JP2008134916A - Vehicle forward recognition apparatus mounted on vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle forward recognition apparatus mounted on a vehicle which can discriminate preceding vehicle and a traffic signal. <P>SOLUTION: An image sensor 3 detects a red colored light in front in a forward traveling direction of a vehicle and also detects a green colored light from a diagonal direction in the forward traveling direction of the vehicle. When a microprocesser detects the red colored light from the front in the forward traveling direction of the vehicle by the image sensor 3 and, at the same time, does not detect the green colored light from the diagonal direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, the microprocessor determines that the red colored light to be a tail lamp of the preceding vehicle. Furthermore, when the image sensor 3 detects the red-colored light from the front in the forward-traveling direction of the vehicle and, at the same time, detects the green-colored light from the diagonal direction in the forward travelling direction of the vehicle, the lights are determined as being the traffic signal. In addition, when the period of flashing of the red colored light is the same as the cycle of flashing of the green-colored light, the lights are determined as being the traffic signal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device.

As an in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device, Patent Document 1 detects light emitted by a taillight (red taillight) of a preceding vehicle having a diameter of 8 to 20 cm located 100 to 250 m away from the own vehicle. However, in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to distinguish between a tail light of a preceding vehicle and a red signal light of a traffic signal.
JP 2005-534903 A

  The present invention has been made under such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device capable of discriminating between a preceding vehicle and a traffic signal.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, an image sensor that detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects green light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and the image sensor A first determination unit that determines that the vehicle is a taillight of a preceding vehicle if red light from the front in the traveling direction is detected and green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction is not detected in front of the vehicle; Detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, detects green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and the cycle of flashing of the red light is the same as the cycle of flashing of the green light If it is, it will make it a summary to have provided the 2nd determination means to determine that it is a traffic signal.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first determination unit detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle by the image sensor, and green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. If it is not detected, it is determined that it is a taillight of the preceding vehicle. Further, the second determination means detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle by the image sensor, detects green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and blinks the red light. If the period is the same as the period in which the green light blinks, it is determined that the traffic signal.

As a result, the preceding vehicle and the traffic signal can be discriminated.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device according to the first aspect, the image sensor is on an optical axis for condensing light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle onto the image sensor. If a red filter is installed on the optical axis and a green filter is installed on the optical axis for condensing light from the front of the vehicle in an advancing direction on the image sensor, red light and green light can be obtained with a simple configuration. Can be detected.

  In the invention according to claim 3, an image sensor that detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects yellow light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle; A first determination unit that determines that the light is a taillight of a preceding vehicle if red light from the front in the traveling direction is detected and yellow light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction is not detected in front of the vehicle; Detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects yellow light obliquely in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and the cycle of flashing the red light is the same as the cycle of flashing of the yellow light If it is, it will make it a summary to have provided the 2nd determination means to determine that it is a night blinking traffic signal.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first determination means detects the red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle by the image sensor, and the yellow light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. If it is not detected, it is determined that it is a taillight of the preceding vehicle. Further, the second determination means detects the red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle by the image sensor, detects the yellow light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and the period in which the red light blinks. Is the same as the blinking cycle of yellow light, it is determined that the traffic signal is blinking at night.

As a result, it is possible to discriminate between the preceding vehicle and the night blinking traffic signal.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device according to the third aspect, the image sensor is on an optical axis for condensing light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle on the image sensor. If a yellow filter is installed on the optical axis for condensing light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle to the image sensor, red light and yellow light can be obtained with a simple configuration. Can be detected.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The present embodiment is applied to a vehicle light control device, and FIG. The device recognizes the front of the vehicle and automatically turns the headlamp into a low beam when the vehicle is in front.

  In FIG. 1, an image sensor (image sensor) 3 is provided on the rear surface of the room mirror 2 of the vehicle 1. With this image sensor 3, it is possible to image the front in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1. The image sensor 3 is connected to the microprocessor 4, and image data captured by the image sensor 3 is sent to the microprocessor 4. The microprocessor 4 executes various processes from the imaged data.

  In the vehicle light control device according to the present embodiment, an in-vehicle vehicle recognition device is configured by the image sensor 3 and the microprocessor 4, the traveling direction ahead of the vehicle is imaged by the image sensor 3, and the preceding data is captured by the microprocessor 4. It is possible to recognize the preceding vehicle by detecting the taillight of the vehicle.

  An electronic control unit (ECU) 5 for light control is connected to the microprocessor 4. The headlamp 6 can be controlled by the electronic control unit 5. That is, the electronic control unit 5 controls the headlamp 6 to high beam / low beam based on the recognition result of the preceding vehicle by the microprocessor 4.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image sensor 3.
In FIG. 2, the board | substrate 20 is arrange | positioned so that the one surface may face the front of a advancing direction on the basis of the advancing direction of a vehicle. An image sensor (pixel array) 21 is disposed on the substrate 20, and the image sensor 21 is covered with a transparent member 22. Lens portions 22 a, 22 b, 22 c and 22 d are formed on the surface of the transparent member 22. Optical axes L1 and L2 for condensing light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle to the image sensor 21 are formed by the lens portions 22a and 22b. In addition, optical axes L3 and L4 for converging light from the left and right oblique directions in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle to the image sensor 21 are formed by the lens portions 22c and 22d.

  A red filter 23 is disposed on the surface of the lens portion 22 a of the transparent member 22, and the red light that has passed through the red filter 23 is photoelectrically converted in the image sensor 21. A white filter 24 is disposed on the surface of the lens portion 22 b in the transparent member 22, and white light that has passed through the white filter 24 is photoelectrically converted in the image sensor 21. Green filters 25 and 26 are disposed on the surfaces of the lens portions 22 c and 22 d of the transparent member 22, and the green light that has passed through the green filters 25 and 26 is photoelectrically converted in the imaging device 21.

  In this way, the image sensor 3 detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and also detects green light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. For this purpose, a red filter 23 is installed on the optical axis L1 for condensing light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle on the image sensor 21, and light from diagonally right and left in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. Green filters 25 and 26 are installed on the optical axes L3 and L4 for condensing on the image sensor 21.

Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted vehicle recognition device (vehicle light control device) will be described.
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart executed by the microprocessor 4.
Prior to describing this flowchart, a more specific image example will be described.

  Now, at night, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle travels on the road where the reflector 50 is installed, the preceding vehicle 30 and the oncoming vehicle 40 are present, and the tail lamp (tail lamp) 31 and the headlamp (head lamp) 41 are turned on. ing. By taking an image with the image sensor 3 and processing it with the microprocessor 4, as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to extract red light and detect the taillight 31 of the preceding vehicle. Can be recognized.

  In other words, the headlamp 41 of the oncoming vehicle is relatively bright and easy to recognize, but the taillight 31 of the preceding vehicle is dark, so disturbance light such as light from the reflector 50 is used as the taillight of the other vehicle. Although it is easy to misrecognize, in this embodiment, the taillight of the preceding vehicle can be distinguished from other lights by utilizing the fact that the taillight is red (the red light of the taillight and the white light that is disturbance light are detected). Can be determined).

  The vehicle light control device (electronic control device 5) controls the headlamp 6 based on the result in the vehicle-mounted vehicle recognition device. That is, if there is a preceding vehicle at night, the headlamp of the own vehicle is set to a low beam.

  In FIG. 3, the microprocessor 4 inputs an image at step 100 and extracts a color pixel at step 101. Then, the microprocessor 4 determines whether red light is detected in step 102, and if red light is detected, it determines in step 103 whether green light is detected on one side. When the microprocessor 4 detects green light on one side, the microprocessor 4 determines whether the blinking frequency band of the red light and green light detected in step 104 is the same. If the detected red light and green light have the same blinking frequency band, the microprocessor 4 determines in step 105 that the traffic light is a traffic signal.

The processing in steps 102 → 103 → 104 → 105 will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 6, there is a cross road in front of the own vehicle. In this cross road, there is a traffic signal 60 in front of the traveling direction of the own vehicle. On the intersecting road, a traffic signal 70 is diagonally to the left of the traveling direction of the own vehicle. There is a traffic signal 80 diagonally to the right of the direction of travel of the car. In addition, the red traffic light 61 is lit on the traffic signal 60 on the front, and the blue traffic lights 71 and 81 are lit on the diagonal traffic signals 70 and 80 on the left and right. Strictly speaking, when LEDs are used as the red signal lamp 61 and the blue signal lamps 71 and 81, they blink at 100 Hz or 120 Hz.

  In the case of FIG. 6, red light is detected at step 102 in FIG. 3, green light is detected at both at step 103 at the same time, and the cycle of red light blinking is the same as the cycle of green light blinking at step 104. In step 105, the traffic signal is determined.

On the other hand, if the microprocessor 4 does not detect red light at step 102, it determines at step 107 that there is no traffic signal or preceding vehicle.
On the other hand, if the microprocessor 4 does not detect green light on one side in step 103, the microprocessor 4 determines in step 106 that the vehicle is a preceding vehicle.

On the other hand, if the period in which the red light blinks is different from the period in which the green light blinks in step 104, the microprocessor 4 determines in step 106 that the vehicle is a preceding vehicle.
By such processing, it is possible to distinguish between lighting (flashing) of the red signal lamp of the traffic signal and lighting of the tail lamp (red).

  As described above, in Patent Document 1, it is impossible to discriminate between the tail light of the preceding vehicle and the red signal light of the traffic signal. However, not only the red and white filters but also the green filter are inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle. By arranging, when the red traffic light 61 is lit at the traffic signal 60 in front at the intersection as shown in FIG. 6, the blue traffic lights 71 and 81 of the traffic traffic lights 70 and 80 on the intersecting road are lit. The blinking cycle of red light (by the red traffic light 61 in the traffic signal 60, etc.) on the road that intersects with the traffic light is slanted (by the blue traffic lights 71, 81 in the traffic traffic lights 70, 80, etc.). If it is the same, it is determined as a traffic signal, and if it is different, it is determined as a preceding vehicle.

  By determining that the traffic signal is in this way (determining that it is an intersection where a plurality of traffic signals are installed in front of the vehicle), for example, by combining with a navigation system, the current position detection accuracy of the host vehicle is improved. be able to.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) As a configuration of the on-vehicle forward recognition device, the image sensor 3 detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. The microprocessor 4 as the determination means and the second determination means detects the red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle by the image sensor 3 and the green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. If it is not detected, it is determined that it is a tail light of a preceding vehicle, and the image sensor 3 detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, If the cycle of blinking red light is the same as the cycle of blinking green light, the traffic light is determined. Therefore, a preceding vehicle (tail light) and a traffic signal (red signal light) can be distinguished.

  (2) As a configuration of the image sensor 3, the red filter 23 is installed on the optical axis L1 for condensing the light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle on the image sensor 21, and the traveling direction in front of the vehicle is oblique. Green filters 25 and 26 are provided on the optical axes L3 and L4 for condensing the light from the image sensor 21. In this way, red light and green light can be detected with a simple configuration.

The embodiment may be modified as follows.
By utilizing the fact that the blue signal lamp of the traffic signal has a blinking cycle, the green light of the blue signal lamp of the traffic signal and the green light of the sign may be discriminated.

  In addition, the yellow filter is used instead of the above-mentioned green filter, and the traffic light whose flashing method changes only at night (the night flashing traffic signal whose one flashes red when the other flashes yellow) is distinguished from the preceding vehicle. May be. That is, in the above embodiment, the traffic signal light blinking period is 1/10 second or less. Instead, the same method is used when the traffic signal light blinking period is 1/5 second or more. May be performed.

  Specifically, the front of the traveling direction in front of the vehicle is detected by an image sensor that detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects yellow light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. If the red light from the vehicle is detected and the yellow light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle is not detected, the vehicle is detected by a first determination means (microprocessor) that determines that the vehicle is a taillight of the preceding vehicle, and an image sensor. Detecting red light from the front in the direction of travel in front and detecting yellow light from the diagonal in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle, and the cycle of flashing of the red light is the same as the cycle of flashing of the yellow light And a second determination means (microprocessor) for determining that the traffic signal is blinking at night. As a result, it is possible to discriminate between the preceding vehicle (tail light) and the night blinking traffic signal (red signal light).

In this case, the above-described image sensor 3 may be configured to detect yellow instead of the above-described green.
That is, as a configuration of the image sensor 3, the red filter 23 is installed on the optical axis L1 for condensing the light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle on the image pickup device 21, and from the oblique direction of the traveling direction in front of the vehicle. If a yellow filter is provided on the optical axes L3 and L4 for condensing the light on the image sensor 21, red light and yellow light can be detected with a simple configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The whole schematic block diagram of the vehicle light control apparatus in this embodiment. Sectional drawing of an image sensor. The flowchart for demonstrating an effect | action. The figure which shows the vehicle front. The vehicle front view after image processing. The figure which shows the vehicle front.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 3 ... Image sensor, 4 ... Microprocessor, 21 ... Imaging device, 23 ... Red filter, 25 ... Green filter, 26 ... Green filter, L1 ... Optical axis, L3 ... Optical axis, L4 ... Optical axis.

Claims (4)

An image sensor that detects red light from the front in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle and detects green light from an angle in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle;
If the image sensor detects red light from the front in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle and does not detect green light from the front in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle, the first light is determined to be the taillight of the preceding vehicle. A determination means;
The image sensor detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, detects green light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and blinks the green light at a cycle in which the red light blinks. A second determination means for determining that the traffic signal is the same as the cycle;
An in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device comprising: The vehicle-mounted vehicle front recognition device according to claim 1,
In the image sensor, a red filter is installed on an optical axis for condensing light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle on the image sensor, and light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle is used for the image sensor. An in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device in which a green filter is installed on an optical axis for collecting light. An image sensor that detects red light from the front of the traveling direction in front of the vehicle and detects yellow light from an oblique direction of traveling in the front of the vehicle;
If the image sensor detects red light from the front in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle and does not detect yellow light from the front in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle, the first sensor determines that it is a taillight of the preceding vehicle. A determination means;
The image sensor detects red light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, detects yellow light from the diagonal in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle, and blinks the yellow light at a cycle in which the red light blinks. A second determination means for determining that the traffic signal is a night-time blinking traffic signal when the period is the same;
An in-vehicle vehicle front recognition device comprising: The vehicle-mounted vehicle front recognition device according to claim 3,
In the image sensor, a red filter is installed on an optical axis for condensing light from the front in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle on the image sensor, and light from an oblique direction in the traveling direction in front of the vehicle is used for the image sensor. An on-vehicle vehicle front recognition device in which a yellow filter is installed on an optical axis for collecting light.

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