Parking Assist Overhead Display for Hidden Vacant Spaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing parking assistance systems fail to display the location of vacant parking spaces that are outside the current viewing angle of the camera or hidden behind static objects, making it difficult for vehicle occupants to recognize these spaces.
Innovation Solution
A display control apparatus that receives locational information and captured images of vacant parking spaces, generates overhead images based on images captured at previous positions of the vehicle, and outputs a display overhead image to a vehicle-mounted display, including images of spaces outside the current viewing angle or hidden behind static objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the display shows only images within the current camera viewing angle, then the display system remains simple and real-time, but vacant parking spaces outside the viewing angle or hidden behind objects cannot be displayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by capturing and storing images at previous vehicle positions before the current position. When generating the overhead view, it retrieves and processes these pre-captured images to display parking spaces that are currently outside the camera's viewing angle or hidden behind objects, thus preventing information loss without requiring complex real-time processing of invisible areas
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual overhead copy of the parking environment by synthesizing images from multiple camera viewpoints and previous positions. This copied overhead representation allows the display to show parking spaces that are not directly visible from the current camera angle, effectively transferring information from invisible to visible states without direct line-of-sight observation
2Loss of information
If multiple cameras are used to capture all potential parking spaces, then complete coverage is achieved, but the system cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically utilizes the existing camera by changing its effective viewing perspectives through vehicle movement. As the vehicle moves to different positions during parking assistance, the same camera captures different scenes that are then synthesized into a comprehensive overhead view, achieving complete coverage without adding static cameras at all possible locations
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single fixed camera viewpoint to a multi-dimensional overhead perspective by combining images taken from different vehicle positions and angles. This dimensional transformation allows the reconstruction of a complete top-down view of the parking area using a single moving camera instead of multiple fixed cameras
3Loss of information
If the system processes and displays real-time overhead images of all areas, then complete parking space visibility is achieved, but processing time and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary image capture and storage at previous vehicle positions before generating the final overhead view. By pre-capturing and storing these images during vehicle movement, the system reduces the computational burden during the final image synthesis stage, as the raw image data is already available and organized for rapid processing
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the necessary image regions and features from the captured images that are relevant to displaying vacant parking spaces in the overhead view. Instead of processing entire images in full resolution, it selectively extracts and processes only the portions containing parking space information, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining visibility of hidden areas
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a display control apparatus that generates a display overhead image including overhead images of each of a vacant parking space and a vehicle and outputs the display overhead image to a display apparatus. The display overhead image includes at least one of an overhead image of the vacant parking space outside of a current viewing angle of a vehicle-mounted camera and an overhead image of the vacant parking space hidden behind a static object as seen from a current position of the vehicle.