JP2009117971A - Vehicle periphery monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a vehicle periphery monitoring device that shows in an easy-to-understand manner from which camera an image is displayed with a simple configuration without being affected by the characteristics of a camera lens or the shape of a vehicle body.
A plurality of vehicle surrounding photographing means mounted on a vehicle for photographing the surroundings of the vehicle, a display for displaying a vehicle surrounding image photographed by the vehicle surrounding photographing means, and a vehicle surrounding image on the display. Display request determining means for determining whether or not a request has occurred, and when the display request is determined to be generated and the vehicle surrounding image corresponding to the display request is displayed on the display, the vehicle surrounding image is captured Provided as a vehicle periphery monitoring device, comprising: display control means for displaying the vehicle surrounding image on the display unit by applying a visual effect for enabling identification of the mounting position of the vehicle surrounding photographing means. Is possible.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device.

  A front camera that captures the front of the vehicle, a back camera that captures the rear (also referred to as a back monitor), and a side camera that captures the side of the vehicle, and displays an image of the area around the vehicle captured by one of the cameras. Monitor systems for displaying on the screen are becoming widespread.

  In many cases, the display is mounted near the center console of the vehicle so that it is most easily seen in the passenger compartment. In this case, the user may not be able to immediately identify the image from which of the front, rear, left and right cameras is displayed.

  In view of this, a vehicle periphery monitoring system and a vehicle periphery monitoring method have been devised that can easily understand which of the front, rear, left, and right cameras is displayed by deforming an image captured by the camera (see Patent Document 1). ).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-150938

  In the example of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to deform an image taken by a camera. In this case, there is a problem that the image must be deformed in accordance with the characteristics of the camera lens and the shape of the vehicle body, and the image deformation processing differs for each vehicle.

  Against the background of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle periphery monitoring device that shows easily from which camera an image is displayed with a simple configuration without being affected by the characteristics of the camera lens and the shape of the vehicle body. There is to do.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

  A vehicle periphery monitoring device for solving the above-described problem is mounted on a vehicle, and a plurality of vehicle surrounding photographing means for photographing the surroundings of the vehicle, a display for displaying a vehicle surrounding image photographed by the vehicle surrounding photographing means, Display request determining means for determining whether or not a request to display a vehicle surrounding image on the display device is generated, and it is determined that a display request has been generated, and the vehicle surrounding image corresponding to the display request is displayed on the display device. And a display control means for displaying the vehicle surrounding image on the display unit by applying a visual effect for making it possible to identify the mounting position of the vehicle surrounding photographing means that captured the vehicle surrounding image. Features.

  Visual effects are commonly used in animated images. With the above configuration, it is possible to easily show which vehicle surrounding image is displayed from which camera with a simple configuration without being influenced by the lens characteristics of the camera (vehicle surrounding photographing means) and the shape of the vehicle body.

  Further, the display control means in the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention determines that a display request has occurred, and when displaying the vehicle surrounding image on the display, the visual control for identifying the shooting range of the vehicle surrounding image is possible. It can also be configured to display the vehicle surrounding image on the display by applying the effect.

  With the above configuration, the photographing range of the vehicle surrounding photographing means such as a camera can be known.

  The indicator in the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention is a composite display of the vehicle periphery image captured by a plurality of vehicle periphery capturing means, and the display control means determines that a display request has occurred. In this case, the vehicle surrounding image captured by the other vehicle surrounding photographing means by applying the visual effect to the vehicle surrounding image captured by the vehicle surrounding photographing means that is the target of the display request among the compositely displayed vehicle surrounding images. It can also be configured to be combined and displayed.

  With the above configuration, even when a plurality of vehicle surrounding images are combined and displayed, it can be seen that a display request for which camera (image) has occurred.

  In addition, the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention includes an operation input unit that allows the user to perform an operation input for displaying a vehicle surrounding image on the display, and the display request determination unit is based on the detected user operation input. It can also be configured to determine whether a display request has occurred.

  With the above configuration, the user can confirm whether or not the vehicle surrounding image from the camera that the user wants to see is displayed based on the operation input.

  In addition, the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention includes a direction indicator operation detecting unit that detects an operation of a direction indicator of the vehicle, and the display request determining unit is configured to make a display request based on the detected operation of the direction indicator. It can also be configured to determine whether it has occurred.

  When the user operates the direction indicator, the user tries to confirm the situation of the direction to be directed. With the above-described configuration, the camera can be automatically selected, and the user can identify whether or not the vehicle surrounding image from the desired camera is displayed.

  In addition, the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention includes shift position detection means for detecting the shift position of the vehicle, and the display request determination means determines whether or not a display request has occurred based on the detected shift position. It can also be configured as follows.

  The user often wants to see an image in front of the vehicle while traveling forward and an image behind the vehicle while traveling backward. Also with the above configuration, the camera can be automatically selected, and the user can identify whether or not the vehicle surrounding image from the desired camera is displayed.

  In addition, the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention includes a parallel parking start determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle has started parallel parking, and the display request determination unit determines that the vehicle has started parallel parking. In addition, it may be configured to determine that a display request has occurred.

  So-called “garage storage” such as parallel parking needs to be performed while sufficiently confirming the rear and side conditions of the vehicle, and there are many users who are not good at this. In this case, it is necessary to check the images of the back camera and the side camera by switching appropriately, but there are cases where it is not possible to instantly identify which camera the image is from. Also with the above configuration, the camera can be automatically selected, and the user can identify from which camera the vehicle surrounding image is displayed.

  Further, the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention includes a road map data storage unit that stores road map data together with information related to a junction between roads, a position detection unit that detects a current position of the vehicle on the road map, a road On the map, based on the road identification means for identifying the road on which the vehicle is traveling together with the traveling direction, the road map data, and the current position of the vehicle, the merging point that is in front of the traveling direction of the traveling road A joining point approach determining unit that determines whether or not the vehicle has approached a predetermined distance, and the display request determining unit is configured to generate a display request when it is determined that the vehicle has approached the distance. It can also be configured to determine.

  With the above configuration, for example, when entering a point where a direction indicator must be operated, such as a junction of a high-standard road such as a highway, even if the user does not operate the direction indicator, Can be automatically selected, and the user can identify whether or not the vehicle surrounding image from the camera he wants to see is displayed.

  In the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention, the indicator is integrally coupled to the vehicle interior mirror at a position adjacent to the vehicle interior mirror of the vehicle so that the indicator is visible from the driver's seat in the vehicle interior of the vehicle. It can also be configured to be configured as a mirror-integrated display unit to be attached.

  With the above configuration, it is possible to visually recognize the vehicle surrounding image by the photographing means together with the image projected on the vehicle interior mirror. The image displayed in the vehicle interior mirror is easy to grasp the direction etc. intuitively from the mounting position of the mirror, combined with the captured image that compensates for the blind spot of the mirror, etc., and collectively viewing them with the same line of sight Thus, the presence state of the attention object around the vehicle can be grasped in more detail and quickly by using more visual information than when only the mirror or only the photographed image is used. Furthermore, since it is possible to identify which camera the photographed image is from, it is possible to grasp the situation around the vehicle in more detail and quickly.

  Moreover, the visual effect in the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this invention displays the image | photographed vehicle periphery image, expanding a display area | region sequentially from the predetermined position of the display screen of a display device to the predetermined direction. It can also be configured as follows.

  Techniques such as slide-in, fade-in, and zoom-in are known as visual effects during image display. With the above configuration, it is possible to identify from which camera the displayed vehicle surrounding image is.

  Further, the visual effect in the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention is to display a display index image for enabling identification of a predetermined shooting range of the vehicle surrounding image when the vehicle surrounding image is displayed. It can also be configured.

  Also with the above configuration, it is possible to identify from which camera the displayed vehicle surrounding image is.

  Moreover, the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this invention can also be comprised so that the effect sound output means which outputs the effect sound corresponding to this visual effect when a visual effect is applied may be provided.

  With the above-described configuration, it is possible to identify the mounting position of the vehicle surrounding imaging means that captures the vehicle surrounding image or the imaging range of the vehicle surrounding image by hearing in addition to vision.

  Hereinafter, the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example one applied to a vehicle navigation device. Of course, you may comprise a vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus as an independent vehicle-mounted apparatus different from the navigation apparatus for vehicles.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle navigation device (hereinafter abbreviated as a navigation device) 100. The navigation device 100 includes a position detector 1, a map data input device 6, an operation switch group 7, a remote control (hereinafter referred to as remote control) sensor 11, a voice synthesis circuit 24 for performing voice guidance, a speaker 15, a memory 9, and a display. 10, a transceiver 13, a hard disk device (HDD) 21, a LAN (Local Area Network) I / F (interface) 26, a control circuit 8 connected thereto, a remote control terminal 12, and the like.

  The position detector 1 includes a known geomagnetic sensor 2, a gyroscope 3 for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle 101 (see FIG. 2), a distance sensor 4 for detecting the travel distance of the vehicle 101, and a radio wave from a satellite. A GPS receiver 5 for detecting the position 101 is included. Since these sensors 2, 3, 4, and 5 have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy, some of the above-described sensors may be used, and further, a steering rotation sensor such as a steering angle sensor 36 or a wheel sensor for each rolling wheel such as a vehicle speed sensor 23 may be used. . The position detector 1 corresponds to the position detection means of the present invention.

  As the operation switch group 7, for example, a known touch panel 22 integrated with the display 10 or a mechanical switch is used. In addition to the mechanical switch, a pointing device such as a mouse or a cursor may be used.

  It is also possible to input various instructions using the microphone 31 and the voice recognition unit 30. In this method, a voice signal input from the microphone 31 is processed by a voice recognition technique such as a well-known hidden Markov model in the voice recognition unit 30, and converted into an operation command corresponding to the result. Various instructions can be input by the operation switch group 7, the remote control terminal 12, the touch panel 22, and the microphone 31 corresponding to the operation input unit of the present invention.

  The transceiver 13 is, for example, a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System: registered trademark) center 14 by an optical beacon or a radio beacon output from a transmitter (not shown) provided along the road. It is a device for receiving road traffic information from or receiving FM multiplex broadcasting. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which can be connected to external networks, such as the internet, using the transmitter / receiver 13. FIG.

  The control circuit 8 includes a well-known CPU 81, ROM 82, RAM 83, I / O 84 which is an input / output circuit, an A / D conversion unit 86, a drawing unit 87, an image processing unit 89, and a bus line 85 which connects these configurations. It has been. The CPU 81 controls the navigation program 21p and data stored in the HDD 21. The CPU 81 controls the reading / writing of data to / from the HDD 21. In addition, a program for performing a minimum necessary operation as the navigation device 100 may be stored in the ROM 82 in a case where the data read / write control from the CPU 81 to the HDD 21 becomes impossible.

  The control circuit 8 corresponds to a display request determination unit, a display control unit, a parallel parking start determination unit, a traveling road identification unit, and a meeting point approach determination unit according to the present invention.

  The A / D conversion unit 86 includes a well-known A / D (analog / digital) conversion circuit, and converts analog data input from the position detector 1 or the like to the control circuit 8 into digital data that can be calculated by the CPU 81, for example. It is.

  The drawing unit 87 generates display screen data to be displayed on the display 10 from road map data 21m (described later), display data, and display color data stored in the HDD 21 or the like.

  The image processing unit 89 includes a known image processing circuit that applies a visual effect to images taken by the front camera 40, the side camera 41, and the rear camera 42 (described later) by a known technique such as pattern recognition. The

  In addition to the navigation program 21p, the HDD 21 stores so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position detection and road map data 21m, which is a map database including road data representing road connections. The road map data 21m stores predetermined map image information for display and road network information including link information and node information. The link information is predetermined section information constituting each road, and includes position coordinates, distance, required time, road width, number of lanes, speed limit, and the like. The node information is information defining an intersection (branch road) or the like, and is composed of position coordinates, the number of right / left turn lanes, a connection destination road link, and the like. In addition, data indicating whether or not traffic is possible is set in the inter-link connection information. The road map data 21m corresponds to the road map data storage means of the present invention.

  In addition, in the HDD 21, auxiliary information for route guidance, entertainment information, and other data can be written independently by the user and stored as user data 21u. Data and various information necessary for the operation of the navigation device 100 are also stored as the database 21d.

  The navigation program 21p, road map data 21m, user data 21u, and database 21d can be added / updated from the storage medium 20 via the map data input device 6. The storage medium 20 is generally a CD-ROM or DVD based on the amount of data, but may be another medium such as a memory card. Moreover, you may use the structure which downloads data via an external network.

  The memory 9 is composed of a rewritable device such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable & Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, and stores information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation apparatus 100. Has been. The memory 9 holds the stored contents even when the navigation device 100 is turned off. Further, necessary information and data may be stored separately in the memory 9 and the HDD 21 according to the function or operation of the navigation device 100.

  The display 10 is composed of a known color liquid crystal display, and includes a dot matrix LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a driver circuit (not shown) for performing LCD display control. The driver circuit uses, for example, a well-known active matrix driving method, and performs display based on a display command and display screen data sent from the control circuit 8 (drawing unit 87). Further, an organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) display or a plasma display may be used as the display 10. The indicator 10 is arrange | positioned at the center console of a vehicle, for example (refer FIG. 22).

  The speaker 15 is connected to a well-known voice synthesis circuit 24, and the digital voice data stored in the memory 9 or the HDD 21 in accordance with a command from the navigation program 21p is converted into analog voice by the voice synthesis circuit 24 and sent out. Note that speech synthesis methods include a recording / editing method in which speech waveforms are stored as they are or after being encoded and connected as necessary, and a text synthesis method in which corresponding speech is synthesized from character input information. The speaker 15 corresponds to the sound effect output means of the present invention.

  The vehicle speed sensor 23 includes a rotation detection unit such as a known rotary encoder. For example, the vehicle speed sensor 23 is installed in the vicinity of the wheel mounting unit to detect the rotation of the wheel and send it to the control circuit 8 as a pulse signal. In addition to converting the number of rotations of the wheel into the speed of the vehicle 101, the control circuit 8 calculates an estimated arrival time from the current position of the vehicle 101 to a predetermined place, calculate. The vehicle speed sensor 23 corresponds to the vehicle speed detection means of the present invention.

  The LAN I / F 26 is an interface circuit for exchanging data with other in-vehicle devices and sensors via the in-vehicle LAN 27. Further, data may be taken from the vehicle speed sensor 23 or the like via the LAN I / F 26.

  With this configuration, the navigation device 100 allows the user to operate the operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22, the remote control terminal 12, or from the microphone 31 when the navigation program 21 p is activated by the CPU 81 of the control circuit 8. When a route guidance process for displaying a destination route on the display 10 is selected from a menu (not shown) displayed on the display 10 by voice input, the following process is performed.

  That is, when the user searches for the destination and the destination is set, the current position of the vehicle 101 is obtained by the position detector 1 and the optimum guidance route to the destination is obtained using the current position as the departure point. Is done. Then, the guidance route is displayed on the road map on the display 10 so as to guide the user to the appropriate route. As a method for automatically setting an optimum guide route, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known. In addition, at least one of the display 10 and the speaker 15 performs notification of a message according to an operation guidance or an operation state.

  The front camera 40, the side camera 41, and the rear camera 42 are used to photograph the surroundings of the vehicle 101, and are configured with known CCD cameras. As shown in FIG. 2, the front camera 40 captures the front of the vehicle. For example, the front camera 40 is attached to the front grill or the front bumper of the vehicle 101, and the photographing range is represented by R1, for example. The side camera 41 includes a left side camera 41a that captures the left side of the vehicle 101 and a right side camera 41b that captures the right side of the vehicle 101. For example, the side camera 41 is attached to the lower portion of the left and right door mirrors 102 and 103 of the vehicle 101, respectively. The photographing range is represented by R2a and R2b, for example. The rear camera 42 shoots the rear of the vehicle, and is attached, for example, near the rear number plate mounting portion of the vehicle 101 or a rear bumper, and the shooting range is represented by R3, for example. The front camera 40, the side camera 41, and the rear camera 42 correspond to the vehicle surrounding photographing means of the present invention.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the steering angle sensor 36 detects the steering angle of the steering handle 35 (see FIG. 22), and is configured using an element or circuit that converts a rotation angle of a known resolver or the like into an electrical signal. . The control circuit 8 calculates the steering angle based on the electric signal. The steering angle sensor 36 corresponds to the steering angle detection means of the present invention.

  The shift position sensor 39 detects the position of a shift lever 37 (see FIG. 22) or a transmission gear (not shown). A switch is provided for each position of the shift lever or gear, and the state of the switch changes according to the position of the shift lever or gear of the vehicle. In the case of a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the current shift position is lit on the vehicle driver's seat near the instrument panel or the shift lever. Therefore, the lit position is detected and determined as the current shift position. You may use the method to do. The shift position sensor 39 corresponds to the shift position detecting means of the present invention.

  The direction indicator switch 43 is configured as, for example, a winker lever attached to the steering column of the steering handle 35 (see FIG. 22). The control circuit 8 acquires the operation status of the direction indicator switch 43. The direction indicator switch 43 corresponds to the direction indicator operation detecting means of the present invention.

  With reference to FIG. 3, a display control process for a vehicle surrounding image (hereinafter also abbreviated as “image”) will be described. This process is included in the navigation program 21p and is repeatedly executed together with other processes of the navigation program 21p. First, display request determination processing for determining whether or not there is a display request for a vehicle surrounding image is performed (S11, described later).

  Next, if it is determined that there is a display request (S12: Yes), that is, an area in the memory 9 or the like corresponding to each camera (front camera 40, left side camera 41a, right side camera 41b, and rear camera 42). If the display request flag for which is set is set, the vehicle surrounding image to be displayed is acquired (S14, S15, S16) based on the content of the display request flag (S13: a, c, b). Then, the visual effect set for each vehicle surrounding image captured by each camera is applied, and the image is interrupted (or synthesized) and displayed on the display 10 (S17). Finally, the display request flag is cleared (S18).

(Display request determination process 1)
The display request determination process corresponding to step S11 in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. First, a camera selection screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 10 by the operation of the user operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22, the remote control terminal 12, or the voice input from the microphone 31 (S31). When a button (front, left side, right side, rear) indicating a camera on the display screen of FIG. 5 is pressed (S32: Yes), a display request flag corresponding to the camera position is set (S33). Note that only one camera position can be selected. When a plurality of buttons are pressed, a display request flag corresponding to the camera corresponding to the last pressed button is set. However, when the display 10 has a configuration capable of displaying the screen in a divided manner or a configuration capable of combining and displaying a plurality of images, a plurality of images can be selected simultaneously.

(Display request determination process 2)
With reference to FIG. 7, another example of the display request determination process corresponding to step S11 of FIG. 3 will be described. First, vehicle speed information is acquired from the vehicle speed sensor 23 (S51). Next, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 101 is stopped based on the acquired vehicle speed. For example, when the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined value such as 5 km / h, it is determined that the vehicle is stopped.

  When it is determined that the vehicle is stopped (S52: Yes), the direction indicator information is acquired from the direction indicator switch 43 (S55).

  On the other hand, when it is not determined that the vehicle is stopped (S52: No), the current position information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the position detector 1 (S53). Then, the current position on the map is specified with reference to the road map data 21m, and it is determined whether or not the current position is included within a predetermined range from the intersection. When it is determined that the current position falls within a predetermined range from the intersection (S54: Yes), direction indicator information is acquired from the direction indicator switch 43 (S55).

  When the direction indicator information includes the content of turning left or right or changing the course, that is, when the direction indicator is operated (S56: Yes), the side camera corresponding to the operation direction of the direction indicator 41 (left side camera 41a, right side camera 41b) display request flags are set (S57). Instead of each side camera, a display request flag corresponding to the front camera 40 may be set.

(Display request determination process 3)
With reference to FIG. 8, another example of the display request determination process corresponding to step S11 in FIG. 3 will be described. First, sensor information of the vehicle speed sensor 23, the steering angle sensor 36, and the shift position sensor 39 is acquired (S71).

  Next, the steering angle exceeds a predetermined threshold (steering angle threshold) (S72: Yes), the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined threshold (S73: Yes), and the shift position is set to the reverse position (“ R ") (S74: Yes), a display request flag corresponding to the rear camera 42 is set (S75).

  In the case of parallel parking or garage parking, the steering wheel is often turned to the right or nearly to the left to change direction after stopping the vehicle. By executing the above process, it can be determined whether or not the user intends to perform parallel parking.

(Display request determination process 4)
With reference to FIG. 9, another example of the display request determination process corresponding to step S11 in FIG. 3 will be described. First, the current position information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the position detector 1 (S91). Next, with reference to the road map data 21m, it is checked whether or not there is a merging point in the link in the traveling direction of the vehicle 101, that is, whether there is another link connected to the currently traveling link.

  When a merge point exists (S92: Yes), the number of exit directions at the node that is the intersection of the two links is examined (S93). If there is only one exit direction (S94: Yes), it is checked whether the exit road is a main line. Whether it is a main line or not is determined based on whether the type of two links (ie, roads) is high (eg, national road> prefectural road> city road), wide width, priority road, and the like.

  When the exit road is traveling on the main line, that is, the road where the vehicle 101 joins the main line (S95: Yes), the current position information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the position detector 1 (S96). Next, vehicle speed information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the vehicle speed sensor 23 (S97). Then, from the distance between the current position of the vehicle 101 and the merge point and the vehicle speed of the vehicle 101, the time until the vehicle 101 reaches the merge point from the current position is estimated and calculated. As a result, when the arrival time of the vehicle 101 at the joining point is less than a predetermined value such as 5 seconds (S98: Yes), the side camera 41 (left) corresponding to the course changing direction at the joining point. The display request flag of the side camera 41a, the right side camera 41b) or the front camera 40 is set (S99).

(Display request determination process 5)
With reference to FIG. 24, another example of the display request determination process corresponding to step S11 of FIG. 3 will be described. First, information of the shift position sensor 39 is acquired (S111). Next, when the shift position transitions to the forward position such as “D” (S112: Yes), the display request flag of the front camera 40 is set (S115). Further, when the shift position transitions to the reverse position such as “R” (S113: Yes), the display request flag of the rear lamella 42 is set (S114).

  Hereinafter, details of the visual effect will be described by taking a screen display of a captured image of the left side camera 41a as an example. FIG. 10 shows an example of an image taken by the left side camera 41 a and taken on the display screen of the display device 10.

  11 and 12 show switching display examples using slide-in, which is one of visual effects. In FIG. 11, as shown in FIG. 11 (a) → FIG. 11 (b) → FIG. 11 (c) → FIG. 11 (d), in order to be able to identify the image of the left side camera 41a, The image is slide-displayed from right to left, and finally the image of FIG. 10 is displayed. Similarly, FIG. 12 is also displayed as shown in FIG. 12A → FIG. 12B → FIG. 12C → FIG. 12D → FIG. In the example of FIG. 11, only the image photographed by the left side camera 41a is displayed as a slide, and the background image is displayed after the slide-in is completed. Further, in the example of FIG. 12, the entire image displayed on the display screen is displayed as a slide.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of switching display using fade-in which is one of visual effects. As shown in FIG. 13 (a) → FIG. 13 (b) → FIG. 13 (c) → FIG. 13 (d), images are sequentially displayed from the left end to the right end of the screen, and finally the image of FIG. 10 is displayed. Is done. Also in this example, it can be identified that the image is from the left side camera 41a.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of displaying a display index image for enabling identification of an image of the left side camera 41a. As shown in FIG. 14 (a) → FIG. 14 (b) → FIG. 14 (c) → FIG. 14 (d), the entire image is first displayed, and then, for example, a vertical line image X (display index image) is displayed on the screen. Move and display from left to right. As a result, the user can identify the left or right side camera image. The vertical line image X disappears when it reaches the right end of the screen.

  FIG. 15 shows an example in which the display area in the left-right direction of the image is changed in stages and displayed. First, as shown in FIG. 15A, an image in which the horizontal direction of the image is compressed is displayed. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 15 (b) → FIG. 15 (c) → FIG. 15 (d), the image display compression ratio in the horizontal direction of the screen is changed so as to approach 1: 1, and finally, as shown in FIG. Thus, an image is displayed on the entire display screen. That is, the drawing is performed so that the image is tilted from the right side to the left side of the screen. This is a pseudo representation of the scenery projected on the mirror when the door mirror is opened from the storage position. Even in this method, the user can identify the left or right side camera image.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of switching display using zoom-in, which is one of visual effects. As shown in FIG. 16 (a) → FIG. 16 (b) → FIG. 16 (c) → FIG. 16 (d), the image is zoomed in from the upper left corner of the screen. Finally, as shown in FIG. 10, an image is displayed on the entire display screen.

  In the image display examples of FIGS. 11 to 16, when displaying the image of the right side camera 41 b, the display / drawing directions are reversed.

  The display effect used when displaying the image captured by the front camera 40 is the same as that of the above-mentioned side camera, but the display direction of the image is from the top to the bottom of the screen, and the image is from the front camera 40 to the user. Can be identified. 17 and 18 show examples of image display. The example of FIG. 18 applies the visual effect similar to that of FIG. 15, and as shown in FIG. 18 (a) → FIG. 18 (b) → FIG. 18 (c) → FIG. The display compression rate of the direction is changed stepwise, and finally, an image is displayed on the entire display screen as shown in FIG.

  The display effect used when displaying the image captured by the rear camera 42 is the same as that of the above-described side camera, but the display direction of the image is from the lower part of the screen to the upper part, and the image is from the rear camera 42 to the user. Can be identified. 19 and 20 show an example of image display. The example of FIG. 20 applies the visual effect similar to that of FIG. 15, and as shown in FIG. 20 (a) → FIG. 20 (b) → FIG. 20 (c) → FIG. The display compression rate of the direction is changed stepwise, and finally, an image is displayed on the entire display screen as shown in FIG.

  In the example of FIGS. 10 to 18, on the display screen of the display device 10, the shooting range of each camera is displayed in addition to the vehicle surrounding image shot by each camera. 10 corresponds to the image at the upper left of the screen and FIG. 17 corresponds to the image at the upper center of the screen. Thereby, even if the opportunity to see the display effect is missed, it is possible to identify from which camera the image is taken together with the shooting range of the camera.

  Further, when applying the above-described visual effect, a sound effect corresponding to the visual effect may be output. For example, in the case of slide-in display as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, when a slide sound is output and rendering is performed such that the image is tilted from the right side to the left side as shown in FIG. A sound that opens the door is output.

  Which visual effect and sound effect are applied to which camera image is stored in the database 21d or the memory 9. An example is shown in FIG. The visual effect and sound effect to be applied may be set by the user's operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22, operation of the remote control terminal 12, or voice input from the microphone 31. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which memorize | stores user's favorite sound effect as user data 21u from the microphone 31 or the external apparatus connected to in-vehicle LAN etc., and uses the sound effect.

  As shown in FIG. 21, when the horizontal size of the screen of the display 10 is larger than the horizontal size of the images taken by the left side camera 41a and the right side camera 41b, the picture was taken by the left side camera 41a. The images are displayed left justified on the screen of the display 10. Images taken by the right side camera 41b are displayed right justified. Also in this case, the above-mentioned visual effects and sound effects are applied. Similarly, when the vertical size of the screen of the display device 10 is larger than the vertical size of the images photographed by the front camera 40 and the rear camera 42, they are displayed in the upper and lower positions, respectively.

  The display unit may be configured as a mirror-integrated display unit that is integrally coupled to the vehicle interior mirror at a position adjacent to the mirror and is attached to a position that is visible from the driver's seat in the vehicle interior of the vehicle. FIG. 22 schematically shows an example of a mounting form of the mirror-integrated display unit 201M in the passenger compartment. The mirror-integrated display unit 201M corresponds to the display device of the present invention.

  The mirror-integrated display unit 201M is inseparably coupled to the vehicle interior mirror 202M and the vehicle interior mirror 202M at a position adjacent to the vehicle interior mirror 202M, and includes the above-described cameras (front camera 40, left side camera 41a, The right side camera 41b and the rear camera 42) have display devices 202R and 202L that display vehicle surrounding images 230R and 230L taken by the camera, and are attached to a position that can be viewed from the driver's seat DS in the vehicle 101. ing. Specifically, in the mirror-integrated display unit 201M, the vehicle interior mirror is the rearview mirror 202M, which is attached at a position facing the upper center of the windshield FG of the vehicle (101).

  As shown in FIG. 23, the rearview mirror 202M includes an intermediate area 251M positioned between the right-side visual field image display screen 202R and the left-side visual field image display screen 202L, and the right-side visual field image display screen 202R and the left-side visual field. This is configured as a horizontally long half mirror 250 that collectively covers the image display screen 202L. The images displayed on the screens 202R and 202L are seen through the half mirror 250, respectively. When the right-side visual field image display screen 202R and the left-side visual field image display screen 202L are not displayed, the entire surface of the half mirror 250 extended to the display screens 202R and 202L side together with the intermediate region 251M is rear-mirrored. Can be used as

  In FIG. 23, the right-side visual field image display screen 202R and the left-side visual field image display screen 202L are each configured by a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal panel) having a backlight 252. By making the backlight on / off switchable, the half mirror area at the screen position can be expanded and utilized as the back mirror area when the backlight is turned off. As shown in the cross-sectional view in the figure, the liquid crystal panels 251R and 251L, the backlight 252 and their control boards 253 are disposed in the housing frame 254 in this order on the back side of the half mirror 250, A back cover 255 that closes the back side opening is screwed to the housing frame 254 using screws 256. Note that the wirings 251H, 252H, 253H extending from the liquid crystal panels 251R, 251L, the backlight 252, and the control board 253 pass through the stay 202J for attaching the mirror-integrated display unit 201M in the vehicle in FIG. It has come to be.

  The vehicle surrounding images 230R and 230L include a right-side view image 230R that is biased to the right in the vehicle width direction with respect to the projection view behind the vehicle by the rearview mirror 202M, and a left-side view image 230L that is also biased to the left in the vehicle width direction. . The display devices 202R and 202L are arranged in a manner distributed to the left and right edge sides in the vehicle width direction with respect to the rearview mirror 202M. Then, as the right-side view image 230R, images taken by the front camera 40, the right side camera 41b, and the rear camera 42 are mainly used. On the other hand, as the left side visual field image 230L, an image photographed by the left side camera 41a is mainly used.

  In recent years, a parking assistance system (commonly known as “Top View”) that uses image processing technology to generate an image of a vehicle looking down from above, making it easier to grasp the sense of distance and sense of direction, and assisting garage entry and width adjustment. )) Has been developed (see Non-Patent Document 1). Further, in this system, when the vehicle moves and the image captured by the rear camera 42 changes, the rear camera 42 or another camera captures images previously captured by the rear camera 42 outside the imaging range of the rear camera 42. Combined and displayed on the display.

"Introduction to DENSO Corporation 11th ITS World Congress Aichi / Nagoya 2004" (http://www.denso.co.jp/ja/its/2004/products/safety2.html), October 17, 2007 Search

  FIG. 25 shows a display example of the top view. In the display area 10 a on the display screen of the display device 10, an image photographed by the rear camera 42 is displayed. Of course, a visual effect as shown in FIG. 20 may be applied when displayed. In addition, a top view image is displayed in the display area 10b.

  As shown in FIGS. 26A to 26D, when the shift position transitions to the reverse position (“R”), for example, if the image size is displayed in a stepwise manner using zoom-in, the top view is displayed. It is possible to easily identify that the image display is based on.

  As shown in FIG. 27, when the vehicle moves backward, only the area indicated by 10b2 is captured by the rear camera 42 in the display image by the top view, and the area outside the imaging range of the rear camera 42 (10b1, 10b3) is complemented by images taken in the past. As the vehicle moves, the imaging range of the rear camera 42 changes and the captured image also changes, so it is necessary to update the image display. At this time, the driver needs an image displayed in the area 10b2.

  Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 27A to 27D, when a predetermined time has elapsed, when the vehicle has moved a predetermined distance, or a change in the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor 36. When the value exceeds a predetermined value, in the region 10b2, from the rear end of the vehicle toward the rear, a visual effect such as a slide-in is applied and displayed, which camera takes the image. It can be easily identified and the shooting range of the camera can be easily identified.

  In the example of FIGS. 25 to 27, images captured by the front camera 40 and the side camera 41 may be displayed in a synthesized manner.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, when the shooting ranges of the cameras overlap, for example, when a display request for the shot image by the left side camera 41 a is generated, the shot image by the left side camera 41 a and the shot image by the front camera 40 Can be combined and displayed on the display 10. In this case, first, an image captured by the front camera 40 is displayed. Subsequently, an image captured by the left side camera 41a is displayed by applying a predetermined display effect. In addition, only the image captured by the left side camera 41a is displayed in the region where the image captured by the left side camera 41a and the image captured by the front camera 40 overlap.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the knowledge of those skilled in the art can be used without departing from the spirit of the claims. Various modifications based on this are possible.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus for vehicles. The figure which shows the example of the mounting position and imaging | photography range of each camera. The flowchart explaining the display control processing of a camera image. FIG. 6 is a flowchart (1) illustrating display request determination processing. The figure which shows the display screen at the time of execution of the display request determination process of FIG. The figure which shows the example of a setting of a visual effect and a sound effect. The flowchart (2) explaining another example of a display request determination process. The flowchart (3) explaining another example of a display request determination process. The flowchart (4) explaining another example of a display request determination process. The figure which shows the example of the picked-up image of a left side camera. The figure which shows the example of a display of the picked-up image of a left side camera (slide-in). The figure which shows another example of a display of the picked-up image of a left side camera (slide-in). The figure which shows another example of a display of the picked-up image of a left side camera (fade in). The figure which shows another example of a display of the picked-up image of a left side camera (with a display parameter | index). The figure which shows another example of a display of the picked-up image of a left side camera. The figure which shows another example of a display of the picked-up image of a left side camera (zoom-in). The figure which shows the example of the picked-up image of a front camera. The figure which shows the example of a display of the picked-up image of a front camera. The figure which shows the example of the picked-up image of a rear camera. The figure which shows the example of a display of the picked-up image of a rear camera. The figure which shows the example of a display of the picked-up image in a landscape screen. The figure which shows an example of the attachment form of a mirror integrated display unit. The figure which shows an example of the cross-section of a mirror integrated display unit. The flowchart (5) explaining another example of a display request determination process. The figure which shows the example of a screen display using a top view. The figure which shows the example of a top view display (zoom-in). The figure which shows the example of a display of the synthesized image of a top view.

Explanation of symbols

1 Position detector (position detection means)
7 Operation switch group (operation input section)
8 control circuit (display request determination means, display control means, parallel parking start determination means, traveling road identification means, merging point approach determination means)
10 Display 15 Speaker (Sound effect output means)
21 Hard disk drive (HDD)
21m Road map data (Road map data storage means)
21u User data 22 Touch panel (operation input unit)
23 Vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection means)
31 Microphone (operation input unit)
36 Steering angle sensor (steering angle detection means)
39 Shift position sensor (shift position detection means)
40 Front camera (vehicle periphery photography means)
41 Side camera (vehicle periphery photography means)
41a Left side camera 41b Right side camera 42 Rear camera (vehicle surrounding photographing means)
43 Direction indicator switch (Direction indicator operation detection means)
89 Image processing unit 100 Vehicle navigation device 101 Vehicle 201M Mirror-integrated display unit (display)
202R display device 202L display device

Claims (12)

A plurality of vehicle surrounding photographing means mounted on the vehicle and photographing the periphery of the vehicle;
A display for displaying a vehicle surrounding image captured by the vehicle surrounding imaging means;
Display request determination means for determining whether or not a request to display the vehicle surrounding image on the display has occurred;
When it is determined that the display request has occurred and the vehicle surrounding image corresponding to the display request is displayed on the display, the mounting position of the vehicle surrounding photographing means that photographed the vehicle surrounding image can be identified. Display control means for applying a visual effect for displaying the vehicle surrounding image on the display;
A vehicle periphery monitoring device comprising:   The display control means determines that the display request has occurred, and applies a visual effect for enabling the shooting range of the vehicle surrounding image to be identified when displaying the vehicle surrounding image on the display. The vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle surrounding image is displayed on the display. The display is a composite display of the vehicle surrounding image captured by the plurality of vehicle surrounding imaging means,
When it is determined that the display request has occurred, the display control means adds the visual effect to the vehicle surrounding image taken by the vehicle surrounding photographing means to be the target of the display request out of the combined and displayed vehicle surrounding images. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle periphery monitoring device is combined and displayed with the vehicle periphery image captured by another vehicle periphery capturing unit. An operation input unit for performing an operation input for a user to display the vehicle surrounding image on the display;
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display request determination unit determines whether or not the display request is generated based on the detected operation input of the user. A direction indicator operation detecting means for detecting an operation of the direction indicator of the vehicle,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the display request determination unit determines whether or not the display request has occurred based on the detected operation of the direction indicator. . Shift position detecting means for detecting the shift position of the vehicle,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display request determination unit determines whether or not the display request is generated based on the detected shift position. Comprising parallel parking start determining means for determining whether the vehicle has started parallel parking;
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the display request determining unit determines that the display request has occurred when it is determined that the vehicle has started parallel parking. . Road map data storage means for storing road map data together with information relating to a junction between roads;
Position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle on the road map;
On the road map, a running road specifying means for specifying a road on which the vehicle is running together with a running direction;
Based on the road map data and the current position of the vehicle, a merging point approach determination is made to determine whether or not the merging point existing ahead in the traveling direction of the traveling road has approached a predetermined distance. Means, and
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the display request determination unit determines that the display request has occurred when it is determined that the vehicle has approached the distance. .   The display unit is a mirror-integrated display unit that is integrally coupled to the vehicle interior mirror at a position adjacent to the vehicle interior mirror of the vehicle, and is attached to a position that is visible from the driver's seat in the vehicle interior of the vehicle. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the vehicle periphery monitoring device is configured.   The visual effect is to display the photographed vehicle surrounding image while sequentially expanding a display area in a predetermined direction from a predetermined position on a display screen of the display. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 9.   11. The visual effect is to display a display index image for enabling identification of a predetermined shooting range of the vehicle surrounding image when the vehicle surrounding image is displayed. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of the above.   The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising sound effect output means for outputting a sound effect corresponding to the visual effect when the visual effect is applied.

Images