KR20180076739A - A vehicle and method for estimating a distance between vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle and a method for estimating distance between vehicles. The vehicle includes: a camera for receiving a forward image of the vehicle; and a controller that detects some components of a lane around at least one external vehicle in the received forward image and estimates a distance between a subject vehicle and the external vehicle using the detected some component. The distance between the subject vehicle and the external vehicle is estimated by using the lane width of the surrounding lane of the external vehicle and the lane width of the lane of the subject vehicle without recognizing the entire lane, so the distance estimation efficiency can be improved and the calculation speed necessary for distance estimation can be improved.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION [0002] A VEHICLE AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING A DISTANCE BETWEEN VEHICLES [

The present invention relates to a vehicle, and more particularly, to a method of estimating a distance between a vehicle and a vehicle that estimates a distance between the vehicle in-travel and an external vehicle located in front of the vehicle.

Recently, in the automobile industry, much attention has been focused on Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). The advanced driving assistance system detects the dangerous situation that occurs during driving using the sensor attached to the vehicle and responds to it, thereby assuring the safety of the driver and providing convenience to the driver.

Examples of advanced travel assistance systems include an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system, an Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) system, and a Forward Collision Warning (FCW) system.

In order to realize such advanced support system, it is required to provide a technique for detecting the vehicle distance from the driver's vehicle to the front vehicle.

That is, by detecting the forward vehicles during travel and estimating the vehicle distance to the forward vehicles, the cruise control function of the adaptive cruise control system can be performed properly. In addition, in the front collision warning system, the driver can be alerted in advance of the danger of approaching the front vehicles or the vehicle can be prevented from colliding with the automatic emergency braking system in the automatic emergency braking system.

It is necessary to develop a reliable vehicle distance detection device which can accurately detect the vehicle distance without error because the system malfunctions and malfunctions are directly connected to the vehicle accident in the advanced driving assistance system.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of estimating a distance between a vehicle and a vehicle that estimates the distance between the vehicle and the external vehicle using the lane width of the external vehicle and the vehicle included in the forward image of the vehicle .

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, unless further departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It will be possible.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle comprising: a camera for receiving a forward image of a vehicle; And a controller for detecting a component of a lane around at least one external vehicle in the received forward image and estimating a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the detected component.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for estimating a distance between vehicles, comprising: receiving a forward image of the vehicle through a camera provided in the vehicle; Detecting a component of a lane around at least one external vehicle in the received forward image; And estimating a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the detected partial component.

The method of estimating the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle according to at least one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above is a method of estimating the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle using the lane width of the peripheral lane of the external vehicle and the lane width of the lane of the peripheral vehicle By estimating the distance between the vehicle and the external vehicle, it is possible to improve the distance estimation efficiency and improve the calculation speed required for distance estimation.

The effects obtained by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description will be.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram for explaining a process of estimating a distance between a vehicle and an external vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without excluding other elements unless specifically stated otherwise. Also, the terms " part, "" module," and " module ", etc. in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software have.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without excluding other elements unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, parts denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the specification denote the same components.

Hereinafter, the vehicle-to-vehicle distance estimation process applicable to the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram for explaining a process of estimating a distance between a vehicle and an external vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, a sub-vehicle 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a camera 110 for receiving a forward image of the subject vehicle 100, a memory 120 and a camera 110 And a controller 130 for detecting a part of the lane around at least one external vehicle in the received forward image and estimating a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the detected partial component.

The camera 110 acquires a forward image of the subject vehicle 100 and outputs the obtained forward image to the control unit 130. [ The camera 110 is mounted on a front portion of the vehicle 100 such as a bumper or a grill to acquire a forward image, which is a video within a predetermined range in a direction in which the vehicle body is oriented.

The forward image contains objects that can affect the driving of a vehicle located in front of the vehicle 100, such as forward vehicles, lanes, obstacles, and the like.

The forward image obtained according to the focal distance, the angle of view, the resolution, and the like of the camera 110 may be slightly different.

The memory 120 may store sensing data from various sensors of a vehicle or store POI (Point Of Interest) location information of a user through a navigation function, or various media files set by a user.

The memory 120 also stores a linear pixel distance d between the lane width W1 of the peripheral lane of the at least one external vehicle 200 in the forward image and the lane width W2 of the lane around the child vehicle in accordance with the present invention. The actual distance between the lane width of the surrounding lane of the actual external vehicle and the lane width of the lane around the present vehicle is stored.

For example, if the linear pixel distance d between the lane width W1 of the peripheral lane of the external vehicle 200 in the forward image and the lane width W2 of the lane around the child vehicle is " 100 pixels & The actual distance between the lane width of the surrounding lane and the lane width of the lane around the vehicle can be stored in the memory 120 as " 100 meters ".

If the linear pixel distance d between the lane width W1 of the peripheral lane of the external vehicle 200 in the forward image and the lane width W2 of the lane around the child vehicle is " 75 pixels & The actual distance between the lane width of the lane and the lane width of the lane around the vehicle can be stored in the memory 120 and the difference between the lane width W1 of the surrounding lane of the external vehicle 200 in the front image, The actual distance between the lane width of the surrounding lane of the actual external vehicle and the lane width of the lane around the vehicle is " 50 meters " when the linear pixel distance d between the lane width W2 of the surrounding lane is "Lt; / RTI >

The control unit 130 receives the forward image obtained by the camera 110 and performs various image processes on the forward image.

The control unit 130 detects the external vehicle 200 in the forward image and detects the external vehicle 200 as a part of the peripheral lane of the external vehicle 200, 200 nearest the left and right local lane areas.

Then, the controller 130 extracts a straight line component corresponding to the lane in the left and right local lane areas of the detected external vehicle 200.

At this time, the control unit 130 detects at least one of the left and right lagged lanes of the detected external vehicle 200 using at least one of an edge detection method, a line segment method, and a Hough Transform method. Can be extracted.

Next, the controller 130 measures the width between the extracted straight line components in the plane of the front image as the lane width W1 between the left and right lanes around the external vehicle 200. [

If the difference between the local lane widths of the peripheral local lanes of the external vehicle 200 is measured in the forward image as described above, the control unit 130 then determines whether the lane width of the reference lane closest to the vehicle 100 The left and right reference lane areas closest to the vehicle 100 are detected.

Here, the reference lane of the vehicle 100 refers to a lane located at the lower end of the forward image closest to the child vehicle in the forward image, as shown in FIG.

The control unit 130 extracts a straight line component corresponding to the lane in the left and right reference lane regions of the child vehicle 100 detected.

At this time, the control unit 130 detects at least one of the left and right reference lane areas of the detected child vehicle 100 using at least one of an edge detection method, a line segment method, and a Hough Transform method. Can be extracted.

Next, the controller 130 measures the width between the extracted linear components in the plane of the front image in terms of the lane width W2 between the left and right lanes around the child vehicle 200. [

In the present invention, the lane width W1 of the vehicle 100 is measured after the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200 is measured in the front image for the sake of simplicity of explanation. However, in the operation of the present invention, The order of measurement of the lane width W1 of the vehicle 200 and the lane width W2 of the vehicle 100 is independent of the order of measurement. That is, the lane width W2 of the vehicle 100 may be measured first, and then the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200 may be measured.

When the lane width W2 of the vehicle 100 and the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200 are measured from the forward image received from the camera 110 in real time, The actual distance between the actual vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 can be estimated using the lane width W2 of the external vehicle 200 and the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200. [

That is, the control unit 130 calculates the actual distance between the actual vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 based on the distance from the vehicle width W2 of the vehicle 100 to the width W1 of the external vehicle 200 Can be estimated.

The controller 130 controls the distance between the vehicle 100 and the outside of the vehicle 100 in proportion to the distance between the vehicle width W2 of the vehicle 100 and the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200. [ The actual distance between the vehicles 200 can be estimated.

More specifically, the memory 120 stores a linear pixel distance (L) between the lane width W1 of the surrounding lane of the at least one external vehicle 200 in the forward image and the lane width W2 of the lane around the vehicle, the actual distance between the lane width of the lane surrounding the vehicle and the lane width of the lane around the vehicle is stored for each of the vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 can be estimated.

For example, if the vertical line pixel distance d from the lane width W2 of the vehicle 100 to the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200 is " 100 pixels & The actual distance between the child vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 can be estimated as " 100 meters ".

As another example, if the vertical line pixel distance d from the lane width W2 of the child vehicle 100 to the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200 is " 75 pixels & The actual distance between the child vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 can be estimated as " 75 meters ".

As another example, if the vertical straight pixel distance d from the lane width W2 of the vehicle 100 to the lane width W1 of the external vehicle 200 is " 50 pixels & The actual distance between the subject vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 can be estimated to be " 50 meters ".

If the actual distance between the subject vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 is estimated as described above, the controller 130 determines that the actual distance between the estimated subject vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200 is less than the actual distance between the subject vehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200, The front collision warning system, the emergency braking system, and the adaptive smart cruise control system.

The present invention described above can be embodied as computer-readable codes on a medium on which a program is recorded. The computer readable medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer readable medium include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, , And may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (e.g., transmission over the Internet).

Accordingly, the above description should not be construed in a limiting sense in all respects and should be considered illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by rational interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the scope of equivalents of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

100: automatic ventilation system 110: camera
120: memory 230:

Claims (16)

A camera for receiving a forward image of the subject vehicle; And
And a controller for detecting a part of the lane around at least one external vehicle in the received forward image and estimating a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the detected partial component. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit measures a lane width of a lane around the external vehicle using the partial component and estimates a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the measured lane width. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the control section extracts a linear component of a lane around the external vehicle through edge detection and measures a width between the extracted linear components by a lane width around the external vehicle. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the control unit detects a part of the lane around the child vehicle in the forward image, measures the lane width around the child vehicle using the detected partial component, And estimates a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the lane width around the external vehicle. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the lane around the child vehicle includes a lane located at a lower end within the forward image closest to the child vehicle in the forward image. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the control section extracts a straight line component of a lane around the child vehicle through edge detection and measures a width between the extracted linear components by a lane width around the child vehicle. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the control unit estimates a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle based on a distance from the child car's periphery lane width to the external car periphery lane width. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the control section estimates an actual distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle proportional to a linear pixel distance from the child vehicle periphery lane width to the external vehicle periphery lane width. Receiving a forward image of the child vehicle through a camera provided in the child vehicle;
Detecting a component of a lane around at least one external vehicle in the received forward image;
And estimating a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the detected partial components. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the estimating step estimates the lane width of the lane around the external vehicle using the partial component and estimates the distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the measured lane width. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the estimating step includes the steps of extracting a linear component of a lane around the external vehicle through edge detection and measuring a width between the extracted linear components as a lane width around the external vehicle. 11. The method of claim 10,
Detecting a component of a lane around the child vehicle in the forward image; And
And measuring a lane width around the subject vehicle using the detected partial component,
The distance estimating step between the child vehicle and the external vehicle estimates a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle using the lane width of the periphery of the measured child vehicle and the lane width of the external vehicle, . 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the lane around the child vehicle includes a lane located at the lower end of the forward image closest to the child vehicle in the forward image. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the step of estimating the car-to-vehicle lane width includes extracting a linear component of a lane around the vehicle through edge detection and measuring a width between the extracted linear components as a lane width around the vehicle, Distance estimation method. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the step of estimating the distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle estimates a distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle on the basis of the distance from the child vehicle's peripheral lane width to the external lane width of the external vehicle. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the step of estimating the distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle estimates an actual distance between the child vehicle and the external vehicle that is proportional to a linear pixel distance from the child vehicle lane width to the external vehicle lane width, Distance estimation method.

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