Image recording device

Abstract

An image recording apparatus includes a recording determination section that determines whether or not an image recording condition for recording a captured image is satisfied based on a situation of a vehicle, a distinctness determination section that determines whether or not a recording exclusion object included in the captured image is captured distinctly, and a storage control section. Even if it is determined by the recording determination section that the image recording condition is satisfied, the storage control section does not cause the captured image to be stored in a storage section in a case where it is determined by the distinctness determination section that the recording exclusion object is captured distinctly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to an image recording device for recording images of the surroundings of a vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-180929 describes an image recording device that records images of the surrounding area of ​​a vehicle captured by an in-vehicle camera. This device stores the images captured by the in-vehicle camera in its storage unit when a predetermined specific event occurs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The problem the invention aims to solve

[0004] For example, even in the event of a specific event where images are stored, depending on the distance between the vehicle and the specific object, it is sometimes necessary to protect the privacy of the specific object.

[0005] Therefore, this disclosure describes an image recording device capable of recording images while taking into account the privacy of the object being recorded.

[0006] Means for solving technical problems

[0007] One aspect of the image recording apparatus disclosed herein is as follows: [1] "An image recording apparatus mounted on a vehicle, for recording images of the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle captured by a vehicle-mounted camera, comprising: a recording determination unit that determines, based on the condition of the vehicle, whether image recording conditions for recording the captured images are met; a clarity determination unit that determines whether a recording exclusion object contained in the captured images is clearly captured; and a storage control unit that, when the recording determination unit determines that the image recording conditions are met, controls the storage of the captured images in a storage unit, and even if the recording determination unit determines that the image recording conditions are met, but the clarity determination unit determines that the recording exclusion object is clearly captured, the storage control unit does not store the captured images in the storage unit."

[0008] In this image recording apparatus, a clarity determination unit determines whether the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured in the image. Even if the image recording conditions are met, the storage control unit does not store the captured image in the storage unit if it is determined that the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured. If the image recording conditions are met, but it is determined that the object to be excluded from recording is not clearly captured, the storage control unit stores the captured image in the storage unit. In this way, the image recording apparatus stores the captured image in the storage unit based on whether the object to be recorded is clearly captured. Therefore, the image recording apparatus can record images while considering the privacy of the object to be excluded from recording.

[0009] The aforementioned image recording device can also be: [2] "According to the image recording device described in [1] above, wherein the clarity determination unit determines that the object to be excluded from recording is not clearly captured when the distance between the vehicle camera and the object to be excluded from recording is greater than a specified distance threshold, and determines that the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured when the distance between the vehicle camera and the object to be excluded from recording is less than the specified distance threshold." For example, when the distance from the vehicle camera to the object to be excluded from recording is far, the object to be excluded from recording in the captured image is likely to become unclear. Therefore, by using the distance between the vehicle camera and the object to be excluded from recording, the image recording device can more appropriately determine whether the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured.

[0010] The image recording device described above can also be: [3] "The image recording device according to [2] above, wherein the distance threshold is determined based on the number of pixels in the longitudinal or lateral direction of the object to be excluded from recording in the captured image." For example, even if the distance from the vehicle camera to the object to be excluded from recording is the same, depending on the performance of the vehicle camera, the object to be excluded from recording may be captured clearly or become blurry. Therefore, the clarity determination unit uses a distance threshold determined based on the number of pixels of the object to be excluded from recording in the captured image. Thus, the image recording device can use a distance threshold determined taking into account the performance of the vehicle camera to determine whether the object to be excluded from recording is captured clearly and record the captured image.

[0011] The image recording device described above can also be: [4] "The image recording device according to any one of [1] to [3] above, wherein, when the storage control unit is controlling the storage of the captured image in the storage unit, and the clarity determination unit determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured, the control of storing the captured image in the storage unit is stopped." In this case, the image recording device can switch whether to record the captured image based on the change in the clarity of the object to be excluded from recording in the captured image.

[0012] The image recording device described above may also be: [5] "The image recording device according to any one of [1] to [4] above, wherein the object of recording excludes the face of a person or the license plate of another vehicle." In this case, since the image recording device does not record the image of the face of a person or the license plate of another vehicle in a clear state, their privacy can be protected.

[0013] The image recording device described above may also be: [6] "The image recording device according to any one of [1] to [5] above, wherein the image recording conditions are the operating conditions of the driving assistance function related to the steering or speed of the vehicle." In this case, the image recording device is able to record captured images in a manner that allows for subsequent confirmation of the external conditions when the driving assistance function is in operation, while taking into account the privacy of the object being excluded from recording.

[0014] Invention Effects

[0015] According to one method of this disclosure, it is possible to record captured images while taking into account the privacy of the object being recorded. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a graph used to illustrate the relationship between the distance from the vehicle-mounted camera to the object being excluded and the number of pixels of the object being excluded in the captured image.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating the compression of the original image.

[0019] Figure 4 (a) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the vehicle and other vehicles in the case of recording and capturing images. Figure 4 (b) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the vehicle and other vehicles without recording images.

[0020] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of recording images in an image recording device. Detailed Implementation

[0021] Exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, in the drawings, identical or equivalent elements are labeled with the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted.

[0022] like Figure 1As shown, the image recording device 100 is mounted on vehicle V (this vehicle). The image recording device 100 records images of the surroundings of vehicle V captured by the onboard camera 20. The image recording device 100 includes an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 10 for unified management. The ECU 10 is an electronic control unit with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage unit. The storage unit may be composed of, for example, ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), or EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). In the ECU 10, various functions are implemented, for example, by the CPU executing programs stored in the storage unit. The ECU 10 may also be composed of multiple electronic control units.

[0023] The ECU 10 is connected to an onboard camera 20, a ranging sensor 30, and a storage unit 40. The onboard camera 20 is a camera that captures images of the surroundings of the vehicle V. The onboard camera 20 can also consist of one or more cameras mounted on the vehicle V. For example, the onboard camera 20 can capture images of the front, left, right, and rear of the vehicle V. The onboard camera 20 can also include cameras capable of capturing a wide area, such as those with fisheye lenses.

[0024] The ranging sensor 30 is a sensor capable of measuring the distance between the vehicle V and objects in its vicinity. The ranging sensor 30 can be, for example, a radar sensor or a sonar sensor. A radar sensor is a detection device that uses radio waves (e.g., millimeter waves) or light to detect objects in the vicinity of the vehicle. Examples of radar sensors include millimeter-wave radar or lidar (Light Detection and Ranging). A radar sensor detects objects by sending radio waves or light into the vicinity of the vehicle and receiving the radio waves or light reflected from the objects. A radar sensor is a sensor capable of measuring the distance to an object based on the time from sending radio waves or light to receiving its reflected waves. A sonar sensor sends sound waves into the vicinity of the vehicle V and receives the reflected waves (sound waves) reflected from objects. A sonar sensor is a sensor capable of measuring the distance to an object based on the time from the transmission of the sound wave to its reception.

[0025] Furthermore, a stereo camera can also be used as the ranging sensor 30. Two or more cameras included in the vehicle-mounted camera 20 can also be used as this stereo camera. A stereo camera is a device that arranges two cameras at a certain interval to obtain stereoscopic visual information, similar to the human eye. When using a stereo camera, the distance to an object can be measured by utilizing the difference (parallax) between the images captured by the two cameras. However, the type of sensor used for the ranging sensor 30 is not particularly limited. Any sensor capable of measuring the distance to an object is acceptable.

[0026] Storage unit 40 is a storage medium that stores images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20. Storage unit 40 stores images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 based on instructions from the storage control unit 14 of ECU 10. Furthermore, storage unit 40 can be mounted on the vehicle V or installed as an external server or the like. The type of storage unit 40 is not particularly limited.

[0027] The ECU 10 functionally includes an image acquisition unit 11, a recording determination unit 12, a clarity determination unit 13, and a storage control unit 14. The image acquisition unit 11 acquires images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20. For example, whenever the vehicle-mounted camera 20 captures an image, the image acquisition unit 11 acquires the captured image in real time.

[0028] The recording determination unit 12 determines, based on the condition of the vehicle V, whether the image recording conditions for recording the images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 are met. These image recording conditions are predetermined. They are the conditions for storing the captured images in the storage unit 40 when the conditions are met.

[0029] The image recording conditions can also be the operating conditions of the vehicle V's driving assistance functions. For example, the driving assistance function can be an assistance related to the steering or speed of the vehicle V, performed by a driving assistance unit capable of controlling the vehicle V's movement. For example, the driving assistance function could be a collision avoidance function that slows down the vehicle V to prevent a vehicle or object in front from getting too close, a lane keeping assist function that keeps the vehicle V within its driving lane (white line), or a speed control assist function that controls the speed of the vehicle V by following the vehicle in front or by driving at a specified speed. The image recording conditions can be the situation where, during the execution of the driving assistance function, the occupant (driver) of the vehicle V intervenes in the driving assistance function (an intervention operation related to steering or speed, etc.). The recording determination unit 12 can, for example, obtain from the driving assistance unit whether the operating conditions of the vehicle V's driving assistance function are met and whether an intervention operation has been performed.

[0030] Furthermore, the image recording conditions can also be the state of the vehicle V being driven by a driver who is unable to perform driving operations or is unable to perform driving operations properly. For example, the recording determination unit 12 can determine whether the driver is in a state where he is unable to perform driving operations or is unable to perform driving operations properly (e.g., dozing off or looking to the side) based on images captured by a driver monitoring camera that monitors the driver's state in the vehicle V. For example, the recording determination unit 12 can determine the driver's state based on the driver's posture, the presence or absence of driver movements, and the driver's facial orientation obtained from the captured images.

[0031] Image recording conditions can also be the state of vehicle V where the occupants have sent a signal requesting external assistance or notified the outside world of an abnormal SOS signal. The recording determination unit 12 can determine whether a signal requesting external assistance or a notification of an abnormal SOS signal has been sent based on the signal sending operation performed by the occupants of vehicle V (e.g., pressing a button).

[0032] In addition, as image recording conditions, it is also possible to specify situations such as other objects (people or other vehicles, etc.) approaching within a specified range of vehicle V, or situations where an impact of a specified magnitude or greater occurs on vehicle V.

[0033] The clarity determination unit 13 determines whether a recording exclusion object is clearly captured in the image taken by the vehicle-mounted camera 20. Here, the recording exclusion object can be defined as an object or part that is not desired to be captured in a recognizable manner in the image. In other words, the recording object can be defined as an object or part whose privacy needs to be protected. The recording exclusion object is predetermined. In this embodiment, as an example, a person's face and the license plates of other vehicles are defined as recording exclusion objects. However, the recording exclusion object can be either a person's face or the license plates of other vehicles, or other objects or parts. The clarity determination unit 13 can use known image processing techniques to identify the presence, size, etc., of the recording exclusion object from the image taken by the vehicle-mounted camera 20. Furthermore, the clarity determination unit 13 can also use the detection results of the ranging sensor 30 to identify the presence or absence of the recording exclusion object.

[0034] The situation where the object to be excluded is clearly captured can also be described as a situation where the object to be excluded can be identified (determined) based on the captured image, or a situation where it can be easily identified. For example, the farther the distance between the vehicle camera 20 and the object to be excluded, the smaller the size (number of pixels) of the object to be excluded in the image captured by the vehicle camera 20. In other words, the farther the distance between the vehicle camera 20 and the object to be excluded, the more difficult it is to capture the object to be excluded clearly in the captured image. Therefore, as an example, in this embodiment, the distance between the vehicle camera 20 and the object to be excluded is used as the determination of whether the object to be excluded is captured clearly. Furthermore, the distance between the vehicle camera 20 and the object to be excluded can be set as the distance between the vehicle camera 20 and the object to be excluded along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle V.

[0035] Specifically, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has not been clearly captured if the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is greater than a specified distance threshold. Conversely, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured if the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is at the specified distance threshold. Furthermore, the clarity determination unit 13 can calculate (obtain) the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording based on the measurement results of the ranging sensor 30. Moreover, the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording here refers to the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle V.

[0036] The distance threshold used by the clarity determination unit 13 during determination can also be defined based on the vertical or horizontal pixel count of the excluded object in the captured image. For example, the distance threshold can be set to a size that makes the vertical or horizontal pixel count of the excluded object reach a specified pixel count. In this embodiment, as an example, the distance threshold is set based on the horizontal pixel count of the excluded object. Here, in the image captured by the vehicle camera 20, as an example, the distance that makes the horizontal pixel count of the excluded object reach a specified pixel count threshold is set as the distance threshold.

[0037] The specified "pixel count threshold" for recording the horizontal pixel count of an excluded object refers to the number of pixels (the horizontal pixel count of the excluded object) that serves as the benchmark for determining whether the excluded object has been clearly captured. For example, if the horizontal pixel count of the excluded object in an captured image is above the specified pixel count threshold, it can be determined that the excluded object has been clearly captured. If the horizontal pixel count of the excluded object in an captured image is below the specified pixel count threshold, it can be determined that the excluded object has not been clearly captured. This pixel count threshold is predetermined for determining whether an object has been clearly captured.

[0038] Furthermore, this pixel count threshold can be specified for each type of object to be excluded from recording. In this embodiment, for example, the pixel count threshold can be specified separately for the face of a person and the license plate of a vehicle to be excluded from recording.

[0039] For example, depending on the performance (resolution) of the vehicle-mounted camera 20, even if the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is the same, the object may be captured clearly or become blurry. Therefore, a distance threshold for determining whether an object to be excluded from recording is captured clearly is defined based on a pixel count threshold that serves as a benchmark for determining whether the object is captured clearly. Thus, a distance threshold that corresponds to the performance of the vehicle-mounted camera 20 can be set as the distance threshold.

[0040] Thus, when the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is below a distance threshold, the horizontal pixel count of the object to be excluded exceeds a pixel count threshold. Therefore, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured. On the other hand, when the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is greater than a distance threshold (when the object is far away), the horizontal pixel count of the object to be excluded is less than a pixel count threshold. Therefore, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has not been clearly captured.

[0041] Here, an example of a method for setting a distance threshold based on a pixel count threshold will be explained. That is, the distance threshold set here is the distance from the vehicle V to the object to be excluded from recording, provided that the size (horizontal pixel count) of the object captured in the image becomes the boundary for determining whether it is sharp or not. Furthermore, this distance threshold refers to the distance in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle V. In addition, the following assumes that the vehicle-mounted camera 20 uses a fisheye lens, and the projection method of the fisheye lens is orthographic projection.

[0042] like Figure 2 As shown, the vehicle-mounted camera 20 includes a fisheye lens 21 and an image sensor 22 that receives light focused by the fisheye lens. The light focused by the fisheye lens 21 is incident parallel to the light-receiving surface 22a of the image sensor 22. There is a recording exclusion object K in front of the right side of the vehicle-mounted camera 20. The lateral width of the recording exclusion object is defined as width a [m].

[0043] Furthermore, in the following examples, such as Figure 3As shown, the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 (the saved image stored in the storage unit 40) is compressed relative to the original image by a compression ratio α. The original image refers to the original image (unprocessed image) detected by the image sensor 22. In this specification, the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 refers to the saved image stored in the storage unit 40. Therefore, when the original image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 is compressed and saved, the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 refers to the compressed image. Furthermore, when the original image is not compressed and is saved in the storage unit 40 as is, the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 refers to the original image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 itself.

[0044] The object K recorded in the images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 (save images stored in the storage unit 40) is excluded. Figure 3 The horizontal size of the human face in the image is set to q. w [pix], let the horizontal width of image sensor 22 be w[m], and let the horizontal number of pixels of image sensor 22 be W[pix]. In this case, the horizontal size q of the object to be excluded is calculated by the following formula (1). w [pix].

[0045]

[0046] Where α is the compression ratio.

[0047] The compression ratio α is (the number of horizontal (vertical) pixels in the saved image) / (the number of horizontal (vertical) pixels in the original image).

[0048] In the case of orthographic projection, the image size projected onto the light-receiving surface 22a is maximized when the center of the object K to be excluded is located on the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted camera 20. Therefore, if R1 = a / 2 and R2 = -a / 2, then the following equation (2) holds.

[0049]

[0050] The pixel count threshold, which will serve as the benchmark for determining whether an excluded object in the recording is clearly captured, is set to b[pix]. When the horizontal size q of the excluded object in the recording... w When [pix] is consistent with the pixel count threshold b[pix], the distance from the vehicle camera 20 to the excluded object K (i.e., the distance threshold L) is... th [m] is represented by the following formula (3).

[0051]

[0052] Additionally, using Figure 2 and Figure 3The method described is an example of setting a distance threshold based on a pixel count threshold. The distance threshold can be appropriately set based on the pixel count threshold and the configuration of the vehicle-mounted camera 20.

[0053] The storage control unit 14 controls the storage of the image captured by the vehicle camera 20 in the storage unit 40 when the recording determination unit 12 determines that the image recording conditions are met. However, even if the recording determination unit 12 determines that the image recording conditions are met, the storage control unit 14 will not store the captured image in the storage unit 40 if the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the excluded recording object has been clearly captured.

[0054] For example, such as Figure 4 As shown in (a), there is another vehicle VA in front of vehicle V. The distance L between the object K (in this case, the license plate) and the record of the vehicle camera 20 of vehicle V and the other vehicle VA is greater than the distance threshold L. th [m]. In this case, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the recording exclusion object K of other vehicles VA was not clearly captured. Therefore, the storage control unit 14 controls the storage of the image captured by the vehicle camera 20 in the storage unit 40 when the recording determination unit 12 determines that the image recording conditions are met.

[0055] On the other hand, for example, Figure 4 As shown in (b), the distance L between the vehicle camera 20 of vehicle V and the object K (in this case, the license plate) to be excluded from recording by other vehicles VA is the distance threshold L. th [m] and below. In this case, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the recording exclusion object K of other vehicles VA has been clearly captured. Therefore, even if the recording determination unit 12 determines that the image recording conditions are met, the storage control unit 14 does not perform control to store the image captured by the vehicle camera 20 in the storage unit 40.

[0056] Furthermore, if, during the process of storing the images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 into the storage unit 40, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured, the storage control unit 14 stops storing the images into the storage unit 40. For example, this could occur if, during the process of storing the images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 into the storage unit 40, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured, and thus stops storing the images into the storage unit 40. Figure 4 As shown in (b), the distance between vehicle V and other vehicles VA decreases. Here, the storage control unit 14 sets the distance L between the record exclusion object K and other vehicles VA to a distance threshold L. th In cases where [m] or below, control to store the captured image in the storage unit 40 is stopped.

[0057] Furthermore, the storage control unit 14 can also, when controlling the storage of images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 in the storage unit 40, save images captured within a specified time period before and after the moment (period) when the image recording conditions are determined to be met. For example, the storage control unit 14 can always temporarily save images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 in the storage unit 40, etc., and delete images captured that are outdated compared to the current specified time period from the storage unit 40, etc. Moreover, if the storage control unit 14 determines that the image recording conditions are met and determines that the object to be excluded from recording was not clearly captured, it will continue to save the temporarily saved images captured within the specified time period. Furthermore, the storage control unit 14 can also save subsequent images captured in the storage unit 40 for a specified time period.

[0058] Next, use Figure 5 The flowchart illustrates the recording process of the captured images performed in the image recording device 100. Additionally, Figure 5 The process shown begins, for example, when the ignition switch of vehicle V is turned on, at a pre-defined time interval. Furthermore, if the process reaches its end, it restarts from the beginning after a specified time. Figure 5 As shown, the clear determination unit 13 calculates the distance L between the vehicle camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording based on the measurement results of the ranging sensor 30 (S101).

[0059] Clear Detection Unit 13 determines whether the distance L between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is greater than a specified distance threshold L. th (S102). When the distance L is greater than the distance threshold L th In the case of (S102: "Yes"), the clarity determination unit 13 sets the recording permission flag to "Allow" (S103). Furthermore, the recording permission flag indicates whether it is permissible to store the images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 in the storage unit 40. On the other hand, when the distance L is not greater than the distance threshold L... th If the condition is not met (S102: "No"), the clarity determination unit 13 sets the recording permission flag to "Not allowed" (S107). After processing in S103 or S107, the recording determination unit 12 determines whether the image recording condition is met (S104).

[0060] If the image recording condition is met (S104: "Yes"), the storage control unit 14 determines whether the recording permission flag is set to "Allow" (S105). If it is set to "Allow" (S105: "Yes"), the storage control unit 14 controls the storage of the images captured by the vehicle camera 20 in the storage unit 40 (S106).

[0061] If the image recording condition is determined to be invalid in S104 (S104: "No") or if the recording permission flag is set to "Not allowed" in S105 (S105: "No"), the process ends.

[0062] As described above, in the image recording apparatus 100, the clarity determination unit 13 determines whether the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured in the captured image. Even if the image recording conditions are met, the storage control unit 14 does not store the captured image in the storage unit 40 if it is determined that the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured. If the image recording conditions are met, but it is determined that the object to be excluded from recording is not clearly captured, the storage control unit 14 stores the captured image in the storage unit 40. In this way, the image recording apparatus 100 stores the captured image in the storage unit 40 based on whether the object to be recorded is clearly captured. As a result, the image recording apparatus 100 can record captured images while considering the privacy of the object to be excluded from recording.

[0063] For example, when the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording is far, the object in the captured image may become blurry. Therefore, by using the distance between the vehicle-mounted camera 20 and the object to be excluded from recording, the image recording device 100 can more accurately determine whether the object to be excluded from recording has been captured clearly.

[0064] The distance threshold used to determine whether an object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured can be defined based on the number of pixels in the vertical or horizontal direction of the object in the captured image. For example, even if the distance from the vehicle camera to the object to be excluded is the same, depending on the performance of the vehicle camera, the object may be captured clearly or become blurry. Therefore, the clarity determination unit 13 uses a distance threshold defined based on the number of pixels of the object to be excluded from recording in the captured image. Thus, the image recording device 100 can use a distance threshold defined taking into account the performance of the vehicle camera 20 to determine whether an object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured and record the captured image.

[0065] Sometimes, during the process of the storage control unit 14 controlling the storage of the captured image in the storage unit 40, the clarity determination unit 13 determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured. In this case, the storage control unit 14 stops controlling the storage of the captured image in the storage unit 40. Thus, the image recording device 100 can switch between recording the captured image and not recording it based on changes in the clarity of the object to be excluded from recording in the captured image.

[0066] As excluded objects for recording, the images include people's faces and license plates of other vehicles. In this case, since the image recording device 100 does not record images of people's faces and license plates of other vehicles in a clear state, their privacy can be protected.

[0067] The recording determination unit 12 determines whether the image recording conditions for recording images captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 20 are met. These image recording conditions can be set to the operating conditions of driver assistance functions related to the steering or speed of the vehicle V. In this case, the image recording device 100 can record the captured images in a manner that allows for subsequent verification of the external conditions when the driver assistance functions are operating, while considering the privacy of the object to be recorded. Furthermore, in addition to the operating conditions of the driver assistance functions, various other conditions, such as the transmission of an SOS signal, can be set as image recording conditions. Thus, the image recording device 100 can record the captured images in a manner that allows for subsequent verification of the external conditions when these conditions are met, while considering the privacy of the object to be recorded.

[0068] While the embodiments of this disclosure have been described above, this disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, various modifications can be made in accordance with the spirit of this disclosure.

Claims

1. An image recording device mounted on a vehicle, for recording images of the surroundings of the vehicle captured by an onboard camera, comprising: The recording determination unit determines, based on the condition of the vehicle, whether the image recording conditions for recording the captured image are met; A clarity determination unit determines whether an excluded recording object contained in the captured image has been clearly captured; and The storage control unit controls the storage of the captured image in the storage unit when the recording determination unit determines that the image recording conditions are met. Even if the recording determination unit determines that the image recording conditions are met, the storage control unit will not store the captured image in the storage unit if the clarity determination unit determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured.

2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The clarity determination unit determines that the object to be excluded from recording is not clearly captured if the distance between the vehicle camera and the object to be excluded from recording is greater than a specified distance threshold, and determines that the object to be excluded from recording is clearly captured if the distance between the vehicle camera and the object to be excluded from recording is less than the specified distance threshold.

3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The distance threshold is defined based on the number of vertical or horizontal pixels of the recorded excluded object in the captured image.

4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, If, during the process of controlling the storage of the captured image in the storage unit, the clarity determination unit determines that the object to be excluded from recording has been clearly captured, the storage control unit stops controlling the storage of the captured image in the storage unit.

5. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The records exclude objects such as human faces or license plates of other vehicles.

6. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The image recording conditions are the operating conditions of the driving assistance functions related to the vehicle's steering or speed.

Images