JP2013117134A - Opening/closing control system of rear opening/closing body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an opening/closing control system of a rear opening/closing body capable of controlling an opening operation of the rear opening/closing body without erroneous detection while curbing a cost by utilizing an existing system.SOLUTION: In an opening/closing control system of a rear opening/closing body 2, a detection body 30 is arranged, on a vehicle 1, at a position where the detection body can be visually identified through a camera 5 with the rear opening/closing body 2 in a closed state. A control device 10 comprises: a camera control section 15 which controls the camera 5 when receiving a signal to be sent from a portable machine 20; a determination section 16 which determines whether or not to perform an opening operation of the rear opening/closing body 2 on the basis of an image of the position of the detection body 30 taken by the camera 5; and a rear opening/closing body control section 14 which controls the opening operation of the rear opening/closing body 2 on the basis of a determination result of the determination section 16.

Description

  The present invention relates to an opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, keyless entry systems that can lock or unlock a door of a vehicle by performing a predetermined switch operation with a portable device in a vehicle such as an automobile have been widely used.

  As an application of such a keyless entry system, there is a system that can open the back door and trunk of a vehicle by detecting the user's movement with a camera or sensor even when both hands of the user are blocked by luggage. Proposed.

  Patent Document 1 proposes an opening / closing body control device that opens a back door of a vehicle when a CCD camera recognizes that a regular user exists in the vicinity of the vehicle.

  Patent Document 2 proposes a door control device that detects an object existing around a vehicle, determines whether the object has further approached the vehicle, and opens the vehicle door.

JP 2001-234653 A JP 2010-236184 A

  The opening / closing body control device of Patent Document 1 described above is configured to detect that a user holds his / her hand or foot by image recognition. However, since the shape of the hand and foot, the position and orientation of the hand, etc. are different for each user, the configuration for detecting a part of the human body increases the possibility of erroneous detection. Moreover, since image processing is required for the entire image of the CCD camera, there is a possibility that the calculation load of the control device will increase.

Further, the door control device of Patent Document 2 described above includes a Doppler radar in order to detect an object existing around the vehicle. However, the detection range of the Doppler radar is difficult for the user to understand, and there is a possibility that the door cannot be opened appropriately according to the user's intention.
In addition to existing systems (equipment), not only doppler radar is newly required, but also processing devices with advanced arithmetic processing capabilities to measure the moving speed of objects using the Doppler effect. Necessary. Therefore, there exists a problem that cost will become high.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and the object thereof is to control the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body without erroneous detection while suppressing the cost by using an existing system. An object of the present invention is to provide an open / close control system for a possible rear opening / closing body.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, a control device that receives a signal transmitted from a portable device of a user and controls the opening / closing of a rear opening / closing member of a vehicle, and provided in the rear opening / closing member, An opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body is provided that includes a camera that captures an image of the rear of the vehicle. In the present invention, the vehicle has a detected object disposed at a position visible by the camera in a closed state of the rear opening / closing body, and the control device receives the signal transmitted from the portable device. A determination unit that determines whether to perform an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on an image of the position of the detected object imaged by the camera, and the determination And a rear opening / closing body control section for controlling the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on the result of the section.

  Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the determination unit performs an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body when the detected body is not extracted from an image of the position of the detected body. Is configured to determine.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, the determination unit extracts the detected object again after a predetermined time after the detected object is not extracted from the image of the position of the detected object. In this case, it is determined to execute the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, the detected object includes a recognition unit that can be recognized visually or by touch.

According to the present invention, a control device that receives a signal transmitted from a portable device of a user and controls the opening / closing of a rear opening / closing member of the vehicle, and the rear opening / closing member that is provided on the rear opening / closing member, images the rear of the vehicle. In the opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body provided with a camera, the vehicle has a detected object disposed at a position visible by the camera in the closed state of the rear opening / closing body, and the control device includes: A camera control unit that controls the camera when the signal transmitted from the portable device is received, and an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body is executed based on an image of the position of the detected object imaged by the camera And a rear opening / closing body control unit that controls an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on a result of the determination unit.
In the above-described prior art of Patent Document 1, it is determined whether to perform the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on detecting a part of the user's body or the like. Since it is determined whether to perform the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on the image of the position of the body to be detected arranged in the case, the possibility of erroneous detection is extremely low and appropriate for the user's intention The opening operation of the rear opening / closing body is executed. Moreover, in the above-described prior art of Patent Document 2, there is a problem that the detection range of the Doppler radar is difficult to understand for the user. Is clear, easy to understand for the user, and has a very low possibility of false detection. Further, according to the present invention, it is only necessary to perform image processing on only the image of the position of the detected object, not the entire image of the camera, so that the calculation load can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the camera of the present invention can use a back camera that captures the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle moves backward, the cost can be reduced by using existing equipment.

  Further, the determination unit in the opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body according to the present invention executes an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body when the detected body is not extracted from an image of the position of the detected body. Therefore, the user only has to hide the detected object from the camera by blocking between the camera and the detected object. The action of hiding the object to be detected is not only to hold the hand, but when both hands are covered with luggage, it can be performed on a part of the body such as an arm or the luggage itself. Can be opened instantly and easily.

  Further, the determination unit in the opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body according to the present invention extracts the detected object again after a predetermined time after the detected object is not extracted from the image of the position of the detected object. In such a case, since it is determined to execute the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body, a part of the body or luggage is removed from the vehicle after the user blocks the space between the camera and the body to be detected. The opening operation of the rear opening / closing body is performed in a state separated from. Therefore, the rear opening / closing body can be prevented from colliding with the user when the rear opening / closing body is opened.

  Further, according to the opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body according to the present invention, the detected object includes a recognition unit that can be recognized visually or tactilely. When the detected object is difficult to see, the user can easily recognize the position of the detected object by hand.

1 is a block diagram of a back door opening / closing control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the rear part of the vehicle which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the process of the image processing in the opening / closing control system of the back door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the rear part of the vehicle concerning the embodiment of the present invention, and is an example in case a user performs opening operation of a rear door. It is a flowchart of the opening / closing control system of the back door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the opening / closing control system of the back door which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The vehicle 1 (see FIG. 2) according to the present embodiment automatically unlocks and locks the back door (rear opening / closing body) 2 and opens / closes the back door 2 by a keyless entry system 3 (see FIG. 1). .
As shown in FIG. 1, the keyless entry system 3 detects that the user has approached the vehicle 1 through communication between the control device 10 mounted on the vehicle 1 and a portable device 20 carried by the user. System.

  The portable device 20 is a general transmitter / receiver that transmits and receives a predetermined radio signal, and transmits a predetermined radio signal via the antenna 21 and receives a radio signal from the control device 10 of the vehicle 1. . Radio signals transmitted and received between the portable device 20 and the control device 10 are generally handled in a general format between header information and footer information, error correction information, and between the portable device 20 and the control device 10. A predetermined authentication code (ID) is included.

  The control device 10 receives a radio signal transmitted from the portable device 20 and controls opening and closing of the back door 2 of the vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 10 is configured to control the license lamp 4, the back camera 5, the back door lock 6, and the back door opening / closing unit 7.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the back camera 5 is provided on the back door 2 of the vehicle 1 and images the rear of the vehicle 1. This back camera 5 can divert the camera mounted on the vehicle 1 to provide the driver with a rear view.

As a feature of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a marker 30 (detected body) is disposed on the bumper 1 a of the vehicle 1. The broken line in FIG. 2 indicates the imaging range of the back camera 5 when the back door 2 is in the closed state, and the marker 30 is disposed at a position that can be viewed by the back camera 5 when the back door 2 is in the closed state. .
In addition, the marker 30 should just be arrange | positioned in the position visually recognizable with the back camera 5, and may be arrange | positioned on the back door 2, as shown by code | symbol 30 'of FIG.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the marker 30 has a quadrangular shape. The marker 30 is not limited to this, and can be a simple shape such as a circle, a triangle, or a cross. In the present embodiment, the marker 30 includes a sticker, a seal, and the like that do not peel off, and is configured of a member separate from the vehicle 1. The marker 30 may be drawn directly on the bumper 1a of the vehicle 1.

  Furthermore, the marker 30 may include a recognition unit (not shown) that can be recognized visually or by touch. An example of a recognition unit that can be visually recognized is a light emitter. By configuring the marker 30 with a light emitter, visual recognition by the user or the back camera 5 is facilitated even at night.

Examples of the recognition unit that can be recognized by tactile sensation include a shape and a material (raw material). As an example of the recognition unit based on the shape, there is one in which a convex portion or a concave portion is provided at a vehicle location where the marker 30 is drawn or at the marker 30 itself. In addition, as an example of the material recognition unit, there is one in which the marker 30 is formed of a material different from that of the bumper 1a or the like. Thereby, when it is difficult to see the marker 30 at night or when it is difficult to see the marker 30 due to luggage, the user can easily find the position of the marker 30 by hand.
In addition, the marker 30 can be configured by combining a recognition unit that can be recognized visually and a recognition unit that can be recognized by touch.

Next, details of the control device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 10 includes a transmission / reception unit 12 having an antenna 11, an authentication unit 13, a back door control unit 14, a camera control unit 15, a determination unit 16, and a license lamp control unit 17. It has.
The transmitter / receiver 12 transmits a predetermined radio signal via the antenna 11 and receives a radio signal from the portable device 20. The transmission / reception unit 12 is configured to demodulate a radio signal from the portable device 20 and input an authentication code to the authentication unit 13.

  The authentication unit 13 is configured to authenticate whether or not the authentication code acquired by the transmission / reception unit 12 is issued from a predetermined portable device 20. If the authentication code is appropriate, the authentication unit 13 inputs a start instruction signal for starting imaging by the back camera 5 to the back door control unit 14.

The back door control unit 14 controls the back door lock 6 and the back door opening / closing unit 7. The back door control unit 14 transmits and receives signals to and from the camera control unit 15, the determination unit 16, and the license lamp control unit 17 when controlling the back door lock 6 and the back door opening / closing unit 7.
First, the back door control unit 14 receives a start instruction signal from the authentication unit 13 and inputs an imaging instruction signal to the camera control unit 15. Further, the back door control unit 14 receives an opening operation instruction signal for instructing the opening operation of the back door 2 from the determination unit 16, and controls the unlocking of the back door lock 6 and the opening operation of the back door opening / closing unit 7. It is like that. Further, when receiving the opening operation instruction signal from the determination unit 16, the back door control unit 14 inputs a signal for instructing the license lamp control unit 17 to turn off the license lamp 4.

  The camera control unit 15 receives an imaging instruction signal from the back door control unit 14, turns on the power of the back camera 5, and starts imaging of the back camera 5. The camera control unit 15 is configured to first input an image captured by the back camera 5 to the license lamp control unit 17 and then input an image captured by the back camera 5 to the determination unit 16. .

  The license lamp control unit 17 processes the image input from the camera control unit 15 and controls the lighting of the license lamp 4. In particular, when the surroundings of the vehicle are dark, such as at night, the license lamp control unit 17 turns on the license lamp 4 so that the marker 30 can be detected appropriately. For example, the license lamp control unit 17 calculates the average luminance in the input image, and turns on the license lamp 4 when it is less than a predetermined threshold value.

The determination unit 16 processes the image input from the camera control unit 15 and determines whether to perform the opening operation of the back door 2. Hereinafter, the process of the determination part 16 is demonstrated using FIG.
FIG. 3A shows an example in which the back of the vehicle 1 is imaged by the back camera 5 in the parking lot. In the image, the parking lot marking lines and the like are captured in addition to the bumper 1a of the vehicle 1. Yes.
As shown in FIG. 3A, first, the determination unit 16 cuts out an image at the position of the marker 30 from the input image. Since the marker 30 is arranged at a predetermined position, a portion indicated by a broken line can be set in advance as the cutout position of the image. FIG. 3B shows the cut image.

  Next, the determination unit 16 performs binarization processing and edge extraction processing on the clipped image in FIG. The binarization process and the edge extraction process are techniques generally known in the technical field of image processing. The binarization process is a process in which the brightness value of an image is white when it is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, and black when it is less than the threshold value. The edge extraction process is an outer edge (such as an object in the image). (Contour) is extracted. FIG. 3C shows an image after binarization processing and edge extraction processing. In the figure, the shaded portion indicates a portion that is painted black by binarization processing.

  Next, the determination unit 16 performs template matching on the image of FIG. Template matching is a process of preparing an image for detecting the marker 30 and detecting a portion corresponding to the template in comparison with the image of FIG. In the present embodiment, a template having a rectangular shape that is the same shape as the marker 30 is prepared.

Finally, the determination unit 16 determines to execute the opening operation of the back door 2 when the marker 30 is not extracted in the image of FIG. 3C, and sends the opening operation instruction signal to the back door control unit 14. To enter.
That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, when the user wants to open the back door 2, the user blocks the back camera 5 and the marker 30 with a hand or the like and It is only necessary to hide the marker 30. In addition, since it is only necessary to hide the marker 30, even if both hands are covered with luggage, the user may hide the marker 30 with a part of another body such as an arm or the luggage itself.

  Next, the operation of the back door opening / closing control system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the back door opening / closing control system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, in step S <b> 1, the control device 10 receives a radio signal transmitted from the portable device 20. Then, the authentication unit 13 of the control device 10 authenticates whether or not the authentication code in the radio signal is issued from a predetermined portable device 20. If the authentication codes match (Yes), the process proceeds to step S2. If the authentication codes do not match (No), step S1 is repeated.

  Next, in step S <b> 2, the back door control unit 14 of the control device 10 receives the start instruction signal from the authentication unit 13 and inputs the imaging instruction signal to the camera control unit 15. Then, the camera control unit 15 that has received the imaging instruction signal turns on the power of the back camera 5.

  Next, in step S <b> 3, the camera control unit 15 of the control device 10 inputs an image captured by the back camera 5 to the license lamp control unit 17. The license lamp control unit 17 processes the image input from the camera control unit 15 and turns on the license lamp 4.

  Next, in step S <b> 4, the camera control unit 15 of the control device 10 starts imaging of the back camera 5 and inputs an image captured by the back camera 5 to the determination unit 16.

  Next, in step S <b> 5, the determination unit 16 of the control device 10 processes the image input from the camera control unit 15 and performs detection processing to determine whether or not the marker 30 exists in the image.

  Next, in step S6, the determination unit 16 of the control device 10 determines whether or not the marker 30 exists in the camera image. Here, when the marker 30 is blocked and not extracted in the image (Yes), the process proceeds to step S7-1. When the marker 30 is extracted from the image (No), the process returns to step S4.

  In step S <b> 7-1, the determination unit 16 of the control device 10 determines to perform the opening operation of the back door 2 when a certain time has elapsed after the marker 30 is shielded. Then, the determination unit 16 inputs an opening operation instruction signal to the back door control unit 14. At this time, the back door control unit 14 inputs a signal that instructs the license lamp control unit 17 to turn off the license lamp 4.

  In step S <b> 8, the back door control unit 14 that receives the opening operation instruction signal unlocks the back door lock 6. Next, in step S <b> 9, the back door control unit 14 controls the back door opening / closing unit 7 to execute the opening operation of the back door 2.

  The opening operation of the back door 2 is controlled in the keyless entry system 3 by the above steps S1 to S9.

As described above, the opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body according to the present embodiment receives the signal transmitted from the portable device 20 of the user, and controls the opening / closing of the back door 2 of the vehicle 1. The rear camera 5 is provided on the door 2 and images the rear of the vehicle 1. A marker 30 is disposed on the bumper 1 a of the vehicle 1 at a position that can be seen by the rear camera 5 when the back door 2 is closed. The control device 10 controls the back camera 5 and a determination unit that determines whether to perform the opening operation of the back door 2 based on the image of the position of the marker 30 captured by the back camera 5. 16 and a back door control unit 14 that controls the opening operation of the back door 2 based on the result of the determination unit 16.
In the above-described prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is determined whether to perform the opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on detecting a part of the user's body or the like. Since it is determined whether or not the opening operation of the back door 2 is executed based on the fact that the marker 30 is not extracted from the image at the position of, the possibility of erroneous detection is extremely low and appropriate for the user's intention Then, the opening operation of the back door 2 is executed.
In addition, in the above-described prior art of Patent Document 2, there is a problem that the detection range of the Doppler radar is difficult for the user to understand, but in the present invention, the user blocks the gap between the back camera 5 and the marker 30 and the camera. Since it is only necessary to hide the marker 30, it is easy for the user to understand and the possibility of erroneous detection is extremely low. The operation of hiding the marker 30 can be performed not only by holding the hand, but also by a part of the body such as an arm or the luggage itself when both hands are covered with the luggage. Can be opened instantly and easily.

Further, according to the present embodiment, only the image at the position of the marker 30 need be processed instead of the entire image of the back camera 5, so that the calculation load can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the camera of the present embodiment can use a back camera that captures the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle moves backward, the cost can be reduced by using existing equipment.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the marker 30 is constituted by a member separate from the vehicle 1 or is directly drawn on the bumper 1 a of the vehicle 1. It is not necessary to change the vehicle 1, and there is no hindrance when the user uses the vehicle 1.
Further, since the position of the marker 30 is fixed in a simple shape such as a square shape, image processing is easy and the calculation load of the control device 10 is small.

  Next, an opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a back door opening / closing control system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In addition, about the step similar to what was demonstrated by embodiment of FIG. 5 mentioned above, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The feature of this embodiment is that Steps S7-2 and S7-3 are added after Step S7-1 in FIG. Hereinafter, the operation after step S6 will be described.

In step S6, the determination unit 16 of the control device 10 determines whether or not the marker 30 exists in the camera image.
Next, in step S7-1, the determination unit 16 of the control device 10 proceeds to step S7-2 after a certain period of time has elapsed after the marker 30 is shielded.
In step S <b> 7-2, the determination unit 16 of the control device 10 determines again whether the marker 30 exists in the image. When the marker 30 is detected (Yes), the process proceeds to step S7-3. In step S7-3, the determination unit 16 determines to perform the opening operation of the back door 2 when a predetermined time has elapsed, and proceeds to step S8. On the other hand, when the marker 30 is not detected (No), step S7-2 is repeated.

  As described above, according to the opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body according to the present embodiment, the determination unit 16 extracts the marker 30 again after a certain time after the marker 30 is not extracted from the image of the position of the marker 30. Further, since it is determined to execute the opening operation of the back door 2 after a certain period of time has elapsed, a part of the body or luggage after the user blocks the space between the back camera 5 and the marker 30 Is opened from the vehicle 1, and the opening operation of the back door 2 is executed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the back door 2 from hitting the user when the back door 2 is opened. Further, although the user has shielded the marker 30, even when the marker 30 is detected by the determination unit 16 at a timing contrary to the user's will, the opening operation of the back door 2 after a certain time has elapsed. Therefore, the user has time to leave the back door, and the back door 2 can be prevented from colliding with the user when the back door 2 is opened.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the back door 2 of the vehicle 1 is controlled, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to an opening / closing body such as a trunk.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Back door 3 Keyless entry system 4 License lamp 5 Back camera 6 Back door lock 7 Back door opening / closing part 10 Control apparatus 12 Transmission / reception part 13 Authentication part 14 Back door control part 15 Camera control part 16 Determination part 17 License lamp control part 20 Mobile device 30 Marker

Claims (4)

A control device that receives a signal transmitted from the user's portable device and controls the opening and closing of the rear opening and closing body of the vehicle;
An opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body provided on the rear opening / closing body, and comprising a camera for imaging the rear of the vehicle;
In the vehicle, a detected object is disposed at a position visible by the camera in a closed state of the rear opening / closing body,
The controller is
A camera control unit that controls the camera when the signal transmitted from the portable device is received;
A determination unit that determines whether to perform an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on an image of the position of the detected object imaged by the camera;
A rear opening / closing body control unit for controlling an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body based on a result of the determination unit;   The determination unit is configured to determine to perform an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body when the detected body is not extracted from an image of a position of the detected body. The opening / closing control system for the rear opening / closing body according to claim 1.   The determination unit performs an opening operation of the rear opening / closing body when the detected object is extracted again after a predetermined time after the detected object is not extracted from the image of the position of the detected object. 2. The opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing control system is configured to determine to do so.   The opening / closing control system for a rear opening / closing body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the detected body includes a recognition unit that can be recognized visually or by touch.

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