Running guide apparatus for vehicle capable of keeping safety at passing through narrow path and the method thereof

Abstract

A running guide apparatus for a vehicle includes stereoscopic picture processing element for processing a pair of stereoscopic pictures of an object outside a vehicle imaged by a imaging system mounted on the vehicle, construction detection element for detecting a plurality of various constructions by using three dimensional position data calculated with each portion of the object corresponding to the distance distribution data from the stereoscopic picture processing element; gap distance calculation element for respectively calculating the nearest distance as right and left gap distances each between an extended line of right or left side of the vehicle and each of ends on the vehicle side of the plurality of various constructions detected by the construction detection element; and information element for informing the driver of data related to the right and left gap data calculated by the gap distance calculation element; so as to obtain a distance distribution of an entire picture in dependency upon a discrepancy amount positions corresponding to of the pair of the stereoscopic pictures in accordance with a principle of a triangulation.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A running guide apparatus for a vehicle having a pair of cameras mounted on a front portion of said vehicle for taking a three-dimensional picture of objects in front of the vehicle and for generating a picture signal, said apparatus comprising: 
       stereoscopic picture processing means responsive to said picture signal for processing a pair of stereoscopic pictures of said object outside said vehicle and for producing a distance signal by obtaining a distance distribution of an entire picture in dependency upon a discrepancy amount positions corresponding to said pair of the stereoscopic pictures in accordance with a principle of a triangulation;  
       object detection means responsive to said distance signal for detecting a plurality of various objects by using three dimensional position data calculated with each portion of the object corresponding to the distance distribution and for generating a distance signal;  
       gap distance calculation means responsive to a distribution signal for respectively calculating a nearest distance of right and left gap distances each between an extended line of right or left side of the vehicle and each end of the vehicle side from the plurality of various objects and for producing a distance signal; and  
       information means responsive to said distance signal for informing a driver of data related to the right and left gap data so as to entirely and exactly display surrounding conditions of said vehicle and to largely decrease burdens of said driver when running on a narrow road.  
     
     
       2. The running guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 1 , further comprising 
       two pairs of charge coupled device (CCD) cameras respectively arranged as said imaging system to a front surface of said vehicle with a predetermined interval, one pair provided for a long distance and the provided for a short distance, and each pair including a right and left cameras each other;  
       an image processor provided as said stereoscopic picture processing means, and including a distance detection circuit for searching a portion in which a same object is imaged in each small region of the stereoscopic picture pair from said CCD cameras and for calculating a distance to the object by obtaining a discrepancy amount of a position corresponding to said portion, and a distance picture memory for storing distance data outputted from said distance detection circuit;  
       a distance picture processing computer provided as said object detection means and said gap distance calculation means, and comprised of a multi-microprocessor system construction including a first microprocessor for mainly performing detection processing of individual object, a second microprocessor for mainly performing detection processing of a side wall, a third microprocessor for mainly performing calculation processing of a gap distance, and a system bus for connecting said first through third microprocessors in parallel; and  
       a discrepancy as said information means for displaying to a driver gap data by obtaining said calculation processing of said gap distance.  
     
     
       3. The running guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 2 , further comprising 
       an object recognizer comprised of said first microprocessor;  
       a side wall detector comprised of said second microprocessor;  
       a gap distance calculator comprised of said third microprocessor;  
       a construction parameter memory for storing a processed result of said object recognizer and said side wall detector to output said result to said gap distance calculator.  
     
     
       4. The running guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 3 , further comprising 
       object detector for dividing the distance picture from a distance picture memory comprised of said image processor into a predetermined interval in the stripe shape and for selecting only construction data having the danger as an object for running to calculate the detected distance;  
       a three dimension window generator for setting a three dimensional space region of a rectangular solid shape with respect to respective object detected by said object detector, and for calculating how to be shown set three dimension window on a two dimensional picture, so as to set the detection object with respect to only data within a window contour line as the two dimension window; and  
       an object contour extractor for surveying one by one each of the data in the two dimension window, for selecting only data included in said three dimension window, extracting a contour image of the detected object, and for detecting a positional relationship between the detected object and vehicle own body.  
     
     
       5. The running guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 4 , further comprising: 
       an object data extractor for extracting only data over the predetermined road surface previously set from the distance distribution data supplied from a distance picture memory comprised of said image processor;  
       a side wall straight line detector for extracting only data within a side wall search region previously set, for processing the extracted data by the Hough transformation, thereby detecting a linear equation showing presence or absence of the side wall and the position of the side wall; and  
       a side wall area detector for setting the side wall candidate region in which the side wall is estimated to exist on the basis of the straight line showing the position of the side wall, and for detecting the positions of before and after ends of the side wall in dependency on the distribution condition of the construction data in the side wall candidate region.  
     
     
       6. A running guide method for a vehicle having a pair of cameras mounted on a front portion of said vehicle for taking a three-dimensional picture of objects in front of the vehicle and for generating a picture signal, said apparatus comprising: 
       a step of processing a pair of stereoscopic pictures of said object outside said vehicle to produce a distance signal by obtaining a distance distribution of an entire picture in dependency upon a discrepancy amount positions corresponding to said pair of the stereoscopic pictures in accordance with a principle of a triangulation;  
       a step of detecting a plurality of various objects by using three dimensional position data calculated with each portion of the object corresponding to the distance distribution and for generating a distance signal;  
       a step of respectively calculating a nearest distance of right and left gap distances each between an extended line of right or left side of the vehicle and each end of the vehicle side from the plurality of various objects; and  
       a step of informing a driver of data related to the right and left gap data so as to entirely and exactly display surrounding conditions of said vehicle and to largely decrease burdens of said driver when running on a narrow road.  
     
     
       7. The running guide method for the vehicle according to  claim 6 , further comprising 
       a step of obtaining long distance data of a picture in front of the vehicle;  
       a step of obtaining short distance data of a picture in front of the vehicle;  
       a step of searching a portion in which a same object is imaged in each small region of the stereoscopic picture pair from said CCD cameras;  
       a step of calculating a distance to the object by obtaining a discrepancy amount of a position corresponding to said portion, and a distance picture memory for storing distance data outputted from a distance detection circuit;  
       a step of performing detection processing of a side wall, a third microprocessor for mainly performing calculation processing of a gap distance, and a system bus for connecting said first through third microprocessors in parallel; and  
       a step of displaying to a driver gap data by obtaining said calculation processing of said gap distance.  
     
     
       8. The running guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 7 , further comprising 
       a step of dividing the distance picture from a distance picture memory comprised of a image processor into a predetermined interval in the strip shape;  
       a step of selecting only construction data having the danger as an object for running to calculate the detected distance;  
       a step of setting a three dimensional space region of a rectangular solid shape with respect to respective object detected by said object detector;  
       a step of calculating how to be shown set three dimension window on a two dimensional picture, so as to set the detection object with respect to only data within a window contour line as the two dimension window;  
       a step of surveying one by one each of the data in the two dimension window;  
       a step of selecting only data included in said three dimension window;  
       a step of extracting a contour image of the detected object; and  
       a step of detecting a positional relationship between the detected object and vehicle own body.  
     
     
       9. The running guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 8 , further comprising 
       a step extracting only data over the predetermined road surface previously set from the distance distribution data supplied from a distance picture memory comprised of said image processor;  
       a step of extracting only data within a side wall search region previously set;  
       a step of processing the extracted data by the Hough transformation, thereby detecting a linear equation showing presence or absence of the side wall and the position of the side wall;  
       a step of setting the side wall candidate region in which the side wall is estimated to exist on the basis of the straight line showing the position of the side wall; and  
       a step of detecting the positions of before and after ends of the side wall in dependency on the distribution condition of the construction data in the side wall candidate region.  
     
     
       10. A driving guide apparatus for a vehicle having a pair of cameras mounted on a front portion of said vehicle and arranged to take pairs of image pictures of a scene containing objects which may form obstacles in front of the vehicle and for generating picture signals, said apparatus comprising: 
       
         image picture processing means for processing a pair of image pictures of objects outside said vehicle for producing a distance distribution picture made up by the distribution of an object point distance from said pair of cameras in dependence upon a discrepancy amount between the imaged object points within said pair of image pictures in accordance with a principle of triangulation;  
       
       
         object detection means for detecting objects constituting a potential obstacle by calculating three dimensional positions for said object from the distance distribution picture;  
       
       
         gap distance calculation means for calculating a gap distance between an extended line of a side of the vehicle and one of said detected objects nearest said vehicle; and  
       
       
         information means for informing a driver of data related to the gap distance so as to decrease the burdens of said driver when driving on a narrow road.  
       
     
     
       11. The driving guide apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein said gap distance calculation means calculates said gap distance on each side of said vehicle.  
     
     
       12. The driving guide apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein said information means comprises a display provided to inform said driver of said gap distance so as to be entirely and precisely display lateral obstacles in the traveling direction of said vehicle to said driver.  
     
     
       13. The driving guide apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein said object detection means comprises: 
       
         an object recognizer provided to recognize obstacles on a road as said objects; and  
       
       
         a side wall detector provided to detect a side wall on a side of said road as said object; and  
       
       
         wherein said gap distance calculation means calculates a distance to each of said obstacle and said side wall from said vehicle to detect said gap distance.  
       
     
     
       14. The driving guide apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein said object recognizer comprises: 
       
         an object detector provided to divide said distance distribution picture in a stripe shape by a predetermined interval and select only obstacles as said objects;  
       
       
         a three dimension window generator provided to set a three dimension space region of a rectangular solid shape with respect to each obstacle detected by said object detector; and  
       
       
         an object contour extractor provided to select data existing within said three dimension window to extract a contour image of said detected obstacle, said contour image being used to calculate a distance between said detected obstacle and said vehicle.  
       
     
     
       15. The driving guide apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein said wall detector comprises: 
       
         an object data extractor provided to extract data indicative of potential objects over a road surface from said distance distribution picture;  
       
       
         a side wall straight line detector provided to process the extracted data to determine a straight line with a linear equation representing the position of a side wall; and  
       
       
         a side wall area detector provided to determine positions of ends of said side wall in dependence on a volume of data within a side wall candidate region set around said straight line.  
       
     
     
       16. The driving apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 10 , further comprising: 
       
         two pairs of charge coupled device (CCD) cameras respectively arranged as said imaging system to a front surface of said vehicle with a predetermined interval, one pair is provided for a long distance and the other provided for a short distance, and each pair including a right camera and a left camera;  
       
       
         an image processor provided as said image picture processing means, and including a distance detection circuit for searching a portion in which a same object is imaged in each small region of the image picture pair from said CCD cameras and for calculating a distance to the object by obtaining a discrepancy amount of a position corresponding to said portion, and a distance picture memory for storing distance data output from said distance detection circuit;  
       
         a distance picture processing computer provided as said object detection means and said gap distance calculation means, and comprised of a multi - microprocessor system construction, including a first microprocessor for mainly performing detection processing of an individual object, a second microprocessor for mainly performing detection processing of a side wall, a third microprocessor for mainly performing calculation processing of a gap distance, and a system bus for connecting said first through third microprocessors in parallel; and    
       
         a display as said information means for displaying to a driver gap data by obtaining said calculation processing of said gap distance.  
       
     
     
       17. The driving guide apparatus for a vehicle according to  claim 16 , further comprising: 
       
         an object recognizer comprised of said first microprocessor;  
       
       
         a side wall detector comprised of said second microprocessor;  
       
       
         a gap distance calculator comprised of said third microprocessor;  
       
       
         a construction parameter memory for storing a processed result of said object recognizer and said side wall detector to output said result to said gap distance calculator.  
       
     
     
       18. The driving guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 17 , further comprising: 
       
         an object detector for dividing the distance picture from a distance picture memory comprised of said image processor into a predetermined interval in a stripe shape and for selecting only object data having the danger to be an obstacle to calculate the detected distance;  
       
       
         a three dimension window generator for setting a three dimensional space region of a rectangular solid shape with respect to a respective object detected by said object detector, and for calculating how to be shown a set three dimension window on a two dimensional picture, so as to set the detected object with respect only to data within a window contour line as the two dimension window; and  
       
       
         an object contour extractor for surveying one by one each of the data in the two dimension window, for selecting only data included in said three dimension window, extracting a contour image of the detected object, and for detecting a positional relationship between the detected object and the vehicle's own body.  
       
     
     
       19. The driving guide apparatus for the vehicle according to  claim 16 , further comprising: 
       
         an object data extractor for extracting only data over the predetermined road surface previously set from the distance distribution data supplied from a distance picture memory comprised of said image processor;  
       
       
         a side wall straight light detector for extracting only data within a side wall search region previously set, and for processing the extracted data by the Hough transformation, thereby detecting a linear equation showing the presence or absence of the side wall and the position of the side wall; and  
       
       
         a side wall area detector for setting the side wall candidate region in which the side wall is estimated to exist on the basis of the straight line showing the position of the side wall, and for detecting the positions of ends of the side wall in dependency on the distribution condition of the construction data in the side wall candidate region.  
       
     
     
       20. A driving guide method for a vehicle having a pair of cameras mounted on a front portion of said vehicle and provided to take a pair of image pictures of a scene in front of the vehicle containing objects which may form obstacles and for generating a picture signal, said method comprising the steps of: 
       
         processing a pair of image pictures of said objects outside said vehicle and producing a distance distribution picture made up by a distribution of object point distances from said cameras in dependency upon discrepancy amounts between imaged object points within said pair of image pictures using a principle of triangulation;  
       
       
         detecting a plurality of objects constituting a potential obstacle by using three dimensional positions for said objects from the distance distribution picture;  
       
       
         calculating a gap distance each between an extended line of a side of the vehicle and a detected object nearest to said vehicle; and  
       
       
         informing a driver of data related to said gap distance so as to largely decrease burdens of said driver when running on a narrow road.  
       
     
     
       21. The driving guide method for the vehicle according to  claim 20 , further comprising the steps of: 
       
         obtaining long distance data of a picture in front of the vehicle;  
       
       
         obtaining short distance data of a picture in front of the vehicle;  
       
       
         searching a position in which a same object is imaged in each small region of the image picture pair from CCD cameras;  
       
       
         calculating a distance to the object by obtaining a discrepancy amount of a position corresponding to said portion;  
       
       
         performing detection processing of a side wall; and  
       
       
         displaying to a driver gap data by obtaining said calculation of said gap distance.  
       
     
     
       22. The driving guide method for the vehicle according to  claim 20 , further comprising the steps of: 
       
         dividing the distance picture from a distance picture memory comprised of an image processor into a predetermined interval in the stripe shape;  
       
       
         selecting only construction data having the danger to be an obstacle for the vehicle to calculate the detected distance;  
       
       
         setting the dimensional space region of a rectangular solid shape with respect to a respective object detected by said object detector;  
       
       
         calculating how to show a set three dimension window on a two dimensional picture, so as to set the detected object with respect only to data within a window contour line as the two dimension window;  
       
       
         surveying one by one each of the data in the two dimension window;  
       
       
         selecting only data included in said three dimension window;  
       
       
         extracting a contour image of the detected object; and  
       
       
         detecting a positional relationship between the detected object and vehicle's own body.  
       
     
     
       23. The driving guide method for the vehicle according to  claim 20 , further comprising the steps of: 
       
         extracting only data over the predetermined road surface previously set from the distance distribution data supplied from a distance picture memory comprised of said image processor;  
       
       
         extracting only data within a side wall search region previously set;  
       
       
         processing the extracted data by the Hough transformation, thereby detecting a linear equation showing the presence or absence of the side wall and the position of the side wall;  
       
       
         setting the side wall candidate region in which the side wall is estimated to exist on the basis of the straight line showing the position of the side wall; and  
       
       
         detecting the positions of ends of the side wall in dependency on the distribution condition of the construction data in the side wall candidate region.  
       
     
     
       24. A driving apparatus for a vehicle, comprising: 
       
         imaging means mounted on a front portion of said vehicle and provided to generate image data of a scene in front of said vehicle, containing objects which may constitute potential obstacle;  
       
       
         object detection means for detecting objects constituting a potential obstacle by processing said image data;  
       
         gap distance calculation means for calculating a gap distance  ( D   x   , D   y )  between an extended line of a side of said vehicle and a side edge of one of said detected objects; and    
       
         information means for informing a driver of a status related to said gap distance so as to largely decrease burdens of the driver when driving on a narrow road.