Multi-Height Imaging Device for Distant Obstacle Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods using parallax from stereo cameras struggle to accurately detect distant obstacles, often mistaking speed limit signs or overlooking them due to small size and lack of difference from the road surface, leading to false alarms or missed detections.
Innovation Solution
A detecting device with multiple imaging devices at different heights acquires images and uses the difference in object length in the height direction across images to identify rising portions, enhancing detection accuracy of distant obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If parallax-based detection is used for distant obstacles, then the detection method is simple, but the detection accuracy deteriorates because parallax becomes smaller as distance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from using only horizontal parallax (2D plane) to incorporating vertical dimension by placing imaging devices at different heights. This creates height-direction parallax that remains significant even for distant objects, effectively adding a third dimension to the detection space and solving the distance-related accuracy degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the detection task into two components: horizontal parallax analysis and vertical height-direction parallax analysis. By dividing the detection function across multiple imaging devices positioned at different heights, the system can independently analyze length differences in the height direction to identify rising portions, thereby improving overall detection accuracy for distant obstacles.
2Device complexity
If single-height imaging is used, then the device configuration is simple, but the ability to detect rising portions of distant objects deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds the vertical dimension to imaging device placement, creating a multi-height configuration. This enables the system to capture length differences of the same object across different vertical positions, which is the key indicator for identifying rising portions such as distant obstacles, thereby significantly improving detection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the length difference in the height direction as an intermediary indicator to infer the presence of rising portions. Instead of directly detecting obstacles, the system first measures length variations across different heights, then uses this intermediate data to identify objects with upward slopes, enhancing detection reliability through indirect measurement.
3Ease of operation
If parallax detection is used for road surface objects, then processing is straightforward, but false negatives increase because distant small objects blend with the road surface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces vertical dimension analysis by comparing object lengths at different heights. This additional dimensional information creates a new detection feature that distinguishes rising portions from flat road surfaces, even for distant small objects that appear identical in single-plane imaging, thereby improving detection precision without significantly complicating processing.
Data Source
AI summary
To detect a distant object that may become an obstacle to a traveling destination of a moving vehicle or the like more accurately than the conventional, there is provided a detecting device, a program used in the detecting device, and a detecting method using the detecting device, where the detecting device includes: an acquisition section for acquiring two or more images captured in two or more imaging devices provided at different heights; and a detection section for detecting a rising portion of an identical object toward the imaging devices based on a difference between the lengths of the identical object in the height direction in the two or more images.