JP6498881B2 - Vehicle position calculation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle position calculation device for guiding a vehicle to a desired stop position by automatic traveling or the like.

  Conventionally, a stereo image mounted on a vehicle is used to obtain an image of a view that can be seen from the vehicle, and an object in the image is compared with an object recorded in advance in a database, and image processing for specifying the object is performed. A method for estimating a position at the time of imaging of a vehicle is known.

JP 2009-20014 A

  Due to significant advances in driving control technology, automatic driving of vehicles is becoming a reality. In automatic driving, it is basically unnecessary to see the surroundings for driving by the passenger. Instead, a technique for specifying the position of the vehicle as described above is required.

  Further, when the vehicle is automatically stopped at a desired place such as a parking space (a region for parking one vehicle), a passenger may be unnecessary. In addition, when the parking lot is an indoor type, humans do not pass through the parking lot, and therefore it is considered that the lighting of the parking lot is basically unnecessary or can be kept to a minimum. In such an environment, it is difficult to confirm the entire image of the object (structure) around the vehicle, and the position of the vehicle cannot be specified by the above method.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle position calculation device that can calculate the position of a vehicle even in an environment where the recognizable visual field is limited.

One state like the present invention is a vehicle position calculating device, a first imaging unit that captures an image of a first object from each of the two viewpoints separated by a predetermined parallax, two spaced by a predetermined parallax A second imaging unit that images a second object that is separated from the first object by a predetermined distance from each of the viewpoints, and an image of the first object that is captured by the first imaging unit And a coordinate calculation unit that calculates relative coordinates of the vehicle with respect to the parking space based on the image of the second object imaged by the second imaging unit.

  The vehicle position calculation device may further include a determination unit that determines whether the relative coordinates of the vehicle calculated by the coordinate calculation unit are within a predetermined range.

The vehicle position calculating device, a storage unit, acquires the coordinate information by communication with the external server may comprise acquired the coordinate information further a communication unit to be stored in the storage unit. The coordinate information defines relative coordinates of the second object with respect to the first object, relative coordinates of the parking space with respect to the first object, and a boundary between the parking space and its surroundings. At least one of the coordinates of the points may be included.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vehicle position calculation apparatus which can calculate the position of a vehicle also in the environment where the visual field which can be recognized is restricted can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the block diagram of the vehicle position calculation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating calculation of the position of the vehicle in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating calculation of the position of the vehicle in embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, vehicle position calculation apparatuses according to first and second embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the common part in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

(First embodiment)
First, the vehicle position calculation apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration diagram of a vehicle position calculation apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining calculation of the position of the vehicle in the first embodiment.

(Object)
The vehicle position calculation apparatus according to the present embodiment is installed in a vehicle 1 (see FIG. 2) and uses a photogrammetry of two objects (first and second objects) Pa and Pb separated by a predetermined distance. The position of 1 is specified. The first and second objects Pa and Pb are, for example, a parking space (one vehicle) such as a panel attached to a wall surface of a building constituting a parking lot, a figure applied to the wall surface, a light emitter, and the like. This is a mark (marking) that can be visually distinguished from the surrounding structure. Each of the objects Pa and Pb is provided at a position that is easy to see from the imaging unit 12. Such a position is, for example, the back of the parking space 2 (that is, a position located in front of the vehicle 1 when parked forward). The objects Pa and Pb are separated from each other by a predetermined distance D, for example, in the horizontal direction. In addition, you may change the shape and color of each target object Pa and Pb according to the position of the parking space 2, a dimension, etc. The boundary information and coordinate information of the parking space 2 to be described later are stored in the storage unit 16 in association with the corresponding objects Pa and Pb. In the above case, the shape and color are also stored.

(Imaging part)
Next, the configuration of the vehicle position calculation device according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle position calculation device 10 includes an imaging unit 12, a storage unit 16, and a control unit 20 including a coordinate calculation unit 18. The imaging unit 12 is a so-called stereo camera having two optical systems (not shown) having the same focal length f. As shown in FIG. 2, the imaging unit 12 is installed on a windshield or the like where the front of the vehicle 1 is easy to see.

(Imaging part)
The optical systems of the imaging unit 12 are separated from each other by a predetermined parallax s1 and are placed in a parallel equiposition relationship. Further, the optical axes of the optical systems of the imaging unit 12 are placed in parallel with the straight traveling direction of the vehicle 1. Therefore, the imaging unit 12 simultaneously images the first object Pa and the second object Pb in front of the vehicle 1 from each of the two viewpoints Sa and Sb corresponding to the respective optical systems. That is, the imaging unit 12 acquires two images including two objects Pa and Pb imaged from each viewpoint. The term “simultaneous” here is not limited to perfect coincidence of imaging times by the respective optical systems, and includes a time difference that does not hinder the calculation of the position of the vehicle 1 described later.

(Modification of imaging unit)
Note that the configuration of the imaging unit 12 is not limited to the two optical systems as long as the above-described imaging is possible. For example, the imaging unit 12 may include one optical system and a moving mechanism that translates the optical system in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the optical system. Alternatively, the optical axis may be branched using an optical path changing element such as a prism so as to have substantially two viewpoints. In either case, the two objects Pa and Pb can be imaged substantially simultaneously. Further, the setting of the installation location and orientation of the imaging unit 12 is arbitrary as long as these can be specified (that is, as long as there is no hindrance in the calculation of the position of the vehicle).

(Memory part)
The storage unit 16 is configured by a known storage device (storage element) such as a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk, and stores programs executed by the control unit 20, variables, and the like. The storage unit 16 stores an image acquired by imaging of the imaging unit 12, optical information of the imaging unit 12, coordinate information indicating various relative coordinates, and information about the vehicle 1 (hereinafter, vehicle information).

(Optical information)
The optical information indicates information related to the optical system of the imaging unit. Specifically, the parallax s1 of two optical systems (viewpoints) and the focal length f of each optical system.

(Coordinate information)
The coordinate information indicates various relative coordinates. Specifically, the relative coordinates of the second object Pb with respect to the first object Pa, and the relative coordinates of the parking space 2 with respect to the first object Pa. The relative coordinates of the parking space 2 indicate a predetermined position C0 in the parking space 2 (for example, the center of the parking space 2). The coordinate information may include the coordinates of a point that defines the boundary between the parking space 2 and its surroundings (hereinafter referred to as boundary coordinates). The boundary coordinates include coordinates of the four corners C1 to C4 of the parking space 2, for example, as shown in FIG. In this case, the parking space is defined as a rectangle, and its length (depth) and width are defined. The coordinate information is stored in the storage unit 16 in advance. Alternatively, it may be acquired from the external server (server) 30 by the communication unit 24 described later, and then stored in the storage unit 16.

(Vehicle information)
The vehicle information indicates the specification of the vehicle 1 in which the vehicle position calculation device 10 is installed. The specification of the vehicle 1 mentioned here includes the vehicle type, the overall length of the vehicle body, the overall width of the vehicle body, the dimensions of the passenger compartment, and the like. The vehicle information includes information regarding at least one vehicle type. Vehicle information is stored in the storage unit 16 in advance. Alternatively, when a communication unit 24 described later is provided, it may be acquired from the external server 30 via the Internet 32.

(Control unit: Coordinate calculation unit)
The control unit 20 is configured by a central processing unit and the like, and executes a series of processes in the vehicle position calculation device 10 based on a program stored in the storage unit 16. One of the series of processes includes a process of calculating relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 using the first and second objects Pa and Pb. That is, the control unit 20 functions as the coordinate calculation unit 18 that executes this process. The coordinate calculating unit 18 uses the image including the first object Pa and the second object Pb imaged by the imaging unit 12, the optical information and the coordinate information of the imaging unit 12 stored in the storage unit 16, and parking space. 2 relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 are calculated. This calculation will be described later.

(Communication Department)
The vehicle position calculation device 10 according to the present embodiment may include a communication unit that communicates with the external server 30 via the Internet 32. In this case, the coordinate information described above is stored as a database in the external server 30, and the communication unit 24 acquires this and stores it in the storage unit 16. The desired coordinate information in the database is specified by a passenger's manual input via an operation unit (not shown).

(Vehicle relative coordinate calculation method 1)
Calculation of relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 with respect to the parking space 2 in the present embodiment will be described. First, the imaging unit 12 images the front of the vehicle 1 and simultaneously images two objects Pa and Pb from the respective viewpoints Sa and Sb. That is, two images including the first and second objects Pa and Pb viewed from each viewpoint are acquired, and these images are stored in the storage unit 16.

(Vehicle relative coordinate calculation method 2)
The parallax s1 and the focal length f of the two optical systems in the imaging unit 12 are stored in the storage unit 16. The coordinate calculation unit 18 reads the two images including the first and second objects Pa and Pb stored in the storage unit 16, and the parallax s1 and the focal length f stored in the storage unit 16, The coordinates of the first and second objects Pa and Pb with respect to the imaging unit 12 are calculated by a well-known photogrammetric method using these. Specifically, from the parallax s1 and the focal length f and the positions (displacements) of the objects Pa and Pb with respect to the optical axes of the viewpoints (optical systems) Sa and Sb in each image, any of the two viewpoints Sa and Sb is selected. The coordinates (xa, ya) of the first object Pa and the coordinates (xb, yb) of the second object Pb are calculated. A well-known image processing technique is also used for specifying an object in the image.

(Vehicle relative coordinate calculation method 3)
Next, the coordinate calculation unit 18 determines the distance D between the first object Pa and the second object Pb from the coordinate information stored in the storage unit 16, and the first object Pa and the parking space. A distance L from the predetermined position C0 within 2 is calculated. Furthermore, the coordinate calculation unit 18 includes an angle formed by a line segment connecting the first object Pa and the second object Pb and a line segment connecting the first object Pa and the predetermined position C0 in the parking space 2 ( (Intersection angle) θ is calculated. Note that the two distances D and L and the angle θ may be stored in the storage unit 16 in advance. In this case, the above calculation is not necessary.

車両１内における撮像部１２の位置は定まっているので、この結果から、駐車スペース２に対する車両１の相対座標が得られる。例えば、駐車スペース２の所定位置Ｃ０を基準とした場合、撮像部１２（具体的にはその視点Ｓａ）の座標は（−ｘ０、−ｙ０）になる。この相対座標は、車両１の運転制御部１００が駐車スペース２までの経路を算出するために使用される。 (Vehicle relative coordinate calculation method 4)
By the processing so far, the coordinates (xa, ya) of the first object Pa, the coordinates (xb, yb) of the second object Pb, the two distances D, L, and the angle θ are obtained. The coordinate calculation unit 18 substitutes these into the following formula to obtain the relative coordinates (x0, y0) of the parking space 2 with respect to the imaging unit 12.

Since the position of the imaging unit 12 in the vehicle 1 is fixed, the relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 with respect to the parking space 2 can be obtained from this result. For example, when the predetermined position C0 of the parking space 2 is used as a reference, the coordinates of the imaging unit 12 (specifically, the viewpoint Sa) are (−x0, −y0). The relative coordinates are used for the operation control unit 100 of the vehicle 1 to calculate a route to the parking space 2.

(Control unit: Judgment unit)
As one of the processes executed by the control unit 20, a process for determining completion of parking using the calculation result of the coordinate calculation unit 18 and the coordinate information stored in the storage unit 16 may be performed. That is, the control unit 20 can function as the determination unit 22 that executes this process. The determination unit 22 uses the relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 calculated by the coordinate calculation unit 18 and the coordinate information and vehicle information stored in the storage unit 16 to determine whether the relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 are within a predetermined range. Determine. For example, an allowable range of relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 in which the vehicle 1 can be accommodated in the parking space 2 can be defined from boundary coordinates and vehicle information included in the coordinate information. Therefore, the determination unit 22 determines whether or not the relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 are within the allowable range. If the relative coordinate is within the allowable range, the determination unit 22 transmits a driving stop signal indicating that to the driving control unit 100. In this case, the driving control unit 100 stops driving and the parking of the vehicle 1 is completed. On the other hand, while the relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 are not within the allowable range described above, the determination unit 22 does not transmit an operation stop signal, so that the operation of the vehicle 1 is continued. Moreover, the determination part 22 may determine whether the vehicle 1 can be parked in the parking space 2 by comparing vehicle information and boundary information.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a vehicle position calculation apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining calculation of the position of the vehicle in the second embodiment.

  The configuration of the vehicle position calculation device according to the second embodiment is different from the configuration of the vehicle position calculation device 10 according to the first embodiment only in that two imaging units that are stereo cameras are provided. Therefore, description of parts common to both the embodiments will be omitted, and only changes due to the difference between them will be described.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the imaging unit 12 of the first embodiment is installed on the front side of the vehicle 1 as the first imaging unit, and the imaging unit 14 having the same configuration as the imaging unit 12 as the second imaging unit. Is installed on the rear side of the vehicle 1. Hereinafter, the imaging unit 12 is referred to as a first imaging unit, and the imaging unit 14 is referred to as a second imaging unit (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 1). The first imaging unit 12 images the front of the vehicle 1 as in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the second imaging unit 14 images the rear of the vehicle 1. The parallax s2 of each optical system in the second imaging unit 14 may be the same as or different from the parallax s1 of each optical system in the first imaging unit 12.

  Compared with the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the arrangement of the first and second objects Pa and Pb is different, and the objects to be imaged by the imaging units 12 and 14 are also different. That is, the first object Pa is installed in front of the parking space 2, and the second object Pb is installed behind the parking space 2. Furthermore, the first imaging unit 12 images only the first object Pa, and the second imaging unit 14 images only the second object Pb. However, both of the imaging units 12 and 14 are the same as those in the first embodiment in that the images of the object viewed from each of the two viewpoints are acquired. As in the first embodiment, the setting of the installation locations and orientations of the imaging units 12 and 14 are arbitrary as long as they can be specified (that is, as long as there is no hindrance in the calculation of the position of the vehicle).

  The relative coordinates of the second imaging unit 14 with respect to the first imaging unit 12 are stored in the storage unit 16. In addition, the coordinate calculation unit 18 calculates the relative coordinates of the first object Pa with respect to the first imaging unit 12 from the first object Pa acquired by the first imaging unit 12 using a known photogrammetry method. calculate. Similarly, the coordinate calculation unit 18 calculates the relative coordinates of the second object Pb with respect to the second imaging unit 14 from the second object Pb acquired by the second imaging unit 14. Furthermore, the coordinate calculation unit 18 stores the relative coordinates of the second imaging unit 14 with respect to the first imaging unit 12 and the relative coordinates of the second object Pb with respect to the second imaging unit 14 stored in the storage unit 16. From the above, the relative coordinates of the second object Pb with respect to the first imaging unit 12 are calculated. Thereby, the relative coordinates of the first and second objects Pa and Pb with respect to the first imaging unit 12 are obtained, and thereafter the relative coordinates of the vehicle 1 with respect to the parking space 2 by the same processing as in the first embodiment. Can be calculated.

(effect)
According to each embodiment mentioned above, since the target object which an image pick-up part specifies is restricted to what was previously related with the parking space, specification of the target object by image processing is easy. In addition, since the position (coordinates) of the vehicle can be calculated simply by imaging this object, the configuration is simplified, and the position (coordinates) of the vehicle can be obtained even in environments where the recognizable field of view is limited, such as indoors or in the dark. ) Can be calculated. When the driving is controlled using the calculated position (coordinates), the driving operation by the passenger is basically unnecessary. That is, parking by unattended driving is also possible. Further, in the case of a configuration capable of communicating with an external server, the coordinate information and boundary information of the parking space can be obtained each time, so that it is possible to respond immediately even if a newly installed parking lot or an existing parking lot is remodeled.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, is shown by description of a claim, and also includes all the changes within the meaning and range equivalent to description of a claim. For example, the four corners C1 to C4 of the parking space 2 may be set as the predetermined position C0 in the parking space 2. In this case, the relative coordinates of the four corners C1 to C4 with respect to the first object Pa are directly obtained, and further, the relative coordinates of the four corners C1 to C4 with respect to the imaging unit 12 are obtained. Therefore, these relative coordinates are used for calculating a route to the parking space 2 or as a determination element of the determination unit 22.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2 ... Parking space, 10 ... Vehicle position calculation apparatus, 12 ... Imaging part (1st imaging part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Imaging part (2nd imaging part), 16 ... Memory | storage part, 18 ... Coordinate calculation part, 20 ... Control part 22 ... Determination part, 24 ... Communication part, 30 ... External server (server), Pa, Pb ... Object object

Claims (3)

A first imaging unit that captures an image of a respective one we first object of the two viewpoints are only the Jo Tokoro parallax away,
A second imaging unit that images a second object separated from the first object by a predetermined distance from each of two viewpoints separated by a predetermined parallax;
Calculating the first image and the second of said second image relative coordinates of the vehicle with respect to the parked vehicle space-out based on the object captured by the imaging unit of the first object to be imaged by the imaging unit A vehicle position calculation device comprising: a coordinate calculation unit. The vehicle position calculation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether the relative coordinates of the vehicle calculated by the coordinate calculation unit are within a predetermined range . A storage unit;
A communication unit that acquires coordinate information by communication with an external server, and stores the acquired coordinate information in the storage unit;
Further comprising
The coordinate information defines relative coordinates of the second object with respect to the first object, relative coordinates of the parking space with respect to the first object, and a boundary between the parking space and its surroundings. The vehicle position calculation device according to claim 1 , comprising at least one of coordinates of points .

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