JP2010108507A - Vehicle periphery monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle periphery monitoring device for notifying the crew of a vehicle of the existence of an object to let the crew of the vehicle recognize the type of the object. <P>SOLUTION: In the vehicle periphery monitoring device 1, it is possible to notify the crew of a vehicle 10 of the type of an object as well as the existence of the object through a vision according to the difference of the display configurations of the existence of the object in the vehicle periphery image displayed by an HUD 7, and it is possible to let the driver of the vehicle 10 recognize to which of a human being and a quadruped the object is pertinent according to the difference of the designs of a first mark M1 and a second mark M2 or the difference of the designs of a first frame F1 and a second frame F2 displayed by the HUD 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention uses a captured image obtained by an imaging device mounted on a vehicle to notify the occupant of the vehicle of the presence of the object by a notification device when the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the object is high. The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device for reporting to a vehicle.

  Based on the time-series position data of objects such as animals existing around the vehicle, a movement vector in the real space of the object is calculated. Based on this movement vector, the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the object is calculated. There has been proposed a vehicle periphery monitoring device that determines the height and determines that the possibility of contact is high, and notifies the driver to that effect (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-006096 A

  However, it is useful information for the driver of the vehicle to recognize the type of the object, such as a person such as a pedestrian or a bicycle occupant or a quadruped animal such as a deer or a dog. Nevertheless, it is not possible for the driver to recognize the type of the object simply by reporting.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus which can alert | report the presence of the target object so that the passenger | crew of a vehicle may recognize the kind of target object.

  The present invention uses a captured image obtained by an imaging device mounted on a vehicle to notify the occupant of the vehicle of the presence of the object by a notification device when the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the object is high. A vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus for reporting to the object, the object extraction means for extracting an image area corresponding to the object from the captured image as the object area, and the object area extracted by the object extraction means The object type determination means for determining whether the object is a human or a quadruped animal based on the shape and size of the object, and the difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determination means Accordingly, the present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device including a notification control unit that notifies the notification device of the presence of the object in a different form.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention for solving the above problem further includes a distance measuring unit that measures a distance between the vehicle and the object, and the object type determining unit is measured by the distance measuring unit. The object type is determined on the condition that the distance is equal to or less than a reference distance, and the notification control unit performs the first notification process when the type of the object is determined to be human. While notifying the notification device of the presence of an object, the presence of the object is determined by a second notification process different from the first notification process when the type of the object is determined to be a quadruped animal. The object type determination means does not determine the object type on the condition that the distance is longer than a reference distance, and the notification control means performs the first notification process and the previous The third notification process different from the respective second notification process, characterized in that to report the existence of the object in the notification apparatus.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention, the vehicle occupant can recognize the type of the object in addition to the presence of the object according to the difference in the form of notification indicating the presence of the object. The “captured image” is a concept that includes a captured image as well as a processed image obtained by image processing of the original image. In addition, in view of the fact that the object type determination accuracy becomes lower as the object is farther from the vehicle, this object is differently formed depending on the type of the object only when the determination accuracy is high to some extent. The presence of an object is reported to the vehicle driver. For this reason, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the presence of the object is reported in an incorrect form due to an erroneous determination of the type of the object by the vehicle periphery monitoring device. Furthermore, according to the difference in the form of notification indicating the presence of the target object, in addition to the presence and type of the target object, it is possible to make the vehicle occupant recognize the length of the distance between the vehicle and the target object.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device includes vehicle speed measuring means for measuring the speed of the vehicle, and the notification control means includes the vehicle speed measuring means in addition to the difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determining means. The presence of the object may be reported to the notification device in a different form according to the level of the vehicle speed measured by.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus having the above configuration, in response to the difference in the form of notification indicating the presence of the object, the vehicle occupant recognizes the presence and type of the object and the level of the vehicle speed. be able to.

  An image display device that displays a peripheral image of the vehicle as the notification device is provided, and the presence of the object is indicated in the image display device according to the difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determination unit. It may be displayed in a different form.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring device having the configuration, according to the difference in display form of the presence of the object in the vehicle periphery image, in addition to the presence of the object, the type of the object can be visually notified to the vehicle occupant. .

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device includes an audio output device that outputs a sound indicating the presence of the object as the notification device, and the object is determined according to a difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determining unit. The presence of an object may be output to the audio output device in a different form.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus having the above configuration, in addition to the presence of the target, the type of the target can be recognized by the vehicle occupant through hearing according to the difference in the output form of the sound indicating the presence of the target.

Configuration explanatory diagram of the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention Explanatory drawing about a vehicle equipped with a vehicle periphery monitoring device Flow chart showing functions of vehicle periphery monitoring device Explanatory diagram regarding different notification processes

  An embodiment of a vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention will be described.

  First, the structure of the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this embodiment is demonstrated.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device includes an image processing unit 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The image processing unit 1 is connected to a pair of left and right infrared cameras (corresponding to the “imaging device” of the present invention) 2R and 2L that image the front of the vehicle 10 and sensors that detect the traveling state of the vehicle 10. The yaw rate sensor 3 for detecting the yaw rate of the vehicle 10, the vehicle speed sensor 4 for detecting the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle 10, and the brake sensor 5 for detecting the presence or absence of a brake operation of the vehicle 10 are connected.

  Furthermore, the image processing unit 1 has captured images captured by a speaker (corresponding to the “speech output device” of the present invention) 6 and infrared cameras 2R and 2L for outputting auditory notification information such as sound. In addition, a HUD (head-up display, which corresponds to the “image display device” of the present invention) 7 disposed near the front window is connected to display visual notification information.

  When the distance to the object is measured by a radar, only one infrared camera may be mounted on the vehicle 10. Instead of or in addition to the HUD, a display that displays a traveling state such as the vehicle speed of the vehicle 10 or a display that an in-vehicle navigation device has may be employed as the image display device.

  The image processing unit 1 includes an ECU (electronic control unit) that includes an A / D conversion circuit, a memory such as a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, an I / O circuit, and a bus that connects these. The image processing unit 1 (specifically, a CPU that executes arithmetic processing according to a program stored in a memory or a storage device) is the “object extraction means”, “object type determination means”, and “report control means” of the present invention. Is configured.

  Analog signals output from the infrared cameras 2R, 2L, the yaw rate sensor 3, the vehicle speed sensor 4, and the brake sensor 5 are converted into digital data by the A / D conversion circuit, and based on the data digitized by the CPU, humans (pedestrians) Or an object such as a cyclist or a two-wheeled vehicle) or a quadruped animal (such as a deer, a horse or a dog), and when the detected object satisfies a predetermined notification requirement, the object is detected through the speaker 6 or the HUD 7. The driver is notified of the presence or the possibility of contact between the vehicle 10 and the object.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the infrared cameras 2 </ b> R and 2 </ b> L are attached to the front portion of the vehicle 10 (the front grill portion in the figure) in order to image the front of the vehicle 10. The right infrared camera 2R is disposed at a position to the right of the center of the vehicle 10 in the vehicle width direction, and the left infrared camera 2L is disposed at a position to the left of the center of the vehicle 10 in the vehicle width direction. Their positions are symmetrical with respect to the center of the vehicle 10 in the vehicle width direction.

  The infrared cameras 2R and 2L are fixed so that their optical axes extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10 in parallel with each other, and the heights of the respective optical axes from the road surface are equal to each other. The infrared cameras 2R and 2L have sensitivity in the far-infrared region, and have a characteristic that the higher the temperature of an object to be imaged, the higher the level of the output video signal (the higher the luminance of the video signal). is doing.

  Next, functions of the vehicle periphery monitoring device having the above-described configuration will be described. Details of the image processing are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2001-006096 and 2007-310705, and will be briefly described. First, infrared image signals of the infrared cameras 2R and 2L are input to the image processing unit 1, the infrared image signal is A / D converted, and a gray scale image is generated based on the A / D converted infrared image signal. Then, the reference grayscale image (right image) is binarized. After that, an area where the object exists in the binarized image is extracted as the object area S (FIG. 3 / STEP002).

  Specifically, a pixel group constituting a high luminance area of the binarized image is converted into run length data, and a label (identifier) is attached to each of the line groups that overlap in the vertical direction of the reference image. Are extracted as the object region S. As a result, a high-luminance region constituted by a group of high-luminance pixels (pixel value = 1 pixel) as shown by hatching in FIGS. 4A to 4C is extracted as the object region S. Is done.

  Subsequently, the position of the center of gravity of each object (position on the reference image), the area, and the aspect ratio of the circumscribed rectangle are calculated. Further, tracking of the target object is performed, and the identity of the target object is determined for each calculation processing cycle of the image processing unit 1. Further, the outputs (vehicle speed detection value and yaw rate detection value) of the vehicle speed sensor 4 and the yaw rate sensor 5 are read. Further, in parallel with the calculation of the aspect ratio of the circumscribed rectangle and the tracking of the object during the time, the area corresponding to each object (for example, the area of the circumscribed rectangle of the object) is extracted as a search image from the reference image. Furthermore, by executing the correlation calculation, an image (corresponding image) corresponding to the search image is searched and extracted from the left image.

  Further, a real space distance (distance in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10) z from the vehicle 10 to the object is calculated (FIG. 3 / STEP004).

  Moreover, the real space position (relative position with respect to the vehicle 10) of each object is calculated. Further, the X component of the real space position (X, Y, Z) (see FIG. 2) of the object is corrected according to the time-series data of the turning angle. Further, a relative movement vector of the object with respect to the vehicle 10 is calculated (FIG. 3 / STEP006).

  Furthermore, the level of possibility of contact between the vehicle 10 and the object is determined (FIG. 3 / STEP008).

  Since this determination method is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2001-006096 and 2007-310705, it will be briefly described. First, it is determined whether or not the real space distance z of the object is equal to or less than the product of the relative speed Vs and the margin time T. When it is determined that the real space distance z is equal to or less than the value, it is determined whether or not the object exists in the approach determination region (first contact determination process). The approach determination area extends symmetrically in the left-right direction of the vehicle 10 in front of the vehicle 10 and has a width obtained by adding an offset value to the width of the vehicle 10. When the determination result in the first contact determination process is affirmative, it is determined that there is a high possibility that the object is in contact with the vehicle 10.

  On the other hand, when the determination result in the first contact determination process is negative, the object exists in the entry determination area outside the approach determination area, and the relative movement vector of the object moves toward the approach determination area. It is further determined whether or not there is (second contact determination process). When the determination result in the second contact determination process is affirmative, it is determined that there is a high possibility that the target object is in contact with the vehicle 10.

  When it is determined that the possibility of contact between the vehicle 10 and the object is high (when the determination result in the first or second contact determination process is affirmative) (FIG. 3 / STEP008... YES), the object is artificial. It is determined whether or not the object corresponds to an object whose necessity of reporting its existence is low (FIG. 3 / STEP010).

  For example, when an external feature that does not correspond to a pedestrian or a quadruped is detected in this object, it is determined that the object corresponds to an artificial structure. When it is determined that the possibility of contact between the vehicle 10 and the object is low (when the determination results in the first and second contact determination processes are negative) (FIG. 3 / STEP008... NO), or the object Is determined not to fall under the notification target (FIG. 3 / STEP010... NO), the processing after the extraction of the object region S is repeated without executing the notification processing described later (see FIG. 3 / STEP002, etc.). .

  When it is determined that the object does not correspond to an artificial structure or the like (FIG. 3 / STEP010... YES), it is determined whether the real space distance z of the object is equal to or less than a threshold value zth (FIG. 3 / STEP012). . The threshold value zth is set from the viewpoint of the object type determination accuracy.

  When it is determined that the real space distance z of the object is equal to or less than the threshold value zth (FIG. 3 / STEP012... YES), it is determined whether or not the object corresponds to a person such as a pedestrian or a bicycle occupant ( FIG. 3 / STEP014).

  When it is determined that the object does not correspond to a human (FIG. 3 / STEP014... NO), it is determined whether or not the object corresponds to a quadruped animal such as a deer, a horse, or a dog (FIG. 3). / STEP016). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the object corresponds to a human being or a quadruped animal based on the shape or size of the object region S on the gray scale image or the feature quantity such as the luminance distribution.

  When it is determined that the object corresponds to a human (FIG. 3 / STEP014... YES), the “first notification process” is executed (FIG. 3 / STEP022). As a result, a short sound such as “beep” is output from the speaker 6 continuously three times. Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, a rectangular first frame F1 surrounding the object and a first mark M1 indicating that the object is a human are displayed on the HUD 7.

  If it is determined that the object corresponds to a quadruped animal (FIG. 3 / STEP016... YES), the “second notification process” is executed (FIG. 3 / STEP024). As a result, a short sound such as “pipi” is continuously output from the speaker 6 twice. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, an octagonal second frame F2 surrounding the object and a second mark M2 indicating that the object is a quadruped are displayed on the HUD 7.

  Further, when it is determined that the real space distance z of the object exceeds the threshold value zth (FIG. 3 / STEP012... NO), the “third notification process” is executed (FIG. 3 / STEP026). As a result, a short sound such as “pi” is output from the speaker 6 only once. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4C, a circular third frame F3 that surrounds the object, and that the object is an object such as a human or a quadruped animal that has a high possibility of contact with the vehicle 10. A third mark M3 is displayed on the HUD 7.

  The designs of the first frame F1 to the third frame F3 (meaning shapes, colors, patterns, or combinations thereof) are different. The designs of the first mark M1 to the third mark M3 are also different. The sound output in each notification process is also different. In each notification process, only one of the mark and the frame may be displayed, and only one of the image and the sound may be output instead of both.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring device that exhibits the above function, the occupant of the vehicle 10 can recognize the type of the object in addition to the presence of the object in accordance with the difference in the form of notification indicating the presence of the object ( (See FIG. 3 / STEP022 and STEP024).

  That is, according to the difference in the output form of the sound indicating the presence of the target object output from the speaker 6, the type of the target object can be recognized by the vehicle occupant through hearing. For example, the driver of the vehicle 10 can recognize whether the object corresponds to a human or a quadruped animal according to a difference in output sound from the speaker 6.

  Moreover, according to the difference in the display form of the presence of the object in the vehicle peripheral image displayed on the HUD 7, in addition to the presence of the object, the type of the object can be notified to the occupant of the vehicle 10 visually. For example, depending on the design difference between the first mark M1 and the second mark M2 displayed on the HUD 7, or the design difference between the first frame F1 and the second frame F2, the object is a human or a quadruped animal. It is possible to make the driver of the vehicle 10 recognize which one corresponds (see FIGS. 4A and 4B).

  Further, in view of the fact that the type determination accuracy of the target object becomes lower as the target object is farther from the vehicle 10, the determination accuracy is high to some extent, that is, the real space distance z of the target object is equal to or less than the threshold value zth. Only in the case, the presence of the object is notified to the driver of the vehicle 10 in different forms depending on the difference in the type of the object (see FIG. 3 / STEP012, FIGS. 4A to 4C).

  For this reason, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the presence of the object is reported in an incorrect form due to an erroneous determination of the type of the object by the vehicle periphery monitoring device 1. However, even when the real space distance z of the object exceeds the threshold value zth, the presence of this object is reported (see FIG. 3 / STEP026, FIG. 4 (c)). You can call attention.

  In addition to the difference in the type of the object, the presence of the object may be reported in a different form depending on the length of the real space distance z. The type of the object may also be determined when the real space distance z of the object exceeds the threshold value zth. Instead of the threshold value zth, the length of the distance from the vehicle 10 to the object may be determined according to whether or not the second threshold value is smaller than the second threshold value.

  For example, while it is determined that the object corresponds to a human (see FIG. 3 / STEP014), the design is performed when the real space distance z of the object is short and when the real space distance z of the object is long. May be displayed on the HUD 7.

  According to the said structure, according to the difference in the form of the report showing presence of a target object, in addition to this target object and its kind, a driver | operator is made to recognize the length of the distance of the vehicle 10 and this target object. be able to.

  In addition, instead of the distance to the target object, the presence of the target object varies depending on the type of target object on the condition that the size of the target object in the captured image exceeds a predetermined threshold. It may be reported to the person.

  Further, in addition to the difference in the type of the object, the presence of the object may be reported in a different form according to the speed of the vehicle 10 measured by the output signal of the vehicle speed sensor 4. According to the said structure, according to the difference of the form of the report showing presence of a target object, in addition to this target object's presence and its kind, a driver | operator can be made to recognize the level of the speed of the vehicle 10. FIG.

1. Image processing unit (object area extraction means, object classification means), 2R, 2L, infrared camera (imaging device)

Claims (4)

Using a captured image obtained by an imaging device mounted on a vehicle, when the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the object is high, the presence of the object is reported to an occupant of the vehicle by a reporting device A vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the object extraction means extracts an image area corresponding to the object from the captured image as the object area, and the shape and size of the object area extracted by the object extraction means According to the object type determination means for determining whether the object is a human or a quadruped animal based on the difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determination means, In the vehicle periphery monitoring device comprising notification control means for reporting the presence of an object in a different form to the notification device,
Further comprising distance measuring means for measuring a distance between the vehicle and the object;
The object type determining means determines the object type on the condition that the distance measured by the distance measuring means is equal to or less than a reference distance, and the notification control means determines that the object type is human. In the case where it is determined that the target device is informed by the first notification process, the first notification process is performed when the type of the object is determined to be a quadruped animal. A second notification process different from the notification device to notify the presence of the object,
The object type determination unit does not determine the object type on the condition that the distance is longer than a reference distance, and the notification control unit performs each of the first notification process and the second notification process. A vehicle periphery monitoring device that causes the notification device to notify the presence of the object by different third notification processing. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1,
Vehicle speed measuring means for measuring the speed of the vehicle,
In addition to the difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determining unit, the notification control unit determines whether the object exists according to the level of the vehicle speed measured by the vehicle speed measuring unit. The vehicle periphery monitoring device is characterized in that the notification device is notified in a different form. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1,
An image display device for displaying a peripheral image of the vehicle as the notification device;
The vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the presence of the object is displayed in a different form on the image display device according to the difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determining means. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1,
A voice output device that outputs a voice indicating the presence of the object as the notification device,
A vehicle periphery monitoring device that causes the audio output device to output a different form of sound indicating the presence of the object in accordance with a difference in the type of the object determined by the object type determining means.

Images