Patent ID: 7636631
Filing Date: 2009-12-22
Classification: G01S,G06T

Abstract:
1. A position detecting device comprising: a travel speed detecting unit that detects a travel speed of a mobile object moving on an arbitrary route; an optical flow calculating unit that calculates an optical flow of one side of the mobile object, based on a series of frame images of the one side, wherein the one side is any one of a left side and a right side of the mobile object; a distance calculating unit that calculates a distance to a subject on the one side based on the travel speed and the optical flow; a spatial object identifying unit that identifies whether the subject is an intersection based on the distance calculated by the distance calculating unit; and a position detecting unit that detects a current position of the mobile object based on point data of the subject and the distance to the subject that is identified as the intersection by the spatial object identifying unit, wherein the spatial object identifying unit is further configured to identify the subject as the intersection when a frame image is shot in which a distance to a subject increases smoothly along a traveling direction of the mobile object and a distance to a subject equal to or more than a fixed distance continues for a distance equal to or more than a fixed distance in the traveling direction of the mobile object.