Onboard Camera Exposure Control for Night Driving Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle driving environment recognition systems face challenges in precisely detecting distances at night due to issues with exposure settings causing blooming from strong light sources and difficulty in recognizing non-emitting targets, leading to reduced precision in adaptive cruise control and collision prevention.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle driving environment recognition apparatus that uses an onboard camera with an image recognition processing unit to dynamically adjust light distribution and exposure settings based on the recognition state of vehicles ahead, switching between different exposure amounts or fixing to a single exposure amount to enhance precision in detecting distances and recognizing targets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the exposure amount is set to be large to capture sufficient light at night, then the light quantity from light sources becomes too strong causing blooming, but if the exposure amount is set to be smaller to avoid blooming, then it becomes difficult to recognize recognition targets that do not emit light
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by alternately capturing images at different exposure amounts (first exposure amount and second exposure amount) and selectively combining information from these images. The image recognition processing unit switches between different exposure amounts periodically to capture both bright light sources and darker recognition targets, then synthesizes the results to achieve accurate distance detection without blooming or missed targets.
2Quantity of substance
If the onboard camera always changes between high-luminance detection exposure amount and low-luminance detection exposure amount, then it can detect light sources, but the precision of recognizing the driving environment is reduced and distance detection becomes inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the exposure amount switching adaptive rather than fixed. The image recognition processing unit dynamically adjusts whether to switch between exposure amounts based on the actual driving conditions and recognition results. When recognition is sufficient, it maintains a fixed exposure amount; when light source detection is needed, it switches between exposure amounts, optimizing the balance between detection capability and recognition precision.
3Loss of information
If the distance between left and right headlights or taillights is calculated to obtain distance to vehicle ahead or oncoming vehicle, then distance detection is possible, but the center of headlights or taillights cannot be precisely detected due to different appearances between high-luminance and low-luminance exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an intermediary approach by introducing a selection mechanism that chooses which exposure amount image to use based on recognition results. The image recognition processing unit acts as an intermediary, selecting the appropriate exposure amount image (first or second) that provides the clearest view of the light sources for accurate center detection and distance calculation, rather than relying on images from both exposure amounts which have different appearances.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a vehicle driving environment recognition apparatus. When an onboard camera does not recognize a vehicle ahead during when a vehicle runs at night, an exposure amount of the onboard camera is set to a first exposure amount mode. When the vehicle ahead is not recognized, or only a light source of an oncoming vehicle is recognized, the exposure amount of the onboard camera is set to a second exposure amount mode. In the first exposure amount mode, a low-luminance detection exposure amount and a high-luminance detection exposure amount are alternately switched for each frame, and an image is captured with the switched exposure amount. In the second exposure amount mode, the exposure amount is fixed to the low-luminance detection exposure amount.