JP2020053864A - Adjusting device and adjusting method for imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an adjusting device and adjusting method for imaging apparatus, capable of appropriately removing foreign matter according to a state of an imaging apparatus.SOLUTION: An adjusting device A for adjusting an imaging apparatus installed on a vehicle according to a wind temperature includes: a state determination section 14 for determining a state of an on-vehicle camera 1; a Peltier element (a temperature change part) 6 for changing a temperature of wind supplied to at least a vicinity of a lens 1b of the on-vehicle camera 1 from a compressor (a wind generation part) 4; and a wind control section 16 for controlling a change of a wind temperature by a Peltier element 6 on the basis of a determination result of the state determination section 14.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an adjustment device and an adjustment method for an imaging device mounted on a vehicle and having an imaging device and an imaging optical system that guides light from a subject to the imaging device.

  Various in-vehicle cameras mounted on a vehicle and capturing images of the front, rear, side, and the like of the vehicle have been proposed and put into practical use. The in-vehicle camera is used by a driver to grasp the situation of a blind spot, and is also used to detect other vehicles and obstacles in the vicinity during automatic driving and automatic parking.

  Since such an in-vehicle camera is usually installed outside the vehicle, foreign substances such as dust, raindrops, ice and snow adhere to the surface of a lens which is an optical system of the in-vehicle camera. If foreign matter adheres to the lens surface, the image obtained from the vehicle-mounted camera may be unclear.

  In response to such a problem, there has been proposed a cleaning system for an in-vehicle optical sensor that injects air controlled by a vehicle air conditioner toward a lens surface of a camera (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2012-132988 A

  However, the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1 uses air that is air-conditioned by a vehicle air conditioner, and air supplied to the lens surface of a vehicle-mounted camera is not individually temperature-controlled. Therefore, there is a possibility that the foreign matter cannot be properly removed depending on the state of the type of the foreign matter attached to the lens surface. In addition, even when the vehicle interior air conditioner is not operating due to an appropriate temperature in the vehicle interior, it is necessary to operate the vehicle interior air conditioner to remove foreign matter from the lens surface.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment device and an adjustment method for an imaging device capable of appropriately removing foreign matter according to the state of the imaging device.

  To achieve the above object, an adjustment device of the present invention that adjusts an imaging device mounted on a vehicle based on wind temperature, a state determination unit that determines a state of the imaging device, and a wind generation unit that generates wind, It is characterized by including a temperature change unit that changes the temperature of the wind generated by the wind generation unit, and a wind control unit that controls the change of the wind temperature by the temperature change unit based on the determination result of the state determination unit.

  In the adjustment device of the imaging device according to the present invention configured as described above, the wind control unit controls the wind control unit to change the wind temperature based on the determination result of the state determination unit that determines the state of the imaging device. Control temperature changes.

  By doing so, it is possible to appropriately remove foreign matter according to the state of the imaging device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle-mounted camera system to which an adjustment device of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram showing a schematic structure of a function of an adjustment device of an imaging device which is an embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the adjustment device of the imaging device according to the embodiment;

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle-mounted camera system to which an adjustment device of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  The on-vehicle camera system S according to the present embodiment is mounted on a vehicle (not shown). This vehicle-mounted camera system S includes a vehicle-mounted camera (imaging device) 1, an image recognition ECU 2, and an LCD 3. Although only one in-vehicle camera 1 is shown in the example shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of in-vehicle cameras 1 may be connected to the image recognition ECU 2. Similarly, a plurality of LCDs 3 may be connected to the image recognition ECU 2.

  The in-vehicle camera 1 captures an image of a subject such as another vehicle located in a predetermined direction of the vehicle (for example, in front of the vehicle). The in-vehicle camera 1 has an imaging device 1a and a lens 1b that forms an imaging optical system that guides light from a subject to the imaging device 1a. The surface of the lens 1b is exposed from the vehicle-mounted camera 1. The imaging element 1a photoelectrically converts the light guided by the lens 1b at a predetermined imaging interval to generate a video signal, and sends the video signal to the image recognition ECU 2 at the subsequent stage.

  The image recognition ECU 2 detects the luminance level of the video signal input from the vehicle-mounted camera 1, adjusts the gain of the video signal based on the detected information, and performs gamma processing based on a specified gamma curve. , White balance processing, interpolation processing corresponding to the RGB Bayer array filter, color signal processing, and the like. Since the processing performed by the image recognition ECU 2 is well known, further detailed description is omitted here.

  The video signal subjected to various signal processing by the image recognition ECU 2 is sent to the LCD 3.

  The adjustment device A of the imaging device according to the present embodiment is also mounted on a vehicle (not shown). The adjusting device A includes a compressor (wind generating unit) 4 that supplies air near the surface of the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 and a duct 5 that guides the wind generated by the compressor 4 to the vicinity of the surface of the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1. A Peltier element (temperature changing unit) 6 for changing the temperature of the wind guided by the duct 5, and a wind supplied to the exit end of the duct 5 (5a) and supplied from the duct 5 (5a) to the vicinity of the surface of the lens 1b. And a temperature sensor 7 that measures the temperature of the The above-described image recognition ECU 2 also functions as the control unit 10 (see FIG. 2) of the adjustment device A.

  The compressor 4 takes in wind at normal temperature from a predetermined position of the vehicle, and supplies the duct 5 with a predetermined wind speed and wind pressure to the duct 5. The duct 5 is branched into two on the way, one of the ducts 5a supplies the wind to the surface of the lens 1b as described above, and the other duct 5b exhausts the wind to the outside of the vehicle. The Peltier element 6 is arranged between the pair of ducts 5a and 5b.

  The Peltier element 6 has a plate-like outer shape. Heat sinks 8 are fixed to the upper and lower surfaces of the Peltier device 6 in the drawing, respectively, and the fins 8a of the respective heat sinks 8 are exposed to the ducts 5a and 5b. A DC voltage is supplied from the image recognition ECU 2 to the Peltier element 6, and one of the upper surface or the lower surface is used as a heat radiation surface and the other is used as a heat absorption surface depending on the polarity. Thereby, the wind passing through the ducts 5a and 5b via the heat sink 8 is heated or cooled.

  The image recognition ECU 2 functioning as the control unit 10 (see FIG. 2) of the adjustment device A has a function of detecting foreign matter adhesion from a video signal output from the vehicle-mounted camera 1. Further, the image recognition ECU 2 has a function of adjusting the temperature of the wind supplied from the duct 5a to the vicinity of the surface of the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 based on the temperature information of the wind in the duct 5a detected by the temperature sensor 7. . In particular, the image recognition ECU 2 has a function of adjusting the temperature of the wind supplied near the surface of the lens 1b of the on-vehicle camera 1 based on the outside temperature and / or the inside temperature of the vehicle provided from the vehicle ECU 9. The image recognition ECU 2 has a function of turning on / off the compressor 4. Further, the image recognition ECU 2 has a function of switching the polarity of the DC voltage supplied to the Peltier device 6. Further, the image recognition ECU 2 has a function of monitoring the temperature of the image sensor 1a of the vehicle-mounted camera 1. Details of the functions of the image recognition ECU 2 will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the function of the adjustment device A according to the present embodiment.

The adjustment device A includes a programmable logic device such as a CPU and an FPGA, a control unit 10 including an arithmetic element represented by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC, and a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk drive and a semiconductor storage medium such as a ROM and a RAM. The storage unit 11 includes a storage medium such as a storage medium, and the input unit 12 and the output unit 13 each include an interface circuit with an external device. The adjusting device A according to the present embodiment includes a compressor (wind generating unit) 4 and a Peltier element (temperature changing unit) 6.
In the adjustment device A according to the present embodiment, the control unit 10, the storage unit 11, the input unit 12, and the output unit 13 are configured by the image recognition ECU 2 described above. In this embodiment, the control unit 10, the storage unit 11, the input unit 12, and the output unit 13 will be described as having an integrated operation element, a storage medium, and an interface circuit. Or the like.

  The storage unit 11 stores a control program (not shown). The control program is executed by the control unit 10 when the adjustment device A is started, and the control unit 10 has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. It will be. In particular, since the adjustment device A of the present embodiment performs high-speed image processing as described later, it is preferable that the adjustment device A include an arithmetic element capable of high-speed operation, such as an FPGA.

  The control unit 10 includes a state determination unit 14 and a wind control unit 16.

  The state determination unit 14 determines the state of the vehicle-mounted camera 1. Here, the state of the in-vehicle camera 1 determined by the state determination unit 14 includes at least the type of the substance adhering to the lens 1b of the in-vehicle camera 1 and the temperature of the imaging element 1a of the in-vehicle camera 1.

  The state determination unit 14 includes an attached matter determination unit 17 and a temperature acquisition unit 18.

  The attached matter determination unit 17 determines the type of attached matter attached to the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1. The types of deposits that can be determined by the deposit determination unit 17 of the adjusting device A according to the present embodiment include at least mud (including both those containing a large amount of moisture and those dried) and moisture. . The term “moisture” as used herein is a concept including both water (water droplets) and ice and snow (including partially dissolved ones).

  The method by which the attached matter determination unit 17 determines the type of the attached matter is well known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. As an example, there is a method of calculating the transmittance of the attached matter attached to the lens 1b, and determining that the transmittance is low, and that the transmittance is high, moisture is determined (see Japanese Patent No. 6374258). Further, an edge extraction process is performed on the video signal of the on-vehicle camera 1 to extract an area to which moisture (water droplets) adheres based on the edge strength. There is also a method of extracting a certain region as a region to which mud is attached (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-26671).

  The temperature acquisition unit 18 acquires information on the temperature of the image sensor 1a of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 from the vehicle-mounted camera 1. Since a technique for acquiring the temperature of the image sensor 1a is also well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The wind control unit 16 controls the change of the wind temperature by the Peltier element 6 based on the determination result of the state determination unit 14. The temperature range of the wind controlled by the wind control unit 16 may include hot air of about 80 ° C., cold air of about 10 ° C., and air of normal temperature (that is, the temperature of the wind is not changed by the Peltier element 6). In addition, the wind control unit 16 performs on / off control of the compressor (wind generating unit) 4.

  The procedure of controlling the temperature of the wind by the wind control unit 16 will be described in detail later. As an example, when the result of the determination by the attached matter determination unit 17 determines that water is attached to the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1, the hot air is used. Is supplied, and if it is determined that something else is attached (this determination includes the case where mud is also attached), a procedure of supplying a normal-temperature wind is given.

  In addition, the wind control unit 16 may control the temperature of the wind based on the outside air temperature and / or the inside temperature of the vehicle provided from the vehicle ECU 9. As an example, if the outside air temperature corresponds to summer (for example, 25 ° C. or more), warm air of about 50 ° C., and if the outside air temperature corresponds to winter (for example, 20 ° C. or less), about 80 ° C. or more It may be controlled by hot air. Further, in summer, the temperature of the wind may not be changed by not supplying the voltage to the Peltier element 6.

  Here, the wind control unit 16 can control the change of the wind temperature by the Peltier element 6 based on the determination result of the attached matter determination unit 17 as described above. Further, the wind control unit 16 can control the change of the wind temperature by the Peltier device 6 based on the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 18.

  The storage unit 11 temporarily or non-temporarily stores various data used for various operations in the control unit 10.

  The input unit 12 receives information on the vehicle from the vehicle ECU 9, such as information on the temperature inside the vehicle, for example. The input unit 12 receives a video signal from the vehicle-mounted camera 1 and information on the temperature of the image sensor 1a. Then, the input unit 12 sends the received information and the like to the control unit 10.

  The output unit 13 receives the information regarding the on / off control of the compressor (wind generating unit) 4 output from the control unit 10 and the information including the drive voltage value to the Peltier device 6, and sends the information to the compressor 4 and the Peltier device 6. Output.

  Next, details of the operation of the adjusting device A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

  The operation illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 3 starts when the power of the adjustment device A is turned on and the operation starts.

  First, in step S <b> 1, the state determination unit 14 of the adjustment device A, particularly the attached matter determination unit 17 determines whether an attached matter is attached to the lens 1 b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1. Then, if it is determined that the deposit is attached to the lens 1b (YES in step S1), the program proceeds to step S2, and if it is determined that the deposit is not attached to the lens 1b (NO in step S1), the program proceeds to step S2. Move to step S13.

  In step S2, the state determination unit 14 of the adjustment device A, particularly the attached matter determination unit 17, determines whether the attached matter attached to the lens 1b is moisture. If it is determined that moisture is attached to the lens 1b (YES in step S2), the program proceeds to step S3, and if it is determined that moisture is not attached to the lens 1b (NO in step S2), the program proceeds to step S3. Move to S9.

  In step S3, the wind control unit 16 supplies a DC voltage having a predetermined polarity to the Peltier element 6, and operates the Peltier element 6 such that the heat sink 8 exposed on the duct 5a contacts the heat dissipation surface of the Peltier element 6. . In step S4, the wind control unit 16 turns on the compressor 4.

  In step S5, based on the temperature at the outlet end of the duct 5a detected by the temperature sensor 7, the wind control unit 16 controls the Peltier element 6 so that the temperature of the wind supplied near the surface of the lens 1b becomes 80 ° C. To control the voltage value of the DC voltage supplied to the power supply.

  In step S6, the timer section provided in the control section 10 counts for 10 seconds, thereby supplying 80 ° C. warm air to the vicinity of the surface of the lens 1b for 10 seconds. Thereafter, the wind control unit 16 turns off the DC voltage supplied to the Peltier element 6 in step S7, and further, the wind control unit 16 turns off the compressor 4 in step S8. Thereafter, the program returns to step S1.

  In step S9, the control unit 10 determines whether or not a warning has been issued by the adjusting device A. Details of the warning will be described later. If it is determined that no warning has been issued (YES in step S9), the program proceeds to step S10, and if it is determined that a warning has already been issued (NO in step S9), the program proceeds to step S13.

  In step S10, the wind control unit 16 operates the compressor 4 for 10 seconds. In other words, since the determination in step S2 is denied, it can be estimated that extraneous matter (including dirt and mud) other than moisture has adhered to the lens 1b. Is supplied from the duct 5a to the vicinity of the surface of the lens 1b, and the adhered matter is blown off by the wind.

  In step S11, as in step S1, the state determination unit 14 of the adjustment device A, particularly the attached matter determination unit 17, determines whether or not the attached matter is attached to the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1. Then, if it is determined that the attached matter is still attached to the lens 1b (YES in step S11), the program proceeds to step S12, and the attached matter is no longer attached to the lens 1b (NO in step S11). If it is determined that the kimono has been blown off, the program proceeds to step S13.

  In step S12, the control unit 10 instructs the LCD 3 to display a warning. Specifically, it is displayed that the lens 1b has dirt that cannot be blown off. Thereafter, the program returns to step S1.

  In step S13, the state determination unit 14 of the adjustment device A, in particular, the temperature acquisition unit 18 determines whether the temperature of the image sensor 1a of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 is 100 ° C. or higher. If it is determined that the temperature of the image sensor 1a is equal to or higher than 100 ° C. (YES in step S13), the program proceeds to step S14, and if it is determined that the temperature of the image sensor 1a is lower than 100 ° C. (NO in step S13). The program returns to step S1.

  In step S14, the wind control unit 16 supplies a DC voltage having a predetermined polarity to the Peltier device 6, and operates the Peltier device 6 such that the heat sink 8 exposed on the duct 5a contacts the cooling surface of the Peltier device 6. . In step S15, the wind control unit 16 turns on the compressor 4.

  In step S16, based on the temperature at the outlet end of the duct 5a detected by the temperature sensor 7, the wind control unit 16 controls the Peltier element 6 so that the temperature of the wind supplied near the surface of the lens 1b becomes 10 ° C. To control the voltage value of the DC voltage supplied to the power supply.

  In step S17, the state determination unit 14 of the adjustment device A, in particular, the temperature acquisition unit 18 determines whether the temperature of the image sensor 1a of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 is 90 ° C. or less. Then, when it is determined that the temperature of the image sensor 1a is equal to or lower than 90 ° C. (YES in step S17), the program proceeds to step S18.

  In step S18, the wind control unit 16 turns off the DC voltage supplied to the Peltier element 6, and in step S19, the wind control unit 16 turns off the compressor 4. Thereafter, the program returns to step S1.

  In the adjusting device A of the imaging device according to the present embodiment configured as described above, the wind control unit 16 controls the wind control unit 16 of the in-vehicle camera 1 based on the determination result of the status determination unit 14 that determines the status of the in-vehicle camera 1. The change of the wind temperature by the Peltier element (temperature changing unit) 6 for changing the temperature of the wind supplied near the surface of the lens 1b is controlled.

  Therefore, unlike the above-described conventional cleaning system for an on-vehicle optical sensor, the compressor 4 is operated independently and individually according to the state of the on-vehicle camera 1, the temperature of the wind is changed by the Peltier element 6, and the state determination unit is further provided. The wind control unit 16 can control the temperature of the wind based on the determination result of 14.

  Thereby, it is possible to appropriately remove foreign matter according to the state of the vehicle-mounted camera 1.

  In particular, in the adjustment device A according to the present embodiment, the type of the attached matter is determined by the attached matter determination unit 17, and information on the temperature of the image sensor 1 a is acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 18. Since the wind temperature is controlled to be changed based on the determination result of the attached matter determination unit 17 or the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit 18, fine control of the wind temperature according to the state of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 is performed. It can be carried out.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiment and the example, and a design change that does not depart from the gist of the present invention. Are included in the present invention.

  As an example, in the adjusting device A according to the above-described embodiment, the wind supplied by the duct 5a is supplied only to the vicinity of the surface of the lens 1b of the vehicle-mounted camera 1, but the supply of the wind is performed according to the temperature of the image sensor 1a. The position may be changed, and more specifically, wind may be supplied to the housing of the vehicle-mounted camera 1 near the imaging device 1a.

  Further, in the adjusting device A according to the above-described embodiment, the compressor 4 is used as the wind generator, but a wind generator other than the compressor 4, for example, a fan may be used.

A adjustment device S vehicle-mounted camera system 1 vehicle-mounted camera (imaging device)
1a Image sensor 1b Lens (imaging optical system)
2 Image recognition ECU
4 Compressor (wind generator)
6 Peltier element (temperature change part)
Reference Signs List 10 control unit 11 storage unit 14 state determination unit 16 wind control unit 17 attached matter determination unit 18 temperature acquisition unit

Claims (4)

An adjustment device that adjusts an imaging device mounted on a vehicle based on wind temperature,
A state determination unit that determines a state of the imaging device;
A wind generator for generating the wind,
A temperature changing unit that changes the temperature of the wind generated by the wind generating unit;
An adjustment device for an imaging device, comprising: a wind control unit configured to control a change in the temperature of the wind by the temperature change unit based on a determination result of the state determination unit. The state determination unit has an attached matter determination unit that determines the type of attached matter attached to the optical system of the imaging device,
2. The adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the wind control unit controls the wind by changing the temperature of the wind by the temperature changing unit based on a determination result of the attached matter determination unit. 3. The state determination unit has a temperature acquisition unit that acquires information about the temperature of the imaging device,
The adjustment of the imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the wind control unit changes and controls the temperature of the wind by the temperature change unit based on the temperature acquired by the temperature acquisition unit. apparatus. An adjustment method for adjusting the temperature of the wind generated by the wind generating unit by changing the temperature of the wind generated by the wind generating unit on the imaging device mounted on the vehicle,
Determining the state of the imaging device,
A method for adjusting an imaging device, comprising: controlling a change in the temperature of the wind by the temperature changing unit based on a determination result of a state of the imaging device.