Vehicle image capture setup

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle image acquisition arrangement (11) with a vehicle-mounted, direction-of-travel (x) oriented and high-resolution matrix headlight (20, 20') which projects a predetermined light pattern (110) in the direction of travel (x) onto a roadway (200), a vehicle-mounted, direction-of-travel (x) oriented, high-resolution front camera (50), and an electronic analyzer (30) which is informationally connected to the matrix headlight (20,20') and the front camera (50), wherein the analyzer (30) has a light pattern memory (36) in which the light pattern (110) is stored which has at least one horizontal line (111 - 115), and wherein the analyzer (30) has a comparator (40) in which the horizontal line (111 - 115) of the projected light pattern (110) detected by the front camera (50) and the horizontal line (111' - 115') of the stored light pattern (110') stored in the light pattern memory (36) are compared.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a vehicle image acquisition arrangement, in particular for the detection of obstacles in front of the vehicle within the framework of a driver assistance system.

[0002] For driver assistance systems, the area in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel must be detected quickly and with high redundancy. This is achieved using, among other things, radar and lidar systems, as well as camera-based image acquisition systems.

[0003] Various separate recording arrangements for capturing the area in front of a motor vehicle are known from DE 10 2014 015 796 A1, DE 10 2022 126 706 A1 and EP 3 431 926 A1. However, each separate recording arrangement involves considerable additional costs.

[0004] From DE 10 2021 000 724 B3 a detection arrangement is known in which a line structure is projected onto the roadway using a micro-diagram.

[0005] In contrast, the object of the invention is to create an inexpensive vehicle image acquisition system.

[0006] This problem is solved according to the invention with a vehicle image acquisition arrangement having the features of claim 1.

[0007] The vehicle image acquisition system according to the invention comprises a vehicle-mounted matrix headlight oriented forward in the direction of travel, which serves to illuminate the area in front of the vehicle and which is designed with high resolution. In this context, a high-resolution matrix headlight is understood to be a headlight that has an LED matrix with at least several thousand individually controllable LEDs. The high-resolution matrix headlight projects a predetermined light pattern in the direction of travel onto a road surface located in front of the vehicle. Different light patterns can be provided for different driving situations or foreground conditions.

[0008] The vehicle image acquisition system includes a vehicle-mounted front camera, oriented in the direction of travel towards the area in front of the vehicle, which is also of high resolution. The resolution of the front camera is higher, preferably one or more decades higher, than that of the matrix headlight.

[0009] The vehicle image acquisition system includes an electronic analyzer that is informationally connected to the matrix headlight and the front camera. The analyzer has a light pattern memory in which the light pattern, which has at least one horizontal line, is stored. Preferably, the horizontal line of the light pattern projected onto the road is brighter than the base brightness of the projected light pattern. Different light patterns for different situations are stored in the light pattern memory, with the horizontal line always being located in the same position in all these light patterns. The matrix headlight is not necessarily controlled directly with the light pattern stored in the light pattern memory; however, the light pattern stored in the light pattern memory corresponds to the pattern generated by the LED matrix of the matrix headlight.

[0010] The analyzer includes a comparator in which the horizontal line captured on the road by the front camera is isolated in an image processing unit and then compared with the horizontal line stored in the light pattern memory. In a motor vehicle that is already equipped with high-resolution matrix headlights directed at the road, the vehicle image acquisition arrangement according to the invention requires only a small additional investment in equipment to provide optical detection of the area in front of the vehicle, especially since a high-resolution front camera is now standard equipment in motor vehicles.

[0011] The difference between the horizontal line of the projection captured by the front camera and the horizontal line defined in the stored light pattern allows inferences to be drawn about the contours of the opaque road surface and the contours of opaque objects on the road. This enables the detection of, for example, potholes or obstacles on the road. This information can then be transmitted to a driver assistance system.

[0012] Preferably, the light pattern stored in the light pattern memory has several parallel horizontal lines. In this way, contours at different distances from the matrix headlight or the vehicle in question can be detected, and redundancy in the analysis and interpretation of the images captured by the high-resolution front camera can be improved.

[0013] High-resolution matrix headlights can be powered pixel by pixel, for example in up to 1000 gradations, i.e., almost continuously, generating light. Preferably, the horizontal line projected by the matrix headlight has a brightness contrast with the base brightness of the projected light pattern that is below the threshold contrast perceptible to humans. The horizontal line is not perceived by the human eye and is therefore not distracting to the driver. However, the brightness contrast of the projected horizontal line must be above the differentiation threshold of the high-resolution front camera. With today's available high-resolution and highly sensitive front cameras, this no longer poses a technical problem.

[0014] Preferably, the highest projected horizontal line of all projected horizontal lines in the light pattern is projected downwards by at least 0.5° relative to a horizontal plane from the matrix headlight. This means that the highest projected horizontal line can remain active even in the presence of oncoming traffic without posing a glare hazard to oncoming drivers.

[0015] Preferably, all horizontal lines in the horizontal plane or in the projection onto a horizontal plane each have a total horizontal angle of a maximum of 25°, i.e., a maximum of + / - 12.5° with respect to the longitudinal axis of the high-resolution matrix headlight.

[0016] Alternatively or additionally, the light of the horizontal line projected by the matrix headlight can have a wavelength of less than 400 nm or more than 780 nm, so that the horizontal line projected onto the road is not visible to the human eye. In this case, the projected horizontal line can be generated and projected at high or maximum intensity without dazzling the driver. For this purpose, the matrix headlight can incorporate appropriate filter elements that, for example, filter the light emitted by the individual LED pixels pixel by pixel.

[0017] An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the figures. They show: Fig. 1 Schematic top view of a motor vehicle with a vehicle image acquisition system comprising two matrix headlights, a front camera and an electronic analyzer, and Fig. 2 the image capture arrangement of the Fig. 1 with the projected light pattern from the view of the front camera.

[0018] The figures show a motor vehicle 10 traveling on a roadway 200 in the direction of travel x, equipped with a vehicle image acquisition system 11, schematically in a top view from above.

[0019] The vehicle 10 has two high-resolution matrix headlights 20, 20' at its front, oriented in the direction of travel x. Each headlight has an LED matrix 24 with a resolution of, for example, approximately 16,000 LED pixels and a headlight optic 22. The brightness of each LED pixel can be individually controlled almost continuously in 1024 brightness levels by a headlight control 34 of an electronic analyzer 30. For the sake of simplicity, only one activated matrix headlight 20 is shown in the figures. In practice, however, both matrix headlights 20, 20' are in operation simultaneously.

[0020] Each 20, 20' matrix spotlight produces a light cone of 100, which is in the Fig. 1 in the top view and the one in the Fig.Figure 2 shows the scene partially from above and from the perspective of the vehicle 10. The light cone 100 is laterally limited by light cone boundaries 101, 102 and has a largely homogeneous basic brightness.

[0021] The vehicle image acquisition system 11 has a high-resolution and highly sensitive electronic front camera 50 behind a windshield 12, which, for example, has a resolution of several megapixels. The front camera 50 is oriented in the direction of travel x. The front camera 50 is controlled, monitored, and read out by a camera controller 32, which is part of the analyzer 30.

[0022] Furthermore, the analyzer 30 includes a comparator 40 and a light pattern memory 36, in which a light pattern 110' is stored. This light pattern has five aligned and parallel horizontal lines 111'–115' of higher brightness above a uniform base brightness. The light pattern memory 36 can store several light patterns with different contours and different base brightness or brightness distributions. All stored light patterns have the five horizontal lines 111'–115' at the same location or height, and therefore, in the steady state, they always project the same light pattern 110, or the same pattern of horizontal lines 111–115, onto the surroundings in front of the vehicle 10. The five projected horizontal lines 111–115 are brighter than the base brightness of the light pattern 110.However, the brightness contrast of the five projected horizontal lines 111 - 115 of the light pattern 110 is below the humanly perceptible threshold contrast compared to the basic brightness of the light pattern 110.

[0023] Alternatively, the horizontal lines 111–115 can be represented by light in the range invisible to humans, for example with a wavelength of less than 400 nm or more than 780 nm. This can be achieved by appropriate optical filter elements in the matrix headlights.

[0024] The horizontal angle a110 of the projected horizontal lines 111 - 115 is approximately 20°. The highest projected horizontal line 115 of all five projected horizontal lines 111 - 115 is inclined downwards by approximately 0.57° relative to a horizontal plane xy.

[0025] When the matrix headlights 20,20' are switched on, the light pattern 110' stored in the light pattern memory 36 is continuously projected as a projected light pattern 110 onto the roadway 200, so that the five horizontal lines 111 - 115 are always visible there, provided they fall on an opaque surface. This image of the projected five horizontal lines 111 - 115 is continuously recorded by the front camera 50.

[0026] The image of the five horizontal lines 111 - 115 captured by the front camera 50 is compared in the comparator 40 with the light patterns 110' of the horizontal lines 111' - 115' stored in the light pattern memory 36.

[0027] The analyzer 30 has an electronic imaging module 38 in which the comparison result determined by the comparator 40 is converted into a three-dimensional image. From the deformations of the projected horizontal lines 111–115 compared to the stored horizontal lines 111'–115' of the stored light pattern 110', the road profile, objects, and obstacles are determined or calculated three-dimensionally in the imaging module 38.

Claims

[1] Vehicle image acquisition arrangement (11) with a vehicle-mounted, high-resolution matrix headlight (20, 20') aligned in the direction of travel (x) with an LED matrix with at least several thousand controllable LEDs, which projects a predetermined light pattern (110) from different light patterns for different situations in the direction of travel (x) onto a roadway (200), and a high-resolution front camera (50) fixed to the vehicle and aligned in the direction of travel (x), the resolution of which is higher than that of the matrix headlight (20, 20'), characterized by an electronic analyzer (30) which is informationally connected to the matrix headlight (20, 20') and the front camera (50), wherein the analyzer (30) has a light pattern memory (36) in which the light patterns (110') are stored, each of which has at least one horizontal line (111 - 115) at the same location, and wherein the analyzer (30) has a comparator (40) in which the horizontal line (111 - 115) of the projected light pattern (110) detected by the front camera (50) and the horizontal line (111' - 115') of the stored light pattern (110') stored in the light pattern memory (36) are compared. [2] Vehicle image capture arrangement (1) according to claim 1, wherein the comparator (40) infers the contour of an opaque object from the deviation between the horizontal line (111 - 115) captured by the front camera (50) and the stored horizontal line (111' - 115'). [3] Motor vehicle image capture arrangement (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the light pattern (110') stored in the light pattern memory (36) has a plurality of mutually parallel horizontal lines (111' -115'). [4] A vehicle image capture arrangement (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the horizontal line (111-115) of the light pattern (110) projected by the matrix headlight (20, 20') has a brightness contrast compared to the basic brightness of the projected light pattern (110) which is below the human threshold contrast. [5] A vehicle image capture arrangement (11) according to any one of the preceding claims 1-3, wherein the light of the horizontal line (111 - 115) projected by the matrix headlight (20, 20') has a wavelength of less than 400 nm or more than 780 nm. [6] A vehicle image capture arrangement (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the highest projected horizontal line (115) of all projected horizontal lines (111 - 115) is projected downwards by at least 0.50° from a horizontal plane (xy) by the matrix headlight (20, 20'). [7] Vehicle image capture arrangement (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein all horizontal lines (111 - 115) in the horizontal plane (xy) each have a horizontal angle (α110) of a maximum of 25°.

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