WO2010037795A1

WO2010037795A1 - Method of control and associated driving aid system

Info

Publication number: WO2010037795A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/062715
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Bonhoure
Original assignee: Dav
Priority date: 2008-09-30
Filing date: 2009-09-30
Publication date: 2010-04-08
Also published as: FR2936479B1; EP2377006A1; FR2936479A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of control for a driving aid system onboard a vehicle (1), said system comprising:- at least one camera (3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,3h) for capturing video streams of the environment of the vehicle (1), - a control unit (5) for generating a three-dimensional scene according to a predefined viewpoint comprising: • a three-dimensional representation (9) of the vehicle (1), and • at least one image obtained on the basis of the video streams captured, and - a display screen (13) for displaying the three-dimensional scene generated. According to the invention, said method comprises the following steps: - a control trajectory (15) is entered on a touch surface (7) integrated into the display screen (13), - a command associated with said trajectory (15) is generated for modifying said scene. The invention further relates to a driving aid system for implementing such a method.

Description

Control method and associated driving assistance system

The present invention relates to a control method in an on-board driving assistance system in a motor vehicle, and a driving assistance system for implementing such a method.

Motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with driver assistance systems, for example, the generation of audible or visual alerts in case of imminent dangerous situation (for example: exceeding of limit, obstacle ...) or the detection of vehicles, pedestrians or obstacles in so-called blind spot areas.

In the prior art, a driver assistance display method for a motor vehicle makes it possible to display, on a first part of a screen of the dashboard of the vehicle, all the images produced by four simultaneously. cameras projected on the ground to allow a bird's eye view of the immediate environment of the vehicle, itself being materialized by its image in plan view; and displaying on a large scale, on a second portion of the dashboard screen, simultaneously with the previous display, a complete view of one or more images as directly produced by the one or more cameras.

This prior art has the following drawbacks: the images displayed on the screen are fixed and can not be modified by the user to better visualize a specific area of the vehicle environment,

- Furthermore, this representation is complex and can disrupt the understanding of the vehicle environment and thus interfere with a vehicle user to park for example.

This representation is therefore not intuitive and requires training of the user in such a driver assistance display of the prior art.

This is particularly a problem for rental vehicles. Indeed, the user of a rental vehicle for a short time does not have time to adapt to such a display of driving assistance to be able to use it quickly during the driving without being distracted.

The invention therefore aims to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing more intuitive driver assistance systems.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a control method for an on-vehicle driving assistance system, said system comprising:

at least one camera for capturing video streams of the vehicle environment,

a control unit for generating a three-dimensional scene according to a predefined viewpoint comprising:

A three-dimensional representation of the vehicle, and at least one image obtained from the captured video streams, and

a screen for displaying the three-dimensional scene, characterized in that said method comprises the following steps:

- It captures a control trajectory on a touch surface integrated in the display screen, - generates a command associated with said path to modify said scene.

The control method according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in combination:

the control associated with said trajectory makes it possible to vary the point of view of said scene, said method comprises a step in which the control trajectory is compared with a set of predetermined control trajectories so as to determine the associated command to make vary the point of view,

the control trajectory is associated with at least one command chosen from the group of commands comprising: a command for translational movement of the scene, a command for moving the scene in rotation, a tilt displacement command for the possible scene because the generated scene is three-dimensional, which makes it possible to define different angles of view,

the control path is associated with a command for zooming,

said trajectory is carried out by a user's finger for commands for moving in rotation or translation of the three-dimensional scene, said path is made by several fingers of the user for tilting or zooming commands of the three-dimensional scene.

The invention also relates to an on-board driving assistance system in a motor vehicle comprising: at least one camera for capturing video streams from the vehicle environment, a control unit for generating a three-dimensional scene according to a predefined viewpoint including:

• a three-dimensional representation of the vehicle, and

At least one image obtained from the captured video streams, and a display screen of the generated three-dimensional scene, characterized in that said system comprises at least one means adapted to capture a control path of a user on a tactile surface integrated in the display screen so as to define a command associated with said entered trajectory to vary the point of view of said scene. The driving assistance system according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following features, taken separately or in combination:

said touch surface comprises a transparent or translucent film,

said system comprises:

• a front camera located at the center of the front bumper of the vehicle, facing the vehicle and over the horizon,

• two side cameras, each disposed at an exterior rear view mirror of the vehicle, and directed towards the bottom of the vehicle, and

• A rear camera located at the center of the rear window of the vehicle and facing down from the vehicle and over the horizon. The present invention therefore allows the user to act on the images displayed intuitively without being limited by predefined points of view.

Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description given by way of example, without limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -AT-

FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle equipped with a driving assistance system according to the invention,

FIG. 2 schematically represents a driving assistance system,

FIGS. 3a to 3c represent an example of virtual screens making it possible to generate a three-dimensional scene,

FIG. 4 represents an example of a three-dimensional scene generated according to the invention,

FIGS. 5a to 5f show examples of control paths in the driving assistance system of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 illustrates the steps of a control method according to the invention.

In Figure 1, there is shown a vehicle 1 equipped with a driver assistance system. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, this driver assistance system comprises:

a plurality of cameras 3a-3h for capturing video streams of the vehicle environment, a control unit for generating a three-dimensional scene according to a predefined point of view, and

a display screen 13 of the three-dimensional scene.

The driver assistance system comprises a set of cameras 3, at the front, rear and on the sides. At the front, we can provide:

two front cameras 3a, 3b, arranged on the sides of the front bumper of the vehicle 1, each being directed substantially towards an associated side and towards the front,

a camera 3f located at the rear view mirror of the vehicle directed substantially towards the front, or a front camera 3g located for example at the logo of the vehicle 1, directed substantially forwards.

The front cameras 3a and 3b, 3f, or 3g may have an opening angle of 60 ° or wide angle (for example 110 ° horizontal angle of view) or very wide angle (for example at an angle of view horizontal 170 °), and allow to see down vehicle 1 and above the horizon. At the back, we can provide:

a rear camera 3c, arranged for example in the handle of the trunk of the vehicle 1, or at the level of the license plate, making it possible to see towards the bottom of the vehicle 1 and above the horizon, and / or - a rear camera 3 hours above the rear window or at the third brake light of the vehicle 1, allowing to see down the vehicle 1 and more above the horizon that the rear camera 3c.

The rear cameras 3c, 3h may have a large opening angle (for example with a horizontal angle of view between 110 ° and 170 °). In addition, one can provide two side cameras 3d, 3e, respectively arranged at the exterior mirror on each side of the vehicle. These side cameras 3d, 3e can have a very wide angle (for example 110 ° horizontal angle of view), and point down.

The vehicle 1 comprises one or more cameras as described above. In the remainder of the description, an example is chosen in which the set of cameras 3 equipping the vehicle 1 comprises the front cameras 3a, 3b, the rear camera 3c, and the side cameras 3d, 3e.

Furthermore, the control unit 5 comprises at least one processing means configured to generate a three-dimensional scene according to a predefined point of view, the three-dimensional scene comprising:

at least one image obtained from the captured video streams, and

a three-dimensional representation 9 of the vehicle (FIGS. 3a to 3c), for example in the form of a closed line representing the outline of the vehicle 1 or alternatively in the form of a parallelepiped, this three-dimensional representation being arranged according to an orthogonal reference represented in FIG. 3b, comprising:

A transverse axis X directed from left to right of the three-dimensional representation 9,

A longitudinal axis Y directed from the front to the rear of the three-dimensional representation 9, and a vertical axis Z directed from the bottom to the top of the three-dimensional representation 9.

To generate this three-dimensional scene, the control unit 5 comprises for example processing means configured to generate virtual screens 11a to Ile representative of a solid angle respectively observed by the cameras 3a to 3e of the vehicle. These virtual screens 1 to I are represented in hatched lines in the figures

3a to 3c.

As can be seen in FIGS. 3 a and 3b, the shape of the virtual screens 11a, 11b, 11c, associated respectively with the front cameras 3a, 3b and rear 3c, is representative of the perspective in which they will be seen by a user of the vehicle, for example the driver.

With regard to the side cameras 3d and 3e (FIG. 3c), it is chosen to associate virtual screens 1 Id and I representative of a ground image.

The control unit 5 then makes it possible to project an image obtained from the video streams captured by the cameras 3a to 3e in a virtual screen 11a to associated island so as to generate the three-dimensional scene.

In addition, according to an exemplary embodiment, the virtual screens 1 Ia-I are in the same frame as the three-dimensional representation 9, that is to say that if the three-dimensional representation 9 moves during the display of the three-dimensional scene for example following a command to modify the scene, the virtual screens 1 Ia-I also move simultaneously with the three-dimensional representation 9.

The images provided by the cameras 3a-3e are thus dynamically integrated with the virtual screens 1a-1a with a deformation representative of the perspective according to which they will be seen by the user, according to the predetermined point of view. Thus a point of view of the scene is defined by the orientation of the three-dimensional scene and by the virtual screens.

A predefined viewpoint is an initial point of view that is not selected by the user and that is automatically displayed when the driver assistance system is started, or a point of view determined automatically by the system. driving assistance according to a particular event such as an obstacle detection in the environment of the vehicle or a maneuver of the vehicle like parking. For example, when the user is reversing, the environmental point of view at the rear of the vehicle is selected.

The driving assistance system may then include means for displaying the generated three-dimensional scene enabling the user to visualize this three-dimensional scene so as to have a real notion of the environment of his vehicle and thus better apprehend the vehicle in its environment when it performs for example a tricky maneuver such as park his vehicle. An example of a display of such a three-dimensional scene is shown in FIG. 4. The driver assistance system further comprises means adapted to enter a user's control trajectory on a touch surface 7 integrated in FIG. the display screen 13 and processing means configured to interpret the control trajectory entered on the touch surface 7 of the screen 13 so as to generate an associated control for modifying the three-dimensional scene. The user then realizes a control trajectory directly on the part of the three-dimensional scene on which he wishes to act, which allows an intuitive use of the driver assistance system.

The associated control for modifying the three-dimensional scene makes it possible, for example, to vary the point of view of the three-dimensional scene. Another example of an associated command for modifying the three-dimensional scene is a command for moving in translation the three-dimensional scene displayed on the display screen 13.

The term "tactile surface" means a film sensitive to a pressure of one or more supports. The touch surface 7 may also comprise a transparent or translucent film.

In addition, the control path can be achieved by means of a stylus or by one or more fingers of the user.

When the user realizes a control trajectory with a finger or a stylus, the tactile surface 7 comprises sensors configured to detect a support of a user and, depending on the force exerted, the position of the detected support and the releasing the support on the sensitive film forming a control path, triggering an associated control to vary the viewpoint of the three-dimensional scene. For this, there are for example sensors using pressure-sensitive resistors, also known as the FSR sensor for "Force Sensing Resistor".

When the user realizes a control trajectory with several fingers, each finger can move clean or similar to the movement of other fingers. It is also possible to provide movements of the fingers in substantially parallel or opposite directions, or even displacements of the fingers in rotation in the same direction of rotation.

In this case, the touch surface 7 comprises multiple support sensors configured to simultaneously detect pressure and / or movements of the fingers in several places. The control unit 5 is then adapted to simultaneously interpret these separate actions so as to determine the control path and thus the associated control to vary the point of view of the scene.

Examples of displacements defining control trajectories made by the user are given as:

a circular displacement made by a first finger of the user while a second finger of the user remains fixed (FIG. 5a); a rectilinear displacement made by several fingers of the user in substantially parallel directions (FIGS. , 5c, 5d),

rectilinear displacements made by two fingers of the user in opposite directions (FIG. 5e),

- Circular movements made by two fingers of the user in the same direction of rotation (Figure 5f).

Moreover, a control trajectory can for example be associated with:

a displacement control in translation of the scene,

a command for moving the scene in rotation,

- a tilt command of the scene, or - a command to zoom. According to an exemplary embodiment, a control trajectory defined by a circular displacement (FIG. 5a) is associated with a control of the rotation of the scene around an axis of rotation substantially parallel to the vertical axis Z. In this case , the angle made by the user on the touch surface 7 is associated with a rotation angle of the three-dimensional scene, and the direction of the control path is associated with a direction of rotational movement of the three-dimensional scene.

In a variant, a control trajectory made by three fingers of the user is associated with a rectilinear movement (FIG. 5b) to an inclination control of the scene with respect to an axis substantially parallel to the transverse axis X, making it possible to move to a two-dimensional view of the scene. This two-dimensional view represents for example a so-called bird view.

It is also possible to associate a control path made by two fingers of the user following a rectilinear movement:

downwardly (FIG. 5c) to a command for translational movement towards the bottom of the three-dimensional scene while keeping the same point of view, or else for a control of the rotational displacement of the scene around an axis of rotation substantially parallel to the vertical axis Z, modifying the point of view of the three-dimensional scene,

to the right (FIG. 5d) to a command for moving in translation towards the right of the three-dimensional scene while keeping the same point of view, or else for a control of the rotational displacement of the scene around an axis of rotation substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis Y, changing the point of view of the three-dimensional scene.

Of course, it is possible to provide in a similar manner, commands for moving the three-dimensional scene upwards and to the left.

In these examples, the length of the displacement made by the user on the touch surface 7 is associated with a displacement length of the three-dimensional scene or at a rotation angle of the three-dimensional scene, the direction of the control trajectory is associated with to the moving direction of the three-dimensional scene and the direction of the control path is associated with a sense of moving the three-dimensional scene or to a direction of rotation of the three-dimensional scene.

It is also possible to associate a control path made by two fingers of the user in rectilinear displacements in opposite directions so as to create a gap between the two fingers of the user (FIG. 5e) with a zoom-in control, which allows to modify the point of view of the three-dimensional scene. In this case, the spacing between the two fingers of the user on the touch surface 7 is associated with a zoom percentage before the three-dimensional scene. Of course, it is possible similarly to provide a zoom out control of the three-dimensional scene.

It is also possible to associate a control path made by two fingers of the user according to circular movements in the same direction of rotation.

(FIG. 5f) to a control of rotation displacement of the scene about an axis of rotation substantially parallel to the vertical axis Z, according to a predefined angle, for example 180 °, which makes it possible to modify the point of view of the three-dimensional scene.

Figure 6 depicts the control method for varying the point of view of the three-dimensional scene.

For this purpose, in a first step, I enter an input command made by a user in the form of a control path on the touch surface 7.

Subsequently, a control associated with the control path is generated to vary the viewpoint of the three-dimensional scene.

The control trajectory thus allows the user to vary the viewpoint of the three-dimensional scene as he desires rather than by selecting a point of view from among a set of predefined viewpoints, so as to clearly visualize a viewpoint. precise area of the vehicle environment before making a maneuver, such as backing up or parking.

In order to determine the control associated with the control path entered for varying the viewpoint, a step E3 can be provided in which the entered control path 15 is compared to a set of control paths. predetermined.

Finally, the command associated with the control trajectory seized on the touch-sensitive surface 7 is generated for a part of the three-dimensional scene, and in step E5, the three-dimensional scene is generated and displayed in real time according to the modified point of view.

It is therefore understood that with such a method the user can act on the three-dimensional scene displayed intuitively and is not limited by predefined views of the scene.

Claims

A control method for a driver assistance system embedded in a vehicle (1), said system comprising: at least one camera (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h) for capturing video streams of the vehicle environment (1),

a control unit (5) for generating a three-dimensional scene according to a predefined viewpoint comprising:

A three-dimensional representation (9) of the vehicle (1), and at least one image obtained from the captured video streams, and

a display screen (13) of the generated three-dimensional scene, characterized in that said method comprises the following steps:

- It captures a control path (15) on a touch surface (7) integrated in the display screen (13), - generates a command associated with said path (15) for modifying said scene.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the control associated with said trajectory (15) makes it possible to vary the point of view of said scene.

3. Method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a step (E3) wherein the control path (15) is compared to a set of predetermined control paths so as to determine the command associated to modify said scene.

4. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the control path is associated with at least one control selected from the group of commands comprising: a displacement control in translation of the scene, a control of rotational movement of the scene, a tilt control of the scene.

5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the control path is associated with a command to achieve a zoom.

6. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that said trajectory (15) is performed by a finger of the user for translation commands, rotation of the three-dimensional scene.

7. Method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that said path (15) is performed by several fingers of the user for zooming or tilting of the three-dimensional scene.

8. On-board driving assistance system in an automobile vehicle (1) comprising:

at least one camera (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h) for capturing video streams from the environment of the vehicle (1),

A three-dimensional representation (9) of the vehicle (1), and

At least one image obtained from the captured video streams, and a display screen (13) of the generated three-dimensional scene, characterized in that said system comprises at least one means adapted to capture a control trajectory (15). a user on a touch surface (7) integrated in the display screen (13) so as to define a command associated with said path (15) input to vary the point of view of said scene.

9. System according to claim 8, characterized in that said touch surface (7) comprises a transparent or translucent film.

10. System according to one of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that it comprises: - a front camera (3g) disposed at the center of the front bumper of the vehicle (1), and directed downwards. vehicle and above the horizon,

- two side cameras (3d), (3e), each disposed at an exterior mirror of the vehicle (1), and directed towards the bottom of the vehicle, and - a rear camera (3c) disposed at the center of the vehicle. the back window vehicle (1), and directed down the vehicle and over the horizon.