JP2014078155A - On-vehicle alarm device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle alarm device that performs an alarm according to the danger lurking in an object even when the detected object does not move.
When a "person" is detected from an image in front of a vehicle 100 imaged by an imaging device 1, it is identified whether the detected "person" is a "child" or an "adult" When the detected “person” is a “child”, an alarm for calling attention to the driver of the vehicle 100 at a position further away from the object than in the case where the detected “person” is an “adult”. Is output. Therefore, even if the “person” detected from the image in front of the vehicle 100 is stationary, if it is a “child”, there is a great risk of suddenly jumping out and running on the roadway. On the other hand, in the case of an “adult”, an alarm can be output according to the danger lurking in the object that the danger is small.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular alarm device that detects an object from an image captured by an imaging device mounted on a vehicle and issues an alarm according to the danger.

In recent years, vehicles in which an imaging device is mounted on a vehicle and images such as a front view, a rear view, and a side view captured by the mounted imaging device can be monitored in a driver's seat have become widespread.
As a technique using an imaging device mounted on such a vehicle, a rear view camera is attached to the rear window of the vehicle, and when the vehicle starts to travel backward, the rear view camera is activated, There is a camera that captures a rear image and outputs it to a driver's seat monitor to provide driving assistance for a safe driving to a driver of a vehicle traveling backward.

On the other hand, a technique for performing human recognition and face recognition by performing various processes according to the purpose of use on an image captured by an image capturing apparatus is progressing. The processing required by such a technique includes a feature extraction process for extracting only the necessary features from the input image data, and learning data and hypotheses stored in a database based on the features extracted by the feature extraction processing. Is a determination process for determining a person and a face by recognizing a person and recognizing a face using the generation of the above and the evaluation of the probability.
An object is extracted by performing image processing such as the feature extraction process and the determination process on an image captured by such an imaging device mounted on the vehicle, and an alarm useful for driving the vehicle is output. In order to detect a target that may collide with the vehicle from an image obtained by an imaging means mounted on the vehicle, a periphery monitoring device that monitors the periphery of the vehicle is proposed. Has been.
The periphery monitoring device detects a relative position of the object with respect to the vehicle from the image obtained from the imaging unit as position data, and based on a plurality of time-series position data about the detected object, A position in the real space is calculated, a movement vector is calculated from the real space position, and an object that is highly likely to collide with the vehicle is determined based on the calculated movement vector (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-6096 A

  Therefore, the conventional vehicle alarm device calculates the motion of the detected object, determines the high possibility of collision with the host vehicle from the calculated motion, and moves to the detected object. There is a problem that it is not possible to determine the possibility of collision with the host vehicle when no is accompanied.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a warning according to the danger lurking in the object even when the detected object does not move. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular alarm device capable of performing the above.

  The invention according to claim 1 identifies an object around the vehicle based on an image captured from the vehicle, and when the distance between the object and the vehicle is an alarm distance to output an alarm, An alarm device for a vehicle that performs an alarm related to the object, and includes an imaging unit that is mounted on the vehicle and that captures an image around the front of the vehicle, and a specific image from an image around the vehicle front that is captured by the imaging unit Object extraction means for detecting an object, distance calculation means for calculating a distance between the object detected by the object extraction means and the vehicle, and attributes of the object detected by the object extraction means Attribute determination means for determining the risk of the target object based on the attribute of the target object determined by the attribute determination means, and the warning distance according to the determined risk of the target object Change Based on the distance between the object calculated by the distance calculating means and the distance calculating means and the vehicle, the alarm distance in which the distance from the object of the vehicle is changed by the alarm distance changing means And an alarm means for outputting an alarm when it becomes.

  According to invention of Claim 1, a specific target object is detected from the image of the front periphery of the vehicle imaged with the imaging means mounted in the vehicle, the attribute of the detected target object is determined, The risk of the object is determined based on the determined attribute of the object, the alarm distance is changed according to the risk of the object, and the distance between the object and the vehicle is changed. Since the alarm is output when the detected alarm distance is reached, even if the detected object does not move, the danger lurking in the object based on the attribute of the object There is an effect that it is possible to provide a vehicular alarm device that performs an alarm according to the sex.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the attribute of the person is determined whether the person is a child or an adult, and the attribute of the object is determined based on the attribute of whether the person is a child or an adult. Since the risk is determined and the warning distance is changed according to the risk, the person is a child or an adult even if the detected person does not move There is an effect that it is possible to provide a vehicular alarm device that performs an alarm according to the danger lurking in the object based on the attribute.

  According to the invention of claim 3, when the attribute of the person is a child, it is determined that the risk increases compared to the case where the attribute of the person is not a child, and the alarm distance is extended. Even if the detected person is not accompanied by movement, the alarm distance can be extended by determining that the risk increases when the person is a child. Therefore, the risk increases when the person is a child. There is an effect that it is possible to provide a vehicular alarm device that performs an alarm according to the sex.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the alarm device for vehicles which is embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the alarm device for vehicles which is embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an alarm screen when the "person" detected as a target object in the vehicle alarm device which is embodiment of this invention is a child. It is explanatory drawing which shows an alarm screen when the "person" detected as a target object in the vehicle alarm device which is embodiment of this invention is not a child, ie, is an "adult".

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle alarm device of this embodiment.
The vehicle alarm device of this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle 100, and includes an imaging device 1, an image processing unit 2, child determination reference information 3, an object child / adult identification unit 4, an alarm determination unit 5, an alarm signal. A generation unit 6 and an alarm output unit 7 are provided. In addition, an alarm screen generation unit 9 that generates an alarm screen to be displayed and output on the display of the display unit 10 by using the display unit 10 of the navigation device 8 provided in the vehicle 100 is provided.

The imaging apparatus 1 is a camera that captures an image of the front of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the imaging apparatus 1 constitutes a stereo camera including two cameras. This stereo camera has a camera arrangement in which the optical axes of the two cameras are made parallel to match the imaging surfaces, and the horizontal axes of the imaging surfaces are also matched. Then, the position of the object can be recognized from the parallax on the image of the object captured by each camera.
The image processing unit 2 recognizes the position of the target object from the parallax on the target object image captured by each camera of the imaging device 1 constituting the stereo camera.
The image processing unit 2 includes a correction unit 21, an object extraction unit 22, an object position calculation unit 23, and a distance calculation unit 24.
The correction unit 21 corrects the image of the object captured by each camera of the imaging device 1 according to the distance between the object determined by the distance calculation unit 24 described later and the imaging device 1.
The object extraction means 22 extracts an object, which is a “person” in this embodiment, from the image of the object imaged by each camera of the imaging device 1.
The object position calculation unit 23 calculates the position of the object from the parallax on the image of the object imaged simultaneously by the cameras of the imaging device 1, and outputs object position information.
The distance calculating unit 24 calculates the distance between the object whose position has been calculated and the imaging apparatus 1 and outputs distance information.

The child determination reference information 3 is reference information for identifying whether the target object “person” extracted by the image processing unit 2 is “child” or “adult”. Is remembered.
The object child / adult identification unit 4 uses the child determination reference information 3 to determine whether the object is “child” or “adult” from the “person” object extracted by the image processing unit 2. Identify if there is any. That is, the attribute of the “person” that is the extracted object is determined as “child” or “adult”.
The alarm determination unit 5 determines the position of the object and the vehicle when the alarm is output according to the identification result of whether the object is “child” or “adult” by the object child / adult identification unit 4. A process of changing the distance range set for the distance from 100 (imaging device 1) is performed. That is, since the distance (alarm distance) between the position of the target object for which an alarm is to be output and the vehicle 100 is preset as a default value, the target child / adult identification unit 4 determines the distance to output this alarm. When it is determined that the object is a “child”, for example, the object is extended by a factor of 1.5.

The alarm signal generation unit 6 generates a signal for outputting the voice announcement or the warning sound because the warning is given by the voice announcement or the warning sound.
The alarm output unit 7 is a speaker that converts an electrical signal into mechanical vibration, and converts the signal generated by the alarm signal generation unit 6 into a voice announcement or an alarm sound and outputs it.
The navigation device 8 has a known function such as detecting the current position of the host vehicle using position information from a GPS satellite and displaying a guide route to the destination on the map information.
The display unit 10 displays map information read from a database storing the current position of the host vehicle and map information by the navigation device 8.
The alarm screen generation unit 9 captures image capturing time information of an image in which “person” is detected as an object, object position information calculated by the object position calculation unit 23, and an object by the object child / adult identification unit 4. Based on the child / adult identification result, an alarm screen when the “person” detected as the object is a child, or the “person” detected as the object is not a child, that is, “adult” The alarm screen information for displaying the alarm screen of the time on the display unit 10 is generated.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an alarm screen when the “person” detected as the object is a child. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an alarm screen when the “person” detected as the object is not a child, that is, “adult”.

Next, the operation will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an alarm processing operation by the vehicle alarm device of this embodiment.
The operation will be described below according to this flowchart.
In this vehicle alarm device, first, the front of the vehicle 100 is imaged by the imaging device 1 constituting a stereo camera (step S1). And the image ahead of the vehicle 100 imaged at this time is made to correspond with imaging time information, and the said imaging time information is output to the navigation apparatus 8 (step S2). Further, the captured image information in front of the vehicle 100 is output to the image processing unit 2 and predetermined image processing is performed (step S3).
This image processing is, for example, conversion processing for converting a video signal for generating a color image into black and white luminance information when each camera constituting the stereo camera of the imaging apparatus 1 is a color camera.

Subsequently, it is determined whether “person” is detected as an object from the image information ahead of the vehicle 100 by the object detection means 22 (step S4). The detection of the “person” as the object includes, for example, an area of “person” obtained from a difference between an image in front of the vehicle 100 where “person” does not exist and an image where “person” exists, The “person” is detected by matching with the model when the “person” is modeled. Alternatively, in the image area in front of the vehicle 100, an area having high correlation is detected as “person” by matching with a model when “person” is modeled.
If “person” is not detected in step S4, the alarm process is skipped without performing an alarm. On the other hand, when “person” is detected as an object in step S4, the position of the detected “person” is calculated by the object position calculation means 23 (step S5).
The calculation of the position of the “person” is based on the parallax between the images of the “person” in front of the vehicle 100 imaged by the stereo camera of the imaging device 1, and the interval and focal length of each camera constituting the stereo camera. It is calculated as the position of the coordinate system of the actual space with the right camera focus as the origin.
Then, the position information of “person” calculated in step S5 is output to the navigation device 8 (step S6).
Subsequently, an object child / adult identification for identifying whether the “person” detected as the object from the image information in front of the vehicle 100 by the child / adult identification unit 4 is “adult” or “child”. Processing is performed (step S8).

This object child / adult identification process is performed as follows.
The distance between the object and the camera is calculated by the distance calculating means 24, the image of the object detected as “person” is corrected by the correcting means 21 according to the calculated distance, and this correction result is used as the reference information for child determination. Is identified as “child” or “child”, that is, “adult”. The child determination reference information is, for example, information about the average height and the center of gravity of the child.

  In step S8, when it is identified that the detected “person” is not “child”, that is, “adult” as an object, an alarm range (alarm distance, that is, the vehicle approaches the object in advance) The alarm range default value (for example, 20 meters) set as the distance from the object at which an alarm is issued by the own vehicle is read (step S10), and the alarm range default value (20 meters) is used as a basis. Next, it is determined whether or not the current position of the host vehicle is within the alarm range, that is, within a distance range of 20 meters from the object (step S11). As a result, when it is determined that the current position of the host vehicle falls within the warning range and is within the warning range, the warning output unit 7 generates, for example, “ An alarm is issued by outputting a voice announcement such as “Please pay attention to the object in front” or a warning sound with a predetermined volume, tone, and melody (step S12).

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S8 that the detected “person” as the object is “child”, the alarm range that multiplies the set alarm range default value (20 meters) by 1.5, for example. An enlargement process is performed (step S9). The expanded alarm range (30 meters) expanded by the alarm range expansion process is the alarm range when the detected “person” is “child”, and the detected “person” is not “child” It is magnified 1.5 times compared to. Then, in the following step S11, it is determined whether or not the current position of the host vehicle is within the expanded alarm range, that is, within the alarm range of 30 meters from the object (step S11). As a result, if it is determined that the current position of the host vehicle falls within the expanded alarm range and is within the expanded alarm range, the alarm output unit 7 generates a warning signal generated by the alarm signal generation unit 6. For example, a voice announcement such as “Please be careful because there is a child ahead” or an alarm sound with a predetermined volume, tone, and melody is output and an alarm is issued (step S12).
When an alarm is issued in step S 12, the alarm screen generation unit 9 of the navigation device 8 captures image capturing time information of an image in which “person” is detected as an object, and the object position calculated by the object position calculation unit 23. Based on the information, the distance between the object and the camera calculated by the distance calculation means 24, and the object child / adult identification result by the object child / adult identification unit 4, the “person” detected as the object An alarm screen when “is a child” or alarm screen information when the detected “person” is not a child is generated (step S13), and the alarm screen is displayed on the display unit 10 (step S14). Note that the color of the warning screen at this time may be changed depending on whether the detected “person” is “child” or “adult”.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, when a “person” is detected from an image in front of the vehicle 100 imaged by the imaging apparatus 1, the detected “person” is a “child”. Or “adult”, and when the detected “person” is “child”, the alarm range is set as compared with the case where the “person” detected as the object is “adult”. Expanding. And it was comprised so that the warning which alerts the driver | operator of the vehicle 100 at a position further away from the said object might be output. Therefore, even if the “person” detected from the image in front of the vehicle 100 captured by the imaging device 1 is stationary, if it is a “child”, it may suddenly jump out or run on the road. In contrast to the fact that the sex is large, an “adult” can output an alarm according to the danger lurking in the object that the danger is small. In addition, the driver of the vehicle 100 can deal with the situation detected from the image in front of the vehicle 100, such as being able to cope with the situation where “person” is detected in front of the vehicle 100, in particular, the situation where “child” is detected. There is an effect that it is possible to provide a vehicular alarm device that outputs a more effective alarm corresponding to the danger lurking in the object even when there is no movement.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, when “person” is detected from an image in front of the vehicle 100, it is further configured to identify whether the detected “person” is “child”. It may be configured to detect an animal different from a “person” such as a dog, a frog, a deer, or the like.
In addition, it is configured to be able to identify the types of detected animals such as dogs, spiders, deers, etc. for animals that are different from the detected “human”, and there is a risk of sudden jumping out to the roadway depending on the type of these animals. It may be configured in advance so that the alarm range is changed according to the magnitude of the danger set according to the type of the animal.
Also in this embodiment, there is provided a vehicle alarm device that outputs a more effective alarm corresponding to the danger lurking in the object even when the object detected from the image in front of the vehicle 100 is not moving. There is an effect that can be done.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Imaging means, 2 ... Image processing part, 4 ... Object child / adult identification part (attribute determination means), 5 ... Alarm determination part (alarm distance change means), 6 ... Alarm signal generation part ( Alarm means), 7 ... Alarm output section (alarm means), 9 ... Alarm screen generation section (alarm means), 10 ... Display section (alarm means), 22 ... Object extraction means, 24 ... Distance calculation Means, 100 ... vehicle.

Claims (3)

For a vehicle that identifies an object around the vehicle based on an image captured from the vehicle, and issues an alarm regarding the object when the distance between the object and the vehicle is an alarm distance to output an alarm. An alarm device,
An image pickup means mounted on the vehicle for picking up an image around the front of the vehicle;
An object extracting means for detecting a specific object from an image around the front of the vehicle imaged by the imaging means;
Distance calculating means for calculating a distance between the object detected by the object extracting means and the vehicle;
Attribute determining means for determining an attribute of the object detected by the object extracting means;
Alarm distance changing means for determining the risk of the object based on the attribute of the object determined by the attribute determining means, and changing the alarm distance according to the determined risk of the object; ,
Based on the distance between the object calculated by the distance calculating means and the vehicle, an alarm is output when the distance of the vehicle from the object reaches the alarm distance changed by the alarm distance changing means. Alarm means;
An alarm device for a vehicle, comprising: The object is a person;
The attribute determining means determines the attribute of the person whether the person is a child or an adult,
The warning distance changing means determines the risk of the object based on an attribute of whether the person determined by the attribute determination means is a child or an adult, and determines the risk of the determined object Change the warning distance according to the gender,
The vehicular alarm device according to claim 1.   The warning distance changing means determines that the risk increases when the attribute of the person is a child compared to a case where the attribute of the person is not a child, and the warning according to the increasing risk. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 2, wherein the distance is extended.

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