Monocular Camera Vehicle Speed Control Using Area Tables
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Smart Cruise Control (SCC) systems rely on expensive radar sensors, increasing the overall cost of vehicles and necessitating a more cost-effective means to maintain a constant distance from preceding vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle speed control apparatus and method using a monocular camera to calculate the area of the driving lane and preceding vehicle, coupled with road condition information, to set appropriate vehicle speeds without the need for a radar sensor, utilizing a storage device, imaging device, image processor, road information collector, and controller to perform SCC functions based on pre-defined area tables.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a radar sensor is used to implement SCC function, then the reliability of distance measurement is improved, but the cost of the vehicle increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive radar sensors with a monocular camera, which is a much cheaper component. The camera captures images that are then processed to extract distance information, achieving SCC functionality at a fraction of the cost of radar-based systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the mechanical/electromagnetic radar sensing system with an optical imaging system. Instead of using radio waves to measure distance directly, the system uses a camera to capture visual information and derives distance measurements through image processing and geometric calculations.
2Ease of manufacture
If a monocular camera is used instead of radar sensor, then the cost is reduced, but the measurement precision of distance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from 2D image data to 3D spatial understanding by calculating real-world distances from pixel coordinates. This involves converting 2D image plane measurements into 3D physical space measurements using camera calibration parameters and geometric relationships, thereby recovering depth information from a monocular (single-eye) system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an area table as an intermediary data structure that pre-stores the relationship between image areas and real-world distances under various road conditions. This lookup table serves as a mediator that translates complex image processing results into accurate distance measurements without requiring real-time complex calculations.
3Measurement precision
If complex image processing is performed to calculate area and recognize vehicles, then the accuracy of speed control is improved, but the computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing the relationship between image areas and distances in an area table during system initialization or offline processing. This pre-computed data is then used during real-time operation, significantly reducing the computational burden during actual speed control tasks while maintaining high accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the area table to automatically determine distance measurements without requiring complex real-time calculations. The pre-stored relationships in the area table enable the system to self-service by directly looking up distance values based on calculated image areas, simplifying the real-time processing requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle speed control apparatus is provided. In particular, a storage configured to store a table (hereinafter, referred to an area table) recording an area corresponding to a speed of a vehicle and a condition of a road; an imaging device configured to take a front image of the vehicle; an image processor configured to calculate an area of a shape made by a driving lane of the vehicle and a preceding vehicle in the driving lane from the front image of the vehicle taken by the imaging device; a road information collector configured to collect condition information of the road; and a controller configured to set a speed corresponding to the condition information collected by the road information collector and the area calculated by the image processor as a driving speed of the vehicle, based on the area table.