JP2010201996A - Image observation system of vehicle and method of using the same system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To more effectively detect a state of the surrounding of a vehicle and an exact location of an obstacle by reducing power of attention and time to be paid by a driver to detect the obstacle. <P>SOLUTION: This image observation system includes an image acquiring unit, an ultrasonic detecting unit, an alarm unit 53, a display unit 54 and a processing unit. The image acquiring unit and the ultrasonic detecting unit 51 are provided on an outer periphery of a vehicle body. The images of the surrounding of the vehicle body, a state outside the vehicle body and a distance from the obstacle are displayed by photographing and the ultrasonic detection means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle image observation system and a method of using the same, and particularly shows a driver an image that combines the location of an obstacle obtained by imaging (photographing) and detection and the state of the surroundings of the vehicle. The present invention relates to a vehicle image observation system and a method of using the same.

The outside observation assistance system at the time of reverse of the vehicle currently used is mainly composed of the following three systems.
That is, a camera image display system, a vehicle reverse radar detection system, and a surrounding image combination system by vehicle reverse radar detection. The functions of the three auxiliary systems will be outlined below.

<1> The camera device 1 of the camera image display system displays an image on the display 2 around the imaged vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the camera device 1 can acquire an image within a 167 ° range. A drawback of this camera image display system is that the display 2 can only display an image around the vehicle and cannot measure the distance of the obstacle 3.

<2> The ultrasonic sensor 4 of the vehicle reverse radar detection system can measure the linear distance between the obstacle 3 and the sensor. As shown in FIG. 2, this linear distance is 50 cm and 65 cm. The disadvantages of this vehicle reverse radar detection system are that the image screen cannot be displayed and the direction of the obstacle 3 cannot be determined.

<3> The surrounding image combination system using the vehicle backward radar detection can display the distance number between the ultrasonic sensor 4 and the obstacle 3 and the image around the vehicle on the display 2. The disadvantage of this system is that the image around the vehicle and the linear distance number (50 cm) between the obstacle 3 and the ultrasonic sensor 4 can be displayed on the display 2, but the vertical distance between the obstacle 3 and the vehicle, The distance between the obstacle 3 located on the right rear side and the vehicle is in a place where the driver cannot directly detect (see FIG. 3).

  As mentioned above, the information that can be provided to the driver of the current vehicle observation system is biased, and the display only displays the image around the vehicle and the number of the linear distance between the obstacle and the sensor. The vertical distance between the obstacle and the vehicle, or the distance between the obstacle 3 located at the left rear and right rear and the vehicle cannot be directly detected by the driver. Since the relative position of the signal must be detected, the function is not perfect and there is still room for improvement.

  In view of the above circumstances, the inventor of the present application has tried to improve this, and as a result of day and night hard work, the inventors have succeeded in developing a vehicle image observation system of the present invention and a method for using the same.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the attention and time required for an obstacle to be detected by a driver, and more effectively detect the situation around the vehicle and the exact location of the obstacle. And providing a method of using the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle image observation system according to the present invention includes one image acquisition unit, one ultrasonic detection unit, one alarm unit, one display unit, and one processing unit. The image acquisition unit and the ultrasonic detection unit are provided on the outer periphery of the vehicle, and the image of the outer periphery of the vehicle body, the situation outside the vehicle body and the distance of the obstacle are displayed by the image capturing and ultrasonic detection means.

  The processing unit is connected to an image acquisition unit, an ultrasonic detection unit, an alarm unit, and a display unit, acquires an image screen behind the vehicle body from the image acquisition unit, and distances of obstacles existing behind the vehicle body from the ultrasonic detection unit The information is received, the actual distance of the obstacle is located from this ultrasonic distance information, and the actual position of the obstacle is converted into the position of the obstacle in the image by the built-in software. By marking the mark, displaying the obstacle distance and the image of this mark in combination on the screen, and providing the driver with the position and distance of the obstacle, the relative position and vertical distance between the obstacle and the vehicle are clearly Thus, the driver can grasp the state around the vehicle and the exact position of the obstacle without taking a great deal of attention and time. We also provided a method for using this vehicle image observation system.

  The vehicle image observation system and the method of using the same according to the present invention have the following advantages as compared with the prior art.

<1> The position of the obstacle in the image around the vehicle is marked with a clear mark, and it is possible to provide the driver with an accurate obstacle, the relative position between the vehicle and the vertical distance.

<2> According to the present invention, the driver can grasp the situation outside the vehicle and the exact position of the obstacle, so that a great deal of effort for ensuring traffic safety can be saved.

It is a general-view figure of the conventional camera image display system. It is a general-view figure of the conventional vehicle reverse radar detection system. It is a general-view figure of the surrounding image combination system by the conventional vehicle reverse radar detection. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle image observation system according to the present invention. 1 is an embodiment diagram of a vehicle image observation system and a method of using the same according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a vehicle image observation system according to the present invention.
This vehicle image observation system is installed on the outer periphery of the vehicle body, detects a surrounding situation outside the vehicle body with ultrasonic waves, and transmits distance information of obstacles existing behind the vehicle body to the processing unit 55. An ultrasonic detection unit 51 including an ultrasonic sensor, and an outer peripheral image of the vehicle body that is installed on the outer periphery of the vehicle body, is obtained by a subtractive method, a screen of the acquired vehicle rear image is transmitted to the processing unit 55, and The display range is overlapped with the range detected by the ultrasonic detection unit 51, the overlapped portion of both ranges is set as one area by the processing unit 55, and the actual position of the obstacle and the image around the outside of the vehicle are included in this area. In combination with the image acquisition unit 52 and the processing unit 55, the alarm unit 53 that warns the driver when the distance between the vehicle body and the obstacle is too close, and the image image acquired immediately A display unit 54 such as a touch-on screen, and the ultrasonic detection unit 51, the image acquisition unit 52, the alarm unit 53, and the display unit 54. The distance information of the obstacle existing behind the vehicle and the image screen behind the vehicle are received from the ultrasonic detection unit 51 and the image acquisition unit 52, and the actual position of the obstacle indicated by these materials and the vehicle body The vertical distance is processed by built-in software, the actual position of the obstacle is converted into the position coordinates of the obstacle in the image, the obstacle is positioned with a clear mark, and the obstacle distance and mark are displayed. A processing unit 55 is included which is transmitted to the unit 54 to display the position and distance of the obstacle.
In this way, it is particularly useful for parking assistance.

According to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, the ultrasonic detection unit 9 detects the actual position of the obstacle 8 and the vertical distance between the obstacle 8 and the vehicle body 11, and one image is displayed in the image of the vehicle outer periphery. The clear mark 10 is displayed at the corresponding position of the obstacle 8 in the image, and is displayed on the display unit 7 in combination with the vertical distance between the obstacle 8 and the vehicle body 11.
The method for using the image observation system according to the present invention includes the following steps.

  Step 1: A position around the vehicle body 11 is defined by a global coordinate system. For example, the lateral side behind the vehicle body 11 in FIG. 5 is taken as the X axis, and the direction perpendicular to the vehicle body 11 is taken as the Y axis. The X coordinate represents the lateral displacement distance of the vehicle body 11 of the obstacle 8, and the Y coordinate represents the vertical distance between the obstacle 8 and the vehicle body 11.

  Step 2: The ultrasonic detection unit 9 is attached on the vehicle, and the coordinates of the position of each sensor in Step 1 are obtained.

  Step 3: The image acquisition unit 6 on the vehicle is attached, an image around the outside of the vehicle is obtained, and the range of the outside periphery image of the vehicle body 11 is defined by coordinates on the display unit 7 labeling.

  Step 4: A portion where the image range acquired by the image acquisition unit 6 displayed on the display unit 7 is overlapped with the range detected by the ultrasonic detection unit 9 is selected.

  Step 5: The ultrasonic detection unit 9 is controlled, a signal is output by one of the sensors, and the output signal is received by a sensor adjacent to the sensor.

  Step 6: The distance between the sensor and the obstacle 8 is obtained from the signal received by the ultrasonic detection unit 9 itself, and the signal received by the adjacent sensor is passed through the obstacle 8 from the sensor. Get the distance to reach the sensor.

  Step 7: The coordinates in the GPS of the obstacle 8 and the vertical distance between the obstacle 8 and the vehicle body 11 are obtained by combining the coordinate position of the ultrasonic detection unit 9 and the detected distance.

  Step 8: The actual position of the obstacle 8 is converted into the display position of the obstacle 8 in the image by coordinate conversion between the GPS coordinate system and the image coordinate system, and this is replaced with the clear mark 10 and the obstacle 8 in the image. The position corresponding to is marked.

  Step 9: A combination of the vertical distance between the obstacle 8 and the vehicle body 11 and the position mark 10 of the obstacle 8 in the image is displayed on the surrounding image screen of the vehicle body as information on the location and distance of the obstacle 8 , Immediately displayed on the display unit 7.

  Step 10: When the obstacle 8 and the vehicle body 11 are too close, an alarm unit warns.

  Vehicles equipped with the vehicle image observation system according to the present invention can be expected to be safer, and can save a lot of time and labor when parked or in reverse. Can be expected.

  The present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. The above-described embodiments are merely to clarify the technical contents of the present invention, and should not be construed in a narrow sense by limiting the present invention to such specific examples. Various changes can be made within the scope of the claims.

1: Imaging device 2: Display 3: Obstacle 4: Ultrasonic sensor 51: Ultrasonic detection unit 52: Image acquisition unit 53: Alarm unit 54: Display unit 55: Processing unit 6: Image acquisition unit 7: Display Unit 8: Obstacle 9: Ultrasonic detection unit 10: Mark 11: Body

Claims (4)

Especially in the outside image observation system when the vehicle is moving backward,
An ultrasonic detection unit that is installed around the vehicle body, detects the ambient conditions outside the vehicle body, and transmits distance information of obstacles existing behind the vehicle body to the processing unit;
An image acquisition unit that is installed around the outside of the vehicle body, acquires a surrounding image outside the vehicle body, and transmits the acquired image behind the vehicle body to the processing unit;
The processing unit that is connected to the ultrasonic detection unit, the image acquisition unit, and the display unit, manages the positioning of the obstacle and the coordinate conversion of the image, and transmits the information to the display unit in combination.
An image observation system for a vehicle, including the display unit that immediately displays an image screen that appears and achieves the best vehicle control effect.   The vehicle image observation system according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic detection unit includes a plurality of ultrasonic sensors.   The vehicle image observation system according to claim 1, wherein an alarm unit is connected to the processing unit and warns a driver when the distance between the vehicle body and an obstacle is too close. In the vehicle image observation method,
Step 1 to define the position around the car body in the global coordinate system,
Attach an ultrasonic detection unit on the vehicle and determine the coordinates of the position of each sensor in step 1;
Attaching an image acquisition unit on the vehicle, acquiring an image of the outer periphery of the vehicle, displaying the image on the display unit, and defining a range of the outer periphery image of the vehicle body by coordinates; and
A step 4 of selecting a portion in which the image range acquired by the image acquisition unit displayed on the display unit is overlapped with the range detected by the ultrasonic detection unit;
A step 5 of controlling the ultrasonic detection unit, outputting a signal by one of the sensors, and receiving the output signal by a sensor adjacent to the sensor;
The signal received by the ultrasonic detection unit itself is used to obtain the distance between the sensor and the obstacle, and further, the signal received by the adjacent sensor reaches the adjacent sensor from the sensor through the obstacle. Step 6 for measuring the distance;
Combining the coordinate position of the ultrasonic detection unit and the detected distance to measure the GPS coordinates of the obstacle and the vertical distance between the obstacle and the vehicle body; and
Step 8 where the actual position of the obstacle is converted into the marking position of the obstacle in the image by coordinate conversion between the GPS coordinate system and the image coordinate system, and this is marked with a clear mark at a position corresponding to the obstacle in the image. When,
Combining the vertical distance between the obstacle and the vehicle body and the position mark of the obstacle in the image, it is displayed on the surrounding image screen of the vehicle body, and immediately displayed on the display unit as information on the location and distance of the obstacle. Step 9
A method for using an image observation system for a vehicle, comprising: a step of warning by an alarm unit when an obstacle is too close to a vehicle body.

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