Nippon Soken, Inc.

Denso Corporation

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippondenso Soken, Inc.

Muneaki Matsumoto

Koji Numata

Akira Kuno

Masahiko Osada

Hitoshi Tanaka

Norifumi Matsukawa

Taketo Harada

Nobuyuki Yokota

Junshi Utsu

Hisasi Kawai

Mitsuyasu Matsuura

Kazuhiro Sakurai

Shigeyuki Akita

Hirohiko Yanagawa

Yu Maeda

Akio Nakano

Bingchen Wang

Minoru Yokota

Susumu Urano

Youji Morishita

Tadashi Hattori

Takamoto Watanabe

Minoru Nishida

Yoshihisa Sato

Yoshinori Ohtsuka

Hisanaga Matsuoka

Mitsuhiko Masegi

Masakazu Takeichi

Hiroaki Shimizu

Hideki Saito

Hiroyuki Kishita

Kouichi Hoshino

Kiyonari Kojima

Katsumi Nakamura

Toshinori Ninoyu

Masanori Ohsawa

Sukeyasu Kanno

Kunikazu Nakayama

Noriyuki Mase

Arata Itou

Masaaki Kawauchi

An image processing unit identifies the shape of an obstacle that is identified from an area that appears in a peripheral image based on an image captured by a camera. The shape of the obstacle includes at least a tilt of a section of the obstacle in a road-surface direction. The section of the obstacle faces a vehicle. The image processing unit generates a superimposed image in which a mark image that is generated as a pattern that indicates the identified obstacle is superimposed onto a position that corresponds to the obstacle in the peripheral image. At this time, the image processing unit variably changes properties of the mark image based on the tilt of the obstacle identified by an obstacle identifying unit. The image processing unit then displays the generated superimposed image on display apparatus.

Display control apparatus

An onboard periphery image display device for adjusting transformation rule of each camera mounted on an automobile is provided. A predetermined calibration pattern of a calibration member is placed in a capture area of a reference camera and another calibration pattern of the calibration member is placed in a capture area of an adjustment-targeted camera. The onboard periphery image display detects a coordinate of an image of a reference calibration pattern based on the image of the predetermined calibration pattern captured by the reference camera, detects an coordinate of an image of an adjustment calibration pattern based on the image of the another calibration pattern captured by the adjustment-targeted camera, and adjusts the transformation rule determined for the adjustment-targeted camera based on the detected coordinates.

Vehicle periphery image display device and camera adjustment method

An image processing apparatus extracts, as a display image, a part of an image captured by a wide angle camera, the wide angle camera being arranged at a position deviated from a vehicle center line that is a center line of a vehicle in a longitudinal direction and being configured to increase a degree of size reduction of an object as being farther from a center of the captured image. The image processing apparatus includes a control circuit that extracts the display image. The control circuit includes an extraction determination portion. The extraction determination portion determines an extraction position of the display image in the captured image according to a center position of the display image to the vehicle center line and the degree of size reduction of the object represented at a pixel of a specific position in the display image.

Image processing apparatus and image processing method

An installation error detection apparatus of an onboard camera includes: an input portion that receives a photographed image; a storage portion that stores position information of a feature point of the vehicle; a feature point detection portion; a determination portion that determines whether the installation position of the onboard camera is the proper position; and a notification portion that informs installation defect of the onboard camera. The notification portion calculates the installation position of the onboard camera required to minimize the deviation amount and corrects the photographed image by the onboard camera. The notification portion detects the feature point and calculates a similarity degree of the position of the feature point and the position information. The notification portion determines the installation defect of the onboard camera and informs the installation defect. The notification portion determines that a vehicle body is deformed and informs the vehicle body being deformed.

Installation error display control apparatus and installation error detection apparatus of onboard camera

An in-vehicle camera calibrator is provided. The in-vehicle camera calibrator includes a targeted camera selector for selecting a targeted camera requiring the calibration, an intermediate camera selector for selecting an intermediate camera which is the in-vehicle camera that intervenes between the targeted camera and a criterial camera, a first calibrator for, when the intermediate camera is not selected, calibrating the targeted camera based on a captured image of an overlapping region between the criterial camera and the targeted camera, and a second calibrator for, when the intermediate camera is selected, calibrating the intermediate camera based on a captured image of an overlapping region between the criterial camera and the targeted camera, and then calibrating the targeted camera based on a captured image between the calibrated intermediate camera and the targeted camera.

Progressive in-vehicle camera calibrator, image generator, in-vehicle camera calibration method, and image generation method

An image generation device for referencing a correspondence relationship and generating a line-of-sight-converted image from a captured image of an in-vehicle camera mounted to a vehicle is provided. The image generation device includes a first region updating unit that, upon sensing deviation of at least one of the mounting position and the mounting angle of the in-vehicle camera and calculating a new mounting position and mounting angle, updates a correspondence relationship of a predetermined first region in the line-of-sight-converted image in accordance with the new mounting position and mounting angle, and a second region updating unit that, upon satisfaction of a predetermined updating condition after updating the correspondence relationship of the first region, updates the correspondence relationship for a second region in the line-of-sight-converted image in accordance with the new mounting position and mounting angle.

Image generation device and image generation method

In a vehicular visibility support apparatus, a camera positioned on a front portion that is either the left side or the right side of a vehicle provides an image of a view laterally behind the vehicle including a part of a face of the side of the vehicle as a camera image. An input portion accepts input manipulation to generate an input signal. A control portion trims a desired region in the camera image based on the input signal and provides a trimmed image. The control portion trims the camera image based on: a vertical reference line including a part of the face on the side of the vehicle in a trimmed image before the input manipulation is accepted by the input portion, and a horizontal reference line orthogonal to the vertical reference line; and a direction of movement for change to the desired region inputted to the input portion.

Vehicular visibility support apparatus

A cleaning apparatus for an in-vehicle optical sensor includes a cleaning liquid nozzle and an air nozzle. The cleaning liquid nozzle jets out a cleaning liquid toward a lens surface of a lens of the in-vehicle optical sensor or a translucent surface of a translucent cover covering the lens surface when the translucent cover exists. The air nozzle jets out air toward a used cleaning liquid, which was jetted out from the cleaning liquid nozzle and cleaned the lens surface or the translucent surface, to prevent the used cleaning liquid from dropping from the lens surface or the translucent surface on a predetermined position by blowing away the used cleaning liquid.

Cleaning apparatus for in-vehicle optical sensor

A driving assistance apparatus captures with a camera a video image showing an area, which surrounds a vehicle and includes a target on a road surface; generates a positioning video image for positioning the vehicle; and displays the generated positioning video image on a display monitor. The driving assistance apparatus also acquires a relative location of the target with respect to the vehicle. Further, based on the relative location of the target, the driving assistance apparatus switches the display mode of the positioning video image displayed on the display monitor between a first display mode (in which the target moves with respect to the vehicle) and a second display mode (in which the vehicle moves with respect to the target).

Driving assistance apparatus and driving assistance method

A camera washing device has an air pump, a wash water tank storing wash water, an injection nozzle with an injection part, a junction joint having a high-pressure air passage and a wash water passage, and an electromagnetic valve. The air pump generates and supplies high-pressure air to the high-pressure air passage. When the control part instructs the electromagnetic valve to be switched to an open state, the wash water and the high-pressure air are mixed in the junction joint to generate water particles. The generated water particles are supplied to the injection nozzle. When the electromagnetic valve is switched to the open state after injecting the high-pressure air only to a lens of a rear camera, the injection part injects the water particles to the lens of the camera.

Camera washing device for camera lens

An apparatus for detecting an object approaching a vehicle by performing image recognition processing on an image captured by a camera that is mounted on the vehicle to cover a predetermined area around the vehicle includes a signal receiver, a selector, and a detector. The signal receiver obtains a vehicle signal indicative of an operating condition of the vehicle. The selector selects a predetermined region of the captured image, according to the vehicle signal, as an object detection region. The detector detects the object approaching the vehicle by performing the image recognition processing on only the object detection region of the captured image.

Apparatus for detecting object approaching vehicle

A vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus detects the presence of a moving object along a vehicle periphery. The apparatus sets multiple detection lines along a horizontal axis of an image captured by a camera, and detects a brightness change of a pixel along the detection lines. With reference to the brightness change detected along the detection line and a parameter for determining whether such brightness change is caused by the moving object, the apparatus determines the presence of the moving object. In addition, the apparatus changes a determination condition for determining the moving object such that as the number of detection lines along which the brightness change is detected decreases, the harder it is to satisfy the determination condition for determining that the moving object is present.

Vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus

A vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus displays a detection line on a display unit, with side portions of the detection line positioned on far-off spots that are farther than a spot on which a center portion of the detection line is positioned. In addition, based on the distance of the respective spots on which the portions of the detection line are positioned, the apparatus includes a parameter table that defines different parameters for a short distance portion, a middle distance portion, and a long distance portion of the detection line. The apparatus detects a moving object based on an actual-detected brightness change of a pixel along the detection line and a predefined brightness change of a pixel along the detection line that is defined by the parameter of the parameter table.

A rearward view assistance apparatus in a vehicle includes an imaging device that acquires a vehicle rearward image by taking a rearview from the vehicle, a control circuit that sets a cropped image by cropping part of the vehicle rearward image in response to a state of a vehicle, and a display device that is provided in a passenger compartment and displays the cropped image. The control circuit preferably overlays a lower portion of the cropped image with a mask. The control circuit preferably displays an indication corresponding to a rear portion of the vehicle on the cropped image. The rearward view assistance apparatus is thus provided to view rearward from the vehicle even when passengers are present on the seats in the second and third rows.

Rearward view assistance apparatus displaying cropped vehicle rearward image

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Okazaki, Japan

Muneaki Matsumoto