Patent ID: 7432799
Filing Date: 2008-10-07
Classification: B60Q,G08G,H04N

Abstract:
1. A driving support apparatus mounted on a vehicle, comprising: at least one camera operable to capture surroundings of a vehicle in an image; at least one obstacle detecting unit operable to detect an obstacle located within the surroundings of the vehicle, wherein the obstacle detecting unit detects the obstacle by transmitting and receiving one or more signals; a first image generating unit operable to generate, from the image captured by the camera, an overhead image of the surroundings of the vehicle as viewed from above the vehicle; a display device operable to display the overhead image; a second image generating unit operable to generate an object image from a portion of an image taken by the camera, wherein the object image captures a portion of the detected obstacle and a part of the surroundings of the detected obstacle, wherein the display device displays the object image capturing the portion of the detected obstacle and the part of the surroundings of the detected obstacle overlaid upon the overhead image, at a position within the overhead image corresponding to a location of the detected obstacle in the overhead image; wherein the second image generating unit is operable to compute the object image from a portion of the image extracted from the camera, and adjust the size and orientation of the object image, wherein the object image captures the portion of the detected object and a portion of the vehicle; and wherein when the obstacle detected is located rearward of the vehicle, the second image generating unit is operable to generate the object image from the portion of the image captured by the camera, and vertically and horizontally flip the extracted image portion such that the orientation of the object image corresponds to the orientation of the overhead image of the surroundings of the vehicle, as viewed by a user of the driving support apparatus.