JPH05280956A - Method and apparatus for measuring field of view of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily measure a driver's field of view of an automobile from outside an automobile cabin without depending on a diagram. CONSTITUTION:A mirror 11 having a vertical mirror face 11a with respect to a floor of a place to be measured is provided across in a widthwise direction of an automobile above an automobile body to be tested forward or backward with respect to a front glass or a rear glass, while a laser ODlight source 12 whose emission angle of a light beam is swung so that plane scanning is possible is placed oppositely to the mirror 11 so that a center point O of swinging is at a symmetric position of an eye point 5 with respect to the mirror face 11a. A field of view range to be measured on the mirror face 11a is scanned by the light beam in this state, and existence of reflection of the light beam on the automobile body to be tested is determined.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring a field of view of an automobile for measuring a driver's field of view in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When measuring the field of view of a developed vehicle, usually the clay model is used for design evaluation, and after passing the test, the body of the developed vehicle is drawn into a drawing and the view range is confirmed based on the drawing data. ..

[0003]

Therefore, if the field of view fails, the clay model must be modified and the design re-evaluated, and the CAD data must be corrected. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for measuring a field of view of a vehicle that enables the driver's field of view to be measured from outside the vehicle regardless of the drawings.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method of measuring the visibility of a vehicle for measuring the driver's longitudinal visibility according to the present invention is vertical to the floor of the measurement location. A mirror having a mirror surface was installed across the width of the vehicle above the test vehicle body in front of or behind the windshield position or the rear glass position, and the emission angle of the light beam swung so as to allow surface scanning. The light beam emitter is arranged so as to face the mirror so that the swing center point occupies the symmetrical position of the eye point with respect to the mirror surface, and the visual field range to be measured on the mirror surface is scanned with the light beam, The feature is that the presence or absence of reflection of the light beam on the test vehicle body is confirmed.

In order to make the scanning of the mirror surface highly efficient and highly accurate, the launch angle of the light beam automatically swings so that the surface scanning is possible, and the swing center point is located at the symmetrical position of the eye point with respect to the mirror surface. This is done by means of a light beam emitter arranged opposite the mirror so that it occupies it.

A visual field measuring device for an automobile for measuring a visual field of a driver in a front-rear direction according to the present invention has a mirror surface perpendicular to a floor surface of a measuring place and is located in front of a windshield position or a rear glass position. Or, a mirror installed across the width of the test vehicle in the rear in the vehicle width direction, and the launch angle of the light beam automatically swings so that surface scanning is possible, and the swing center point is the eye point with respect to the mirror surface. The light beam emitter arranged facing the mirror so as to occupy the symmetrical position of the image sensor, the image sensor for imaging the test car body part from above, and the image signal of this image sensor to identify the plane position of the test car body part. Image processing for superimposing a grid-shaped number line image signal for storing in a memory and reading it from this memory for display on a monitor screen.
And a display device.

[0007]

[Function] Since the swing center point of the light beam occupies the symmetrical position of the eye point with respect to the mirror surface, the swing center point becomes a virtual eye point, and the reflection corresponding to the launch angle of the light beam emitter during surface scanning. The horizontal and vertical angles of light match the viewing angle of the eyepoint. As a result, when the field of view to be measured on the mirror surface is scanned by the light beam, the field of view ahead of the mirror surface is scanned by the reflected light on the mirror surface, and if the test vehicle body part is within this range, The beam is reflected.

[0008]

1 and 2 show an embodiment in which the method of the present invention is applied to a clay model which is a test car body. Above the hood 2b in front of the vehicle from the windshield position 2a of the clay model 2 arranged on the floor surface 1 at the inspection place, there is a mirror surface 11a perpendicular to the floor surface 1 and legs 11 are provided on both sides thereof.
A mirror 11 provided under b is installed across the hood 2b in the vehicle width direction. The shape of the mirror surface 11a is such that the lower end has a slight gap in the hood 2b, and the upper end and both end parts are set to be larger than the field of view to be measured at the installation position. Moreover, the mirror 11 occupies the eyepoint 5 side rather than the front measurement range.

At a position facing the mirror surface 11a, there is arranged a laser light source 12 as a light beam emitter capable of swinging an emission angle so that the mirror surface 11a can be surface-scanned by the laser beam light. The depression angle and azimuth angle are adjustable. The swing center point O is set so as to occupy the symmetrical position of the standard eye point 5 with respect to the mirror surface 11a, and the optical axis passing through the swing center point O and orthogonal to the mirror surface 11a coincides with the eye point 5. The distance between the swing center point O and the eye point 5 with respect to the mirror surface 11a is equidistant.

In the measurement, the azimuth angle of the laser beam light on the horizontal plane is gradually changed from the upper end of one side end of the mirror surface 11a to the side of the other side end by manual operation, and the setting is made. Each time, the depression angle is changed toward the lower end of the mirror surface 11a, and at least the field range of the mirror surface 11a is surface-scanned.

During such a measurement, it is possible to take a picture from above with the video camera 13 and reproduce it with a TV receiver to check the light irradiation state. In addition, when the laser light source 12 is automatically attached to the base 20 that can be rotated about two horizontal and vertical orthogonal axes, which will be described later, the scanning of the mirror surface 11a can be performed with high accuracy and high efficiency. Alternatively, the image may be taken by the video camera 13 during this time.

For example, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the azimuth angle θ
2, that is, the azimuth angle θ2 from the eye point 5, the front end portion 9 of the hood 2b is irradiated with the laser bead light with respect to the depression angle θ1, that is, the depression angle θ1 of the eye point 5, and therefore, the depression angle is in front of the front end portion 9. It can be easily confirmed that the range larger than θ1 is out of the visual field. It can be seen that the hood 2b does not interfere with the scanning viewing angle unless the hood 2b is irradiated with light in the scanning range. This allows the driver to easily and accurately confirm the field of view at the clay model stage where the driver cannot enter the driver's seat.

In the above measurement, the laser beam was applied to the entire area of the mirror surface to inspect the field of view. However, when the mirror surface does not correspond to the field of view and has a large shape, the emission angle of the laser beam is increased. Check while measuring. Further, even if the mirror 11 is moved back and forth from the illustrated state, the laser light source 12 is displaced so that the symmetrical relationship can be maintained, and the same principle can be used for measurement. The measurement of the luggage door portion behind the vehicle from the rear glass position (not shown) can be similarly performed. The present invention is applicable not only to clay models but also to other types of models or actual automobile bodies.

FIG. 3 illustrates an automated visibility measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Assuming the positional relationship as shown in FIG. 1, the laser light source 12 is attached to a base 20 rotatable about two horizontal and vertical orthogonal axes. That is,
This base 20 is a base 2 to which the laser light source 12 is attached.
1 and a drive unit 2 which is driven to rotate by a motor about the X axis with a swing center point O at the intersection of the optical axis 12a of the laser beam, the X axis in the horizontal direction, and the Y axis in the vertical direction.
2, and a drive unit 23 that is driven to rotate by a motor about the Y axis.
By controlling these drive units, the mirror surface 1
A control circuit 24 for scanning 1a is attached. With respect to the control circuit 24, the range of the swing angle about the X axis and the Y axis can be set externally according to the test vehicle body.

Reference numeral 29 denotes a CCD camera as an image sensor, which picks up an image of the measurement surface from above and outputs the image signal from the image processing / display device 3 using a personal computer.
Supply to 0. This device includes a CPU 31 that operates according to an operation program stored in a ROM area of a memory 32 and an operation of a key operation unit 34, an external memory 33 such as a floppy disk, an image display unit 35, and the like.

The CPU 31 takes in the image signal of the CCD camera 29 and displays it on the image display section 35. Further, these image signals are temporarily stored in the RAM area of the memory 32 according to the setting of the key operation unit 34. Then, a line image of the outer shape of the vehicle body is created from the image signal, and when the image signal level exceeds the reference level, the reflected light of the laser light is detected and, for example, the reflection area data during scanning by the dotted line is created. Further, it is stored in the external memory 33 together with the number line data read from the ROM section of the memory 32. Incidentally, by taking in the azimuth angle and the depression angle data from the control circuit 24, it is possible to display the scanning angle data by marking a specific area, for example.

At the time of measurement, the azimuth angle and the depression angle corresponding to the shape of the clay model 2 corresponding to the visual field to be tested are set in the control circuit 24. By simultaneously operating the drive units 22 and 23, the laser beam light is swung in the horizontal direction while repeating the reciprocal swing in the vertical direction to scan the mirror surface 11a. At that time, the image display unit 35
You can monitor the image input with. During the surface scanning, the above-mentioned image signal processing is simultaneously performed. After the measurement with the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is completed, a mirror 11 is installed across the luggage door at the rear of the clay model 2 and a laser light source 12 is arranged at a symmetrical position of the mirror surface 11a to perform the same measurement. To do. After both the front and rear measurements, the key operation unit 34 is set to read the external memory 33 and display the measurement result. As shown in FIG. 4, the light reflection is reflected on the image of the outer shape 37 of the vehicle body on which the number line 38 is superimposed. Area 39 is displayed in the area.

[0018]

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, the driver's field of view can be easily measured or confirmed by setting the mirror and the beam light emitter in a predetermined positional relationship at the measurement portion outside the vehicle compartment. Since these devices are placed outside the vehicle compartment, they can be measured on the clay model or during the preparation of the clay model. According to the apparatus of the present invention, the mirror can be automatically scanned by the beam light emitter, and further, by providing the image processing / display device, the image of the measurement portion is monitored or stored together with the scanning angle and the wire number data. It will be possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an implementation state of a vehicle visibility measuring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same implementation state.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle visibility measuring device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the visibility measuring device according to the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Clay model 5 Eyepoint 11a Mirror surface 12 Laser light source 20 Base 22, 23 Drive unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method of measuring a field of view of a vehicle for measuring a driver's field of view in the front-rear direction, comprising: a mirror having a mirror surface perpendicular to a floor surface of a measurement location; A light beam emitter that is installed above the test vehicle body part in the rear in the width direction of the vehicle and swings so that the emission angle of the light beam can be surface-scanned. It is arranged so as to face the mirror so as to occupy a symmetrical position of the eye point, and the visual field range to be measured on the mirror surface is scanned with a light beam to check whether the light beam is reflected on the test vehicle body portion. A method for measuring the field of view of an automobile, characterized by confirming. 2. The light beam emitter which automatically swings so that the emission angle of the light beam can be surface-scanned, scans the visual field range to be measured on the mirror surface with the light beam. How to measure the visibility of a car. 3. A visual field measuring device for an automobile for measuring a visual field of a driver in a front-rear direction, comprising a mirror surface perpendicular to a floor surface of a measurement place, and being located in front of a windshield position or a rear glass position or A mirror installed across the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction above the test vehicle body in the rear, and the emission angle of the light beam automatically swings so that the surface can be scanned, and the swing center point is an eye point with respect to the mirror surface. A light beam emitter arranged so as to face the mirror so as to occupy a symmetrical position thereof, an image sensor for imaging the test vehicle body portion from above, and an image signal of the image sensor for a plane of the test vehicle body portion. Image processing / display for superimposing a grid-shaped number line image signal for specifying the position and storing it in a memory, and reading it from this memory and displaying it on the monitor surface Vision measuring apparatus of a vehicle, characterized in that a location.