JP2910487B2 - Obstacle detection device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an obstacle detecting device for a vehicle which is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and detects a person on a road and informs a driver or the like of the detected object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an obstacle detecting device for a vehicle which is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and detects a person or the like on a road and informs a driver or the like, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-28050 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. No.-71950 is known.

The vehicle obstacle detecting devices disclosed in these publications are equipped with a human body detection sensor such as an infrared detecting element on a vehicle body, and when a person or the like approaches the vehicle body, detect this and issue an alarm. Emit.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional obstacle detecting device for a vehicle, the detection area of the infrared detecting element is fixed, and all the heat sources (heating elements such as humans) in the detection area are used. If the detection area is widened, a person outside the road is detected and an alarm is issued. Conversely, if the detection area is narrowed, there is a problem in that when a wide area in front cannot be visually recognized due to dazzling by headlights of an oncoming vehicle or the like, a heat source such as a person on a road may not be detected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is intended to prevent malfunction by a person or the like outside the road, and to prevent the headlight of an oncoming vehicle from dazzling.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular obstacle detection device that can reliably detect and notify a driver of an obstacle in a dazzling area, if any, to improve safety.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an obstacle detecting apparatus for a vehicle, which collects infrared rays from the front of the vehicle to generate an infrared image. When the headlight of the vehicle is turned on, heat is generated in an irradiation area and a non-irradiation area based on a preset irradiation pattern of the headlight and an infrared image obtained by the infrared detection means. Obstacle detecting means for detecting whether there is an obstacle, and an alarm for generating an alarm of a predetermined format when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detecting means, divided into an irradiation area and a non-irradiation area. Output means.

Further, the vehicle obstacle detecting device according to the second invention comprises an infrared detecting means for collecting infrared light from the front of the vehicle to generate an infrared image, and a headlight of the vehicle being turned on. An obstacle that detects whether there is an obstacle that emits heat only in a non-irradiation area based on a preset irradiation pattern of the headlight and an infrared image obtained by the infrared detection unit. It is characterized by comprising detection means and alarm output means for issuing an alarm of a predetermined format when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means.

The vehicle obstacle detecting device according to a third aspect of the present invention includes an infrared detecting means for collecting infrared rays from the front of the vehicle to generate an infrared image, and a video signal by capturing a visible light image in front of the vehicle. Imaging means for generating, a video signal obtained by the imaging means, a dazzling area extracting means for binarizing the image signal and extracting a dazzling area based on a strong light portion, and an extraction result of the dazzling area extracting means And when there is an obstacle that emits heat in the dazzling area based on the infrared image obtained by the infrared detection means,
It is characterized by comprising an obstacle detecting means for detecting this, and an alarm output means for issuing an alarm of a predetermined format when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detecting means.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, an infrared image is generated by collecting infrared rays from the front of the vehicle by the infrared detection means, and when the headlight of the vehicle is turned on, an obstacle is detected. Based on the irradiation pattern set in advance by the detection means and the infrared image obtained by the infrared detection means, it is detected whether there is an obstacle that emits heat in the irradiation area and the non-irradiation area, and the obstacle is detected. Then, the alarm output means outputs an alarm of a predetermined format, divided into an irradiation area and a non-irradiation area.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the infrared detecting means collects infrared light from the front of the vehicle to generate an infrared image, and when the headlight of the vehicle is turned on, the obstacle detecting means detects the infrared image. It is detected whether there is an obstacle that emits heat limited to the non-irradiation area based on the preset irradiation pattern and the infrared image obtained by the infrared detection means, and when the obstacle is detected, An alarm of a predetermined format is output from the alarm output means.

In the third aspect of the present invention, while infrared rays from the front of the vehicle are condensed by the infrared detection means to generate an infrared image, a visible light image in front of the vehicle is captured by the imaging means to generate a video signal. At the same time, the image signal obtained by the imaging means is taken in by the dazzling area extracting means, and is binarized, and the dazzling area is extracted based on the strong light portion. Then, based on the extraction result of the dazzling region extraction unit and the infrared image obtained by the infrared detection unit, the obstacle detection unit detects whether there is an obstacle that emits heat in the dazzling region, and detects the obstacle. When this is done, an alarm of a predetermined format is output from the alarm output means.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a vehicle obstacle detecting device according to the present invention.

The vehicle obstacle detecting device shown in FIG. 1 includes an optical system 2, an infrared detecting unit 3, an A / D converter 4, a headlight switch (headlight SW) 5, an obstacle detecting unit 6, And an alarm output unit 7 for detecting whether there is an object having a certain size that emits infrared rays over the entire front range when the headlights (not shown) are not turned on. However, if there is a heat source with a certain size, a weak alarm sound is generated, and when the headlights are lit, infrared rays are emitted over the entire range ahead in consideration of the irradiation pattern of the headlights. Detects whether there is an object having a certain size, generates a weak alarm sound when there is a heat source having a certain size, and furthermore, when the heat source is out of the irradiation range. , Alerting the driver to strengthen the warning sound. The optical system 2, the infrared detector 3, and the A / D
The converter 4 constitutes the infrared detecting means described in the claims. The obstacle detection unit 6 constitutes an obstacle detection unit described in the claims, and the alarm output unit 7 constitutes an alarm output unit described in the claims.

The optical system 2 is disposed in front of the vehicle, condenses an optical image of a wide area in front of the vehicle, and forms an image in the infrared detector 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the infrared detecting section 3 includes a first mirror 10 which rotates in a vertical direction of the vehicle, a mirror driving motor 11 which drives the first mirror 10, and a left and right direction of the vehicle. The second mirror 12 and the second mirror 12
Mirror driving motor 13 for driving the INSb and Hg
An infrared detecting element 14 composed of CdTe or the like and having a single element structure or a linear array structure for detecting infrared rays
Based on a vertical scanning pulse output from the motor drive circuit (not shown) as shown in FIG. 3A and a horizontal scanning pulse output as shown in FIG. 3B. The mirror driving motors 11 and 13 are rotated to scan the front area to be observed,
Light rays including infrared rays obtained by this scanning operation are made incident on the infrared detecting element 14 to generate an infrared detection signal,
This is supplied to the A / D converter 4 for A / D conversion.
An infrared image signal in a digital signal format obtained by the A / D conversion operation is supplied to the obstacle detection unit 6.

The headlight switch 5 detects whether the headlight is turned on or not, and supplies the detection result to the obstacle detection unit 6.

When a signal indicating that the headlight is not turned on is output from the headlight switch 5, the obstacle detection unit 6 fetches an infrared image signal from the A / D converter 4 and outputs the infrared image signal. Over the entire scan range 3, whether the value of the infrared image signal is between the upper limit and the lower limit including this value with the temperature of human beings, for example, 32 ° C. under 21 ° C. It checks whether the value of the infrared image signal is between the upper limit value and the lower limit value, and generates an alarm signal indicating that a person or the like is present ahead, and sends this to the alarm output unit 7. Supply.

When the headlight switch 5 outputs a signal indicating that the headlights are turned on, the obstacle detection unit 6 outputs the illumination range characteristics of the headlights obtained by experiments or the like, for example, As shown in FIG. 4, the infrared image signal output from the A / D converter 4 is based on an irradiation pattern in which the lower semicircular portion is the irradiation range of the headlight and the remaining portion is the non-irradiation range. While capturing, within the non-irradiation range of the irradiation pattern,
Check whether the value of the infrared image signal is between the upper limit and the lower limit, and when the value of the infrared image signal is between the upper limit and the lower limit, non-irradiation A strong alarm signal indicating that a person or the like is within the range is generated and supplied to the alarm output unit 7.

In this case, as an algorithm for making this determination, for example, an algorithm as shown in FIG. 5 is used.

In this algorithm, the coordinates (X, Y) of the area to be determined are first initialized (steps ST1, ST2), and then the coordinates of the infrared image signal output from the A / D converter 4 are initialized. It is checked whether the infrared image signal value “I ₁ (X, Y)” corresponding to (X, Y) falls within the range between the upper limit value “Th + p” and the lower limit value “Th-p”. (Step ST3), the value of the infrared image signal “I ₁
(X, Y) "is within this range, it is determined that there is a possibility that a person or the like exists at the coordinates (X, Y), and the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is changed. It is set to "1" (step ST4).

Thereafter, it is checked whether or not the position flag R (X, Y) of the point indicated by the coordinates (X, Y) is "1" indicating that the point is within the non-irradiation range (step ST5). , The position flag R (X, Y) is “1”.
If so, it is determined that there is a possibility that a person or the like is present in the non-irradiation range, and the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is set to "10" (step ST6).

At this time, if the position flag R (X, Y) of the point indicated by the coordinates (X, Y) is "0" indicating that the point is within the irradiation range (step ST).
5) It is determined that there is no possibility that a person or the like is present in the non-irradiation range, and the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is left as it is.

In the above-described processing, if the value of the infrared image signal “I ₁ (X, Y)” does not fall within the range (step ST3), a person or the like is placed at the coordinates (X, Y). It is determined that there is no obstacle and the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J
The value of (X, Y) is set to "0" (step ST7).

Hereinafter, while incrementing the value of the X-coordinate, the above-described processing is repeated to determine whether or not there is a possibility that a person or the like exists in the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range for one line of the area. When there is a possibility that a person or the like is present in the irradiation range, the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) is set to “1”, and When there is a possibility that there is an obstacle, the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) is set to “10”.

The above-described processing is repeated while incrementing the value of the Y coordinate, and the above-described processing is repeated for each of the remaining lines, so that each coordinate (X, Y) in the area to be determined is determined. It is determined whether there is a possibility that a person or the like is in the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range (steps ST2 to ST7).

When this process is completed, it is checked whether or not the number of points where the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is "1" is a certain number or more. When it is a lump, it is determined that there is a person in the part illuminated by the headlight, a weak alarm signal is generated, and each obstacle presence / absence determination flag J
When the number of points where (X, Y) is "10" is a certain number or more, it is determined that a person is present in a portion not illuminated by the headlight, and a strong alarm signal is generated. An alarm signal is supplied to an alarm output unit 7.

When an alarm signal is supplied from the obstacle detecting unit 6, the alarm output unit 7 determines whether or not the alarm signal is a weak alarm signal. If the alarm signal is a weak alarm signal, the alarm output unit 7 generates a weak alarm sound. When the warning signal is a strong warning signal, a warning sound is strengthened to alert the driver.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the headlight (not shown) is not turned on,
Detects if there is an object of a certain size that emits infrared rays over the entire area in front, generates a weak alarm sound when there is a heat source of a certain size, and turns on the headlights When there is a heat source with a certain size, it detects whether there is an object with a certain size that emits infrared rays over the entire area in front of it, taking into account the irradiation pattern of the headlights. A sound is generated, and when the heat source is out of the irradiation range, a warning sound is strengthened to alert the driver, so that a headlight of an oncoming vehicle is prevented while preventing a malfunction by a person outside the road or the like. If there is an obstacle in the dazzling area, such as when dazzled by
This can be reliably detected and reported to the driver to improve safety.

Further, in this embodiment, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility that a person or the like is present in the non-irradiation range and all points in the irradiation range. Since whether or not there is a human, it may be determined whether or not there is a possibility that a human or the like is present only at all points in the non-irradiation range.

In this case, as an algorithm for making this determination, for example, an algorithm as shown in FIG. 6 is used.

In this algorithm, the coordinates (X, Y) of the area to be determined are first initialized (steps ST11 and ST12), and then the coordinates (X, Y) of the infrared image signal output from the infrared detector 3 are initialized. , Y), the position flag R (X, Y) indicating the point within the non-irradiation range is set to “1”, and the infrared image signal corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) is obtained. The value "I ₁ (X,
Y) is in the range between the upper limit value “Th + p” and the lower limit value “Th-p” (step ST13).
If the value “I ₁ (X, Y)” of the infrared image signal falls within this range, it is determined that there is a possibility that a person or the like exists at the coordinates (X, Y), and an obstacle presence / absence determination flag is set. J
The value of (X, Y) is set to “1” (step ST14), and the value of the infrared image signal “I ₁ (X, Y)” corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) is the upper limit value “Th + p”. And the lower limit “Th-
If not within the range of "p", the coordinates (X, Y)
It is determined that there is no possibility that a person or the like is present in the vehicle, and the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is set to “0” (step S
T15).

Hereinafter, while the value of the X coordinate is incremented, the above-described processing is repeated to determine whether or not there is a possibility that a person or the like is within the non-irradiation range for one line of the area. When there is a possibility that there is a human or the like in the area, the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) is set to “1”.

When the above-described processing is completed for all points on the line, the value of the Y coordinate is incremented.

Hereinafter, while incrementing the X-coordinate value and the Y-coordinate value, the above-described processing is repeated, and the above-described processing is repeated for all the points of the remaining lines, so that each coordinate (X, For Y), it is determined whether there is a possibility that a person or the like is present in the non-irradiation range. If there is a possibility that a person or the like is present in this non-irradiation range, an obstacle corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) is determined. Object presence / absence determination flag J
Set the value of (X, Y) to “1” (steps ST12 to ST12)
T15).

When this process is completed, it is checked whether or not the number of points where the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is "1" is a certain number or more. When it is a lump, it is determined that there is a person in a portion not illuminated by the headlight, and an alarm signal is generated, and an alarm sound is output from the alarm output unit 7 to call the driver's attention.

In this manner, similarly to the above-described embodiment, an obstacle may be present in the dazzling area while being dazzled by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, while preventing malfunction by a person outside the road. If so, this can be reliably detected and reported to the driver to improve safety.

Furthermore, by limiting the determination target point to the non-irradiation range, the processing speed can be improved, and the real-time property can be further improved.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the vehicle obstacle detecting device according to the present invention. In this figure, parts corresponding to the respective parts in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The vehicle obstacle detecting device shown in FIG.
The difference from the device shown in FIG. 1 is that a television camera 20 and a dazzling area extracting unit 21 are provided to detect whether there is an object having a certain size that emits infrared rays over the entire range in front of the TV camera 20 and a certain size. When there is a heat source with
Generates a weak alarm sound, and when dazzled by oncoming headlights, detects whether there is an object of a certain size emitting infrared rays in this dazzling area, When there is a heat source to have, increase the alarm sound to alert the driver. In addition, the TV camera 2
The image forming means according to claim 3 is constituted by 0, and the glare area extracting means according to claim 3 is constituted by the glare area extracting section 21, respectively.

The television camera 20 is arranged in front of the vehicle, photographs a wide area in front of the vehicle, and supplies a video signal of a visible light image obtained by this photographing operation to the dazzling area extracting unit 21.

The dazzling area extraction unit 21 is a television camera 20
, And digitizes this to generate a digital image F (X, Y). The digital image F (X, Y) is set according to a preset threshold value.
Each pixel (pixel) constituting (X, Y) is binarized and the digital image F (X, Y) is converted into a binary image G (X, Y).
Make Y).

In this case, when the oncoming vehicle is a two-wheeled vehicle or when the oncoming vehicle is an automobile, when the oncoming vehicle is far away, a binarized image having one circular image as shown in FIG. G (X, Y), and when the oncoming vehicle is an automobile and the oncoming vehicle is relatively close, a binary image G having two circular images as shown in FIG.
(X, Y).

Thereafter, the center of gravity g of the binarized image G (X, Y)
Is calculated, and a range within a predetermined circle of a predetermined length R from the center of gravity g is determined as a dazzling area, and the dazzling area flag H (X, Y) is set to “1”.

As a result, when a binary image G (X, Y) having one circular image as shown in FIG.
The dazzling area shown in FIG. 9A is obtained, and in the case of a binary image G (X, Y) having two circular images as shown in FIG. 8B, the dazzling area shown in FIG. This is supplied to the obstacle detection unit 6.

The obstacle detecting section 6 takes in the infrared image signal from the infrared detecting section 3 and, over the entire scanning range of the infrared detecting section 3, as shown in FIG. It is determined whether the infrared image signal value “I ₁ (X, Y)” is between the upper limit “Th + p” including this value and the lower limit “Th-p” with the reference temperature of 32 ° C. Is checked (step ST21), and the upper limit value “Th +
When the value “I ₁ (X, Y)” of the infrared image signal is between the “p” and the lower limit “Th-p”, the coordinates (X, Y) of the infrared image signal indicate a person or the like. And the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is set to "1" (step ST22), and the value of the infrared image signal "I ₁ (X, Y)" is If not within this range, it is determined that there is no possibility that a person or the like exists at the coordinates (X, Y), and the value of the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is set to “0” (step ST23).

When this process is completed, it is checked whether or not the number of points where the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is "1" is a certain number or more. When it is a lump, it is determined that there is a person or the like in front, and a weak alarm signal is generated.
To warn the driver with a weak alarm sound.

In parallel with this operation, if a signal indicating that there is a dazzling area is output from the dazzling area extracting section 21, the obstacle detecting section 6 sets the dazzling area flag H
In the area where (X, Y) is “1”, it is checked whether the number of points where the obstacle presence / absence determination flag J (X, Y) is “1” is a certain number or more, When the number is a certain number or more, it is determined that there is a human or the like in the dazzling area, a strong alarm signal is generated, and the alarm sound output from the alarm output unit 7 is increased to urge the driver to pay attention. .

As described above, in this embodiment, it is detected whether there is an object having a certain size that emits infrared rays over the entire forward range, and when there is a heat source having a certain size, a weak alarm is issued. Generates sound, and when dazzled by oncoming headlights, detects whether there is an object of a certain size emitting infrared rays in this dazzling area, and a heat source with a certain size When there is a warning, the warning sound is enhanced to warn the driver.Therefore, while avoiding malfunctions by people outside the road, etc. If there is an obstacle, it is possible to reliably detect the obstacle and notify the driver of the obstacle to improve safety.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the infrared rays obtained by scanning the front of the vehicle by rotating the first and second mirrors 10 and 12 are used to detect infrared rays having a single element structure or a linear array structure. Although an infrared image signal is generated by being incident on the element 14, a two-dimensional infrared image is generated from an optical image obtained by the optical system 2 using an infrared detection element having an area array structure. Is also good.

By doing so, the configuration of the infrared detector 3 can be simplified, and the scanning speed can be greatly improved.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is no obstacle in the dazzling area when dazzling by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle while preventing malfunction by a person outside the road. If this is the case, this can be reliably detected and reported to the driver to improve safety.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a vehicle obstacle detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a detailed configuration example of an infrared detection unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a driving waveform of an infrared detection unit illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an irradiation pattern of the vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the obstacle detection unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the vehicle obstacle detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the vehicle obstacle detection device according to the present invention.

8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation example of the dazzling area extraction unit illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation example of the dazzling area extraction unit illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the obstacle detection unit illustrated in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Optical system 3 Infrared detector 4 A / D converter 5 Headlight switch 6 Obstacle detector 7 Alarm output unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-64-28050 (JP, A) JP-A-62-23842 (JP, A) JP-A 3-71950 (JP, U) JP-A 63-238 192788 (JP, U) Actually open 63-63727 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60R 21/00 G01J 1/02 G01V 8/10 G08G 1/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An infrared detecting means for collecting an infrared ray from the front of a vehicle to generate an infrared image, and a preset irradiation pattern of the headlight when the headlight of the vehicle is turned on. Obstacle detecting means for detecting whether there is an obstacle generating heat in the irradiation area and the non-irradiation area based on the infrared image obtained by the infrared detecting means; and an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detecting means. When performed, the headlight is divided into an irradiation area and a non-irradiation area,
An alarm output means for issuing an alarm of a pre-designated type, comprising: an obstacle detection device for a vehicle. 2. An infrared detecting means for collecting an infrared ray from the front of the vehicle to generate an infrared image, and when a headlight of the vehicle is turned on, a predetermined irradiation pattern of the headlight. Obstacle detecting means for detecting whether there is an obstacle that emits heat only in the non-irradiation area based on the infrared image obtained by the infrared detecting means, and an obstacle detected by the obstacle detecting means. And an alarm output means for issuing an alarm of a predetermined format when detected. An obstacle detection device for a vehicle, comprising: 3. An infrared detecting means for collecting infrared light from the front of the vehicle to generate an infrared image, an imaging means for capturing a visible light image in front of the vehicle to generate a video signal, and an image pickup means. A dazzling area extracting means for taking in a video signal and binarizing the same to extract a dazzling area based on a strong light portion; and an extraction result of the dazzling area extracting means and an infrared image obtained by the infrared detecting means. When there is an obstacle that emits heat in the dazzling area based on the obstacle detection means for detecting the obstacle, and when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detection means,
An alarm output means for issuing an alarm of a pre-designated type, comprising: an obstacle detection device for a vehicle.