JP4375549B2 - Vehicle positioning device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle position specifying device, for example, a vehicle position specifying device for specifying a vehicle position on a running road.

  For example, when the travel route of a vehicle is guided or the vehicle position is displayed on a map displayed on the screen, it is necessary to specify the current position of the vehicle. When the current position of the vehicle is specified, it has been widely performed in the navigation system to receive the radio wave from the GPS and specify the current position.

In the case of running route guidance, for example, there is a case in which guidance for changing a lane to a lane for exclusive use of a right turn is made in advance as well as guidance for a right turn.
In this case, it is necessary to recognize which lane the vehicle is traveling. In Patent Document 1, a white line on the road is imaged with an in-vehicle camera, and the traveling position of the host vehicle and the traveling lane are recognized. Technology has been proposed.

JP 2003-65715 A

However, when the current position is specified by GPS, if it is large, a position error of about 100 m to 200 m is included, so that the accurate current position cannot be specified.
In addition, when the white line on the road is recognized by the method described in Patent Document 1 and the traveling lane of the host vehicle is recognized, when the visibility is deteriorated due to the weather such as night or rain, the white line is accurately obtained from the captured image. There is a problem that can not be caught. Furthermore, in the case of an old road, the white line on the road may have disappeared. In this case as well, it is difficult to recognize the white line from the captured image.
Thus, in the method of recognizing the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling from the captured image of the white line, there are cases where the recognition accuracy is lowered or cannot be recognized.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle position specifying device that can more accurately specify the current position of the vehicle.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a vehicle position specifying device that can more reliably specify the traveling lane in which the vehicle is traveling.

Vehicle in the invention according to claim 1, an acquisition unit for acquiring position data of the traffic signal present in the front and rear of the vehicle, is arranged on the vehicle, an imaging unit for imaging the traffic signals existing before and after the vehicle, which is the imaging present from the captured image of the traffic signal present in the front and rear, and an angle detecting means for detecting an elevation for traffic signals existing before and after the vehicle, and elevation for traffic signals existing before and after the detected vehicle, the front and rear of the acquired vehicle The vehicle position specifying device is provided with position specifying means for specifying the vehicle position from the position data of the traffic signal to achieve the first object.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle position specifying device according to the first aspect further comprises Euler angle detection means for detecting a Euler angle of the vehicle, wherein the angle detection means is further based on the captured image. The horizontal angle with respect to the traffic signal existing before and after the vehicle is detected, and the position specifying means detects the elevation angle and the horizontal angle with respect to the detected traffic signal before and after the vehicle, and the position of the traffic signal existing before and after the acquired vehicle. Based on the data and the detected Euler angle, the distance in the lane direction and the distance in the lane width direction from the traffic light to the vehicle are calculated, and the vehicle position is specified.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle position specifying device according to the first or second aspect, the lane storing means storing the number of lanes and the lane width of the road, the specified vehicle position, and the storing The second object is achieved by including lane specifying means for specifying the traveling lane on which the host vehicle travels based on the number of lanes and the lane width.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the traffic light is imaged, the traffic light can be recognized and the relative angle between the recognized traffic light and the captured image center point can be detected more reliably. Since the vehicle position is specified from the detected relative angle and the traffic signal position data, the current position of the vehicle can be specified more accurately.
In the invention described in claim 2, since the vehicle position is further specified using the Euler angle of the vehicle, a more accurate vehicle position can be specified.
In the invention described in claim 3, since the vehicle position is accurately identified by imaging the traffic light, the traveling lane on which the host vehicle is traveling can be identified more reliably.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the vehicle position specifying device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.
(1) Outline of Embodiment In the present embodiment, the position of the host vehicle and the traveling lane are specified from the position of the traffic light imaged by the fisheye lens camera.
That is, in this embodiment, a camera with a fisheye lens attached to the upper surface of the vehicle body on the vertical line passing through the center of gravity G of the vehicle is arranged, and a 360-degree range around the vehicle is imaged. An image of a traffic light as a sign is extracted by image processing.
Which traffic signal is the captured traffic signal is specified by acquiring a rough vehicle position from a navigation device or the like. A traffic signal image is extracted from the captured image using data for pattern matching corresponding to the shape of the traffic signal (vertical type, horizontal type, presence / absence of blue traffic light, and mounting position, etc.).

Then, the relative angle (elevation angle, horizontal angle) between the traffic signal and the vehicle is obtained from the position of the extracted traffic signal image in the entire captured image.
Further, the distance from the traffic signal of the vehicle and the distance in the road width direction are obtained from the relative angle and the data of the installation position (absolute position) and the height of the traffic signal.
Thereby, the exact position of the vehicle is specified from the installation position of the traffic light, and further, the traveling lane of the vehicle is specified from the distance in the road width direction and the lane data (number of lanes and lane width).

In this embodiment, since a signal device that constantly emits light is an object to be imaged and recognized, there is little influence on the image quality due to an environment such as nighttime or rainy weather, and the signal device does not disappear like a white line. Therefore, the recognition accuracy is remarkably improved as compared with the white line recognition.
Further, by using a fish-eye lens (angle of view of 180 degrees or more), it is possible to capture and recognize traffic lights before and after the vehicle and specify a more accurate vehicle position based on the distance from both traffic lights.

(2) Details of Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an in-vehicle device including a vehicle position specifying device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle position specifying device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10 that performs various types of control and arithmetic processing. A camera I / F (interface) 11 and an image memory 12 are connected via a system bus. A navigation I / F 13, a RAM / ROM 14, a communication I / F 15, and a memory 16 are connected.
In addition, the vehicle position specifying device includes a camera 18 on which a fisheye lens 19 is disposed and functions as an imaging unit.

  The CPU 10 uses the RAM of the RAM / ROM 14 as a work area, executes various programs stored in the ROM and other storage devices, thereby obtaining acquisition means for acquiring traffic signal position data, and extraction means for extracting traffic light images from captured images. , Angle detection means for detecting the relative angle between the traffic signal image and the vehicle, position specifying means for specifying the vehicle position from the relative angle and the traffic signal position data, lane specifying means for specifying the driving lane from the specified vehicle position, and other various functions It functions as an implementation means or as part of a function implementation means.

A camera 18 is connected to the camera I / F 11.
As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 18 is arranged on a vertical line passing through the center of gravity G of the vehicle on the upper surface of the vehicle main body (body). The optical axis of the fisheye lens 19 is also arranged on a vertical line passing through the center of gravity G. Thus, by arranging the camera 18 on the vertical line passing through the center of gravity G, it is possible to keep the camera installation height H substantially constant against the inclination of the vehicle due to braking, centrifugal force, or the like.
Only the fisheye lens 19 may be disposed on the upper surface of the vehicle main body, and the camera 18 may be disposed in the main body.

  In addition, the angle of view of the fisheye lens 19 in this embodiment is 180 degrees, but it may be larger than that.

The captured image captured by the camera 18 is stored in the image memory 12.
A traffic light is extracted from the captured image stored in the image memory 12, and the relative angle of the traffic light to the vehicle is detected from the image position.

A navigation device 21 is connected to the navigation I / F 13.
The navigation device 21 includes a GPS 211 (receiver), map data 212, and a computer system (CPU, ROM, RAM, etc.) (not shown), and a display (display device) 22 is connected thereto.
In addition to the map information displayed on the display device 22, the map data 212 stores road data and lane data (number of lanes, lane width, etc.) used for route search to the destination.
The navigation device 21 detects a rough current position of the vehicle from the signal received by the GPS 211 and transmits it to the vehicle position specifying device together with the lane data, and the vehicle position specifying device provides a more accurate current position and / or driving lane. To get.

The navigation device 21 has various functions such as route search to a destination, guidance for a searched travel route, and guidance for lane change in route guidance from a travel lane acquired from the vehicle position specifying device.
As for the current position of the vehicle, the more accurate vehicle position specified by the vehicle position specifying device is used, but it is also possible to specify the vehicle position by map matching between the vehicle position detected by the GPS 211 and the map data. .

  In this embodiment, map data and GPS data are acquired from the navigation device. However, the map data is stored in the memory (storage device) 16 of the vehicle position specifying device, and the vehicle position specifying device is provided with GPS 211. May be.

A vehicle ECU 24 is connected to the communication I / F 15.
The vehicle ECU 24 is a control device that performs various controls related to the traveling of the vehicle, and an Euler angle detection sensor 25 is connected to the vehicle ECU 24.
The Euler angle detection sensor 25 is a sensor that detects an angle (pitch angle and roll angle) with respect to a horizontal plane of the vehicle and an angle (yaw angle) with respect to a vertical plane.
The Euler angle detected by the Euler angle detection sensor 25 is supplied from the vehicle ECU 24 to the vehicle position specifying device via the communication I / F 15.

As shown in FIG. 2, the center of gravity G is the origin, the vertical line is the z axis, the traveling direction when the vehicle goes straight on the horizontal plane passing through the center of gravity G is the x axis, and the axis orthogonal to the z axis and the x axis is In the case of the y axis, the z axis is the yaw axis, the x axis is the rolling axis, and the y axis is the pitching axis.
The angle at which the point on the x-axis moves in the z-axis direction, that is, the angle rotated around the pitching axis (y-axis) is the pitch angle.
The roll angle is the angle at which the point on the y-axis is moved in the z-axis direction, that is, the angle rotated around the rolling axis (x-axis).
The angle at which the point on the x-axis moves in the y-axis direction, that is, the angle rotated about the yaw axis (x-axis) is the yaw angle.

  The Euler angle detection sensor 25 (FIG. 1) of the present embodiment includes three vibration gyro sensors that detect angular velocities with a precisely vibrating tuning fork, and the pitch angle, roll angle, yaw from each output signal. A corner is detected.

The Euler angle detection sensor 25 may be configured using a geomagnetic sensor, an inclinometer, or the like.
Further, the detection angle by the Euler angle detection sensor 25 may be directly supplied to the vehicle position specifying device from the vehicle signal I / F or the like, or the Euler angle detection sensor 25 itself may be provided in the vehicle position specifying device. .

The memory 16 stores traffic signal data 161, pattern matching data 162, and vehicle height data 163.
In the traffic signal data 161, data of position data (latitude, longitude), format (shape), height H, distance L from the road boundary line is stored for each traffic signal.
The type (shape) of the traffic light is determined according to the number, the mounting position, etc., when it is vertically long or horizontally long, and when there is a blue arrow type traffic light.

The pattern matching data 162 stores matching image data corresponding to each format (shape) stored in the traffic signal data 161.
Note that both or one of the traffic signal data and the pattern matching data may be stored in the navigation device 21.
The vehicle height data 163 stores data representing the height (height of the imaging device) H of the host vehicle.

Next, a vehicle position specifying method by the vehicle position specifying device will be described.
FIG. 3 shows the positional relationship between the traffic signal and the vehicle and the state of the captured traffic signal image.
FIG. 3 (b) shows a state where the traffic lights A and B and the vehicles a to f existing between the traffic lights A and B are viewed from above, and FIG. 3 (c) is a state viewed from the side. It represents.
FIG. 3A shows the positional relationship in the captured images of the traffic lights A and B captured by the cameras a to f with the camera 18.

The calculation of the vehicle position with respect to the traffic light will be described using traffic light A and vehicle a as an example.
As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, it is assumed that the central point of the traffic light A is the height H1, and the distance from the road outer line to the road center line is L1.
Further, it is assumed that the position of the camera 18 of the vehicle a is height H and the distance from the roadway outer line is L4.

First, the distance Lx in the lane direction from the traffic light A to the vehicle position a is obtained.
The height H 1 of the traffic light A and the height H of the own vehicle are acquired from the traffic light data 161 and the vehicle height data 163. When the elevation angle of the traffic light A with respect to the vehicle a (which means the camera 18 of the vehicle a. The same applies hereinafter) is θh1, the elevation angle θh1 can be obtained from the captured image of the traffic signal A as described later.
Therefore, Lx is calculated by the following equation (1).

  Lx = (H1-H) / (tan θh1) (1)

Then, a distance Ly in the lane width direction from the traffic light A to the vehicle a is obtained.
Ly is calculated from the following equation (2), where Lx obtained by equation (1) and the horizontal angle of the traffic light A with respect to the vehicle a is θa1.
The position L1 of the traffic light A from the roadway outer line is obtained from the traffic light data 161, and the horizontal angle θa1 is calculated from the captured image of the traffic light A as will be described later.

  Ly = Lx × tan θa1 (2)

Further, Lx and Ly are corrected in accordance with Euler angles representing the vehicle posture (tilt state).
If the yaw angle is represented by θY, the pitch angle is represented by θP, and the roll angle is represented by θR, which are the three elements of Euler angles, the corrected Lx and Ly are represented by the following equations (3) and (4).

Lx = (H1−H) / tan (θh1 + θP + θR) (3)
Ly = [(H1−H) / tan (θh1 + θP + θR)] × tan (θa1 + θY) (4)

  (X + Lx, Y + Ly + L1) is obtained as an accurate position of the vehicle from Lx, Ly obtained by the above formulas (3) and (4) and the coordinate position (X, Y) of the traffic light A and the distance L1.

Note that the vehicle position when the coordinates of the traffic light are not the center of the traffic light A but the coordinates of the column is (X + Lx, Y + Ly + L5).
In this case, L5 is L5 = L1 + L4, L4 is the distance from the support post to the roadway outer line, and at least two of L1, L4, and L5 are stored in the traffic light data 161.

Furthermore, from the calculated Ly and road lane information (the number of lanes and the lane width of each lane), it is possible to recognize the travel lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling.
As described above, both or one of the specified vehicle position and travel lane is transmitted to, for example, a navigation device and used as data for guiding the travel route.

Next, a method for determining the elevation angle θh1 and each horizontal θa1 with respect to the traffic light A of the vehicle a from the captured images (fisheye images) of the traffic lights A and B by the camera 18 will be described.
The area within each circle displayed in FIG. 3A is a captured image, the captured image J1 is a captured image from the vehicles a and b, the captured image J2 is a captured image from the vehicles c and d, and the captured image J3 is a captured image. It is a captured image from vehicles e and f. However, the captured images from both vehicles a and b, c and d, and e and f are displayed together, and there are actually six captured images.

In FIG. 3A, the captured images (signal images) of the traffic light A existing ahead of the vehicles a to f are Aa to Af, respectively, and the captured images of the traffic light B existing rearward are Ba to Bf, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 3 (b), as the vehicle approaches the traffic light A, the horizontal angle of the vehicle with respect to the traffic light A increases, and as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the traffic signal image in the captured image J. Moves to a position away from the center line parallel to the traveling direction, such as Ae → Ac → Aa.
The angles between the line segments connecting the traffic signal images Ae, Ac, Aa and the captured image center O and the center line parallel to the traveling direction are horizontal angles θe1, θc1> θa1 (θe1 <θc1 <θa1).

On the other hand, the elevation angle θh of the traffic signal with respect to the camera 18 is calculated from the distance from the captured image center O to the traffic signal image.
FIG. 4 conceptually shows a method for calculating the elevation angle θh.
As shown in FIG. 4, the light from the traffic light existing at the elevation angle θh with respect to the origin (imaging center point) O of the fisheye lens 19 is refracted by the fisheye lens 19 and forms an image at a position q from the imaging center point O. Shall be.
In this case, if the radius of the captured image is m, the elevation angle θh is calculated from Equation (5).

  θh = arcCOS (q / m) (5)

  The calculation formula (5) is an example of calculation when a fisheye lens having an angle of view of 180 degrees is used, and a calculation formula corresponding to the projection method of the fisheye lens is used.

Next, the operation of the traveling lane specifying process by the vehicle position specifying device will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the traveling lane specifying process.
The CPU 10 of the vehicle position specifying device performs a rough current position of the vehicle specified by the GPS 211 via the navigation I / F 13 according to the driving lane specifying program stored in the ROM, and lane data of the driving road corresponding to the current position. Requests (acquires the number of lanes, lane width, etc.) to the navigation device 21 and acquires them (step 51).

CPU10 judges the number of lanes from the acquired lane data (step 52).
When the number of travel lanes is one lane (step 52; N), since there is no need to recognize the travel lane, the CPU 10 ends the process and returns to the main routine.
However, when not only specifying the traveling lane but also specifying the vehicle position from the captured traffic signal image, the process proceeds to step 53 regardless of the number of lanes. (That is, the determination in step 52 is not performed in this case.)

  Next, the CPU 10 estimates the position of the traffic signal imaged by the camera 18 of the host vehicle from the current position of the host vehicle and the road shape acquired in step 51, and the estimated traffic signal data (signal position, type, height, H, the distance L from the road boundary line) is obtained from the traffic signal data 161 in the memory 16.

  Then, the CPU 10 captures an image in all directions (360 degrees) around the vehicle with the camera 18 and stores the captured image in the image memory 12 to obtain a captured image (step 54).

Next, the CPU 10 reads the traffic signal image data corresponding to the traffic signal format acquired in step 53 from the pattern matching data 162, detects (extracts) the traffic signal image by pattern matching with the captured image, and detects the traffic signal for the vehicle (camera 18). The elevation angle θh and the horizontal angle θa (relative angle formed with respect to the captured image center point O) are specified (step 55).
Note that the range for pattern matching is determined based on the number of lanes and the lane width acquired in step 51. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the load of the matching process.

  The CPU 10 detects the Euler angles (yaw angle θY, pitch angle θP, roll angle θR) detected by the Euler angle detection sensor 25 in order to prevent an error in measurement due to the tilt of the camera changing according to the posture of the vehicle. Is obtained from the vehicle ECU 24 as a correction parameter (step 56).

The CPU 10 uses the obtained and calculated traffic light coordinates (X, Y), the traffic light height H and distance L1, the elevation angle θh, the horizontal angle θa, the yaw angle θY, the pitch angle θP, and the roll angle θR to formula (3). ), (4), the distance Lx in the lane direction from the traffic light to the vehicle position and the distance Ly in the lane width direction are calculated (step 57).
In addition, from the calculated Lx, Ly, and the coordinate position (X, Y) of the traffic light A and the distance L1, an accurate position (X + Lx, Y + Ly + L1) of the vehicle may be obtained and supplied to the navigation device 21.

  Next, the CPU 10 identifies the travel lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling from the calculated Ly and road lane information (the number of lanes and the lane width of each lane) (step 58), and travel indicating the identified travel lane. The lane data is supplied to the navigation device 21 via the navigation I / F 13 (step 59), and the process returns to the main routine.

  The navigation device 21 is used for lane guidance based on the identified travel lane data. That is, the navigation device 21 determines whether or not the vehicle is traveling in a driving lane that can be turned to the left or right before guiding the right or left turn. Do.

Further, the CPU 10 of the vehicle position specifying device crosses which lane when it is determined that the position of the traveling vehicle crosses the lane (the road outer line, the lane boundary line, the road center line). Warning information indicating whether or not the vehicle is in operation is supplied to the navigation device 21.
The navigation device 21 may warn the driver by voice or display according to the received warning information. In that case, you may make it notify to which direction it should move with a warning.

As described above, according to the vehicle position specifying apparatus of the present embodiment, the traffic light is imaged with a fisheye lens, and the elevation angle and horizontal angle of the traffic signal with respect to the vehicle (imaging camera) are calculated from the traffic signal image extracted from the captured image. Further, it is possible to specify a more accurate current position of the vehicle from the position coordinates and height data of the captured traffic signal.
Furthermore, the travel lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling can be identified from the distance in the road width direction from the roadway outer line to the traffic light and the oblique line data (number of lanes and lane width).

And according to this embodiment, since it is trying to image many traffic lights which exist on the road which runs, and its circumference as a subject for imaging with a camera, it is possible to frequently specify an accurate vehicle position on the road. It becomes possible.
In addition, since a traffic light (traffic sign having a light source) that constantly emits light is a target for imaging and recognition, the traffic light can be reliably recognized and extracted even in a bad environment such as nighttime and rainy weather. Therefore, the vehicle position and the traveling lane can be reliably specified even at night or in the rainy weather.
Further, by using a fisheye lens (angle of view of 180 degrees or more), it is possible to specify a more accurate vehicle position based on the distance from both traffic lights by capturing and recognizing the traffic lights before and after the vehicle.

As mentioned above, although one embodiment in the vehicle position specifying device of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope described in each claim. is there.
For example, in the embodiment described above, a case has been described in which a traffic signal image is extracted by performing pattern matching of traffic signal image data (pattern matching data) on the entire region of a captured image by a fisheye lens. For example, a signal image existing in the area may be extracted by performing pattern matching on this area, for example, an area of about 45 degrees before and after.
In this way, by extracting the traffic lights existing in the specific area out of the entire area of the captured image, it is possible to extract only the traffic lights existing at positions effective for specifying the vehicle position and the traveling lane. In addition, the processing load associated with image processing (pattern matching processing) can be reduced.

In the embodiment described, a 360-degree range around the vehicle is imaged using a fisheye lens, but a wide-angle lens may be used in addition to the fisheye lens. In this case, when imaging the traffic lights before and after the vehicle, two front and rear cameras are installed.
Then, as the imaging range of the wide-angle lens, a lens having an angle of view capable of imaging a traffic signal existing at a position (in a region) effective for specifying the vehicle position and the traveling lane is used for the vehicle.
In this case, the calculation formula for the elevation angle and the horizontal angle of the traffic light with respect to the center of the captured image (camera) from the captured image is an expression corresponding to the wide-angle lens to be used.

In the described embodiment, the traffic signal is captured by the camera 18 on the premise that the traffic signal is captured at predetermined time intervals. However, the signal may be captured when it is necessary to specify the position of the vehicle or the traveling lane.
For example, in order to determine whether or not there is a need to provide guidance for changing the travel lane before a predetermined distance for executing a route change guidance such as turning right or left during guidance of a travel route by the navigation device 21, the navigation device Imaging is performed in order to identify the traveling lane in response to a request from 21.

  Further, the navigation device 21 may normally perform map matching with the vehicle position specified by the GPS 211 and take an image when it is necessary to specify a more accurate vehicle position. For example, in order to accurately specify the traveling road before and after passing through a complicated intersection, the traffic light is imaged and the accurate vehicle position is specified.

Alternatively, an image may be taken when the vehicle reaches the positional relationship (distance) between the traffic light effective for specifying the vehicle position and the vehicle.
For example, an image may be taken when the distance between the approximate vehicle position acquired from the navigation device 21 and the traffic signal reaches a certain distance Um considering the error of the navigation device 21.

Moreover, when imaging with the camera 11, the detection angle from a steering angle sensor is acquired, and when a steering angle is 0 degree | times, ie, the steering wheel is not turned, you may make it image a traffic light. Thereby, the misrecognition of the vehicle position or the traveling lane due to the vehicle being inclined with respect to the traveling lane due to a lane change or the like can be avoided.
Further, the possibility of the vehicle leaning may be further reduced by taking an image after traveling a predetermined distance or a predetermined time at a steering angle of 0 degree.

In the described embodiment, the signal image is extracted by the matching process with the pattern matching data. However, the signal image may be extracted by various other known methods.
For example, the captured image may be binarized using the HSV color system, and the position of the traffic light in the captured image may be specified from the position of the bright spot.

It is a lineblock diagram of an in-vehicle device containing a vehicle position specific device in an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the arrangement | positioning of the camera and Euler angle of a vehicle in embodiment same as the above. It is explanatory drawing showing the positional relationship of the signal apparatus and vehicle in embodiment, and the state of the imaged signal apparatus image as above. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the calculation method of elevation angle (theta) h in embodiment same as the above. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of the traveling lane identification process in embodiment same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

10 CPU
11 Camera I / F
12 Image memory 13 Navi I / F
14 RAM / ROM
15 Communication I / F
16 Memory 161 Signal data 162 Pattern matching data 18 Camera 19 Fisheye lens 21 Navigation device 211 GPS
212 Map data 22 Display 24 Vehicle ECU
25 Euler angle sensor

Claims (3)

Obtaining means for obtaining position data of traffic lights existing before and after the vehicle ;
An imaging means arranged in a vehicle for imaging traffic lights existing before and after the vehicle ;
From the captured image of the traffic signal present in the front and rear of the vehicle of which an image is captured, an angle detection means for detecting an elevation for traffic signals existing before and after the vehicle,
Vehicle position comprising: an elevation angle with respect to the traffic signal existing before and after the detected vehicle; and a position specifying means for specifying a vehicle position from the acquired position data of the traffic signal existing before and after the vehicle. Specific device.
Euler angle detection means for detecting the Euler angle of the vehicle, and
The angle detection means further detects a horizontal angle with respect to a traffic signal existing before and after the vehicle from the captured image,
It said position specifying means, the elevation angle and the horizontal angle for traffic signals existing before and after the vehicle the detected, and the position data of the traffic signal present before and after the acquired vehicle, based on the Euler angles the detection, the traffic to the vehicle The vehicle position specifying device according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle position is specified by calculating a distance in the lane direction and a distance in the lane width direction .
Lane storage means for storing the number of road lanes and the lane width;
The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a lane specifying unit that specifies a travel lane on which the host vehicle travels from the specified vehicle position and the stored number of lanes and lane width. The vehicle position specifying device described.

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