Yazaki Corporation

Naoto Ishikawa

Kazutomo Fujinami

Kazuyuki Sasaki

Masato Nakajima

Keiki Okamoto

Hiroyuki Ogura

Yoshihito Aoki

Ichiro Kataoka

Ken Ito

Teruhisa Imai

Masaki Saito

Junichi Yamaguchi

Takeyuki Amari

Toshiaki Ozaki

Takahiro Oikawa

Hirosada Miyaoka

Yoshihiro Tsuji

Hiroya Akita

A biological information storage system and an in-vehicle biological information storage device include a biological information detection unit configured to detect biological information of an occupant of a vehicle, an in-vehicle storage unit placed in the vehicle to store information, a portable storage unit provided in a mobile terminal that can be carried to the inside of the vehicle to store information, and an in-vehicle information processing unit capable of executing a processing of distributingly storing the biological information detected by the biological information detection unit in the in-vehicle storage unit and the portable storage unit. In this configuration, the biological information storage system and the in-vehicle biological information storage device can use the biological information inside and outside the vehicle.

Biological information storage system and in-vehicle biological information storage device

A wire harness includes a conductive first wiring material, wired to a vehicle, and a second wiring material wired to the vehicle in a state where at least a part of the second wiring material is bundled with the first wiring material. The second wiring material has a flow passage formed therein through which a liquid can flow.

Wire harness

The positions of an object on the sideward position of a vehicle are detected at prescribed time intervals. An expected locus of the object is computed on the basis of the positions of the object detected at the prescribed time intervals. An expected locus of the vehicle is also computed. It is determined whether or not there is a danger of collision on the basis of both the expected loci of the object and the vehicle. In this configuration, a periphery monitoring apparatus can be proposed which is capable of determining the danger of collision on the basis of the mutual movements of the vehicle and object.

Periphery monitoring device for motor vehicle and recording medium containing program for determining danger of collision for motor vehicle

A vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitory system including an image taking means for taking an image of a rear-and-side view of the subject vehicle traveling in a lane; a characteristic point extracting device for extracting at least one point as a characteristic point from an image of a following vehicle contained in a first image, taken at a first time-point, of the rear-and-side view, the following vehicle traveling at the rear of the subject vehicle in the lane of the subject vehicle or in a neighboring lane; a corresponding point detecting device for detecting a corresponding point, corresponding to the characteristic point, in a second image taken at a second time-point following the first time-point; an optical flow forming device for forming an optical flow of the characteristic point of the following vehicle from a vector connecting the characteristic point and the corresponding point; and a dead angle area located vehicles-distance calculating device for calculating at least any one of a vehicles-distance between the subject vehicle and the following vehicle and a relative position therebetween after a time-point of disappearance of the optical flow outside an image plane of the image taking device on the basis of the optical flow formed just before the disappearance. Thus, a vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring system capable of monitoring an approaching degree of a following vehicle approaching from the rear of the subject vehicle in the lane of the subject vehicle in the neighboring lane can be realized.

Vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring system

An image pick-up means mounted in the motor vehicle picks up a side direction of a driver's own vehicle. An approaching object detecting means detects an approaching degree of an approaching object which approaches his own vehicle from a side direction road crossing his own vehicle on the basis of two images picked up at two timings apart by a prescribed interval by the image pick-up means. A danger decision means decides a danger on the basis of the approaching degree. In such a configuration, a side-monitoring apparatus for a motor vehicle can accurately know the danger of collision with the object approaching from the side direction road.

Side-monitoring apparatus for motor vehicle

In an environment monitoring system for a vehicle, when a detecting means decides that an approaching vehicle cannot be detected by an image processing means, a waning means gives warning of this fact. Thus, the environment monitoring system permits one's own vehicle to run with safety even when the approaching vehicle cannot be detected.

Environment monitoring system for a vehicle with an image pickup device

In an environment monitoring system using an optical flow, a monitoring region is set in one's own vehicle lane or an adjacent lane on the basis of the white lines. In this case, an early image is divided into a plurality of small regions. An edge is extracted which is an candidate of each the white lines for each the small regions using a virtual FOE for each the small regions acquired previously of the early image. A white line is determined is determined on the basis of the edge extracted. Finally, white line segments are extended for each small region determined to acquire a coordinate of a crossing point thereof and that of the virtual FOE is stored for each the small regions. The virtual FOE is used to extract the edge for each of the small regions of an image newly picked-up in order to detect the optical flow.

Environment monitoring system

In an environment monitoring system using an optical flow, an optical-flow detecting device detects the optical flow in the steps of reverse-projection converting the early image of two early and later images picked up by an image picked up, on the basis of a predetermined optical arrangement of the image pick-up means onto an x-z plane in parallel to a road surface in a real space to acquire a road surface image; computing a moving distance of one's own vehicle in two timings on the basis of a time interval between two timings and speed information of one's own vehicle; parallel-shifting the road surface image by the moving distance thus computed; projection-converting the road surface image after parallel-shifted to acquire an estimated image of the later image in timing; acquiring a differential image between the later image and its estimated image to extract a feature point; and searching a corresponding point of the feature point extracted. In this configuration, it is possible to prevent an object such as a paint which should not be detected on a road surface from being erroneously detected as another surrounding vehicle.

In a rear monitoring system for a vehicle, the information on the road on which one's own vehicle has run is acquired. On the basis of the information thus acquired, the white lines on a rear road image which distinguish one's own lane from both adjacent lanes are estimated. Using the white lines thus estimated, it is decided whether another detected vehicle is located on one's own lane or adjacent lanes.

Rear monitoring system

In a danger deciding means for a vehicle, information which changes according to the road structure around a vehicle concerned is acquired. When a plurality of images obtained by picking up different monitoring regions are received, on the basis of the acquired information, the image of the region which must be monitored is selected from the plurality of images. The selected image is processed to detect the approaching degree of an approaching object. On basis of the approaching degree, danger of contact or collision with the approaching object is decided.

Danger deciding apparatus for motor vehicle and environment monitoring apparatus therefor

A vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring system wherein a monitoring area is set inside or outside an area enclosed with lines connecting two lane marking positions, where two lane markings on both sides of a preceding vehicle running lane in the road image cross a periphery of the road image, to an infinity point in the road image, which infinity point corresponding to a detected rudder angle. Further, a vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring and alarming system which a alarms a drives when the following vehicle was detected as a result of monitoring a rear-and-side road view by was of the vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring system.

Vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring system and vehicle-applied rear-and-side monitoring and alarming system

The vehicle surroundings monitor detects the sizes and positions of obstacles, ditches and humans as well as the depths of the ditches to provide the driver with sufficient information to secure safety during driving. The pattern light projector receives an incoming laser beam and projects a light spot matrix in the form of a regular grating onto the monitored area. The camera photographs the light spot pattern on the monitored area and sends image signals to the data processor which processes the image signals to detect the presence of any obstacle, ditch or human. Based on the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor, the path the car will take is predicted and a possible contact or collision of the car with the obstacle is detected beforehand. The buzzer, voice synthesizer and display device are used to alert the driver and indicate the presence of the obstacles, the possible contact with them and the location where the possible contact will occur.

Vehicle surroundings monitor with obstacle avoidance lighting

In a rear monitoring apparatus for a vehicle, a prism (,) enlarges the lower portion of the range which can be picked up by a camera (,), and a usage means uses the lower portion. In this configuration, the image in the vicinity of one's own vehicle can be picked up without impeding the detection of the optical flows generated from another vehicle approaching from a far distance, and can be used for the purpose different from the detection of the optical flows.

Rear monitoring system for vehicle

A collision alarm method and apparatus for vehicles in which, in order to detect and alarm of danger of collision, the time of possible collision is calculated by a danger judgement means from optical flow. In order for an image processing means to detect the optical flow, a horizontal or vertical noticeable edge is used, which edge is extracted from two images obtained at different times with an image photographing means. The collision alarm method and apparatus for vehicles detect danger of collision at high speed and gives a timely alarm so as to enable collision avoiding action to be securely taken.

Collision alarm method and apparatus for vehicles

A rear-view monitor for use in vehicles is provided, in which contained are vehicle-mounted image pickup means for picking up images of road in the rear of one's own vehicle at every fixed time; and detection means for detecting an overtaking vehicle by processing road images obtained by the image pickup means. The monitor keeps monitoring of relative movement between one's own vehicle and the overtaking vehicle detected by the detection means. The monitor is characterized in that the image pickup means contain a wide-angle high resolution camera, and the detection means include: first image processing means for processing the whole road images obtained by the image pickup means by sampling image data; second image processing means for processing a part of road images obtained by the image pickup means without sampling image data; and selection means for selecting either the first image processing means or the second image processing means in response to a situation of traffic. Thus, a rear-view monitor for use in vehicles according to the present invention enables monitoring over a wide range, i.e. the far and near distances, under preferable conditions.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Naoto Ishikawa