Composite Video Image Generation for Vehicle Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional imaging systems for vehicles struggle to provide clear views in conditions of limited visibility, such as rain, fog, or darkness, as they often rely on image sensors that fail to detect and distinguish important features or obstacles effectively, leading to inadequate imagery for pilots or drivers.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that create a composite video image by selecting pixels from multiple video image sensors with the highest signal level or signal-to-noise ratio, combining images from various technologies like visible light, non-visible light, RF, SONAR, LIDAR, and Doppler sensors to produce a higher resolution image, which can be displayed in real-time on a vehicle's display, allowing for user input adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional image sensors are used in limited visibility conditions, then the system is simple and easy to operate, but the image quality and detection precision deteriorate due to rain, fog, glare, or darkness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple video images from different sensors (visible light camera, infrared camera, radar, LIDAR) into a single composite video image. This merging of multiple sensing modalities allows the system to overcome limitations of individual sensors in adverse weather conditions, providing both high-resolution visual detail and reliable detection capability through fusion of complementary data sources.
2Loss of information
If multiple video images from different sensors are combined using conventional mixing techniques, then the system can provide information from multiple sources, but the object resolution deteriorates because bright images wash out detail when scaled down
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by selecting pixels from different source images based on their individual qualities. For each pixel position in the composite image, the system evaluates multiple source pixels and selects the one with the highest signal-to-noise ratio or brightest signal, rather than applying uniform scaling to entire images. This localized selection preserves fine details from each sensor while combining their informational content.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mixing parameter from uniform intensity scaling to pixel-level signal-to-noise ratio evaluation. Instead of scaling entire images by fixed ratios and adding them, the system dynamically selects individual pixels based on their quality metrics, transforming the combination approach from global parameter adjustment to local parameter optimization.
3Reliability
If a single video image is displayed to the pilot, then the display system is simple, but the navigation reliability deteriorates in adverse weather conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sensor inputs into a single composite video image displayed to the pilot. This combination integrates the reliability benefits of multiple sensing modalities (visible light, infrared, radar, LIDAR) while maintaining a simple single-image display interface, thus improving navigation reliability without significantly increasing display complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Vehicle navigation methods, systems and computer program products are provided that create a composite video image of a scene from video images of the scene generated by a plurality of video image sensors. The video image from each image sensor includes a respective array of pixels. The composite video image is created by selecting for a composite image pixel at a given position in an array of composite image pixels a pixel at the given position from one of the respective pixel arrays having the highest signal level or highest signal-to-noise ratio. The selecting is repeatedly performed for a plurality of given positions in the array of composite image pixels. The composite video image can be displayed via a display, such as a head-up display utilized in a vehicle.