Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Shusaku Okamoto

Masamichi Nakagawa

Atsushi Morimura

Kunio Nobori

Yoshihiko Matsukawa

Osamu Yamada

Tomonobu Naruoka

Hirofumi Ishii

Satoshi Sato

Takashi Yoshida

Kazufumi Mizusawa

Toru Tanigawa

Atsushi Iisaka

Yuichi Hirama

Ryosuke Iida

Katsuji Aoki

Michio Miwa

Takeo Azuma

Taro Imagawa

Katsuhiro Kanamori

Toru Ichikawa

Mikiya Nakata

Akira Ishida

Nobuhiko Yasui

Masahiro Hamada

Fumio Maehara

Yasuhiro Morinaka

Toshiyuki Maeda

Ryo Mochizuki

A vehicle-operation assist includes a circumferential-state imager for imaging a circumferential state of a vehicle with a camera and generating a circumferential-state image; a synthetic-image generator for generating a synthetic image by superimposing on the circumferential-state image, an assumed-movement pattern of the vehicle performing a predetermined series of driving operations; and a display for displaying the synthetic image. The circumferential-state imager has at least one camera and a camera parameter table for storing characteristics of the camera and generating the circumferential-state image on the basis of the camera characteristics.

Driving-operation assist and recording medium

A camera for taking a state behind a vehicle is installed in a position laterally shifted from the rear center of the vehicle. An image processing unit generates a rear image from a camera image by shifting merely a rectangular area of the camera image so that a vertical center line thereof can substantially accord with the center line along the lengthwise direction of the vehicle. Furthermore, processing for correcting lens distortion may be performed. As a result, when the vehicle is moved straight backward, an object present on the center line of the vehicle moves vertically in substantially the center of the screen, so that a user can be prevented from having an odd feeling to see the image.

Monitoring system

A search article estimation apparatus is provided that is capable of estimating an article that a user is trying to search for, even when the user cannot accurately provide information on the article that the user wants to search for. The state of access to a storage equipment by the user and a change in articles in the storage equipment during the access are checked by a sensing apparatus. If there is no change in articles, then a search state detection means determines that the user has performed an article search but has been unable to find the article. Furthermore, a search article estimation means refers to a storage location database and estimates an article that should originally be stored in the storage equipment, to be the article that the user is searching for.

Search article estimation apparatus and method and server for search article estimation apparatus

The image processor of the present invention generates a more natural synthesized image from camera images taken with a plurality of cameras capturing the surroundings of a vehicle. A parameter storage section stores a plurality of image synthesis parameter groups representing the correspondence between the camera images and the synthesized image and having different spatial or temporal resolution relations. A parameter selection section selects the image synthesis parameter group according to the output of a vehicle motion detection section for detecting the motion of the vehicle such as the driving speed and direction. An image synthesis section generates the synthesized image from the camera images according to the selected image synthesis parameter group.

Image processor and monitoring system

A state recognition tag is configured to include a tag main body, and a tag fragment separable from the tag main body, and each of the tag main body and the tag fragment is provided with an information holding unit storing therein information to be transmitted, a separation-state recognizing unit which recognizes a separation state between the tag main body and the tag fragment, a control unit which exercises transmission control for transmitting the information from the information holding unit based on the separation state, and an electric power supplying unit which supplies electric power to the information holding unit, the separation-state recognizing unit, and the control unit. Regardless of whether the tag main body and the tag fragment are connected to each other or separated from each other, both the tag main body and the tag fragment can function as tags as needed. Furthermore, different information can be provided to a user according to the separation state between the tag main body and the tag fragment.

State recognition tag

An article present region estimating means references information on location and time of an article detected in an article detecting device and stored in an article management database and information on location and time of a person detected in a person detecting device and stored in a person management database to estimate a location where the article is most likely to be present. An article position candidate weighting means may be perform weighting based on information such as movement of the person, location where the article is normally placed.

Article position estimating apparatus, method of estimating article position, article search system, and article position estimating program

The system includes a sensor for detecting a state of a space; a robot for executing a handling job for an article; an article identifying part for identifying, when an article is handled by a movable body, the article in response to a detection result obtained by the sensor; and an article handling subject identifying part for identifying an article handling subject that handles the article. When the movable body that handles the article is the robot, the article handling subject identifying part identifies a subject having issued a job instruction to the robot as the article handling subject.

Article control system, article control server, article control method

The invention provides a vehicle surroundings monitoring system for synthesizing and displaying images captured by a plurality of cameras to provide images that, near the border between partial images, are more accurate and more readily understood by the user than has been the case conventionally. In the synthesized image, a partial image captured by a first camera and a partial image captured by a second camera are adjacent to one another at their border. Near this border, the capturing directions of the first and the second cameras both substantially match the direction of the border. Consequently, images of objects near the border extend along the border, and thus do not disappear on the synthesized image.

Method for arranging cameras in a vehicle surroundings monitoring system

An image generating apparatus comprising: a camera or a plurality of cameras; space reconstructing means for mapping the input image from said camera, into a predetermined space model of a predetermined three-dimensional space; point-of-view converting means of synthesizing an image viewed from an arbitrary virtual point of view in said predetermined three-dimensional space by referencing to said space data mapped by said space reconstructing means; and displaying means of displaying the image converted by said point-of-view converting means.

Method and apparatus for displaying a synthesized image viewed from a virtual point of view

In a robot operation terminal, a storage unit has a group-belonging article table that indicates articles belonging to each of groups. Upon receipt of operation information indicating an operation to be instructed to the robot through an input unit, when this operation information specifies a group as its operation subject, a conversion unit converts this group to articles belonging to the group in the operation information by reference to the group-belonging article table. Thus, the instruction of an operation is made simpler, thereby reducing the occurrence of a human error.

Living assistance system

An article transporting robot or an article transporting system includes a state recognizing means for recognizing the state of the article, a transportation method specifying means for specifying the transportation method according to the state recognized by the state recognizing means, and a transporting device for transporting the article according to the transportation method specified by the transportation method specifying means.

Article transporting robot

For supporting a complicated driving operation, a synthesized image is presented to the driver. The driver can view this image and thus drive with a sense of security. The synthesized image may include an image of at least one tire and may have an enlargement/reduction ratio that is relatively higher in a nearby area of the vehicle, including a grounding portion of at least one tire of the vehicle, as compared with a peripheral area of the vehicle.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Shusaku Okamoto