Denso Corporation

Taiki Kawano

Naoki Kawasaki

Shunsuke Suzuki

Shunya Kumano

Kenta Hoki

Naoki Nitanda

Akihiro Watanabe

Kazuhisa Ishimaru

Masaki Masuda

A road parameter calculator is provided which is equipped with an edge-point extracting unit, a road parameter calculating unit, a gradient detecting unit, and a modeling unit. The image acquiring unit. The edge-point extracting unit extracts edge points from an image of a frontal view of a vehicle. The parameter calculating unit calculates a road parameter using the edge points through a Kalman filter. The gradient detecting unit detects a change in gradient of the road in front of the vehicle. The modeling unit is responsive to a change in gradient to make a model as extending more straight than when the change in gradient is not detected. This minimizes adverse effects of the change in gradient of the road on the calculation of the road parameter.

Road parameter calculator

An apparatus for identifying a line marking on a road surface. In the apparatus, an extractor extracts a paint candidate that is a candidate for road surface paint used to identify a line marking in an image captured by a camera mounted on a vehicle to capture an image of an area including a road surface ahead of the vehicle. A determiner determines whether or not the paint candidate has at least one predefined flare feature. A line marking identifier identifies a line marking using the paint candidate which meets an identification condition used to identify a line marking. The line marking identifier sets the identification condition to be more stringent for a flare paint candidate that is the paint candidate determined by the determiner to have the at least one predefined flare feature than for the paint candidate determined by the determiner to have no predefined flare feature.

Apparatus for identifying line marking on road surface

A lane detecting apparatus is provided which obtains at least one type of parameters associated with lane lines on the road and selects one of the lane lines as a reference line using one of the parameters which is most useful in determining the configuration of a lane on a road. The lane detecting apparatus also calculates a lane boundary line using the reference lane line.

Lane detection apparatus

In a pitch angle estimation apparatus, an image acquirer sequentially acquires images in a forward or rearward direction of a vehicle. Each image is referred to as a frame. A movement amount calculator extracts a feature point from each of the images acquired by the image acquirer and calculates an amount of movement of the feature point in a vertical direction of the image. A pitch angle calculator calculates a pitch angle of the vehicle based on the amount of movement of the feature point. An output unit outputs the pitch angle calculated by the pitch angle calculator. A low frequency component calculator calculates a low frequency component of the pitch angle calculated by the pitch angle calculator. An output determiner determines whether to output the pitch angle based on the magnitude of the low frequency component calculated by the low frequency component calculator.

Pitch angle estimation apparatus

In an image processing apparatus, an image acquiring unit acquires a first image and a second image that form stereoscopic images. A first sub-image extracting unit extracts first sub-images from the first image. A second sub-image extracting unit extracts second sub-images from the second image. A matching unit matches each pair of the first and second sub-images to determine a degree of similarity therebetween. A similar sub-image setting unit sets the second sub-image having a highest degree of similarity to the first sub-image to be a similar sub-image to the first sub-image. A brightness comparing unit compares in brightness each pair of the first and second sub-images. The matching unit is configured to, if a result of comparison made by the brightness comparing unit between a pair of the first and second sub-images is out of a predetermined brightness range, exclude such a pair of the first and second sub-images.

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Nishio, Japan

Taiki Kawano