Camera Abnormality Detection via AGC Gain Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing camera systems on vehicles face challenges in accurately detecting installation deviations due to environmental changes and erroneous feature point tracking, leading to potential errors in steering quantity determination and parking assistance.
Innovation Solution
An abnormality detection apparatus using a processor to determine camera deviations by analyzing temporal changes in feature points from frame images and controlling the Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit's update cycle to prevent gain changes during the determination process, ensuring accurate tracking of feature points.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the AGC circuit updates gain continuously to adapt to environmental changes, then the camera can adapt to varying lighting conditions, but feature point tracking becomes erroneous due to gain changes during determination process
Solution Approach 1:
The AGC circuit operates with periodic gain updates during normal operation to adapt to lighting changes, but updates are suspended during camera determination processes. This periodic interruption of gain updates ensures that feature point tracking occurs under stable gain conditions, preventing tracking errors while maintaining adaptability during non-determination periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system predicts camera determination timing in advance and proactively suspends AGC gain updates before the determination process begins. This preliminary action prevents gain changes from occurring during the critical measurement period, ensuring accurate feature point tracking without compromising the camera's ability to adapt to lighting changes after determination is complete.
2Measurement precision
If feature points are used to detect camera installation deviation, then camera position accuracy can be monitored, but environmental changes cause erroneous detection of camera deviation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and isolates the gain stability requirement from the overall camera operation. By separating the gain update function from the determination process timing, the system ensures that gain changes are excluded during critical measurement periods. This extraction of the stability requirement prevents environmental changes from causing erroneous camera deviation detection.
3Speed
If the update cycle of AGC circuit is shortened to respond quickly to environmental changes, then lighting adaptation speed increases, but feature point tracking accuracy deteriorates due to frequent gain changes
Solution Approach 1:
The AGC update cycle dynamically adjusts based on operational mode: during normal operation, updates occur frequently to maintain fast lighting adaptation, but during camera determination processes, updates are suspended regardless of the usual cycle frequency. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain both fast adaptation capability and measurement accuracy when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An abnormality detection apparatus for detecting an abnormality of a camera to be mounted on a mobile body includes a processor and associated memory configured to perform a determination process of determining a presence or absence of the abnormality of the camera based on a temporal change of a position of a feature point that is extracted from a frame image photographed by the camera and suppress a gain change in an Automatic Gain Control (“AGC”) circuit of the camera when the determination process is performed.