IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,099,614
Granted Patent B2
US 10,099,614 · App. 14/359,340 · Granted Oct 16, 2018

Vision system for vehicle

Inventor: Horst Daniel Diessner (Rochester Hills, MI)
Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
B60R1/00G02B3/14G06K9/00805G06T7/246H04N5/247H04N7/18B60R2300/105B60R2300/303B60R2300/802B60R2300/806B60R2300/8066B60R2300/8093G06T2207/10016G06T2207/30252
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,099,614
App. No.
14/359,340
Granted
Oct 16, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

A vision system for a vehicle includes an image sensor disposed at a subject vehicle and having a field of view exterior of the subject vehicle. A control is operable to process image data captured by the image sensor to detect an object exterior of the subject vehicle. The control is operable to process captured image data to detect points of interest present in the field of view of the image sensor and, responsive to processing of captured image data, the control is operable to determine movement of the detected points of interest. The control is operable to process captured image data to determine movement vectors and, responsive to processing of captured image data, the control is operable to determine an object of interest in the field of view of the image sensor and exterior of the subject vehicle.

Claims (43)

1. A vision system for a vehicle, said vision system comprising:

an image sensor disposed at a subject vehicle and having an exterior field of view exterior of the subject vehicle;

a control, wherein said control comprises a processor that processes image data captured by said image sensor to detect objects present exterior of the subject vehicle and in the field of view of said image sensor;

wherein said control processes captured image data to detect points of interest of an object present in the field of view of said image sensor, and wherein detected points of interest of the detected object comprise detected corner features of the detected object that is present in the field of view of said image sensor, and wherein the detected object has a height above ground, and wherein the detected corner features of the detected object are disposed at respective heights of the detected object above ground;

wherein said control processes captured image data to determine movement vectors of the detected points of interest of the detected object, and wherein, responsive to said processing of captured image data, said control determines whether determined movement vectors of detected points of interest of the detected object present in the field of view of said image sensor are indicative of an object of interest present in the field of view of said image sensor;

wherein a parabolic region of interest in which objects exterior of the subject vehicle are likely objects of interest is defined by a parabolic boundary having an apex located centrally within the field of view of said image sensor and above a middle region of the field of view of said image sensor; and

wherein determined movement vectors that are less than a threshold pixel length are not considered indicative of an object of interest, and wherein the detected object is not considered an object of interest when the detected corner features of the detected object are above and outside the parabolic boundary of the parabolic region of interest.

2. The vision system of claim 1 , wherein said control determines an object of interest by utilizing a first and a second detection method in combination.

3. The vision system of claim 2 , wherein said first method for determining objects of interest comprises at least one of Gaussian blurring and consecutive Hessian blob detection.

4. The vision system of claim 2 , wherein said second method for determining objects of interest comprises a FAST9 corner detector.

5. The vision system of claim 1 , wherein said control operates in one of a plurality of stages.

6. The vision system of claim 5 , wherein said plurality of stages has at least four different stages comprising (i) vehicle stationary and object stationary, (ii) vehicle stationary and object moving, (iii) vehicle moving and object stationary and (iv) vehicle moving and object moving.

7. The vision system of claim 6 , wherein said control determines objects of interest that have been detected in a different stage earlier when the control is in the stage of vehicle stationary and object stationary.

8. The vision system of claim 6 , wherein said control determines objects of interest by analyzing movement vectors when said control is in the stage vehicle stationary and object moving or in the stage of vehicle moving and object moving.

9. The vision system of claim 8 , wherein said control employs a prediction algorithm to continue tracking of objects which have been detected in previous sequential frames even when these are not detectable in a present frame by movement vector interpolation.

10. The vision system of claim 1 , wherein said control determines that detected points of interest are part of an object of interest when at least one movement vector is greater than a threshold amount.

11. The vision system of claim 1 , wherein said image sensor comprises part of a camera module.

12. The vision system of claim 11 , wherein said camera module includes said control.

13. The vision system of claim 12 , wherein said camera module is configured for use as a rear backup camera of a vehicle.

14. The vision system of claim 1 , wherein said image sensor is disposed at a rear portion of the subject vehicle and has an exterior field of view rearward of the subject vehicle, and wherein said control is operable to determine an object of interest in the field of view of said image sensor and rearward of the subject vehicle.

15. A vision system for a vehicle, said vision system comprising:

an image sensor disposed at a rear portion of a subject vehicle and having an exterior field of view rearward of the subject vehicle;

wherein said image sensor comprises part of a camera module, and wherein said camera module is configured for use as a rear backup camera of a vehicle;

a control, wherein said control comprises a processor that processes image data captured by said image sensor to detect objects present exterior of the subject vehicle and in the field of view of said image sensor;

wherein said camera module includes said control;

wherein said control processes captured image data to detect points of interest of an object present in the field of view of said image sensor, and wherein detected points of interest of the detected object comprise detected corner features of the detected object that is present in the field of view of said image sensor, and wherein the detected object has a height above ground, and wherein the detected corner features of the detected object are disposed at respective heights of the detected object above ground;

wherein said control processes captured image data to determine movement vectors of detected points of interest of the detected object, and wherein, responsive to said processing of captured image data, said control determines whether determined movement vectors of detected points of interest of the detected object present in the field of view of said image sensor are indicative of an object of interest present in the field of view of said image sensor and rearward of the subject vehicle;

wherein a parabolic region of interest in which objects exterior of the subject vehicle are likely objects of interest is defined by a parabolic boundary having an apex located centrally within the field of view of said image sensor and above a middle region of the field of view of said image sensor; and

wherein determined movement vectors that are less than a threshold pixel length are not considered indicative of an object of interest, and wherein the detected object is not considered an object of interest when the detected corner features of the detected object are above and outside the parabolic boundary of the parabolic region of interest.

16. The vision system of claim 15 , wherein said control determines that detected points of interest are part of an object of interest when at least one movement vector is greater than a threshold amount.

17. The vision system of claim 15 , wherein said control operates in one of at least four different stages comprising (i) vehicle stationary and object stationary, (ii) vehicle stationary and object moving, (iii) vehicle moving and object stationary and (iv) vehicle moving and object moving.

18. The vision system of claim 17 , wherein at least one of (i) said control determines objects of interest that have been detected in a different stage earlier when the control is in the stage of vehicle stationary and object stationary and (ii) said control determines objects of interest by analyzing movement vectors when said control is in the stage vehicle stationary and object moving or in the stage of vehicle moving and object moving.

19. A vision system for a vehicle, said vision system comprising:

an image sensor disposed at a subject vehicle and having an exterior field of view exterior of the subject vehicle;

wherein said image sensor comprises part of a camera module;

a control, wherein said control comprises a processor that processes image data captured by said image sensor to detect objects present exterior of the subject vehicle and in the field of view of said image sensor;

wherein said camera module includes said control;

wherein said control processes captured image data to detect points of interest of an object present in the field of view of said image sensor, and wherein detected points of interest of the detected object comprise detected corner features of the detected object that is present in the field of view of said image sensor, and wherein the detected object has a height above ground, and wherein the detected corner features of the detected object are disposed at respective heights of the detected object above ground;

wherein said control processes captured image data to determine movement vectors of the detected points of interest of the detected object, and wherein, responsive to said processing of captured image data, said control determines whether determined movement vectors of detected points of interest of the detected object present in the field of view of said image sensor are indicative of an object of interest present in the field of view of said image sensor;

wherein a parabolic region of interest in which objects exterior of the subject vehicle are likely objects of interest is defined by a parabolic boundary having an apex located centrally within the field of view of said image sensor and above a middle region of the field of view of said image sensor;

wherein said control determines that detected points of interest are part of an object of interest when at least one determined movement vector associated with a detected point of interest is greater than a threshold amount; and

wherein determined movement vectors that are less than a threshold pixel length are not considered indicative of an object of interest, and wherein the detected object is not considered an object of interest when the detected corner features of the detected object are above and outside the parabolic boundary of the parabolic region of interest.

20. The vision system of claim 19 , wherein said camera module is configured for use as a rear backup camera of a vehicle, wherein said camera module is disposed at a rear portion of the subject vehicle and said image sensor has an exterior field of view rearward of the subject vehicle, and wherein said control is operable to determine an object of interest in the field of view of said image sensor and rearward of the subject vehicle.

Continuity (7)
Continuation In Part PCTUS2012066571 · Nov 27, 2012
Provisional Application 61605409 · Mar 1, 2012
Provisional Application 61563965 · Nov 28, 2011
Provisional Application 61565713 · Dec 1, 2011
Provisional Application 61579682 · Dec 23, 2011
Provisional Application 61650667 · May 23, 2012
Related Publication 20140313339A1 · Oct 23, 2014
Cited By (49)
US 12,194,992 US 12,212,894 US 12,214,822 US 12,233,917 US 12,240,386 US 12,246,646 US 12,252,074 US 12,252,172 US 12,258,014 US 12,263,862 US 12,286,059 US 12,286,102 US 12,286,154 US 12,311,930 US 12,319,281 US 12,330,670 US 12,337,843 US 12,337,894 US 12,340,546 US 12,342,106 US 12,352,591 US 12,371,027 US 12,384,401 US 12,397,730 US 12,400,353 US 12,403,931 US 12,420,780 US 12,480,771 US 12,485,918 US 12,498,441 US 12,503,051 US 12,515,656 US 12,539,819 US 12,552,456 US 12,553,742 US 12,559,118 US 12,600,370 US 12,602,934 US 12,630,117 US 12,643,473 US 12,649,465 US 12,670,720 US 12,691,894 US 12,703,301 US 12,709,266 US 12,709,275 US 12,710,531 US 12,739,350 US 12,741,598