Patent ID: 7936903
Filing Date: 2011-05-03
Classification: G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method for detecting a road at night or in poor visual conditions, said method being based on an image frame and being executed by a computer, said image frame, I, being divided into pixels, each having an intensity value assigned corresponding to a temperature of a point of an environment that the image frame represents, said method comprising the steps of calculating a mask, R, ( 230 ) by detecting in said image frame pixels candidates to represent a road; selecting ( 250 ) from the road candidate pixels an initial cluster of road candidate pixels having a lower boundary coinciding with or being located in the vicinity of the lower part of the image frame as an estimate of the road; determining an initial horizon estimate ( 240 ) as a first horizontally oriented boundary between horizontal regions characterized by different densities of road candidate pixels; defining a final road cluster ( 260 ) by correcting the selected initial cluster of road candidate pixels ( 250 ) having an upper boundary, said correction being based on the location of said upper boundary relative to the initially estimated horizon and a predetermined upper limit for the location of the horizon.