Hitachi, Ltd.

Xanavi Informatics Corporation

Clarion Co

Hcx Corporation

Other

Opnext Japan, Inc.

Faurecia Clarion Electronics Co., Ltd.

Hitachi Via Mechanics Ltd.

Kimiyoshi Machii

Shigeru Matsuo

Yoshinori Endo

Katsuaki Tanaka

Michio Morioka

Kenichiro Yamane

Junsuke Fujiwara

Shoji Muramatsu

Kozo Nakamura

Takeshi Shima

Takehito Ogata

Yuji Otsuka

Takayoshi Yokota

Mirai Higuchi

Tatsuhiko Monji

Mariko Okude

Naoki Shimizu

Kota Irie

Kimiya Yamaashi

Masatoshi Kumagai

Takaharu Ishida

Toshifumi Arai

Yoshitaka Atarashi

Junya Nakamura

Ayano Enomoto

Koyo Katsura

Soshiro Kuzunuki

Masahiro Kiyohara

Yoshitaka Uchida

Toshimi Yokota

Kazuyoshi Koga

Noriyasu Hasejima

Takumi Fushiki

Keiko Abe

Hideo Hiroshige

Hideyuki Kume

Manabu Kato

Ayano Miyashita

Sadanori Horiguchi

Yuta Ohizumi

Yoshitaka Sumitomo

Hideyuki Watanabe

Shinichi Amaya

An apparatus for recognizing a division line on a road from an image captured by a camera includes: a processing area setting unit to set a processing area to the image; a statistics calculation unit to calculate statistics of the image in the processing area; a threshold value setting unit to set a plurality of threshold values on the basis of the statistics; a division line feature point extraction unit to classify a plurality of pixels contained in the image on the basis of the white line threshold value and the road surface threshold value and extracts feature points of the division line on the basis of classification results of the plurality of pixels; and a division line decision unit configured to decide the division line on the basis of the feature points extracted by the division line feature point extraction unit.

Division line recognition apparatus

A section line recognition device is realized which can determine a line type of a section line in a road surface with high accuracy. In step, a feature amount is extracted from an image captured by each camera. This step corresponds to a process of a feature point extraction unit. In the next step, the extracted feature amount is transformed into bird's-eye view coordinates which is common coordinates. This step corresponds to a process of a coordinates transformation unit. Next, in step, a camera to be selected is determined. This step is a process of a camera determination unit. Next, in step, the state transition at the appearance position of the feature point on the bird's-eye view coordinates is determined using feature point coordinates of the camera selected in step. This step is a process of a state transition determination unit. Finally, in step, the line type is determined. This step is a process of a line type determination unit.

Section line recognition device

The present invention addresses the problem of enabling an accurate determination of line type using a plurality of cameras. A demarcation line recognition device of the present invention includes a plurality of cameras (); a line type determination unit () that senses demarcation line candidates from respective images obtained by the plurality of cameras and determines line types of the sensed demarcation line candidates; a demarcation line position calculation unit that calculates the positions of the sensed demarcation line candidates; a reliability level calculation unit that computes a reliability level of each demarcation line candidate by using positional relationships between the sensed demarcation line candidates; a probability computation unit () to which line types of demarcation line candidates for which the reliability level is equal to or greater than a threshold value are input and that determines the probability of each line type; and a line type decision unit () that finally decides the line types of the demarcation lines on the basis of the results of the probability computation unit.

Demarcation line recognition device

The obstacle detection device comprises: a first camera installed on a moving vehicle used for photographing a frontward or rearward view of the vehicle; a second camera installed on the vehicle used for photographing a sideward view of the vehicle; a parking space detection unit for detecting a parking space on the basis of an image obtained by photographing by the first camera; a memory unit for storing a real-space area of the parking space; a motion acquisition unit for acquiring information about behaviors of the vehicle; an obstacle calculation unit for calculating information about an obstacle present in the vicinity of the parking space on the basis of multiple images obtained by photographing by the second camera at different points in time; and a processing area setting unit for controlling, the calculation by the obstacle calculation unit.

Obstacle detection device

An in-vehicle running-environment recognition apparatus including an input unit for inputting an image signal from in-vehicle imaging devices for photographing external environment of a vehicle, an image processing unit for detecting a first image area by processing the image signal, the first image area having a factor which prevents recognition of the external environment, an image determination unit for determining a second image area based on at least any one of size of the first image area, position thereof, and set-up positions of the in-vehicle imaging devices having the first image area, an environment recognition processing being performed in the second image area, the first image area being detected by the image processing unit, and an environment recognition unit for recognizing the external environment of the vehicle based on the second image area.

In-vehicle apparatus for recognizing running environment of vehicle

A method for geographic interpolation of traffic data in a vehicle navigation system in which the navigation system includes a map database divided into geographic meshes. Each mesh includes a plurality of road links of different types. That data also includes a first set of meshes containing traffic flow data while a mutually exclusive second set of meshes contains no such traffic flow data. A border between the first and second set of meshes is first identified and thereafter a blend zone of blend meshes is created by selecting at least one mesh adjacent the border so that the blend mesh is interposed between the first and second set of meshes. Thereafter, the traffic data for each type of road link in the blend mesh is adjusted to a value intermediate the first and second set of adjacent meshes for each type of road link and the blend mesh data is then stored.

System and method for geographic interpolation of traffic data

A traffic information providing system externally acquires traffic information including information relating to the travel time of a link, calculates a travel time for a non-provision link to which no travel time is provided through estimate/complement operation. The estimate/complement operation is carried out with use of travel times, emergencies, travel times of links in the vicinity of the non-provision link, and so on, obtained in the near past. The system stores and statistically processes the externally-acquired traffic information, and also estimates a travel time in the near future. When there is an abnormality in the acquired traffic information, the system deletes the abnormality, regards the information as a non-provision link, calculates a probability distribution of travel times of links, calculates a probability distribution of travel times of the entire route made up of a plurality of links, and also calculates a probability for a specific travel time range.

Traffic information providing system and car navigation system

A navi-server which is provided with information from a traffic information providing center, and presents and provides information made on the information to a terminal is characterized by being equipped with a first storage means storing the information provided from the traffic information providing center; a traffic jam statistical making means which makes traffic jam statistical information including traffic jam information in a predetermined point and a predetermined zone as well as a reliability of the traffic jam information, based on information stored in the first storage means; and a second storage means storing information made by the traffic jam statistical making means, wherein the navi-server presents and provides the information stored in the second storage means to the terminal, based on a request of the terminal and at a predetermined timing.

Display method of navi-server and navigation

In conventional systems using an onboard camera disposed rearward of a vehicle for recognizing an object surrounding the vehicle, the object is recognized by the camera disposed rearward of the vehicle. In the image recognized by the camera, a road surface marking taken by the camera appears at a lower end of a screen of the image, which makes it difficult to predict a specific position in the screen from which the road surface marking appears. Further, an angle of depression of the camera is large, and it is a short period of time to acquire the object. Therefore, it is difficult to improve a recognition rate and to reduce false recognition. Results of recognition (type, position, angle, recognition time) made by a camera disposed forward of the vehicle, are used to predict a specific timing and a specific position of a field of view of a camera disposed rearward of the vehicle, at which the object appears. Parameters of recognition logic of the rearwardly disposed camera and processing timing are then optimally adjusted. Further, luminance information of the image from the forwardly disposed camera is used to predict possible changes to be made in luminance of the field of view of the rearwardly disposed camera. Gain and exposure time of the rearwardly disposed camera are then adjusted.

Apparatus and system for recognizing environment surrounding vehicle

The present invention aims to provide a technique that can download traffic information in a more efficient manner, in a navigation system including a traffic information distribution server and a terminal unit. The information distribution server narrows down possible traffic information to be used for processing at the terminal unit before downloading the information to the unit. For example, the traffic information distribution server may include a traffic information obtaining unit for obtaining traffic information pertaining to a link configuring a route or the periphery of the link (e.g., mesh area including the link), and to a predicted running duration of the link; and a sending unit for downloading the obtained traffic information to the terminal unit. The server or the terminal unit may narrow down the object for download.

Navigation system

An obstacle detection apparatus more accurately detects a moving obstacle present around a motor vehicle. With this system, desired feature quantities of an obstacle present in a coverage of a first sensor are calculated and then stored into a storage device, and when the obstacle moves from the coverage of the first sensor to a coverage of a second sensor, a relative distance to the obstacle is calculated from the above-stored feature quantities of the obstacle and from the desired feature quantities of the obstacle, obtained by analyzing the recognition results of the second sensor that have been processed by a processor which processes the recognition results.

Obstacle detection apparatus

A traffic information prediction system, including a traffic information prediction apparatus, of the present invention comprises travel status measuring means for measuring a travel status of a vehicle and accumulating it as travel record information, and traffic information predicting means for predicting traffic information on a route on the basis of the travel record information and statistical traffic information to predict an arrival time to any place on a route containing the destination. The traffic information predicting means compares a traveling trace based on the statistical traffic information and the traveling trace based on the travel record information to calculate the degree of progress of the travel record based on the statistical traffic information, and correct the traveling trace based on the statistical traffic information on the basis of the degree of progress.

Traffic information prediction apparatus

An automobile navigation apparatus, that has a rewritable recording medium and capability to updates the map data base by obtaining latest map data, records the map data in the recording means and comprises updating data acquisition means that acquires updated data of a map to which updating procedure is added, an information interpreting means that interprets the updating procedure information, and a map data updating means that searches over said map data base and updates said map data base on the basis of the results of such interpretation and manages the map data by using attributions that indicates additional information of the map elements which are composed into a table as the records thereof so that the row record of the table is classified by the attribution which indicates the additional information of the map element.

Automobile navigation apparatus

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Hitachi, Japan

Kimiyoshi Machii