Vehicle driver assistance apparatus for assisting a vehicle driver in maneuvering the vehicle relative to an object

1. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus for a vehicle, the vehicle driver assistance apparatus comprising: an image capture device arranged to capture image data which is representative of an object in vicinity of the vehicle; and an electronic controller arranged to (i) process the captured image data to identify an edge line associated with the object, (ii) process the captured image data further based upon the identified edge line to identify a distance between the vehicle and the edge line of the object, (iii) determine a first angle which is defined between an optical axis line extending from the image capture device and a first sight line extending from the image capture device to the identified edge line, (iv) determine a second angle which is defined between the optical axis line of the image capture device and a second sight line extending from the image capture device to the identified edge line after the vehicle has moved a distance towards the identified edge line of the object, (v) determine an angular difference between the first and second angles, and (vi) determine a remaining distance the vehicle is away from the identified edge line of the object based upon the calculated angular difference and the distance the vehicle has moved towards the identified edge line of the object.

2. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a driver display device, wherein the electronic controller is further arranged to present on the driver display device a representation of the distance between the vehicle and the edge line of the object.

3. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image capture device includes a dedicated controller which communicates with the electronic controller.

4. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic controller is further arranged to provide a signal to indicate absence of an edge line of the object when the electronic controller is unable to process image data from the image capture device to identify an edge line of the object.

5. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a visible light source arranged to illuminate the vicinity of the object to increase contrast of edge lines of the object for when the image capture device captures image data which is representative of the object.

6. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic controller is further arranged to activate vehicle brakes when the identified distance between the vehicle and the edge line of the object is less than a predetermined distance value.

7. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the identified edge line associated with the object comprises a straight horizontal line which is representative of a horizontal dock edge line associated with a truck loading dock.

8. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a driver audio alert device which activates when the distance between the vehicle and the identified edge line of the object is less than a predetermined distance value.

9. A vehicle driver assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image capture device is arranged to capture image data which is representative of a fixed object in back of the vehicle.

10. A method of processing images having a first edge line of an object in vicinity of a vehicle to determine a distance between the vehicle and the object, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a first image containing the first edge line of the object in vicinity of the vehicle at a first time; determining a first angle which is defined between an optical axis line extending from an image capture device and a first sight line extending from the image capture device to the first edge line; receiving a second image containing the first edge line in vicinity of the vehicle at a second time which is after the first time; determining a second angle which is defined between the optical axis line of the image capture device and a second sight line extending from the image capture device to the first edge line in the second image; determining an angular difference between the first and second angles; and determining the distance between the vehicle and the object based upon a comparison of the relative positions of the first edge line in the first image and the first edge line in the second image and the angular difference.

11. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising the step of: providing a signal to alert driver of the vehicle when a determination is made that the distance between the vehicle and the object is less than a predetermined distance value.

12. A method according to claim 10 , wherein (i) each of the first and second images contains a second edge line of the object, and (ii) the determining of the vehicle distance between the vehicle and the object is also based upon the relative positions of the second edge line in the first image and the second edge line in the second image.

13. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the providing a signal to alert driver of the vehicle device occurs when a determination is made that the distance between the vehicle and the object is less than the predetermined distance value based upon the comparison of the relative positions of the first edge lines in the first and second images and the comparison of the relative positions of the second edge lines in the first and second images.

14. A method according to claim 10 , wherein (i) receiving a first image containing the first edge line of the object in vicinity of the vehicle at a first time includes receiving the first image containing the first edge line of the object in back of the vehicle at the first time, and (ii) receiving a second image containing the first edge line of the object in vicinity of the vehicle at a second time includes receiving the second image containing the first edge line in back of the vehicle at the second time.

15. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the method is performed by a computer having a memory executing one or more programs of instructions which are tangibly embodied in a program storage medium readable by the computer.