the reflecting mirror is recognized by the reflecting mirror recognizing means, the enlarging means for enlarging and capturing an image reflected on the reflecting mirror
A vehicle field of view assistance apparatus comprising: display control means for displaying an enlarged image of the reflecting mirror on the display means based on the image data enlarged and imaged by the enlargement means. Distance measuring means for measuring the distance between the vehicle position and a specific point;
Imaging means for imaging the traveling direction of the vehicle;
Display means;
Reflector recognition means for recognizing a reflector at a specific point from image data picked up by the image pickup means when the distance between the vehicle position measured by the distance measuring means and the specific point reaches a set distance;
Moving body judging means for judging whether or not there is a moving body in the image data of the reflecting mirror;
A vehicle field-of-view support apparatus comprising: display control means for displaying on the display means a figure indicating the approach of the mobile body when the mobile body determination means determines that there is a mobile body. In the vehicular visual field support device according to claim 1 or 2,
The reflecting mirror recognition means comprises reflecting mirror determination data, compares the captured image data with the reflecting mirror determination data, and recognizes the reflecting mirror when both data are substantially similar. Visibility support device for vehicles. The vehicular visibility support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When the reflecting mirror is recognized, the reflecting mirror recognition means compares the size of the reflecting mirror estimated from the distance between the vehicle position and the specific point with the size of the image data, and the size of the image data is estimated. When the size of the reflecting mirror is smaller than the size of the reflecting mirror, image data of the reflecting mirror is not used. The vehicle field of view assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The vehicular field-of-view support apparatus, wherein the reflecting mirror recognizing unit specifies the installation position of the reflecting mirror based on the previous image data when passing the specific point where the reflecting mirror is recognized again. In the vehicular visual field assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The vehicle field-of-view support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means is a head-up display using a front windshield of the vehicle as a display screen. In the vehicular visibility support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The vehicular field-of-view support apparatus, wherein the specific point is an intersection without a traffic light. The vehicular visibility support apparatus according to claim 1,
The display control means horizontally inverts the image data captured by the enlargement means and displays the horizontally reversed video of the reflecting mirror on the display means based on the inverted image data. apparatus.

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