JPH10181447A - System for confirming surrounding of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for confirming surrounding of a vehicle, which can be attached to any of several kinds of vehicles, and which can facilitate the setting upon attachment, and which includes an image of the instant vehicle in a part of a screen so as to facilitate the confirmation. SOLUTION: A data processing part 22 of a system 1 of confirming the surrounding of a vehicle is composed of a table storage memory 24 storing therein various data in the form of a table and relating to vehicles to which the system can be installed, a set value memory 26 storing therein various set data, a control part 28 for creating a distance mark image, and a superimpose process part 30 for superposing an image picked up by a camera 10 with the distance mark image. A synthetic image displayed on an LCD 12 includes a rear bumper of the vehicle in addition to the distance mark and accordingly, distance feeling can be easily obtained. Since the rear bumper is indicated in a screen at a predetermined position, the camera 10 can be easily installed. A position where the distance mark is installed, can be read from the table storage memory 24 in accordance with the corresponding kind of vehicles.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring system for displaying a situation around a vehicle, which is a blind spot of a driver, on a display device in the vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a camera is installed behind a vehicle,
2. Description of the Related Art Various types of vehicle rear monitoring systems that display a rear image that is difficult for a driver to see on a monitor screen in a vehicle are known.
For example, a "multipurpose display device" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-213113 switches to an image showing the rear of a vehicle when a shift lever is operated to a back position, and synthesizes a distance scale on this display screen. The position of the obstacle behind can be determined based on the distance scale. Further, the "vehicle rear monitoring device" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-239999 switches the display on the display to an image of the rear of the vehicle when the shift lever is operated to the back position, and furthermore, stores the stored marking. The points are superimposed on the display screen, and the driver can retreat the vehicle using the marking points displayed on the screen as marks.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned "multipurpose display device", since the distance scale in the display screen is fixed, it is necessary to adjust the mounting position of the camera to a certain height. It cannot be applied to different car models. In addition, the display screen shown in FIG. 4 of the same publication shows, for example, the rear of the vehicle in a range from about 1 m to about 10 m, but the actual rear position of the vehicle and the distance scale in the display screen are displayed. In order to match them, it is necessary to devise a method such as placing a target on the road at the time of mounting the camera and adjusting the mounting angle so that this image matches the distance scale, and the mounting of the camera is not easy.

[0004] The above-mentioned "vehicle rear monitoring device"
Although the position of the marking point to be displayed on the screen when any two of the mounting angle, height, and distance to the subject of the camera are known is calculated, it is not easy to set the mounting angle accurately. When a distance measuring device is used to obtain the distance to the subject, the configuration becomes complicated.

[0005] In addition, when actually putting the garage, etc.,
It is convenient if you can see on the screen whether the rear bumper of your vehicle and the other vehicle or obstacle are likely to come into contact with each other, but it is convenient to use the above-mentioned `` multipurpose display device '' or `` vehicle rear monitoring device '' Since the display screen does not include a part of the vehicle body of the own vehicle, such confirmation is difficult.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is that it can be attached to a plurality of types of vehicles, the setting at the time of attachment is easy, and moreover, a part of the screen is self-contained. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle periphery confirmation system that can easily perform a confirmation operation by including a vehicle.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle periphery confirmation system according to the present invention uses a camera mounted on the vehicle to photograph the periphery of the vehicle so as to include a part of the vehicle body and to photograph the periphery. Image synthesis is performed by superimposing a predetermined index indicating the distance from the vehicle body on the image, and the synthesized image is displayed on a display unit installed in the vehicle. Therefore, the driver in the vehicle can determine the distance between the own vehicle and the obstacle and whether the obstacle is likely to come into contact with the own vehicle only by looking at the display screen, and can easily check the situation around the vehicle.

In particular, when a camera is attached to the rear of the vehicle so as to include the rear bumper as a part of the vehicle body, it is possible to confirm the vehicle backward when the vehicle retreats, and it is easy to enter the garage. In this case, if the display on the display unit is switched to the above-described composite image when the shift lever of the vehicle is in the reverse position, the rearward confirmation is performed when the vehicle reverses, and otherwise the display unit is used for other purposes ( For example, it can be used as a navigation device or a display unit of an FM multiplex broadcast receiver, and the device can be effectively used.

In the above-described camera, since it is only necessary to mount the camera on a vehicle so that a part of the vehicle body is reflected at a predetermined position on the display screen of the display unit, the adjustment of the mounting angle is simple, and Setting becomes easy. In particular, by storing the display position of the index in the composite image in the storage unit corresponding to the body shape and mounting position where the camera is mounted, various settings when mounting the camera simply by specifying the vehicle shape and mounting position Is completed, the method can be applied to a plurality of vehicle types, and complicated setting work for each vehicle type is not required.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vehicle rear view confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention applies a rear view of a vehicle to a camera and displays the image on a screen of a display device installed in the vehicle. Only when the shift lever is in the reverse position, the display is switched to an image captured such that a part of the image includes the bumper behind the vehicle. In addition, a distance mark as an index indicating the distance from the bumper is superimposed on this image, and this combined image is displayed. Hereinafter, a vehicle rear confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle rear confirmation system according to one embodiment. A vehicle rear confirmation system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a camera 10 for photographing a vehicle rear mounted and fixed at the center of the upper rear or middle of the vehicle, and an LCD as a display unit installed on a dashboard beside a driver's seat in the vehicle. (Liquid crystal display) 12, a television tuner 14 having an external input terminal, a remote control unit (hereinafter referred to as "remote controller") 16 operated by a user to perform various settings when the camera 10 is mounted,
A light receiving unit 18 provided near the LCD 12 for receiving infrared light transmitted from the remote control unit 16; and a gear position sensor for detecting that the shift lever of the vehicle is in the reverse position and the transmission is in the reverse gear position. 20 and a data processing unit 22 that controls the entire vehicle rear confirmation system 1.

The data processing unit 22 described above has a table storage memory 24 for storing various data relating to a vehicle to which the vehicle rear confirmation system 1 can be attached in the form of a table, and the vehicle rear confirmation system 1 is actually attached. A setting value storage memory 26 for storing various setting data relating to the vehicle, a control unit 28 for creating a distance mark image to be superimposed on the image of the camera 10 displayed on the LCD 12, and a control unit 28 for creating an image input from the camera 10. The image processing apparatus includes a superimpose processing unit 30 that superimposes distance mark images and synthesizes images.

The control unit 28 corresponds to a display switching unit and an index position setting unit, the superimpose processing unit 30 corresponds to an image synthesizing unit, and the table storage memory 24 corresponds to a storage unit for storing display positions of indices. I have.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mounting position of the camera 10 described above. As shown in FIG.
It is attached to the rear upper center of the vehicle 30 in a diagonally downward direction. The mounting angle is set so that the rear bumper 32 is included in the vertical angle of view which is within the shooting range. Details of various settings when the camera 10 is attached will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the display screen of the LCD 12, and shows a rear confirmation screen displayed when the shift lever is moved to the backward position. As shown in the figure, the rear bumper 32 of the vehicle is partially displayed near the lower side of the rear confirmation screen displayed on the LCD 12. Also, at a position away from the rear bumper 32 by a predetermined distance,
The distance mark 34 as an index indicating that the distance from the rear bumper 32 is 1 m, and the distance mark 3 as an index indicating that the distance from the rear bumper 32 is 2 m.
6 are displayed. These distance marks 34, 3
Reference numeral 6 corresponds to an actual distance on the road surface to be photographed. For example, when an obstacle is located at a position 1 m behind the rear bumper 32, the distance mark 34 is displayed at the image position of the obstacle.
Display position is set.

When the mounting position of the camera 10 is high, the photographing range is widened. Therefore, a third distance indicating that the camera 10 is located 3 m behind the rear bumper 32 in the rear confirmation screen shown in FIG. A mark, a fourth distance mark indicating that the position is 4 m behind, or the like may be displayed. Further, character data indicating a distance corresponding to the vicinity of the distance mark 34 or the like may be displayed together, or the character data itself may be used as an index to replace the distance mark 34 or the like. As an example, each distance mark 34,
36 are displayed at 1 m intervals, but this interval can be changed as appropriate.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of vehicle type data stored in the table storage memory 24 included in the data processing section 22. The vehicle type data stored in the table storage memory 24 is mainly of three types: vehicle shape, camera 10 mounting position, and distance mark display position. Typical vehicle shapes include a one-box car, a jeep type, a wagon, and a sedan. In addition, the mounting position of the camera 10 includes “upper” indicating the upper center of the rear of the vehicle and “middle” indicating the middle of the middle. The display position of the distance mark indicates the position of the distance mark to be displayed on the display screen shown in FIG. 3 when the vehicle shape and the mounting position of the camera 10 are designated by the coordinate values in the screen. It is.
If the shape of the vehicle and the mounting position of the camera 10 are determined, the mounting height of the camera is determined, and the rear bumper 32 is included in a part of the display screen as shown in FIG. Decided. Therefore, under these conditions, the distance mark 3 shown in FIG.
The display coordinates of the distance marks 34 and the like can be obtained in advance by calculation, and the display coordinates of each of the distance marks 34 and the like calculated in this manner are associated with the vehicle shape and the mounting position of the camera 10, and are stored in the table storage memory 24. Is stored in

Next, the operation of the vehicle rear confirmation system 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an initial setting operation procedure when the vehicle rear confirmation system 1 of the present embodiment is attached to a vehicle. After the camera 10 is first positioned, various input instructions necessary for displaying a distance mark are input. The operation procedure for performing the operation is shown.

The control unit 28 is used by the user to control the remote controller 16.
It is monitored whether or not the positioning of the camera 10 is instructed by the operation of (Step 500). When a predetermined operation key of the remote controller 16 corresponding to the positioning instruction is pressed, the position of the rear bumper 32 of the vehicle is adjusted. Is output to the superimpose processing unit 30. Superimpose processing unit 30
Performs image synthesis by superimposing an image of a bumper alignment line input from the control unit 28 on an image behind the vehicle input from the camera 10, and transmits the synthesized image to the LCD 12 via the television tuner 14 for display. Is performed (step 501). FIG. 6 is a view showing a display screen when the camera 10 is positioned. As shown in FIG. 6A, a bumper positioning line 40 is displayed at a predetermined position near the lower side of the screen.

During normal operation, the TV tuner 14
The control unit 28 sends an instruction to the television tuner 14 prior to the bumper alignment line display, and displays an image received by the
Switching is performed so that the image from the data processing unit 22 input to the external input terminal 4 is displayed on the LCD 12.

The positioning of the camera 10 is performed with the bumper positioning line 40 displayed on the image of the camera 10 in this manner. For example, when the camera 10 is mounted at the position shown in FIG. 2 and the mounting direction of the camera 10 is too upward, only the bumper alignment line 40 is visible as shown in FIG. The rear bumper 32 is off the display screen. Conversely, camera 1
If the mounting direction of 0 is too downward, FIG.
As shown in (B), the rear bumper 32 is projected above the bumper alignment line 40.
The position of the camera 10 is adjusted by adjusting the mounting direction of the camera 10 while looking at the display screen, and matching the tip position of the rear bumper 32 with the bumper alignment line as shown in FIG. 6C. .

When the positioning of the camera 10 is completed (step 502), the control unit 28 reads a plurality of vehicle shapes prepared in advance as mounting targets of the camera 10 from the table storage memory 24 as selection candidates, and
These character images are sent to the superimposition processing unit 30 to display vehicle shapes as selection candidates on the screen (step 503). For example, “one box car”, “jeep type”, “wagon”, and “sedan” shown in FIG. 4 are displayed on the LCD 12 as selection candidates.

After such display is performed, the control unit 28
Monitors whether any candidate has been selected by the user (step 504), and when the user operates the remote controller 16 to select any vehicle shape,
Next, an option prepared in advance as a mounting position of the camera 10 is read from the table storage memory 24, and these character images are sent to the superimpose processing unit 30 to display mounting positions as selection candidates on the screen ( Step 505). For example, “up” and “middle” shown in FIG. 4 are displayed on the LCD 12 as selection candidates.

After such display is performed, the control unit 28
Monitors whether or not any of the candidates has been selected by the user (step 506). When the user operates the remote controller 16 to select one of the mounting positions, Vehicle shape and camera 1 selected up to
The data of the display position of the distance mark specified by combining the mounting positions of 0
4 and stored in the set value storage memory 26 (step 507), and a series of initial settings is completed. The data stored in the set value storage memory 26 may be stored as it is at the distance mark display position data stored in the table storage memory 24, or may correspond to each data shown in FIG. The assigned number may be stored.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the vehicle rear view confirmation system 1 of the present embodiment at the time of normal operation. The control unit 28 monitors whether or not the shift lever is at the reverse position by checking the output of the gear position sensor 20 (Step 700). The data of the display position of the distance mark is read out from (step 701), and an image of the distance mark to be displayed at a predetermined position is created based on this data (step 702). The created image of the distance mark is sent to the superimposition processing unit 30, where it is superimposed on the image behind the vehicle captured by the camera 10 and image synthesis is performed (step 703).

Next, or in step 701 described above.
In parallel with the subsequent processing (reading out the data of the display position of the distance mark), the control unit 28 sends an instruction to the TV tuner 14 and the video from the data processing unit 22 input to the external input terminal of the TV tuner 14. Is switched to be displayed on the LCD 12, and then the image synthesized in step 703 is displayed on the screen of the LCD 12 (step 70).
4).

As described above, the vehicle rear confirmation system 1 of the present embodiment partially displays the rear bumper 32 of the own vehicle as shown in an example of the display screen in FIG. Distance marks 34 and 36 are displayed at positions corresponding to a distance of 1 m or 2 m. By displaying the rear bumper 32 of the own vehicle together with the distance mark, it is easy to grasp the sense of distance. In the case of moving the vehicle backward and entering the garage, it is possible to check the status of obstacles and the like while looking at each distance mark. It is possible to confirm the relative position between the obstacle and the like and the own vehicle, and to surely know whether the obstacle and the like contact the own vehicle.

When the camera 10 is mounted on a vehicle, a bumper alignment line 40 is displayed on the screen, and the mounting direction of the camera 10 is set so that the line 40 and the tip of the rear bumper 32 coincide. Therefore, the camera 10 can be easily attached, and a special device such as a distance measuring device is not required, so that the configuration can be simplified.

Further, since the table storage memory 24 stores the data of the display position of the distance mark corresponding to the vehicle shape and the mounting position of the camera 10, the user can select several types of vehicles displayed as selection candidates. Necessary settings can be made only by selecting the appropriate one from the shape and the mounting position of the camera 10, and the distance mark can be displayed at a correct position suitable for various types of vehicles.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the situation behind the vehicle is checked while looking at the display screen.
The present invention can also be applied to a case where the situation in the front of the vehicle or in the lateral direction of the passenger seat is checked while looking at the display screen. In this case, instead of displaying the rear bumper on a part of the display screen, the front bumper or the side of the vehicle body may be displayed.

The table storage memory 24 stores data having contents as shown in FIG. 4 as an example. However, the manner of classifying the vehicle shape and the mounting position of the camera 10 may be changed as appropriate. Can be. Further, detailed data of the display position of the distance mark may be stored in association with the name of the manufacturer of the vehicle, the type of the vehicle, and the mounting position of the camera.

In the above-described embodiment, the camera 10 is positioned while viewing the display screen as shown in FIG. 6, and it is visually confirmed that the camera 10 has been set to a normal position. This confirmation operation may be automated by image processing. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a modification of the above-described embodiment. The difference from the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is that an image processing unit 50 is added. The image processing unit 50 digitizes a video signal output from the camera 10 and extracts a contour of the rear bumper 32 based on the digitized image data.
The control unit 28 determines that the camera 10 is normal when one of the one or a plurality of contour lines extracted by the image processing unit 50 substantially matches the bumper alignment line shown in FIG. It is determined that proper alignment has been completed. Alternatively, the control unit 28 may display an alarm indicating that the alignment is not completed on the screen of the LCD 12 when there is no substantially matching contour line described above.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, the periphery of the vehicle is photographed so as to include a part of the vehicle body by the camera attached to the vehicle, and the photographed image has a predetermined index indicating the distance from the vehicle body. The image in the car is superimposed and displayed on the display.The driver in the car can determine the distance between the car and the obstacle and whether the obstacle is likely to touch the car just by looking at the display screen. This makes it easy to check the situation around the vehicle.

Further, the camera described above may be mounted so that a part of the vehicle body is reflected at a predetermined position on the display screen, so that the mounting angle can be easily adjusted and the mounting is easy. In particular, by storing the display position of the index in the composite image in the storage unit in correspondence with the vehicle body shape and the mounting position where the camera is mounted, various settings can be completed simply by specifying the vehicle shape and the mounting position. The present invention can be applied to a plurality of vehicle types without performing complicated setting work for each vehicle type.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle rear confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mounting position of a camera.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an LCD.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of vehicle type data stored in a table storage memory.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an initial setting when the vehicle rear confirmation system of the embodiment is attached to a vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display screen at the time of camera positioning.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure during a normal operation of the vehicle rear confirmation system of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a modification of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle back confirmation system 10 Camera 12 LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 14 TV tuner 18 Light receiving unit 20 Gear position sensor 22 Data processing unit 24 Table storage memory 26 Set value storage memory 28 Control unit 30 Superimpose processing unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A camera mounted on a vehicle such that a part of the vehicle body is included in a shooting range, a display unit installed in the vehicle, and an image including a part of the vehicle body captured by the camera, An image synthesizing unit, comprising: an image synthesizing unit that superimposes a predetermined index indicating a distance from a part of the vehicle body to perform image synthesis, and displays the synthesized image on the display unit. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a part of the vehicle body included in a photographing range of the camera is a bumper attached to a rear part of the vehicle, and a predetermined range behind the vehicle photographed by the camera is displayed on the display unit. A vehicle periphery confirmation system characterized by displaying. 3. The vehicle according to claim 2, further comprising: a display switching unit configured to switch a display by the display unit to the composite image when a shift lever of the vehicle is in a reverse position, and to confirm a situation behind the vehicle when the vehicle retreats. A vehicle periphery confirmation system characterized by the following. 4. The mounting position according to claim 1, wherein, when the camera is mounted on the vehicle, a mounting position is set such that a part of the vehicle body is shown at a predetermined position on a display screen of the display unit. A vehicle periphery confirmation system characterized by the following. 5. The storage unit according to claim 1, wherein when a vehicle shape to which the camera is mounted and a mounting position of the camera are specified, a display position of the index in the composite image corresponding to the vehicle shape is stored. A vehicle periphery confirmation system, further comprising an index position setting unit that sets by reading from a vehicle.