Patent ID: 7899212

Claim:
An image processing apparatus for detecting an obstacle existing in front area of a moving object comprising: an image input unit configured to pick up input images of the front area of the moving object and input the input images; a corresponding position calculating unit configured to calculate a corresponding area on the input images corresponding to a focused area in a real space in which the moving object moves; an image generating unit configured to generate first images by scanning the input images along a horizontal line through the corresponding area and generate two-dimensional second images by arranging the first images in the vertical direction in time series; a characteristic extracting unit configured to extract characteristic points of a given time on the second image; a trajectory information generating unit configured to generate trajectory information between the characteristic point at the given time and another characteristic point at different time from the given time near the characteristic point on the second image; and an obstacle detecting unit configured to determine the characteristic point to belong to the obstacle when the trajectory information satisfies a criterion for the obstacle.