KR20170030936A - Distance measuring device for nearing vehicle - Google Patents

Distance measuring device for nearing vehicle Download PDF

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Publication number
KR20170030936A
KR20170030936A KR1020150128487A KR20150128487A KR20170030936A KR 20170030936 A KR20170030936 A KR 20170030936A KR 1020150128487 A KR1020150128487 A KR 1020150128487A KR 20150128487 A KR20150128487 A KR 20150128487A KR 20170030936 A KR20170030936 A KR 20170030936A
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KR
South Korea
Prior art keywords
vehicle
width
preceding vehicle
license plate
electronic control
Prior art date
Application number
KR1020150128487A
Other languages
Korean (ko)
Inventor
허오철
한재현
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주식회사 만도
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Priority to KR1020150128487A priority Critical patent/KR20170030936A/en
Publication of KR20170030936A publication Critical patent/KR20170030936A/en

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W30/00—Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
    • B60W30/14—Adaptive cruise control
    • B60W30/16—Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R16/00—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for
    • B60R16/02—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for electric constitutive elements
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W40/00—Estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters for road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub unit, e.g. by using mathematical models
    • B60W40/02—Estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters for road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub unit, e.g. by using mathematical models related to ambient conditions

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Traffic Control Systems (AREA)
  • Measurement Of Optical Distance (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle distance measuring device estimating the width of a preceding vehicle through the width of the number plate on the preceding vehicle and the number of pixels of the width and the number of pixels of the number plate, which are recognized on a preceding vehicle image, thereby improving the degree of accuracy of an inter-vehicle distance. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the inter-vehicle distance- measuring device comprises: a camera photographing a vehicle positioned in front of a vehicle; a global positioning system (GPS) receiver receiving information on the position of the preceding vehicle; and an electronic control unit connected to the camera and the GPS receiver. The electronic control unit estimates the width of the preceding vehicle by using a width of a number plate, which is determined based on the size of the number plate determined by the ratio of the transverse length of the number plate of the preceding vehicle to its vertical height thereof, recognized on a preceding vehicle image received through the camera, the number of pixels of the vehicle width recognized on the preceding vehicle image and the number of pixels of the number plate recognized on the preceding vehicle image and calculates an inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle through the estimated vehicle width.

Description

[0001] DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE FOR NEARING VEHICLE [0002]

The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus, and more particularly, to an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus for estimating a vehicle width of a preceding vehicle through a number plate width of a preceding vehicle, a number of vehicle width pixels recognized in a preceding vehicle image, To an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus capable of improving distance accuracy.

The distance estimation performance of the front vehicle using the camera has a great influence on the performance of FCW (Forward Collision Warning) and AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) system.

Conventionally, a method of estimating the inter-vehicle distance based on the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle has been filed by a number of U.S. Patent No. 8,164,628.

The method of estimating the headway distance based on the vehicle width of the front vehicle including the patent can estimate a relatively accurate distance regardless of the vehicle pitch motion or the road gradient.

However, the conventional method of estimating the headway distance based on the vehicle width of the front vehicle requires a horizon line on the image and a pixel distance to the bottom of the vehicle in order to estimate the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle, It is difficult to accurately estimate the position of the horizon. Especially, it is not easy to accurately estimate the horizon due to the uphill or downhill road, the pitch motion of the vehicle, and the background of buildings and road facilities.

Therefore, there is a need for an inter-vehicle distance measuring device capable of accurately estimating the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle without estimating the horizon, thereby improving the accuracy of the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle.

U.S. Patent No. 8,164,628 (Apr. 24, 2012) "ESTIMATING DISTANCE TO AN OBJECT USING A SEQUENCE OF IMAGES RECORDED BY A MONOCULAR CAMERA"

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an inter-vehicle distance that can improve the accuracy of the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle by estimating the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle through the width of the license plate of the preceding vehicle, the number of pixels of the vehicle width recognized in the image of the preceding vehicle, And a measuring device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic control system including a camera for photographing a forward vehicle located in front of a vehicle, a GPS receiver for receiving the position of the vehicle, Wherein the electronic control unit is determined on the basis of a license plate discriminated based on a ratio of the length and the length of the license plate of the preceding vehicle recognized in the image of the preceding vehicle received through the camera Estimating a vehicle width of the preceding vehicle using a number plate width, a number of vehicle width pixels recognized in the preceding vehicle image, and a number of plate pixels recognized in the preceding vehicle image, Of the vehicle-to-vehicle distance measurement apparatus.

Wherein the electronic control unit recognizes a traveling country based on the position of the vehicle received by the GPS receiver and calculates a ratio between a width and a length of the license plate of the front vehicle among the license plate standards provided in the recognized traveling country , The license plate specification of the preceding vehicle can be determined according to the license plate color of the preceding vehicle.

The electronic control unit may calculate a headway distance to the preceding vehicle by multiplying a value obtained by dividing the estimated vehicle width by the number of vehicle width pixels and a preset focal length.

The electronic control unit may provide the calculated headway distance to the driver's convenience.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to estimate the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle through the number plate width of the front vehicle, the number of the vehicle width pixels recognized in the front vehicle image, .

1 is a block diagram for explaining an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an inter-vehicle distance measuring method using an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a view showing the ratio of the length and length of the license plate recognized in the front vehicle image, the vehicle width recognized in the front vehicle image, and the license plate width recognized in the front vehicle image, and
4 is a diagram showing an environment for explaining a method of calculating an inter-vehicle distance from a preceding vehicle.

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

1 is a block diagram for explaining an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus for measuring an inter-vehicle distance according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a camera 10 for photographing a front vehicle located in front of a vehicle, a GPS receiver 20 for receiving the position of the vehicle, 10 and an electronic control unit 30 connected to the GPS receiver 20 and calculating an inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle.

The camera 10 is mounted on the vehicle so that the front vehicle approaching the vehicle can be photographed. The front vehicle image obtained through the camera 10 is provided to the electronic control unit 30. [

The GPS receiver 20 can receive the position coordinates of the vehicle from a GPS satellite (not shown). The position coordinates of the vehicle received from the GPS receiver 20 are provided to the electronic control unit 30. [

The electronic control unit 30 stores the license plate number for each country of travel in a storage unit (not shown). Accordingly, it is possible to recognize which country the vehicle travels on the basis of the position coordinates received from the GPS receiver 20, and can recognize the traveling country in which the position coordinates of the vehicle received by the GPS receiver 20 belongs The stored license plate specifications can be extracted from the storage unit.

The electronic control unit 30 recognizes the license plate included in the front vehicle image obtained through the camera 10, for example, through a license plate recognition program, and discriminates the license plate specification according to the ratio of the recognized license plate width and length . License plate specifications are pre-sorted by country. In the case of Korea, license plate specifications may be, for example, 335 X 155 mm, 520 X 110 mm, 335 X 170 mm, 440 X 220 mm and the like. It is also possible to determine the license plate specification according to the color of the license plate. These license plates are classified as ordinary, large, and rental, and are further classified into private use and business use.

The electronic control unit 30 determines the license plate width, for example, 335, 520 or 440, based on the license plate specification determined according to the ratio of the license plate length to the length, and determines the license plate width, The number of recognized vehicle width pixels and the license plate included in the forward vehicle image are recognized through a license plate recognition program and the number of recognized license plate pixels is calculated using Equation 1 To estimate the vehicle width of the front vehicle. Here, although it is described that the license plate specification is determined according to the ratio of the license plate length and the length, it is also possible to further improve the discrimination accuracy of the license plate specification by further reflecting the color of the license plate, It is needless to say that the license plate standard can be discriminated by the color of the license plate.

Figure pat00001

here,

Figure pat00002
Is the vehicle width of the front vehicle,
Figure pat00003
Is the number of license plate width pixels of the front vehicle image,
Figure pat00004
Is the vehicle width pixel number of the front vehicle image,
Figure pat00005
Is the license plate width.

Further, the electronic control unit 30 calculates the vehicle-to-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle by applying the estimated vehicle width of the preceding vehicle and the number of vehicle-width pixels recognized in the preceding vehicle image to the following equation (2).

Figure pat00006

here

Figure pat00007
Is an inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle,
Figure pat00008
Is the focal length of the camera. The focal length of the camera may be a predetermined set value.
Figure pat00009
Is the vehicle width of the front vehicle,
Figure pat00010
Is the number of vehicle width pixels recognized in the front vehicle image.

The electronic control unit 30 is provided with a vehicle distance between the estimated forward vehicle and a driver's convenience device, such as a Forward Collision Warning (FCW) system or an AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) system. The driver's comfort device can perform collision warning or emergency braking with the preceding vehicle on the basis of the inter-vehicle distance provided by the electronic control unit (30).

Conventionally, when calculating the accurate distance to the bottom of the vehicle from the horizon on the image of the preceding vehicle, the environment in which the position of the horizon can not be accurately estimated, such as the uphill road environment, the downhill road environment, the pitch motion environment of the vehicle, It is possible to accurately estimate the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle through the inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus of the present invention, thereby improving the accuracy of the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle, thereby improving the performance of the driver's convenience.

An inter-vehicle distance measuring method using the inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an inter-vehicle distance measuring method using an inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic control unit 30 receives the front vehicle image obtained from the camera 10 and recognizes the preceding vehicle (S11). At this time, the electronic control unit 30 can recognize the preceding vehicle through the front vehicle recognition program stored in the storage unit as shown in FIG. The number of vehicle width pixels of the front vehicle

Figure pat00011
to be.

Further, the electronic control unit 30 receives the position coordinates of the vehicle from the GPS receiver 20 (S13).

The electronic control unit 30 recognizes the number plate of the preceding vehicle included in the preceding vehicle image (S15). At this time, the electronic control unit 30 can recognize the license plate as shown in FIG. 3 through the license plate recognition program stored in the storage unit. License plate width is

Figure pat00012
1, and the plate length is
Figure pat00013
to be.

The electronic control unit 30 recognizes the traveling country based on the position coordinates of the vehicle received from the GPS receiver 20 (S17).

In step S19, the electronic control unit 30 determines the license plate number of the preceding vehicle according to the ratio of the length and the length of the license plate recognized in step S15 of the license plate specification provided in the recognized driving country.

The electronic control unit 30 determines the license plate width based on the width of the identified license plate specification, and determines the license plate width, the number of vehicle width pixels recognized in the preceding vehicle image received in step S11 described above, The number of the recognized number plate pixels is substituted into the above-mentioned equation (1) to estimate the vehicle width of the preceding vehicle (S21).

The electronic control unit 30 calculates the vehicle width (< RTI ID = 0.0 >

Figure pat00014
) To the vehicle width pixel number of the front vehicle image (
Figure pat00015
) Is multiplied by a preset focus (f) to calculate the inter-vehicle distance Dx from the preceding vehicle (S23) (see FIG. 4).

The electronic control unit 30 provides the driver's apparatus with the calculated distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle (S25).

By doing so, it is possible to measure accurately the distance of the vehicle using the camera without the expensive radar, and to provide a stable distance between the driver's comfort device and the driver's comfort device due to the accurate distance .

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same way may be varied in many ways. Such modifications are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

10: camera 20: GPS receiver
30: Electronic control unit 40: Driver's convenience

Claims (4)

1. An inter-vehicle distance measuring device comprising a camera for photographing a front vehicle located in front of a vehicle, a GPS receiver for receiving the position of the vehicle, and an electronic control unit connected to the camera and the GPS receiver,
Wherein the electronic control unit has a license plate width determined based on license plate specifications determined according to a ratio of the length and length of the number plate of the front vehicle recognized in the front vehicle image received through the camera, The vehicle width of the preceding vehicle is estimated by using the number of pixels of the vehicle width and the number of pixels of the number plate recognized in the preceding vehicle image, and the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle is estimated through the estimated vehicle width Device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the electronic control unit recognizes a traveling country based on the position of the vehicle received by the GPS receiver and calculates a ratio between a width and a length of the license plate of the front vehicle among the license plate standards provided in the recognized traveling country , And determines the license plate number of the preceding vehicle according to the license plate color of the preceding vehicle. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the electronic control unit calculates an inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle by multiplying a value obtained by dividing the estimated vehicle width by the number of pixel of the vehicle width by a preset focal length. The method according to claim 1,
And the electronic control unit provides the calculated inter-vehicle distance to the driver's convenience device.
KR1020150128487A 2015-09-10 2015-09-10 Distance measuring device for nearing vehicle KR20170030936A (en)

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110576855A (en) * 2018-06-07 2019-12-17 本田技研工业株式会社 Adaptive cruise control device
US11288833B2 (en) 2019-08-08 2022-03-29 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Distance estimation apparatus and operating method thereof
US11361558B2 (en) 2020-02-04 2022-06-14 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Apparatus and method for estimating road geomeiry
KR102426854B1 (en) 2021-04-27 2022-08-01 주식회사 에스더블유엠 Apparatus for recognition of distance on autonomous vehicle

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8164628B2 (en) 2006-01-04 2012-04-24 Mobileye Technologies Ltd. Estimating distance to an object using a sequence of images recorded by a monocular camera

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8164628B2 (en) 2006-01-04 2012-04-24 Mobileye Technologies Ltd. Estimating distance to an object using a sequence of images recorded by a monocular camera

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110576855A (en) * 2018-06-07 2019-12-17 本田技研工业株式会社 Adaptive cruise control device
CN110576855B (en) * 2018-06-07 2022-09-02 本田技研工业株式会社 Adaptive cruise control device
US11288833B2 (en) 2019-08-08 2022-03-29 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Distance estimation apparatus and operating method thereof
US11361558B2 (en) 2020-02-04 2022-06-14 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Apparatus and method for estimating road geomeiry
US11631258B2 (en) 2020-02-04 2023-04-18 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Apparatus and method for estimating road geometry
KR102426854B1 (en) 2021-04-27 2022-08-01 주식회사 에스더블유엠 Apparatus for recognition of distance on autonomous vehicle

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