KR101047538B1 - Image storage device and method of vehicle black box system - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an image storage device and method according to event detection in a vehicle black box system. According to an embodiment, there is provided a method of storing an image, the method comprising: (a) always recording a vehicle image, wherein the vehicle image includes at least one of a front exterior image of the vehicle and an interior image of the vehicle; (b) monitoring the sensing unit; (c) determining whether an event occurs primarily by comparing a measured value of the sensing unit with a preset threshold value; (d) analyzing the vehicle image recorded in step (a) when it is determined that the event occurs primarily; (e) determining whether an event has occurred as a result of the analysis; And (f) storing the vehicle image related to the event according to a preset process when it is determined that the event has finally occurred. By overcoming the limitations of detecting events using only the measured values of sensors, the reliability of event detection can be improved, so that images of the vehicle outside and / or inside the vehicle at the time of an accident can be stored.

Vehicle, black box, video, storage

Description

Apparatus and Method for storing image of blackbox system for vehicle}

The present invention relates to an image storage device and method according to event detection in a vehicle black box system.

As automobiles become a necessity for life, side effects such as parking problems, traffic problems, and traffic accidents are increasing.

In particular, traffic accidents may be resolved smoothly by agreement between the parties, but if the judgment of negligence is ambiguous, agreement between the parties may not be easily achieved. .

Therefore, the necessity of handling traffic accidents based on objective data is urgently needed, and in consideration of such necessity, various methods that can be used as objective data when dealing with accidents by actually mounting a device such as a black box of an aircraft in a vehicle are also developed. Is coming out.

The vehicle black box system currently being developed mainly uses a camera to record and store image data of the surroundings of the vehicle. In addition, a method of additionally recording and storing voice in an accident situation and driving information of various vehicles has been developed. The recorded driving information of the vehicle may include information such as the speed of the vehicle, the steering wheel angle, and the like.

In a vehicle black box system including an image storage device, when a shock is applied to the vehicle or a predetermined event such as a sudden brake occurs, image data about the front exterior and / or the interior of the vehicle is recorded and stored. In general, an image captured by a camera provided to face the front exterior and / or the interior of the vehicle using the power supplied from the vehicle battery is processed and stored in the storage medium. The storage medium stores information such as an image photographed while the vehicle is driving.

1 is a flowchart illustrating an image storing method according to event detection in a vehicle black box system.

Various sensors, such as a gyroscope sensor, an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, an impact sensor, and a vibration sensor, may be used to detect an event. In this case, there is a threshold set by the system or set by the user so that the event is recognized only when the sensor's measurement exceeds the threshold.

That is, while monitoring the sensor (step S10), it is determined whether the measured value of the sensor is equal to or greater than a preset threshold (step S20). If it is determined that the threshold is not exceeded, it is assumed that no event has occurred and the process returns to step S10.

However, if the measured value exceeds the threshold as a result of the determination, it is assumed that the event has occurred, and event processing is performed (step S30). Event processing refers to recording and storing image data about the outside and / or the front of the vehicle by using the image storage device included in the vehicle black box system.

That is, when it is detected that an event has occurred, the image storage device stores the image at that time. In this case, if event detection is performed only through a sensor, an event such as a vehicle rollover accident is continuously detected as an event. Therefore, if the storage space becomes insufficient due to the capacity limitation of the storage device as the image is continuously stored, the oldest image is deleted and the new image is overwritten. As a result, the image of the actual accident time is erased, and there is a problem that the vehicle black box system does not play a role.

In addition, in setting a threshold that is a criterion for determining whether an event occurs, the value of the sensor must be determined to what extent, and a measured value of the sensor due to an accident and a measured value of the sensor due to an accident, for example, There is a difficult problem in how to distinguish the impact from the impact and the speed bumps.

The background art described above is technical information possessed by the inventors for the derivation of the present invention or acquired during the derivation process of the present invention, and is not necessarily a publicly known technique disclosed to the general public before the application of the present invention.

Therefore, the present invention overcomes the limitation of detecting an event using only the measured value of the sensor and improves the reliability of event detection, so that the image storage of the vehicle black box system can accurately store the image outside the vehicle and / or the interior at the time of the accident. To provide an apparatus and method.

In addition, the present invention is to provide an image storage device and method of a vehicle black box system capable of efficiently using a limited capacity storage device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of storing an image related to an event occurring in a vehicle equipped with a vehicle black box system, and a recording medium having a program for performing the same.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a method of storing an image, the method comprising: (a) always recording a vehicle image, wherein the vehicle image includes at least one of a front exterior image of the vehicle and an interior image of the vehicle; (b) monitoring the sensing unit; (c) determining whether an event occurs primarily by comparing a measured value of the sensing unit with a preset threshold value; (d) analyzing the vehicle image recorded in step (a) when it is determined that the event occurs primarily; (e) determining whether an event has occurred as a result of the analysis; And (f) storing the vehicle image related to the event according to a preset process when it is determined that the event has finally occurred.

In step (d), the vehicle image recorded within a predetermined time may be analyzed based on an event occurrence home time point.

Alternatively, step (d) may analyze the vehicle image recorded within a predetermined number of frames on the basis of the event occurrence assumption time.

Step (d) may analyze one or more of the pattern or color of the vehicle image.

The step (e) may include: (e-1) identifying at least one of a location of a surrounding vehicle before a time point at which an event occurs, whether a speed bump exists, and whether the vehicle is rolled over; (e-2) finally determining whether the event occurs according to the result of the determination.

Repeating the steps (a) to (f), but before the step (f), if the predetermined event repeatedly occurs as a result of the determination in the step (e) to ignore the occurrence of the event It may further include.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for storing an image related to an event occurring in a vehicle equipped with a vehicle black box system, the image input unit for generating and outputting an image signal corresponding to the input vehicle image, wherein the vehicle image Includes at least one of a front exterior image of the vehicle and an interior image of the vehicle; An encoder configured to generate image data by encoding image information corresponding to the image signal; A storage unit which stores the image data; A sensing unit generating a sensing signal corresponding to a predetermined event; An image analyzer analyzing the image data stored in the storage; And determining whether the event occurs first by analyzing the sensing signal, and finally determining whether the event occurs according to a result of analysis of the image data by the image analyzer, according to a preset process. It may include a control unit for storing the vehicle image related to the event.

The image data includes always-recorded image data recorded at all times and event-recorded image data corresponding to a vehicle image related to the event. The storage unit includes a first storage space for storing the recorded image data, and the event recording. It may include a second storage space for storing the image data.

The image analyzer may analyze the vehicle image recorded within a predetermined time based on an event occurrence home time point.

Alternatively, the image analyzer may analyze the vehicle image recorded within a predetermined number of frames on the basis of an event occurrence home time point.

The image analyzer may analyze one or more of patterns or colors of the vehicle image.

The controller determines one or more of the location of the surrounding vehicle, the presence of the speed bumps, and the overturning of the vehicle according to the analysis result of the image analyzer, and finally the occurrence of the event according to the determination result. It can be determined.

The controller may be configured to ignore the occurrence of the event when a predetermined event occurs repeatedly.

Other aspects, features, and advantages other than those described above will become apparent from the following drawings, claims, and detailed description of the invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of overcoming the limitation of capturing an event using only the measured value of the sensor and increasing the reliability of event detection so that the image of the vehicle outside and / or inside the vehicle at the time of an accident can be stored accurately. .

In addition, efficient use of limited capacity storage devices is possible.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a schematic block diagram of an image storage device included in a vehicle black box system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2, the image storage device 100 includes an image input unit 110, an encoding unit 120, a storage unit 130, a sensing unit 140, an image analyzer 150, and a controller 160. do. According to an embodiment, one or more of a decoding unit, a display unit, and an input unit may be further included.

The image storage device 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment primarily detects the occurrence of an event by using the sensing signal generated by the sensing unit 140, and analyzes the previous vehicle image stored thereafter, and whether the event occurs more accurately. In this case, event processing such as vehicle image recording is performed, and the sensing signal of the sensing unit 140 and image data recorded before the occurrence of the event are used together to increase reliability of event detection.

The image input unit 110 generates and outputs an image signal corresponding to a front external or / and internal image of the vehicle to be input. The image input unit 110 may include, for example, at least one of a camera, an image sensor, an image signal processor (ISP), etc. mounted to face the front exterior and / or the interior of the vehicle.

Information about the external situation such as the position of the surrounding vehicle, the presence of the speed bumps, and the rollover of the vehicle may be acquired through an image signal corresponding to the front external image of the vehicle. In addition, information about a driver or a passenger inside the vehicle may be obtained through an image signal corresponding to the inside image of the vehicle. That is, it is possible to obtain information about the driver's or passenger's fault, such as drowsy driving or immature driving.

The encoder 120 stores the image data generated by encoding image information corresponding to the image signal input from the image input unit 110 in the storage unit 130.

The storage unit 130 is a storage space for storing always-recorded image data processed by the encoding unit 120 and storing image data recorded corresponding to an event. Here, the storage means that the corresponding image data is stored in the storage unit 130 when the deletion according to the intention of the user or the random deletion due to the error cause of the storage unit 130 does not occur.

The storage unit 130 is divided into a first storage space for storing always-recorded image data and a second storage space for storing image data recorded in correspondence with an event, or are always-recorded image data and event-recorded image data. Each may be implemented as a separate storage device.

The storage unit 130 has a ring buffer structure, and when the storage capacity is full, the storage unit 130 may repeat the process of deleting the oldest data and recording the latest data. That is, both the first storage space and the second storage space have a ring buffer structure to store the latest image data based on the current time. This will be described later with reference to FIG. 3.

The sensing unit 140 generates a sensing signal for detecting whether a predetermined event, for example, a contact accident, a collision accident, a rollover accident, a sudden accident, or the like has occurred, and provides the sensing signal to the controller 160.

The sensing unit 140 may include, for example, one or more of a gyroscope sensor, an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, an impact sensor, a vibration sensor, and the like for generating a sensing signal.

The gyroscope sensor may determine whether rotation in the horizontal direction has occurred in the vehicle by measuring the direction of the vehicle traveling direction. Acceleration sensors measure changes in longitudinal acceleration and / or lateral acceleration and changes in the XY axis of the vehicle to determine whether there is a sudden break or sudden start, whether the vehicle has slipped, whether the vehicle has rolled over, or the horizontal direction of rotation. It can be checked whether this has occurred, the movement trajectory of the vehicle, and the like. In addition, by measuring the change in the Z-axis it is possible to confirm the presence of the speed bumps. The angular velocity sensor may determine whether the vehicle is overturned or rotated in the horizontal direction by measuring a change in the angular velocity of the vehicle. The shock sensor or the vibration sensor detects a shock amount or a vibration amount due to contact or damage from the outside of the vehicle, so that the vehicle contact accident, traffic accident, damage accident, etc. can be confirmed.

The controller 160 primarily determines whether an event occurs by interpreting an input sensing signal. The determination of whether the primary event occurs is performed by comparing the measured value of each sensor corresponding to the sensing signal with a threshold set for each sensor. Thresholds for event detection may be set for each sensor, and the thresholds may be preset or set by a user. For example, when the measured value detected by each sensor exceeds the threshold, the controller 160 may determine that a predetermined event occurs primarily.

When it is determined that the event occurs primarily by the controller 160, the image analyzer 150 analyzes the image data that is always recorded, which is stored in the first storage space of the storage 130. It generates and provides to the control unit 160.

The image analyzing unit 150 records the image data recorded within a predetermined time or immediately before, based on the point of time when the event is first detected by the sensing unit 140 (hereinafter referred to as an 'event occurrence time point'). The video data in a predetermined number of frames is analyzed.

The image analyzer 150 analyzes the pattern or / and color of the image data described above to generate an image analysis signal for the vehicle external situation and / or the vehicle internal situation immediately before the event occurrence home point.

The controller 160 determines the exterior of the vehicle and / or the interior of the vehicle, that is, the position of the surrounding vehicle, the presence of the speed bump, the presence of the vehicle overturn, and the like based on the image analysis information corresponding to the image analysis signal. Determine whether an event occurs.

For example, when it is determined that the surrounding vehicles are gradually approaching the corresponding vehicle, an event called a contact accident or a collision accident has occurred, and when it is determined that the vehicle is overturned, it may be determined that an event called a rollover accident has occurred. When it is determined that the speed bumps exist, it may be determined that the event does not occur even though the vehicle is shocked and the sensing unit 140 generates a sensing signal.

The controller 160 determines whether an event occurs and controls the corresponding operation to be performed. That is, the video data recorded immediately before and / or immediately after the event occurs may be copied or moved from the first storage space to the second storage space or directly stored in the second storage space without passing through the first storage space. Video data related to an event that has occurred may be stored. In addition, it controls so that each of the above-described components can perform each designated function.

In addition, the controller 160 may control each component to ignore the occurrence of the corresponding event for a predetermined time for a specific event during event processing.

For example, when an event such as a vehicle overturning accident occurs, in a situation in which the vehicle is overturned, the sensing unit 140 generates a sensing signal continuously detected according to the vehicle overturning and is input to the controller 160. In this case, when it is determined that a new event has occurred and continuously records an image, there is a problem that important image data recorded at the time of an accident may be deleted due to storage of unnecessary image data later due to the capacity limitation of the storage device.

Accordingly, the controller 160 performs event processing such as video recording only for the initial event occurrence for a specific event, such as a vehicle overturning accident, and thereafter, a separate event for a sensing signal that detects that the vehicle is continuously overturned. It can be controlled so as not to process. This has the advantage of preserving the image data at the time of the actual accident.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the image data may be classified into always-recorded image data and event-recorded image data. A storage structure of the image data will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a diagram illustrating an image data storage structure of a storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The storage unit 130 may include a first storage space 210 for storing always-recorded video data encoded by the encoder 120, and a first storage space 210 encoded or processed by the encoder 120. And a second storage space 220 for storing event recording image data stored in the recording region of the apparatus.

The always recorded video data is stored in each always recording area of the first storage space 210 in a predetermined order or sequentially. For example, always recording area 1, always recording area 2,... The recording may be performed in the order of the recording area n, and when the recording of the recording area n is completed, the previously recorded video data stored in the recording area 1 may be deleted and newly recorded. The recorded video data is stored in the recording area 1 at all times.

Event recording image data is also stored in each event recording region of the second storage space 220 in a predetermined order or sequentially in the same manner as the always recording region data. The event recorded image data includes a vehicle for a predetermined time before and after the time point at which the event occurred according to the detection of the primary event occurrence by the sensing unit 140 and the final event occurrence determination according to the analysis of the image data by the image analyzer 150. The image data is input by the image input unit 110 with respect to an image, that is, an image inside or outside the vehicle, and is encoded by the encoder 120.

In the case of the image before the event occurrence time, the always-recorded image data already stored in one of the always-recorded areas corresponds to the event-recorded image data, which is copied or moved from the first storage space 210 to the second storage space 220. By doing so, the event recording image data is stored in the event recording area. For example, if the always-recorded video data is stored in the always-recording area 2 immediately before a predetermined event occurs, it can be stored in the event-recording area 1 as the event-recording video data for the event by copying or moving it to the event-recording area 1. have. After the event occurs, the image data is stored in the first storage space 210 as always-recorded image data and then copied or moved to the second storage space 220 or the event-recorded image by the same principle as described above. The data may be regarded as data and not directly stored in the first storage space 210, but directly stored in the event recording area of the second storage space 220.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the image storage device 100 may include at least one of a display unit, a decoder, and an input unit. The decoding unit decodes the image data stored in the storage unit 130 to be displayed through the display unit. The display unit outputs one or more of an operation state of the image storage device 100 and image data decoded by the decoding unit as visual information. The input unit is a means for receiving a user manipulation command. The input unit may include, for example, one or more of a mechanical key button, a touch sensor, an infrared remote control receiver, and the like. When the display unit is implemented as a touch-sensitive screen, the display unit and the input unit may be integrally implemented.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an image storage method according to event detection using an image storage device of a vehicle black box system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The vehicle black box system constantly records the vehicle image (step S300). The vehicle image means a front external or / and internal image of the vehicle, and the input vehicle image is output as an image signal through the image input unit 110, and the encoding unit 120 encodes the corresponding image signal to generate image data. And store in the storage unit 130. Bar data that is always recorded may be stored in the first storage space 210.

The controller 160 monitors the sensing unit 140 (step S310). The sensing unit 140 generates and outputs a sensing signal corresponding to a predetermined event while recording the vehicle image at all times. Here, the sensing unit 140 may generate and output a sensing signal by detecting a contact, a collision, a rollover, a sudden start, and the like of the vehicle. However, in some cases, the sensing unit 140 may generate and output a sensing signal by detecting a vehicle vibration caused by the speed bump.

The controller 160 primarily determines whether an event occurs by comparing the measured value of the sensor analyzed from the sensing signal output from the sensing unit 140 with a preset threshold value for the sensor (step S320). For example, when a measured value exceeds a preset threshold, it may be determined that a predetermined event has occurred. The threshold may be set differently according to the type of sensor.

If it is determined that the event has occurred as a result of primarily determining whether the event has occurred, the image analyzer 150 analyzes the recorded vehicle image in step S300 by the control of the controller 160 (step S330). The analysis is performed on the video data for a predetermined time immediately before or the video data of a predetermined number of frames immediately before the event occurrence hypothesis among the vehicle images recorded at all times. The image analyzer 150 uses methods such as pattern analysis and color analysis on the corresponding image data.

The controller 160 determines the position of the surrounding vehicle, the presence of the speed bump, the rollover of the vehicle, and the like, from the image analysis information corresponding to the image analysis signal output from the image analyzer 150 to determine whether the vehicle is overturned. In step S340, it is determined whether an event has occurred. For example, if there is a speed bump, it may be determined that the event does not occur even if the vehicle is vibrated or impacted. Here, the speed bumps are arranged at an angle to the yellow road and black bands alternately on the driving road, and are installed to cross the corresponding lane, and the speed bumps are determined from the arrangement pattern of each band and the color of each band in the image. To determine the presence of

Finally, when it is determined that an event has occurred, the vehicle image of the corresponding event is stored as event recording image data according to a preset event processing process (step S350).

Steps S300 to S350 may be repeatedly performed. At this time, if the event is likely to be continuously detected by the sensing unit 140 such as a vehicle overturning accident before performing the event processing in step S350, the event recording image data is stored according to the initial event detection. The subsequent event detection is ignored (step S355) so that the image data at the time of the actual event occurrence can be preserved without being erased by other image data.

Obviously, the above-described image storing method may be performed by an automated procedure according to a time series sequence by a software program built in a vehicle black box system. The codes and code segments that make up the program can be easily deduced by a computer programmer in the field. In addition, the program is stored in a computer readable media, and read and executed by a computer to implement the method. The information storage medium includes a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium and a carrier wave medium.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be varied and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a flow chart of the image storage method according to the event detection in a vehicle black box system.

2 is a schematic block diagram of an image storage device included in a vehicle black box system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating an image data storage structure of a storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an image storage method according to event detection using an image storage device of a vehicle black box system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (14)

In the image storage method for an event occurring in a vehicle performed in a vehicle image storage device, (a) constantly recording a vehicle image including at least one of a front exterior image of the vehicle and an interior image of the vehicle; (b) monitoring the sensing unit and primarily determining whether an event occurs by comparing the sensing value with a preset threshold; (c) If it is determined that the event occurs primarily, the vehicle image recorded by the step (a) may be used for a predetermined number of frames or a predetermined number of frames previously recorded on the basis of the event occurrence assumption time. Analyzing at least one of a pattern and a color of the vehicle image; (d) determining whether an event has finally occurred by analyzing the vehicle image; And and (e) if it is determined that an event has finally occurred, storing the vehicle image related to the event according to a preset process. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) (d-1) determining one or more of the location of the surrounding vehicle before the event occurrence assumption time, the presence of the speed bumps, and the rollover of the vehicle by analyzing the vehicle image; (d-2) finally determining whether the event occurs according to the grasping result. The method of claim 1, Repeat steps (a) to (e), Before the step (e), if it is determined that the same event has been repeatedly generated as a result of the determination in the step (d), the occurrence of the event is ignored to preserve the vehicle image stored by the step (e). The image storage method further comprising the step. The program of the instructions that can be executed by the digital processing apparatus for performing the image storage method according to any one of claims 1 and 5 is tangibly embodied and can be read by the digital processing apparatus. Recording medium. An image storage device for storing an image of an event occurred in a vehicle, An image input unit configured to generate an image signal corresponding to a vehicle image including at least one of a front exterior image of the vehicle and an interior image of the vehicle; An encoder configured to generate image data by encoding image information corresponding to the image signal; A storage unit which stores the image data; A sensing unit generating a sensing signal for sensing whether a predetermined event occurs; An image analyzer analyzing at least one of a pattern and a color of the image data stored in the storage; And The sensing signal is first interpreted to determine whether the event occurs, and when it is determined that the event occurs primarily, an image of a predetermined number of frames or a predetermined number of frames previously recorded based on the assumption of event occurrence. The control unit may determine whether the event is finally generated according to an analysis result of the image analyzing unit for data, and when the event is finally generated, store the vehicle image related to the event according to a preset process. Image storage device comprising a. The method of claim 8, The video data includes always-recorded video data recorded at all times and event-recorded video data corresponding to the vehicle video related to the event. The storage unit includes a first storage space for storing the recorded video data, and a second storage space for storing the event recording video data. delete delete delete The method of claim 8, The controller determines one or more of the location of the surrounding vehicle, the presence of the speed bumps, and the overturning of the vehicle according to the analysis result of the image analyzer, and finally the event of the event according to the determination result. Image storage device, characterized in that for determining whether or not. The method of claim 8, And if it is determined that the same event occurs repeatedly, the controller is configured to ignore generation of the same event subsequent to preservation of the stored vehicle image of the stored event.

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