Patent ID: 7590263

Claim:
A vehicle vicinity monitoring apparatus for use on a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: an imaging unit for obtaining an image of a vicinity of said vehicle; an object distance detecting unit for detecting a distance up to an object; and an object information calculating unit for calculating information as to the object with a calculation method corresponding to said distance up to said object which is detected by said object distance detecting unit; a coordinate reference value memory unit for storing reference coordinates of an object whose image is obtained by said imaging unit for adjustment; and a template memory unit for storing a plurality of templates representing obtained images of objects depending on the distance from said imaging unit, wherein said object information calculating unit comprises: a template selecting unit for selecting one of said templates stored in said template memory unit depending on the distance from said imaging unit to said object; and an object coordinate calculating unit for performing template matching on said image obtained by said imaging unit by using said template selected by said template selecting unit, and calculating coordinates of said object.