Method and apparatus for object detection in camera blind zones

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020193178-A1
Application number	US-201816218550-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 13, 2018
Priority date	Dec 13, 2018
Publication date	Jun 18, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present application generally relates to a method and apparatus for object detection in a location obscured from a camera field of view in a motor vehicle. In particular, the system is operative to illuminate a FOV from a low angle using a light source, capture an image of the FOV from a high angle and to detect a shadow within the image indivative of an object being illuminated by the light source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
illuminating a field of view using a first light source; capturing an image of the field of view; detecting a shadow within the image; determining the presence of an object in response to the shadow; generating a control signal in response to the presence of the object; and controlling a vehicle in response to the control signal.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein a vehicle steering system is controlled in response to the control signal.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the field of view is illuminated from a low angle and the image is captured from a high angle;

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the field of view is illuminated by a light emitting diode.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the field of view is illuminated by a plurality of light emitting diodes.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the image includes a first image taken at a first time and a second image taken at a second time and the shadow is detected in response to a comparison of the first image and the second image.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein a warning is generated in response to the determination of the presence of the object.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the object is obscured in the image.

9 . An apparatus comprising:
a light source for illuminating a field of view; a detector for capturing an image of the field of view; a processor for detecting a shadow within the image, for determining the presence of an object in response to the shadow and for generating a control signal in response to the presence of the object; and a vehicle controller for controlling a vehicle in response to the control signal.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the vehicle controller is operative to control a vehicle steering system in response to the control signal.

11 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the field of view is illuminated from a low angle and the image is captured from a high angle;

12 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the light source is a light emitting diode.

13 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the light source is a plurality of light emitting diodes.

14 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the image includes a first image taken at a first time and a second image taken at a second time and the shadow is detected in response to a comparison of the first image and the second image.

15 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the processor is further operative to generate a warning in response to the determination of the presence of the object.

16 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the detector is a camera.

17 . An apparatus for determining the presence of an object within a field of view comprising:
an LED array for illuminating the field of view at a first time using a first LED and illuminating the field of view at a second time using a second LED; a camera for capturing a first image at the first time and a second image at the second time; a processor for comparing the first image and the second image to determine the presence of an object in response to the first image and the second image and to generate a control signal in response to the determination of the presence of the object; and a vehicle controller for controlling the vehicle in response to the control signal.

18 . The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the processor is operative to determine the presence of a first shadow within the first image and a second shadow within the second image and wherein the presence of the object is determined in response to the first shadow and the second shadow.

19 . The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the apparatus is part of an assisted driving system.

20 . The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the vehicle controller is operative to control the steering system of a vehicle in response to the control system.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Hart Nathaniel W
• Sims Iii Robert D
• Yu Hao

Classifications

• H04N23/73

  by influencing the exposure time · CPC title

• H04N23/71 Primary

  Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation · CPC title

• G06V20/58 Primary

  Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads · CPC title

• B60W30/0956

  the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters · CPC title

• B60W30/09

  Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering · CPC title