Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080231702 | VEHICLE OUTSIDE DISPLAY SYSTEM AND DISPLAY CONTROL APPARATUS - When any of obstacle sensors detects an obstacle, a distance to the obstacle may be shorter than a reference distance. In such a case a vehicle outside display system clips a detection area corresponding to the obstacle sensor used for the detection from a photographed image supplied from a camera. The system superimposes a detection position of the obstacle on the clipped image and displays the superimposed image without performing viewpoint transformation. When the distance to the obstacle becomes shorter than the reference distance, the system clips a detection area corresponding to the obstacle sensor used for the detection from the photographed image supplied from the camera. The system applies bird's-eye view transformation to the clipped image. The system superimposes a detection position of the obstacle on the clipped image and displays the superimposed image. | 09-25-2008 |
20100071471 | OBSTACLE DETECTION SYSTEM - An obstacle detection apparatus for detecting an obstacle in its surroundings is disclosed. The system includes: an ultrasonic sensor for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic wave; an obstacle detection section for performing an obstacle detection operation to determine whether the obstacle actually exists, wherein the obstacle detection section determines that the obstacle actually exists when a first voltage level associated with the ultrasonic wave received in the obstacle detection operation exceeds a determination threshold; a noise monitoring section configured to perform a noise monitoring operation to determine a noise level, wherein, the noise monitoring section recognizes a second voltage level associated with the ultrasonic wave received in the noise monitoring operation as the noise level; and a determination threshold setting section configured to set the determination threshold based on the second voltage level. | 03-25-2010 |
20100074056 | OBSTACLE DETECTION DEVICE FOR DETECTING OBSTACLE - An obstacle detection device for detecting an obstacle includes: a transmitting and receiving element for transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic wave; an amplifier for amplifying a received signal corresponding to a received ultrasonic wave; and a gain controller for controlling a gain of the amplifier The gain controller increases the gain with time elapsed from a transmission time when the transmitting and receiving element transmits the ultrasonic wave. The gain controller starts to increase the gain at a rising time when reverberation caused by the transmitted ultrasonic wave is disappeared. | 03-25-2010 |
20100141414 | Field watch apparatus - A field watch apparatus uses a storage unit to store detection data of a detected obstacle from an obstacle sensor that detects objects under control of a control unit, and the detection data accumulated in the storage unit over time is used to display a mark on a captured image that is captured by a camera and shown on a screen of a display unit. The mark size and other attributes of the mark in the image are controlled in a manner that enables a view to easily recognize an old mark from a new one, thereby providing an intuitive recognition of the obstacle movement in a certain direction in the captured image, when the mark is superposed in the captured image for multiple times based on the accumulated detection data in the storage unit. | 06-10-2010 |
20100245065 | Obstacle detection apparatus and method of controlling obstacle detection apparatus - An obstacle detection apparatus includes first and second ultrasonic sensors, a control part, and a warning device for warning in accordance with a distance between at least one of the ultrasonic sensors and an obstacle. The control part sets the first ultrasonic sensor to a transmitting and receiving mode while setting the second ultrasonic sensor to a receiving mode, and then sets the first ultrasonic sensor to the receiving mode while setting the second ultrasonic sensor to the transmitting and receiving mode. Each of the ultrasonic sensors has a reception sensitivity to a reflected wave reflected by the obstacle. Each of the ultrasonic sensors includes a reception sensitivity control portion configured to increase the reception sensitivity when the receiving mode is set compared with when the transmitting and receiving mode is set. | 09-30-2010 |
20120169875 | REARWARD VIEW ASSISTANCE APPARATUS - 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. | 07-05-2012 |
20130010114 | APPARATUS FOR DETECTING OBJECT APPROACHING VEHICLE - 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. | 01-10-2013 |
20130177207 | 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. | 07-11-2013 |
20130182109 | VEHICLE PERIPHERY MONITORING APPARATUS - 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. | 07-18-2013 |
20130265431 | OUTSIDE VIEW MONITOR SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE - A monitor system is used for a vehicle equipped with a camera for capturing an image of a predetermined area outside the vehicle, a display device for displaying the captured image to a driver, and a mirror for reflecting the predetermined area. The monitor system includes a failure detector for detecting a failure of a function that allows the display device to display the captured image, a report device for causing the display device to display failure information when the failure detector detects the failure, and a state detector for detecting whether the mirror is in a state where the mirror reflects the predetermined area such that the driver views the predetermined area on the mirror. When the mirror is in the state, the report device causes the display device to delete or zoon out the displayed failure information. | 10-10-2013 |