Patent ID: 6985619
Filing Date: 2006-01-10
Classification: G06K,G06T,H04N

Abstract:
1. A distance correcting apparatus of a surroundings monitoring system, comprising: stereo imaging cameras for producing a pair of stereoscopic images including a reference image and a comparison image; parallax calculating means for calculating a parallax for a pixel block including calculating a horizontal deviation amount between the reference and comparison images; distance calculating means for calculating a distance to an object based on said pixel block parallax and a vanishing point parallax; approximation line calculating means for calculating a plurality of approximation lines extending in the distance direction in parallel with each other based on said images; vanishing point calculating means for calculating a vanishing point of said images from a point of intersection of said approximation lines; reference object detecting means for calculating a lane marker model expressing a change of a road surface height with respect to distance; means for identifying a condition of change of an actual road surface height based on said vanishing point, and for identifying a condition of change of a calculated road surface height based on said lane marker model; and parameter correcting means for correcting said vanishing point parallax so that said condition of change of said calculated road surface height becomes close to said condition of change of said actual road surface height.