Guard rail detecting device

Abstract: A guard rail detecting device mounted on a motor vehicle comprises: two image sensors spaced (3, 4) vertically to sense a scene in front of the motor vehicle; window setting means (12) for setting a plurality of windows on the display screen (11) at predetermined positions; distance calculating means (10) for calculating the distances from the vehicle to the parts of the guard rail (5) which are held as images in the windows; means (10) for predicting the curvature of the guard rail from the distances thus calculated.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a guard rail detecting device according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a guard rail detecting device is known from SPIE, vol. 727, Mobile Robots, 1986, pp. 161-168. An optical distance detecting device using an image sensor has been disclosed in the art, for instance, by Japanese Patent Examined Published Application Nos. Sho-63-38085/(1988) (Appl. No. 57-82 003) and Sho-63-46363/(1988) (Appl. No. 61-310 547). The device, as shown in Fig. 6, has two right and left optical systems having two lenses 1 and 2 which are spaced by a base length L from each other. Image sensors 3 and 4 are disposed at the focal length f of the two lenses 1 and 2, respectively. The output image signals of the image sensors 3 and 4 are applied to a signal processing unit 30, where they are shifted so as to be electrically superposed on each other. When the two image signals are superposed best, the amount of shift (ℓ) is read to calculate the distance (R) between the position of the lenses and an object 31 from the following expression according to the trigonometrical measurement principle: R = (f x L)/ℓ On the other hand, a method of detecting the radius of curvature of a curved road along which a motor vehicle is traveling has been disclosed, for instance, by Japanese Patent Unexamined Published Application No. Hei-1-285815/(1990) (Appl. No. 63-116 093). In the conventional method, a gyroscope or a geomagnetic sensor is employed to detect the radius of curvature of a curved road along which a motor vehicle is traveling. In the case of the above-described conventional method, in order to detect the radius of curvature of a curved road along it is essential that the motor vehicle travels along the curved road. Furthermore, the radius of curvature of a road cannot be detected before the motor vehicle reaches the road. Hence, even if there is a sharp turn ahead of the motor vehicle, it is impossible to inform the driver of it. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of this invention is to eliminate the above-described difficulty accompanying a conventional method of detecting the radius of curvature of a curved road along which a motor vehicle travels. More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a guard rail detecting device which detects the degree of curvature of a guard rail set along a curved road thereby to predict the radius of curvature of the curved road before the motor vehicle reaches the curved road. The foregoing object of the invention has been achieved by the provision of a guard rail detecting device having the characterizing features of claim 1. In the guard rail detecting device of the invention, a plurality of windows are set on the display screen at the position where the image of the guard rail is provided. With the image in each window as a reference image, upper and lower images sensed with two image sensors are subjected to comparison, to electrically detect the deviation of the two images from each other, thereby to measure the distance from the vehicle to the part of the guard rail the image of which is held in the window. The distances thus measured and the positions of the windows are utilized to calculate the curvature of the guard rail. Preferred embodiments are listed in the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram, partly as a block diagram, showing the arrangement of one example of a guard rail detecting device according to this invention; Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing windows set on a display screen; Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the image of a guard rail displayed on the display screen which is located ahead of a motor vehicle; Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing image regions compared with reference images in the windows; Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram for a description of a method of predicting the curvature of a guard rail; and Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of a conventional optical distance detecting device. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION One preferred embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows one example of a guard rail detecting device according to the invention installed on a motor vehicle, which measures the distance between the vehicle and a guard rail set along a curved road ahead to predict the radius of curvature of the curved road. In Fig. 1, reference numerals 1 and 2 designate lenses forming upper and lower optical systems, respectively; 3 and 4, two-dimensional image sensors arranged for the lenses 1 and 2, respectively; 5, a guard rail set along a curved road ahead of the motor vehicle; 6 and 7, analog-to-digital converters; 8 and 9, memories; 10, a microcomputer; 11, a display screen for displaying an image sensed by one of the image sensors, the display screen 11 being controlled by the microcomputer; 12, a window setting unit for setting windows to define in the image the area in which the distance between the guard rail 5 and the vehicle is measured. The window setting unit 12 sets a plurality of windows 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 which, as shown in Fig. 2, are arranged in position on the display screen 11 in advance. Further in Fig. 1, reference numeral 13 designates a speed detector on the motor vehicle; and 14, an alarm unit such as a buzzer or the like. The guard rail detecting device thus organized operates as follows: It is assumed that one of the image sensors, namely the image sensor 4, senses the image of a scene in front of the motor vehicle which, as shown in Fig. 3, includes the image 5a of a guard rail set along a curved road. In this case, the microcomputer 10 reads from the memory 9 the picture element signal in the window 17 which holds the guard rail image 5a and employs it as a reference image signal for distance measurement. Furthermore, the microcomputer 10 makes access to the memory 8 in which the image signal of the other image sensor 3 has been stored, to select the region corresponding to the window 17, and, while shifting the image signal of the memory 8 with respect to the aforementioned reference image signal one by one picture element, calculates the sum of the absolute values of the difference signals for every upper and lower picture elements. That is, by shifting the image signal of the memory 8 one by one picture element, the position is obtained where it agrees best with the image in the window 17. What this calculation concerns is the region 22 of the image in the memory 8 which corresponds in position to the window 17 holding the reference image signal as shown in Fig. 4. In this case the distance (R) between the guard rail 5 and the vehicle can be calculated from the following equation (1): R = (f × L)/(n × P) where n is the number of picture elements representing the distance through which the picture element has been shifted when, in the case where upper and lower picture elements are subjected to comparison as described above, the sum of the absolute values of the difference signals thereof is minimum; P, the pitch of picture elements; L, the base length of the optical systems; and f, the focal length of the lenses 1 and 2. Thus, the distance from the vehicle to the region of the guard rail 5 selected with the window 17 can be detected. Similarly, the guard rail images 5a selected with the other windows 15, 16, 18 and 19 in the display screen 11 are subjected to image comparison in the respective arithmetic regions 20, 21, 23 and 24, respectively, so that, with respect to the windows 15, 16, 18 and 19, the distances to the guard rail are calculated from the above-described Equation (1), respectively. In the case where, as shown in Fig. 5, a guard rail 5 set along a road, along which a motor vehicle 25 travels, is curved to the left ahead, the distances from the point A where the lenses 1 and 2 are located and points on the guard rail are measured as follows; That is, the distance between the point A and a point D on the guard rail 5 is substantially measured with the central window 17; the distance between the point A and a point B on the guard rail 5, with the window 15; the distance between the point A and a point C on the guard rail 5, with the window 16; the distance between the point A and a point E on the guard rail, with the window 18; and the distance between the point A and a point F on the guard rail, with the window 19. In this case, obviously the distance between the points A and C is longer than that between the points A and D, and the distance between the points A and E is shorter. Visual angles ϑ₁ and ϑ₂ viewing the measuring points B, C, D, E and F are naturally determined from the positions of the windows 15 through 19 which have been defined in the display screen 11 in advance. Hence, by obtaining the distance d between the points A and D and the distance c between the points A and C, the triangle ACD is determined in configuration. The angle α can be calculated from the following equation as is well known in the art: sinα = c ·sinϑ₁ c ²+ d ²-2 cd ·cosϑ₁ Similarly, the angle β can be calculated. These calculations are carried out by the microcomputer 10. The angle α represents the degree of curvature of the guard rail 5 with the point D as a reference. That is, when it is an acute angle, the curve is sharp; and when it is an obtuse angle, the curve is gentle. The angle β represents the degree of curvature of the part of the guard rail 5 which extends from the point C. Thus, the degrees of curvatures of the guard rail at a plurality of points can be detected, as a result of which the curvature of the road ahead can be predicted. From the fact that the distance between the points A and E is shorter than the distance between the points A and D, it can be detected that the road is turned to the left ahead. When the microcomputer determines it from the values of the angles α and β that there is a sharp turn ahead, the alarm unit 14 is operated to inform the driver of the fact that the road is sharply turned to the left before the vehicle reaches the sharp turn. As was described above, the guard rail detecting device mounted on a motor vehicle in which upper and lower image signals are subjected to comparison which represent images formed on the image sensors through a pair of upper and lower optical systems, to electrically detect the deviation of the two images from each other thereby to measure the distance from the motor vehicle to a guard rail located ahead of the motor vehicle according to the principle of trigonometrical measurement, operates as follows: A plurality of windows are set on one of the upper and lower image signals at predetermined positions, and the distances from the motor vehicle to a plurality of points on the guard rail which are held as images in the windows are measured through comparison of the upper and lower images corresponding to the image in each of the windows, and the distances thus measured are utilized to detect the degree of curvature of the guard rail. Hence, the direction and the curvature of a curved road can be predicted before the vehicle reaches the road. That is, with the guard rail detecting device, in driving the vehicle, the traffic conditions ahead can be detected in advance.

Claims: A guard rail detecting device in which upper and lower image signals representing images formed on image sensor (3, 4) through a pair of upper and lower optical systems (1, 2) are compared with each other, to electrically detect the deviation of said two images from each other thereby to measure a distance from a vehicle to a guard rail (5) located ahead of said vehicle according to the principle of trigonometrical measurements, comprising a window setting means (12) and a distance calculation means (10), and a means for predicting curvature (10); characterized in that said window setting means (12) is for setting a plurality of windows (15, 16, 17, 18, 19) having different visual angles (ϑ₁, ϑ₂) predetermined by their positions on one of said upper and lower image signals where the image of the guard rail (5) is provided; said distance calculating means (10) is for calculating the distances from said vehicle to said guard rail (5) for each window (15, 16, 17, 18, 19), by detecting the deviation between the image signal in each window (15, 16, 17, 18, 19) as a reference signal and the corresponding image signal in each corresponding window; and said means for predicting curvature (10) predicts the curvature at a plurality of points of that guard rail (5) from the distances thus calculated and from the visual angles (ϑ₁, ϑ₂) of the windows (15, 16, 17, 18, 19). A guard rail detecting device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a display means (11) for displaying the image sensed by one of the two image sensors (3, 4). A guard rail detecting device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising an alarm means (14) for informing that the road is sharply turned before the vehicle reaches the sharp turn based on the result of predicting of said predicting means (10).

Inventors: ASAYAMA YOSHIAKI C O MITSUBISH, ASAYAMA, YOSHIAKI, C/O MITSUBISHI DENKI K.K.
Applicants: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP, MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1992
Main classification: G01C3
IPC codes: B60W30, G01B11, G01C3, G08G1, G01S11