Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft

Thomas Weidner

Wolfgang Hahn

A method for visualizing surroundings of a vehicle, especially in the dark is provided. A visual image, containing the digital data of the surroundings shows the visually perceptible objects. An infrared image, containing the digital data of the surroundings, shows the infrared radiation, emitted by the visually perceptible and/or other objects. An image fusion takes place that fuses the visual image and the infrared image into a target image, which can be represented in an image display unit, in order to simplify the allocation of the infrared radiation-emitting objects in the recorded environment. The image fusion is interrupted as a function of one environment parameter in order to represent only one of the two images, or none of the images, as the target image.

Method and device for visualizing the surroundings of a vehicle by fusing an infrared image and a visual image

A device is provided for monitoring surroundings of a vehicle with at least one camera, an image processing unit, and an image display unit. The image processing unit is operatively configured for reducing noise components in the images, recorded by the camera. The reducing of the noise components is accomplished by image grading, during which an averaging of a number of images occurs. The number of images, processed for the image grading, is variable.

Method and device for monitoring vehicle surroundings

The invention relates to an improved method for visualizing the environment of a vehicle, especially in the dark. The invention also relates to a night vision system, which especially provides a visual image of the environment or the digital data thereof. Preferably, the visual image is a color image which indicates the visually perceptible objects of the environment. The system also provides an infrared image of the environment or the digital data thereof. The infrared image indicates the infrared radiation radiated by the visually perceptible and/or other objections. In a preferred form of embodiment, a merged image of the visual image and the infrared image of largely identical sections of the environment of the vehicle is represented on a display comprising at least one merged region and at least one region which is not merged or not merged to the same extent or not merged with the same weighting.

Method and system for visualizing the environment of a vehicle with a distance-dependent merging of an infrared and a visual image

A method and device for visualizing the surroundings of a vehicle, in particular for detecting and representing the traffic situation in front of a driver are provided. A night vision information system fuses video images from essentially the same location and time but from different spectral regions are fused using weighting factors. The video images are weighted with a globally settable preliminary weighting factor, and an object analysis of the video images is performed. Based on the object analysis the weighting factors are locally adapted in an object-selective manner.

Method and device for visualizing the surroundings of a vehicle

A method is provided for visualizing the environment of a vehicle, particularly in darkness. For improving known methods, a weighted superimposition of isochronous and same-location image pairs of a visual image and an infrared image are performed for forming a fusion image. For a further improvement, it is provided to make the weighting dependent on the environment; thus, in darkness, a higher weighting and therefore a stressing of the infrared information is provided with respect to the visual information in the fusion image. In fog, it is provided to weight the visual information clearly higher in comparison to the infrared information, whereby the infrared information, which is often not very helpful in fog, is largely not taken into account in the fusion image. For implementing the method, a system is provided having a color-sensitive visual camera, an infrared camera and a fusion or superposing device, which superposes isochronous and same-location image pairs by pixels or areas and/or forms average values.

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Munich, Germany

Thomas Weidner