IP Library Granted Patent US 8,174,375
Granted Patent B2
US 8,174,375 · App. 12/495,508 · Granted May 8, 2012

Detection system for assisting a driver when driving a vehicle using a plurality of image capturing devices

Assignee: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,174,375
App. No.
12/495,508
Granted
May 8, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

A detection system ( 5 ) for assisting a driver when driving a vehicle, the system ( 5 ) comprising: a plurality of image capturing devices ( 98 ) mounted to the vehicle to capture images of the external environment of the vehicle; an image processing module ( 95 ) to identify potential hazards in real-time from the captured images and to superimpose information of the external environment relating to the identified potential hazards; and at least one display device ( 92 ) to display images processed by the image processing module in real-time; wherein the superimposed information is provided in an area of the display device ( 92 ) to ensure visual clarity of the images of the external environment.

Claims (11)

1. A detection system for assisting a driver when driving a vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of image capturing devices mounted to the vehicle to capture images of the external environment of the vehicle;

an image processing module to identify potential hazards in real-time from the captured images and to superimpose information of the external environment relating to the identified potential hazards; and

at least one display device to display images processed by the image processing module in real-time;

wherein the superimposed information is provided in an area of the display device to ensure visual clarity of the images of the external environment;

wherein the image processing module comprises video extraction logics to extract and identify potential hazards, the video extraction logics detecting the variations between successive frames captured by the plurality of image capturing device; and

wherein if the video extraction logics detects variations between the frames, a tracking sequence of an identified potential hazard is activated in subsequent frames as a precautionary measure without issuing an indication to the driver while the vehicle is continuously driven in the same lane.

2. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a spatial segmentation module and a temporal segmentation module to estimate spatial and temporal separation based on relative traveling speed detected between two sequential frames.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein spatial segmentation is performed in each frame to improve accuracy of the video extraction logics or when large variations in the background between successive frames are detected.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein spatial and temporal segmentation and fusion are adaptively performed by detecting the variation between successive frames to reduce computational complexity and improve data processing speed.

5. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a variation computation module to execute an adaptive frame skipping algorithm to decompose the successive frames to preclude error augmentation and propagating during the tracking sequence.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 7, 2009
From: FONG, BERNARD CHEUK MUN; SIU, WAN CHI
To: THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 023068/0173 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20100328055A1 · Dec 30, 2010