Denso Corporation

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Hokkaido University

Minoru Okada

Hiroshi Uesugi

Osamu Katayama

Hiroaki Tanaka

Takafumi Ito

Tadashi Hattori

Nobuei Ito

Minoru Nishida

Tadashi Ozaki

Yoshinori Ohtsuka

Naohito Mizuno

Minoru Yamamoto

Tadashi Kamada

Takashi Omori

Yoji Morishita

Kentaro Mizutani

Takashi Nagata

A dynamic contour extracting means detects, using a dynamic contour extraction method generally known as SNAKE, a contour of a recognition object included on an image by the following steps: a curve with control points is disposed in an image; an internal energy Eint indicating smoothness of the curve, an image energy Eimage, and an external energy Eext are summed up; and the curve is modified so that the summed total energy becomes the minimum. Here, a template is stored for including disposition information of primary control points that are bound to be moved only in a vertical or horizontal direction based on a road shape. The dynamic contour extracting means moves the primary control points based on the template. The primary control points can be rapidly moved owing to their limited movement direction.

Road position detection

A driver's gaze distribution is detected. Based on the detected distribution, an image corresponding to a driver's visual-field is extracted from images photographed by a front monitor camera and is accumulated. A first driver's gaze probability distribution necessary for steering operation is computed based on the accumulated images, and a second driver's gaze probability distribution that is expected is computed based on visual characteristics within the images. An ideal gaze probability distribution is obtained by adding up the first and the second probability distributions. Presence of a risk is determined when the difference between the driver's gaze and the ideal gaze probability distribution becomes a given threshold. A windshield display or a speaker outputs the determined result.

Driving assistance system

A map image processing method and apparatus produces a birds-eye view in real time from a two-dimensional map image. In this method and apparatus, a map image having a wider area than a display area displayed on the display device is drawn and stored. When a scroll display is instructed, a part of the two-dimensional map image is sequentially read, and a display processing operation is sequentially executed. A birds-eye view is obtained by processing the two-dimensional map image. A display processing operation is applied to the birds-eye view. Since the birds-eye view is formed by simply processing the two-dimensional map image, the birds-eye view image can be produced in high speeds and can be scrolled in a smooth display mode.

Map image processing apparatus and method for forming birds-eye view from two-dimensional map image

An image processing apparatus draws an image, stores the drawn image in a memory, reads image data from the memory along a raster direction, and executes a processing operation required for a display with respect to the read image data to output the processed image data to a display device. A display processing unit executes a processing operation including a coordinate calculation with respect to the image data read out along the raster direction. As a result, the image can be formed at high speed even under transition state of displayed images.

Image processing apparatus having processing operation by coordinate calculation

An image data compressing apparatus comprises a color selecting unit, a data separating unit and a data compressing unit. The selecting unit selects an arbitrary color contained in an original map image. The separating unit separates the original image data into a modified color data and a selected position data. The compressing unit compresses these data separately from each other to improve data compression efficiency. The modified color data may be data in which a color of a background portion is made equal to a color of a road, and the background color may be a color which is most popularly used.

Image data compressing method and apparatus which compress image data separately by modifying color

When display data for both odd-numbered and even-numbered scan electrodes in an electroluminescent display are both actuating data, the brightness of electroluminescent elements connected to the odd-numbered electrode is adjusted by adjusting the timing for starting the application of the actuating voltage and the brightness of electroluminescent elements connected to the even-numbered electrode is adjusted by adjusting the timing for terminating the application of the actuating voltage. Moreover, electric charge in the EL elements is retained by maintaining the application of the actuating voltages during scanning operations.

Electroluminescent display device for performing brightness control

A basic cell structure of a gate array that allows wiring in a macro cell is implemented solely by using first layer metallic wires and entails neither performance deterioration nor an increase in sell size. The basic cell of the gate array comprises a pMOS transistor having two FETs connected in series to each other and an nMOS transistor also having two FETs also connected in series to each other. The pMOS transistor and the nMOS transistor are formed on a substrate and arranged in parallel to each other, and gate electrodes corresponding to the FETs are commonly provided for the pMOS transistor and the nMOS transistor. In this structure, a first auxiliary wire is provided between the gate electrodes on the same layer as the gate electrodes. A second auxiliary wire is provided between adjacent basic cells also on the same layer as the gate electrodes. Wiring in a macro cell can be completed by using the first and second auxiliary wires of different types to form a two-dimensional structure. That is, wiring can be completed solely by using the first layer metallic wires.

Gate array having highly flexible interconnection structure

A device for detecting pressure of a high temperature pressurized fluid. A sensing element having a diaphragm adjacent to one end and a lead wire outlet adjacent to another end in the longitudinal direction of a rectangular parallelopiped configuration of the sensing element including the diaphragm. Thus, the lead wire outlet is a predetermined distance from the diaphragm heated by high temperature fluid. This prevents the lead wire outlet and the other electrical assemblies from suffering deterioration or misoperation caused by high temperature. The reliability of the pressure detecting device can be improved.

Pressure detecting device

A device for forming a diamond film has a casing in which a vacuum is maintained to 50 Torr: a positive electrode and a negative electrode are disposed within the casing so that ends of the positive electrode and the negative electrode are opposed to each other through a space: a substrate is disposed near the space between the electrodes, a gas inlet pipe supplies a mixture gas of hydrogen, argon and methane to the space between the electrodes and an arc power supply is connected to the electrodes for supplying a predetermined arc output power thereacross to form an arc discharge column in the space therebetween. By supplying the mixture gas to the arc discharge column of which the temperature is extremely high, the mixture gas is decomposed at a high rate, and a diamond film of high purity grows on the substrate at a high speed.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Hiroshi Uesugi