JP2009027240A - Image processing apparatus for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a plurality of image pickup means mounted on a vehicle and installed at positions separated from each other by a predetermined distance. An optical axis adjustment means for adjusting the optical axis of the image pickup means and an image for processing an image obtained from the image pickup means In a vehicle image processing apparatus provided with a control means provided with a processing means, an image corresponding to the vehicle running state is displayed, and a driver's various requests can be answered without adding other imaging means. It is in.
An image processing means separately uses a stereo image processing mode for processing an image taken by at least a plurality of imaging means as a stereo image using an optical axis adjusting means and an image taken by the plurality of imaging means. A monocular image processing mode for processing as a single image.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus for a vehicle that performs optical axis control of a stereo camera for wide-field images.

  The vehicle is provided with a stereo camera for wide-field images configured by a plurality of cameras that are a plurality of imaging units installed at positions spaced apart from each other by an optical axis adjusting unit that adjusts the optical axis of each camera, and each Some of them are equipped with a vehicle image processing device provided with a control means provided with an image processing means for processing an image obtained from a camera.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some stereo wide-field image processing apparatuses can acquire a wide effective field of view by using a non-stereoscopic imaging region while acquiring accurate distance information from a stereoscopic imaging region.
The vehicle front vision support device has an image taken with the right camera in the opposite lane direction at the time of a right turn and a left camera at the right turn direction pedestrian crossing, and two images taken with the right camera as the vehicle turns right. Some images are combined and displayed in a single image so as to be displayed at a large ratio.
When a plurality of corresponding point candidates are detected by the corresponding point detecting means, the vehicle image processing device selects one corresponding point from the plurality of corresponding point candidates based on the control mode of the host vehicle. Some of them select the best corresponding points.
JP 2005-24463 A JP 2005-39547 A JP 2007-85773 A

  However, conventionally, in a vehicular image processing apparatus, in a situation where left and right are confirmed at an intersection or the like, a normal stereo camera requires an imaging area by stereo vision, so as shown in FIG. Alternatively, there is a problem that a field of view can be secured only in one direction only on the right side or the left side of the vehicle, and improvement has been desired.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular image processing apparatus that can respond to various demands of a driver without adding other imaging means.

  The present invention includes a plurality of imaging units mounted on a vehicle and installed at positions spaced apart from each other by an optical axis adjusting unit that adjusts the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an image obtained from the imaging unit In the vehicular image processing apparatus provided with the control means provided with the image processing means, the image processing means uses the optical axis adjustment means as an image captured by at least the plurality of imaging means as a stereo image. A stereo image processing mode for processing, and a monocular image processing mode for processing images captured by the plurality of imaging units as separate images.

  The vehicular image processing apparatus according to the present invention controls the optical axis of the image pickup means to display an image according to the vehicle running state, and can meet various demands of the driver.

The present invention realizes the purpose of responding to various demands of the driver by controlling the optical axis of the imaging means and displaying an image corresponding to the vehicle running state.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.
2 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle image processing apparatus mounted on a vehicle.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this vehicular image processing apparatus 1 is a left-hand image pickup unit that is installed at a predetermined distance from each other so as to form a wide-field image stereo camera 2. A camera 3L and a right camera 3R are provided.
As shown in FIG. 5, the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R have a stereo view M that is an area where the imaging fields of view overlap each other, but have a deviation in which the optical axes are not parallel on the same plane. Is installed in one stay 4.
Further, the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R are directly connected to the left motor 5L and the right motor 5R, which are camera position adjusting means, for example, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the left motor 5L and the right motor 5R can be connected by a slide rail 7 provided with a left gear 6L and a right gear 6R.

The left camera 3L and the right camera 3R are in contact with the control means 8, as shown in FIG.
The control unit 8 includes an information acquisition unit 9, an optical axis angle calculation unit 10, an image processing unit 11, and a camera optical axis control circuit 12.
The information acquisition unit 9 includes an intersection shape acquisition unit 13 and an in-intersection position acquisition unit 14 connected to the optical axis angle calculation unit 10 and communicates with the navigation system 15 and the vehicle running state detection unit 16. . The vehicle travel state detection means 16 detects various vehicle travel states such as vehicle speed and yaw rate.
The optical axis angle calculation means 10 functions as an optical axis adjustment means for adjusting the optical axes of the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R, and calculates the optical axis angles of the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R, respectively.
The image processing unit 11 is connected to the optical axis angle calculation unit 10 and processes images obtained from the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R.
The camera optical axis control circuit 12 communicates with the left camera optical axis drive actuator 17L and the right camera optical axis drive actuator 17R incorporated in the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R, and is calculated by the optical axis angle calculation means 10, respectively. The left camera optical axis drive actuator 17L and the right camera optical axis drive actuator 17R are actuated and controlled by the command of the optical axis angle to change the optical axes of the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R.
The image processing means 11 is in contact with an image display means 18 for displaying the processed image.

The image processing means 11 uses the optical axis angle calculating means 10 that is an optical axis adjusting means, and uses stereo image processing to process images taken by the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R that are at least a plurality of imaging means as stereo images. A mode 11A and a monocular image processing mode 11B for processing images taken by the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R as separate images are provided.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the image processing means 11 processes an image in the monocular image processing mode 11B when the vehicle S enters an intersection.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the program of the control means 8 starts (step A01), it is first determined whether or not there is an intersection in front of the vehicle (step A02). If this step A02 is NO, This judgment is continued.
When this step A02 is YES, an intersection shape is acquired (step A03). In this step A03, the intersection shape is acquired depending on the navigation system 15 and the image processing situation up to the previous time.
Then, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has entered the intersection (step A04). In step A04, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has entered the intersection by acquiring the yaw rate and / or image processing result of the vehicle running state. If step A04 is NO, this determination is continued.
If this step A04 is YES, the position in the intersection is acquired (step A05). In step A05, the position in the intersection is acquired from the vehicle speed, yaw rate, image processing, etc. in the vehicle running state.
Then, the optimum angle of the optical axis is calculated (step A06). In step A06, the left and right optical axis angles in the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R are calculated so as to cover the area determined by the application of the control means 8.
Then, it is determined whether or not the left and right optical axes are substantially parallel (step A07).
If this step A07 is YES, the image is processed in the stereo image processing mode 11A (step A08).
If step A07 is NO, it is determined whether the left and right visual fields are different (step A09).
If this step A09 is YES, the image is processed using both the stereo image processing mode 11A and the monocular image processing mode 11B (step A10).
If this step A09 is NO, the image is processed in the monocular image processing mode 11B (step A11).
Then, after the processing of step A08, step A10 or step A11, it is determined whether or not the intersection has been exited (step A12). If step A12 is NO, this determination is continued.
If step A12 is YES, the image is processed in the stereo image processing mode 11A (step A13), and the program is ended (step A14).
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle S enters the intersection, the optical axes of the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R are independently adjusted, each monocular image process is performed, and the center stereo view M is obtained. On the other hand, the left non-stereo view NL and the right non-stereo view NR on both sides are enlarged to widen the field of view, early detection of traffic weak people such as pedestrians and motorcycles, etc. Optimal image processing according to the optical axis can be performed.

As a result, in this embodiment, the image processing means 11 uses the optical axis angle calculation means 10 that is the optical axis adjustment means to stereo-images taken by the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R that are at least a plurality of imaging means. A stereo image processing mode 11A for processing as an image and a monocular image processing mode 11B for processing images taken by the left camera 3L and the right camera 3R as separate images are provided.
As a result, an image corresponding to the vehicle running state can be displayed, so that it is possible to respond to various requests of the driver without adding other imaging means.

Further, the image processing means 11 processes the image in the monocular image processing mode 11B when the vehicle enters the intersection.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle S enters the intersection, it is possible to discover a moving body (four-wheeled vehicle, two-wheeled vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian) other than the own vehicle at an early stage, It is possible to contribute to the realization of optimal vehicle travel.

  Controlling the optical axis of the imaging means and displaying an image according to the vehicle running state can be used in combination with other controls.

It is a flowchart of the image processing for vehicles. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a vehicle image processing apparatus. It is a block diagram of the one image processing apparatus for vehicles. It is a block diagram of the other image processing apparatus for vehicles. It is explanatory drawing when the vehicle has approached the intersection. It is explanatory drawing when the vehicle has approached the intersection conventionally.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle image processing apparatus 2 Stereo camera 3L Left camera 3R Right camera 5L Left motor 5R Right motor 8 Control means 10 Optical axis angle calculation means 11 Image processing means 12 Camera optical axis control circuit 17L Left camera optical axis drive actuator 17R Right camera Optical axis drive actuator

Claims (2)

  A plurality of imaging means mounted on a vehicle and installed at positions separated from each other by a predetermined distance, an optical axis adjusting means for adjusting the optical axis of the imaging means, and an image processing means for processing an image obtained from the imaging means In the vehicular image processing apparatus provided with the control means, the image processing means uses the optical axis adjustment means to process at least a plurality of image pickup means as a stereo image. An image processing apparatus for a vehicle, comprising: a processing mode; and a monocular image processing mode for processing images captured by the plurality of imaging units as separate images.   The vehicle image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit processes an image in the monocular image processing mode when the vehicle enters an intersection.

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