Image recording device for a motor vehicle

Abstract

An image acquisition device (10) for a motor vehicle comprises a housing (11) and a plurality of image acquisition units (12-14), each image acquisition unit (12-14) comprising an image acquisition circuit board (18-20) and an image acquisition device (15-17) with a lens objective (31-33) and an image sensor (21-23) mounted on the image acquisition circuit board (18-20). The image acquisition device (10) comprises a distribution unit (24) which is connected to each of the image acquisition units (12-14) via a corresponding communication link (27-29). The distribution unit (24) comprises a power supply unit (28) which is configured to supply power to the image acquisition units (12-14) via the communication link (27-29). The image acquisition units (12-14) and the distribution unit (24) are arranged in the same housing (11).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an image acquisition device for a motor vehicle, comprising a housing and a plurality of image acquisition units, wherein each image acquisition unit comprises an image acquisition circuit board and an image acquisition device with a lens objective and an image sensor mounted on the image acquisition circuit board, wherein the image acquisition device comprises a distribution unit.

[0002] A previously known image acquisition device for a motor vehicle is characterized by each image acquisition unit being connected to a corresponding domain controller via a coaxial cable configured for serial communication. Each image acquisition unit comprises a housing, a serializer, and a power supply. Each domain controller has a processing unit for image data received from the corresponding image acquisition unit. Power is supplied via a separate power cable from the domain controller to the image acquisition unit. This configuration involves a large number of components, is heavy, and expensive.

[0003] The problem underlying the present invention is to provide an image acquisition device with a reduced number of components, reduced weight and reduced cost.

[0004] The invention solves this problem with the features of the independent claims.

[0005] According to the invention, the distribution unit is connected to each of the image acquisition units via a corresponding communication link, wherein the distribution unit comprises a power supply device which is configured to supply power to each of the image acquisition units via the communication link, and wherein the image acquisition units and the distribution unit are arranged within the same housing.

[0006] The invention provides a single distribution unit for all image acquisition units of the image acquisition device, instead of a plurality of distribution units corresponding to the number of image acquisition units in the image acquisition device. Instead of a power supply unit provided in each image acquisition unit, a single power supply unit is provided, which is configured to supply power to each of the image acquisition units via the communication link. Instead of a housing provided for each image acquisition unit, a common housing is provided to accommodate the image acquisition units and the distribution unit. In this way, the number of components required by the invention is much smaller than in the prior art.

[0007] Preferably, the communication link between the image acquisition units and the distribution unit is configured for parallel communication. Preferably, the distribution unit includes a serializer configured to serialize data received from the image acquisition units and to transmit the serialized data to a serial communication port. In this preferred embodiment, instead of a serializer in each image acquisition unit, a single serializer is provided in the distribution unit.

[0008] Preferably, the distribution unit includes a filter, for example a power-over-coax (POC) filter, configured to separate a power signal from a communication signal received by the filter. In this preferred embodiment, instead of a filter provided in each image acquisition unit, a single filter is provided in the distribution unit.

[0009] In one practical embodiment of the invention, the housing of the image-capturing device comprises a mechanical interface configured for mounting the image-capturing device on the outer shell of a motor vehicle. Preferably, the mechanical interface is configured for mounting the image-capturing device at the position of a side mirror of the motor vehicle. However, the invention is not limited to such an arrangement. The image-capturing device can be mounted at other positions on the outer shell of a motor vehicle.

[0010] The invention also relates to an image acquisition system for a motor vehicle, comprising an image acquisition device as described above and a central processing unit connected to the distribution unit via a communication link. The communication link between the image acquisition device and the central processing unit is preferably configured for serial communication.

[0011] Preferably, the central processing unit comprises a deserializer configured to deserialize data received from the image acquisition device via the serial communication link. Instead of a plurality of serial communication links between the image acquisition units and the domain controllers of the prior art, this embodiment provides a single serial communication link between the image acquisition device and the central processing unit.

[0012] Preferably, the central processing unit comprises a computing device configured to perform image processing on image data received from the image acquisition units via the aforementioned distribution system. Instead of a plurality of computing devices provided in the domain controllers of the prior art, the invention provides for a single computing device in the central processing unit.

[0013] In one embodiment of the invention, the image acquisition system preferably comprises a plurality of image acquisition devices, as described above. In this embodiment, the housing of a first image acquisition device may include a mechanical interface configured for mounting on a motor vehicle at the position of a left side mirror, and the housing of a second image acquisition device may include a mechanical interface configured for mounting on a motor vehicle at the position of a right side mirror. Preferably, an image acquisition device of a first image acquisition device and an image acquisition device of a second image acquisition device are arranged in a stereo arrangement.In this embodiment, the baseline of the stereo image acquisition device, which may extend across the entire width of the vehicle, would be much wider than in the prior art, providing a unique advantage in depth perception over long distances.

[0014] The invention will now be illustrated with reference to preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an image acquisition system; Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of an image recording device; and Fig. 3 A top view of a motor vehicle with image recording devices at the position of the side mirrors.

[0015] The image acquisition system 30 comprises at least one image acquisition device 10 and a central processing unit 50. The central processing unit 50 is connected to each image acquisition device 10 via a communication link 40, preferably a serial communication link, for example a coaxial cable connection. Each image acquisition device 10 and the central processing unit 50 comprise corresponding connections 26, 53, for example coaxial cable connections.

[0016] The image acquisition device 10 comprises a plurality of image acquisition units 12, 13, 14, preferably at least three image acquisition units 12, 13, 14. Each image acquisition unit comprises a corresponding image acquisition device 15, 16, 17, for example a camera, and an image acquisition circuit board 18, 19, 20. Each image acquisition device 15, 16, 17 comprises a lens objective 31, 32, 33 and an image acquisition sensor 21, 22, 23. The lens objective 31, 32, 33 is configured to focus an image from the surroundings of the motor vehicle onto the corresponding image sensor 21, 22, 23, which is configured to convert the incident optical signal into an electrical signal that includes the image information.

[0017] The image acquisition device 10 further comprises a distribution unit 24, which is connected to each image acquisition unit 12, 13, 14 of the image acquisition device 10 via communication links 27, 28, 29, preferably parallel communication links, for example, flexible cable communication links. Each image acquisition unit 12-14 and the distribution unit 24 comprise corresponding connections 35, 36, 37 and 41, 42, 43 respectively, for example, flexible cable connections.

[0018] The lens objective 31, 32, 33, the image sensor 21, 22, 23 and the connections 35, 36, 37 of each image acquisition device are preferably mounted on the corresponding image acquisition circuit board 18, 19, 20.

[0019] The distribution unit 24 preferably comprises a distribution circuit board 34. The distribution unit 24 preferably comprises a serializer 25 for serializing the data received by the image acquisition units 12-14 and for transmitting the serialized data to the central processing unit 50 via the serial communication link 40. The central processing unit 50 comprises a deserializer 51, which is configured to deserialize the serial data received by the at least one image acquisition device 10 via the serial communication link 40.

[0020] The distribution unit 24 preferably comprises a power supply unit 28 for supplying power to the electrical components of the image acquisition device 10, in particular to the image acquisition units 12-14, via the communication links 27-29. The power supply unit 28 preferably receives power from the central processing unit via the communication link 40. The distribution unit 24 preferably comprises a filter 27, preferably a power-over-coaxial (POC) filter, which is configured to separate a power signal received from the central processing unit 50 via the communication link 40 from a communication signal. Alternatively, the power supply unit 28 can receive power from an independent power supply line or from the vehicle's power supply.

[0021] The serializer 25, the serial communication port 26, the filter 27, the power supply 28 and the parallel communication ports 41-43 can preferably be mounted on the distribution circuit board 34.

[0022] The central computing unit 50 comprises a computing device 60 with a digital processor 52, a ROM memory 54 and a RAM memory 55, which are preferably mounted on a circuit board 56 of the central computing unit 50, on which the serial communication port 53 can also be mounted.

[0023] The electrical signal containing the image information is transmitted from the image acquisition devices 15-17 via parallel communication links 27-29 to the distribution unit 24 and from the distribution unit 24 via serial communication link 40 to the central processing unit 50. Image processing of the image data acquired by the image acquisition devices 15-17 is performed in the processing unit 60 of the central processing unit 50.

[0024] The in Fig. 2 The practical embodiment of an image recording device 10 shown is designed to be positioned at position 44a, 44b of a side mirror of a motor vehicle 45, see Fig. 3, for example, below the side mirror unit or in place of the side mirror unit as a virtual side mirror. The image acquisition device 10 comprises a corresponding mechanical interface 46, which is configured to be attached to the motor vehicle 45 at position 44a, 44b of a side mirror. When attached, the housing 11 provides an interior space in which the electrical components of the image acquisition device 10 are housed.

[0025] The image acquisition device 10 comprises three image acquisition units 12-14, which are connected via a parallel communication cable that is in Fig. 2 not shown, are connected to the distribution unit 24. Optionally, the image acquisition device 10 can include one or more lidar sensors 47, which can be connected to the distribution unit 24 via a parallel communication cable 48, and / or one or more radar sensors. The central processing unit 50 and the serial communication link 40 are in Fig. 2 not shown.

Claims

[1] An image acquisition device (10) for a motor vehicle, comprising a housing (11) and a plurality of image acquisition units (12-14), wherein each image acquisition unit (12-14) comprises an image acquisition circuit board (18-20) and an image acquisition device (15-17) with a lens objective (31-33) and an image sensor (21-23) mounted on the image acquisition circuit board (18-20), wherein the image acquisition device (10) comprises a distribution unit (24), characterized by , that the distribution unit (24) is connected to each of the image acquisition units (12-14) via a corresponding communication link (27-29), wherein the distribution unit (24) comprises a power supply device (28) which is configured to supply power to the image acquisition units (12-14) via the communication link (27-29), wherein the image acquisition units (12-14) and the distribution unit (24) are arranged in the same housing (11). [2] The image acquisition device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the communication link (27-29) is set up for parallel communication. [3] The image acquisition device (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the distribution unit (24) comprises a serializer (25) which is configured to serialize data received from the image acquisition units (12-14) and to transmit the serialized data to a serial communication port (26). [4] The image acquisition device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the distribution unit (24) comprises a filter (27) which is configured to separate a power signal from a communication signal received by the filter (27). [5] The image acquisition device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the housing (11) comprises a mechanical interface configured to attach the image acquisition device (10) to the outer shell of a motor vehicle. [6] The image acquisition device (10) according to claim 5, wherein the mechanical interface is configured to attach the image acquisition unit (10) at the position of a side mirror of the motor vehicle. [7] An image acquisition system (30) for a motor vehicle, comprising an image acquisition device (10) according to one of the preceding claims and a central computing unit (50) which is connected to the distribution unit (24) via a communication link (40). [8] The image acquisition system (30) according to claim 7, wherein the communication link (27-29) is set up for serial communication. [9] The image acquisition system (30) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the central computing unit (50) comprises a deserializer (51) configured to deserialize data received from the image acquisition device (10) via the communication link (40). [10] The image acquisition system (30) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the central computing unit (50) comprises a computing device (60) which is configured to perform image processing of image data received from the image acquisition units (12-14) via the distributor (24). [11] The image acquisition system (30) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the image acquisition system (30) comprises a plurality of image acquisition devices (10a, 10b) according to claims 1 to 6. [12] The image acquisition system (30) according to claim 11, wherein the housing (11a) of a first image acquisition device (10a) comprises a mechanical interface which is configured to be attached to a motor vehicle at the position of a left side mirror, and the housing (11b) of a second image acquisition device (10b) comprises a mechanical interface which is configured to be attached to a motor vehicle at the position of a right side mirror. [13] The image acquisition system (30) according to claim 12, wherein an image acquisition device of a first image acquisition device (10a) and an image acquisition device of a second image acquisition device (10b) are arranged in a stereo arrangement.

Images