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EP0626654A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Apparatus for measuring intervehicle distance by stereo vision

Assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
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Filing: 1994-05-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-05-25
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Abstract

Abstract Horizontal edges, vertical edges, symmetrical axes, T-shaped edges, +-shaped edges, L-shaped edges, □-shaped eges, part of a preceding vehicle and the like are extracted as a vehicle characteristic in images picked up from two video cameras mounted to a vehicle, and a disaprity is determined by utilizing of the correspondece relationship of the exracted vehicle characteristic, thereby measuring a distance to the preceding vehicle.

Inventors

  • 👤 Akihiro Suzuki

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 05:02
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S11/00; G01S11/12; G06; G06T; G06T7/00; G06T7/50; G06T7/55; G06T7/593; G06T7/70; G06V; G06V10/00; G06V10/20; G06V10/255; H; H04; H04N; H04N13/00; H04N13/20; H04N13/204; H04N13/239; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/10; G06T2207/10004; G06T2207/10012; H04N2013/0074; H04N2013/0081

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim 105 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus comprising: image memories for storing right/left or upper/lower imagas picked up from image pick-up means for picking up a preceding vehicle, a vehicle characteristic extraction section for extracting a vehicle characteristic from the respective images stored in the image memories, a correspondence searching section for determining a correspondence relationship between these images of the extracted vehicle characteristic, a disparity calculation section for determining a disparity as a shift between these images , of the vehicle characteristic determined for correspondence relationship, and a distance calculation section for calculating a distance to the preceding car by a use of the determined disparity.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 20 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein horizontal edges are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 27 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the disparity is calculated by the use of a brightness correlation on the horizontal edges.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 28 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the disparity is calculated by the use of vertical edge components distributed on the horizontal edges.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 31 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the disparity is calculated by the use of symmetrical points obtained from the edge distribution on the horizontal edges.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 23 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein symetrical axes of a vehicle are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 20 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein vertical edges are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 29 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein the disparity is calculated by the use of the distribution of positions of the vertical edge .
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 27 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein the disparity is calculated by the use of circumscribed profiles determined from the vertical edges.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 20 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein T-shaped edges are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 20 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein +-shaped edges are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 20 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein L-shaped edges are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 20 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein □-shaped edges are used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 26 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein a part of the preceding vehicle is extracted and used as the vehicle characteristic.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 27 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein a licence plate is used as the part of the preceding vehicle to be extacted.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 26 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein tail lamps are used as the part of the preceding vehicle to be extracted.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 27 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein a rear windshield is used as the part of the preceding vehicle to be extracted.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 26 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein a hood is used as the part of the preceding vehicle to be extracted.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 27 words
An intervehicle distance measuring apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein a rear bumper is used as the part of the preceding vehicle to be extracted.

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