KR101678448B1

KR101678448B1 - Driving monitoring system for providing guide information

Info

Publication number: KR101678448B1
Application number: KR1020150089670A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 한정수
Original assignee: (주)캠시스
Priority date: 2015-06-24
Filing date: 2015-06-24
Publication date: 2016-11-23

Abstract

A running monitoring system and method for providing running guide information is disclosed. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a running monitoring system comprising: an image input unit for storing, in camera image data, a video signal inputted in real time from one or more cameras; An image generation unit for generating a monitoring image using the image data; The image data or the monitoring image is analyzed to search a lane area that is a space between objects having a height according to a preset reference and to calculate the size of the lane area using a part or all of the size of the vehicle existing in the monitoring image Analysis section; A guide information generating unit for generating travel guide information corresponding to the size of the lane area; And a display unit for outputting driving guide information to the monitoring image.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving monitoring system,

The present invention relates to a running monitoring system and method for providing running guide information.

Generally, the driver's vision (view) on the inside of the vehicle is mainly directed to the front, and the left and right and rear views of the driver are largely obscured by the vehicle body.

In order to solve such a problem, a clock assist means such as a side mirror for supplementing a limited range of the driver's clock is generally used. Recently, techniques including camera means for photographing an external image of a vehicle and providing the image to a driver This trend is being applied to vehicles.

For example, there are a parking guidance system for photographing the rear side and a rear side image when parking the vehicle, and a black box system for photographing a forward image or the like. In addition, recently, there is an around view monitoring (AVM) system (hereinafter referred to as AVM) system in which a plurality of cameras are installed around a vehicle and an image of a 360 ° omni direction around the vehicle is displayed. The AVM system combines not only each individual view captured through a plurality of cameras that photograph the surroundings of the vehicle but also images of the surroundings of the vehicle to provide a top view image in which the driver looks at the vehicle in the sky , Displays obstacles around the vehicle and eliminates blind spots.

The concept of the AVM system is schematically shown in Fig.

Referring to FIG. 1, cameras 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d (hereinafter, collectively referred to as 110) are installed on front and rear sides, right and left sides of the vehicle 100, respectively. Each of the cameras 110 photographs the images A, B, C, and D on the front and rear sides and the left and right sides of the vehicle 100 and displays the captured image on the image 100 (Refer to FIG. 1 (b)) and outputs it to various display devices mounted on the vehicle 100.

The reconstructed AVM image is generated by converting an image photographed horizontally on the ground by a camera 110 installed on front and rear sides, left and right sides of the vehicle into an image of a shape perpendicular to the ground, Since there is a distance from the event, a detailed explanation thereof is omitted.

Such top view images can be useful when parking, driving in obstacles or in narrow alleys. The user can perform parking or running by confirming an obstacle or the like in the screen. In the case of a narrow alley or a space that can not be reached at a time of parking or parking, it is troublesome to turn several times or to alternate between front and back. In such a case, the vehicle often gets scratched or a contact accident occurs Occurs. Compared with the case where the driver visually confirms the use of the AVM system, the accident rate may be lowered.

However, it is also necessary for the driver to directly judge whether the driver is able to park or pass by watching the image of the screen with the naked eye. If the passenger is unable to pass or pass, the possibility of an accident is high, but if the driver goes on the road, a contact accident occurs or waste of time.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1426468 (Registration date July 29, 2014) How to guide parking of a vehicle on an AVM

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a traveling monitoring system and method for providing information on a travelable area so as to prevent a contact accident in a narrow alley .

The present invention also provides a running monitoring system and method for providing guide information for safe running to a lane-travelable lane area.

Other objects of the present invention will become more apparent through the following preferred embodiments.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: an image input unit for storing, in camera image data, a video signal input in real time from one or more cameras; An image generating unit for generating a monitoring image using the image data; The control unit analyzes the image data or the monitoring image to search for a lane area that is a space between objects having heights in accordance with a preset reference and calculates a size of the lane area using the part or all of the size of the vehicle existing in the monitoring image An image analyzing unit for calculating an image; A guide information generator for generating travel guide information corresponding to the size of the lane area; And a display unit for reflecting the driving guide information on the monitoring image and outputting the driving guide information.

Here, the image generating unit may generate a top view image as the monitoring image using image data of a plurality of cameras.

Also, the guide information generation unit may perform guide analysis to determine whether the vehicle can travel to the lane area or to calculate an accident risk value using information on the size of the lane area and the previously stored vehicle size, It is possible to generate the travel guide information according to the result of the determination.

Also, the image analyzing unit may analyze a plurality of the monitoring images to calculate a moving speed of the vehicle or a refractivity with respect to the driving direction with respect to the lane area, wherein the guide information generator uses at least one of the moving speed and the refraction degree The accident risk value can be calculated.

Also, the image analysis unit may calculate a refraction degree with respect to the driving direction with respect to the lane area, and the guide information generation unit may calculate the safe driving speed corresponding to the degree of refraction and the lane area, Can be used.

In addition, the guide information generating unit can generate the traveling guide information only for the lane area along the traveling direction.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing travel guide information to be performed in a running monitoring system, the method comprising: analyzing image data photographed by a camera or a monitoring image generated using the image data; Searching for a lane area that is a space between objects having a height and calculating a size of the lane area using part or all of the size of the vehicle existing in the monitoring image; Generating driving guide information corresponding to the size of the lane area; And reflecting the driving guide information to the monitoring image and outputting the driving guide information. A recording medium on which a program for executing the method is provided is provided.

Here, a guidance analysis is performed to determine whether or not the vehicle can travel to the lane area by using the size of the lane area and information on a previously stored vehicle size, or to calculate a risk value of an accident, Guide information can be generated.

Also, a plurality of the monitoring images may be analyzed to calculate the refractive index of the traveling direction of the vehicle or the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the incident risk value may be calculated using at least one of the moving speed and the refractive index .

The safe driving speed corresponding to the degree of refraction and the size of the lane area can be calculated and used for generating the driving guide information while calculating the refractivity with respect to the lane travel direction with respect to the lane area.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a driving possibility and safe driving information for a lane when driving or parking in a narrow alley, thereby preventing a contact accident through safe driving.

1 schematically illustrates the concept of an AVM system;
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a traveling monitoring system,
3 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a running monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are flowcharts showing a process of providing travel guide information in the running monitoring system according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terms first, second, etc. 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. For example, terms such as a first threshold value, a second threshold value, and the like which will be described later may be previously designated with threshold values that are substantially different from each other or some of which are the same value, Because there is room, the terms such as the first and the second are to be mentioned for convenience of classification.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

It is to be understood that the components of the embodiments described with reference to the drawings are not limited to the embodiments and may be embodied in other embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is to be understood that although the description is omitted, multiple embodiments may be implemented again in one integrated embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing an interface screen in which travel guide information is displayed in the running monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a running monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

3, the monitoring system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an image input unit 310, a storage unit 315, an image generation unit 320, an image analysis unit 325, a guide information generation unit 330 And a display unit 335. [0033] Although not shown, a controller for controlling the operation of one or more components included in the running monitoring system may be further included.

The image input unit 310 generates camera image data, which is captured and input from at least one camera installed in the vehicle 100 or the main body, as camera image data, and stores the camera image data in the storage unit 315. Here, the camera may be implemented with a wide-angle camera so as to capture an environment around the vehicle with a small quantity.

For example, the storage unit 315 stores an operation program of the running monitoring system, camera image data generated by the image input unit 310, image data generated by the image generation unit 320 to be described later, And travel guide information generated by the driver 330 can be stored. The storage unit 315 may be separated into a permanent storage memory for permanently storing data and a temporary storage memory for temporarily storing and operating data necessary for operation.

The image generating unit 320 generates a monitoring image output by the display unit 335 using the camera image data stored in the storage unit 315.

The running monitoring system according to the present embodiment may be, for example, a rear image providing system which is operated in the reverse mode, a black box system, or an AVM system as described with reference to FIG. For example, the black box system may be configured to photograph the surroundings of the vehicle (for example, front and / or rear) and store the captured images in a storage means provided so that the user can recognize surrounding images at the time of an accident And monitors the video around the vehicle. In addition, the AVM system according to another example is to capture a front view, a rear view, a left view, and a right view to generate a top view image so that the user can see the surroundings at a glance when driving or parking .

In other words, in the case of the black box, a monitoring image is generated so that the user can check the front and rear using the image data by the camera for photographing the front side and the image data by the camera for photographing the rear side. Or AVM system, the image generating unit 320 synthesizes the image data by a plurality of cameras and generates AVM image data, which is a top view image that looks like the vehicle's environment from above the vehicle, as a monitoring image do. The top view image generated as shown in FIG. 2 by the image generating unit 320 will be output through the display unit 335. [

That is, the image generating unit 320 generates AVM image information, that is, images formed in the horizontal direction on the ground by the cameras 110 installed on the front and rear sides, left and right sides of the vehicle, And thus the process of generating and converting the image is distant from the technical idea of the present invention and will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and a description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a traveling monitoring system according to the present invention is applied to an AVM system for convenience of explanation.

The image analysis unit 325 analyzes the driving monitoring image and the image data by the camera to generate necessary information for the driving guide. For example, the image analyzing unit 325 analyzes the image data or the monitoring image to search for a lane area that is a space between objects having heights in accordance with a preset reference, and displays a part or all of the size The size of the lane area is calculated. This will be described in detail later.

The guide information generating unit 330 generates a guide information based on the information analyzed by the image analyzing unit 325 and outputs the synthesized or overlay format to the monitoring image (i.e., the top view image) generated by the image generating unit 320 As shown in FIG. By displaying the size of the lane area (indicated by double arrows) and the size of the vehicle (indicated by two dashed lines) located at a place where the vehicle travels as travel guide information as shown in Fig. 2 according to an example, To the user. As shown in the figure, the guide information generator 330 generates information on whether or not there is enough space in the direction to be traveled, as travel guide information (for example, as text) It can also be displayed. This is only an example, and will be described in more detail later on.

4 and 5 are flowcharts illustrating a process of providing travel guide information in the running monitoring system according to each embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 according to an example, the running monitoring system according to the present embodiment recognizes a lane area in a monitoring image (for example, a top view image) and calculates its size (i.e., width) (S10).

That is, the running monitoring system analyzes image data photographed by each camera, recognizes objects having a height (for example, 30 cm or the like) according to a preset reference, and searches a space between the objects as a lane area do. For example, if there is an object having a height of 30 cm or more from an image of the front of the vehicle, it is determined that the object is an obstacle. If there are a plurality of obstacles, the space between them is recognized as a lane area. Image recognition technology for analyzing images and recognizing a specific object is widely used in various fields (for example, surveillance system, car number recognition system, etc.), which will be obvious to those skilled in the art. As a method of measuring the height of the recognized object, for example, the recognized object is compared with another object (for example, a part of the vehicle in which the present system included in the image is installed) You can do it. In other words, the relative size can be known by comparison with an object having a known size in advance (for example, a vehicle width by the front portion of the vehicle).

In the case of the AVM system, an object having a height in a monitoring image (i.e., a top view image) is tilted (i.e., a top view image generated by synthesizing a plurality of images is tilted with respect to a height thereof) , It is possible to recognize such an inclined object as an object having a height, and to recognize the object as a lane area.

Then, the size of the area (i.e., the width of the space between the obstacles) is calculated by the difference. The size of the lane area can be calculated by comparing the actual size existing in the image with an object (for example, a vehicle) that is known in advance. For example, the size of the lane area is calculated by comparing with the size of the vehicle in the monitoring image . For example, if the left and right width of the car is 2 meters and the lane area that is 1.5 times larger than the width of the vehicle in the image is searched, the lane area may be calculated as 3 meters (2m * 1.5).

When the size of the lane area is calculated, the driving guide information is generated (S20) and outputted together with the monitoring image screen (S30). For example, it is possible to calculate an accident risk value as to whether or not the vehicle can travel to the corresponding lane area and, if possible, the risk of occurrence of a contact accident, and output it as driving guide information. For example, if the size of the lane area is smaller than the width of the vehicle, it is not possible to drive the vehicle, so that the message " Unable to travel " can be output. If the width of the lane area is not narrower than the width of the vehicle, do it. The risk of accidents is high] can be outputted as the travel guide information.

Alternatively, it is also possible to calculate an accident risk value according to Equation (1) below and display it on the screen.

[Equation 1]

a = v / (d1 / d2)

{a: accident risk figure, v: moving speed of vehicle, d1: lane area size, d2: vehicle size}

That is, the risk value of an accident increases as the moving speed of the vehicle increases, and decreases as the size of the lane area increases.

The moving speed of the vehicle may be received from the vehicle system or the image analyzing unit 325 may analyze the image data or the running monitoring image to calculate the moving speed. For example, at a predetermined time interval (for example, 0.1 second) are compared with each other, and the position change value for an arbitrary object in the image is calculated, so that the movement speed can be calculated by the change value with respect to time. A method of calculating the moving speed by using a plurality of images will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The running monitoring system may search one or two or more lane areas around the vehicle, but according to another example, it may recognize only the lane area located in the running direction and provide the related traveling guide information. For example, if the vehicle is traveling forward, a lane area located in front of the vehicle may be searched, and if the traveling direction is forward, if the vehicle is traveling in the front right direction, only the lane area located on the front right side may be searched.

A method of identifying the traveling direction may also be a method of receiving the related information (steering angle information of the steering wheel) from the vehicle system, similar to the traveling speed calculation method described above. According to another example, A method of analyzing which direction is to be moved may be used.

Referring to FIG. 5 according to another embodiment, the refraction between the searched lane road area and the driving direction is also calculated (S510). 2, the direction of travel of the vehicle is at 12 o'clock, and since the searched lane area is located at 1 o'clock, the refractivity can be calculated to be about 15 degrees. In other words, the direction in which the vehicle is traveling and how much the entrance of the searched lane area is refracted is calculated. The more refraction is, the slower the car is when it travels.

Therefore, the running monitoring system calculates the safe running speed according to the calculated refractive index (S520). The safe running speed will be calculated to be lower as the refractive index is higher. As described above, the smaller the size of the lane area, the higher the accident risk value can be calculated.

Then, the driving monitoring system calculates an accident risk value according to the current traveling speed (S530). Since the method of calculating the accident risk value according to the traveling speed has been described above, a duplicate explanation will be omitted. However, in this embodiment, the accident risk value may be calculated by comparing the safe running speed calculated in S520 with the current moving speed.

The running monitoring system outputs the calculated accident risk value, safe running speed, and the like as a running guide (S540).

Accordingly, the driver can realize not only whether or not the vehicle can be traveled in the searched lane area, but also how fast the vehicle should be traveled at a speed, thereby preventing a contact accident.

The method of providing travel guide information according to the present invention can be implemented as a computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording media storing data that can be decoded by a computer system. For example, it may be a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, a flash memory, an optical data storage device, or the like. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed and executed in a computer system connected to a computer network, and may be stored and executed as a code readable in a distributed manner.

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 various modifications and changes may be made.

100: vehicle 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d:
200: Top view image 210: Guideline
310: image input unit 315:
320: image generating unit 325:
330: guide information generating unit 335:

Claims

An image input unit for storing a video signal inputted in real time from at least one camera into a storage unit as camera image data;
An image generating unit for generating a monitoring image using the image data;
The control unit analyzes the image data or the monitoring image to search for a lane area that is a space between objects having heights in accordance with a preset reference and calculates a size of the lane area using the part or all of the size of the vehicle existing in the monitoring image An image analyzing unit for calculating an image;
A guide information generator for generating travel guide information corresponding to the size of the lane area; And
And a display unit for reflecting the driving guide information to the monitoring image,
Wherein the image analysis unit calculates a refraction degree with respect to the driving direction with respect to the lane area, and the guide information generation unit calculates a safety driving speed corresponding to the refraction degree and the size of the lane area to use for generating the driving guide information The running monitoring system which features.

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the image generating unit generates a top view image as the monitoring image by using image data by a plurality of cameras.

The method according to claim 1,
The guide information generation unit may perform guide analysis to determine whether the vehicle can travel to the lane area or to calculate an accident risk value using information on the size of the lane area and the previously stored vehicle size, And generates travel guide information according to the travel guide information.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the image analyzing unit analyzes a plurality of the monitoring images to calculate a moving speed of the vehicle or a refractivity of the lane area with respect to the running direction,
Wherein the guide information generating unit calculates the accident risk value using at least one of the moving speed and the refractive index.

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The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the guide information generating unit generates the traveling guide information only for the lane area along the traveling direction.

A method of providing travel guide information to be performed in a running monitoring system,
The method comprising the steps of: analyzing image data photographed by a camera or a monitoring image generated using the image data to search for a lane area that is a space between objects having a height according to a preset reference; Calculating a size of the lane area using the total size or the total size;
Generating driving guide information corresponding to the size of the lane area; And
And reflecting the driving guide information to the monitoring image,
Calculating a refractivity with respect to the running direction with respect to the lane road area, calculating a safe running speed corresponding to the degree of refraction and the size of the lane area, and using the information to generate the running guide information.

8. The method of claim 7,
A guide analysis is performed to determine whether or not the vehicle can travel to the lane area using information on the size of the lane area and a previously stored vehicle size, And generating the travel guide information.

9. The method of claim 8,
Calculating a plurality of the monitoring images and calculating the refractive index of the vehicle with respect to the traveling direction or the traveling direction of the vehicle by using at least one of the moving speed and the refraction index; How to provide driving guide information.

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A recording medium in which a program for performing the method of any one of claims 7 to 9 is recorded so as to be read by a computer.