Surround View Camera and Radar Fusion for Elevated Obstacle Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surround view camera systems in large vehicles fail to detect high obstacles, such as branches, due to their low placement, resulting in incomplete obstacle detection and safety concerns, especially in narrow and cluttered environments.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a wide angle camera and radar sensor fusion system, which includes a primary surround view camera, supplementary cameras, and detection and ranging sensors, allows for obstacle detection above and around the vehicle, providing a comprehensive view through dewarping operations and sensor fusion to direct attention to specific obstacles, enhancing safety for large vehicle maneuvering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the surround view camera is placed low on the vehicle, then the camera can be installed in a conventional position, but the camera fails to detect high obstacles such as branches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a second camera mounted on the roof of the vehicle, positioned at a higher elevation than the conventional front camera. This vertical dimensionality change enables the roof-mounted camera to detect high obstacles such as branches that are invisible to the low-mounted front camera, while the front camera continues to capture low-lying obstacles and road surface features.
2Measurement precision
If multiple cameras are used to detect both low and high obstacles, then obstacle detection coverage is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the obstacle detection task into two segments: the front camera handles low-lying obstacles and road surface detection, while the roof-mounted camera handles high obstacles. This segmentation allows each camera to specialize in a specific detection zone, improving overall detection coverage without requiring a single complex camera system to handle all scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
Both cameras are integrated into a single surround view system that processes images from multiple sources simultaneously. The system generates a composite view that combines information from both cameras, allowing the system to detect obstacles at various heights while maintaining a unified user interface and control mechanism.
3Device complexity
If the camera field of view is restricted to a specific portion, then processing complexity is reduced, but the detection area is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by having each camera focus on a specific portion of the environment: the front camera captures the road surface and low obstacles directly in front of the vehicle, while the roof-mounted camera captures high obstacles in its specific field of view. The system processes only the relevant portions from each camera rather than attempting to process entire 360-degree views from every camera, reducing computational complexity while maintaining comprehensive detection coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a surround view display and a processing circuit. The processing circuit may be configured to (i) use a first signal from one or more primary surround view cameras to produce a two-dimensional view on the surround view display of an area around a bottom of a vehicle, (ii) detect obstacles around and above a top of the vehicle using a third signal from at least one respective detection and ranging sensor, (iii) divide a second signal from the one or more supplementary cameras into portions to obtain a portion less than an entire field of view of the one or more supplementary cameras in which an obstacle is detected, (iv) perform a dewarping operation on the portion less than the entire field of view of the one or more supplementary cameras in which the obstacle is detected, and (v) generate an overlay view containing the portion less than the entire field of view of the one or more supplementary cameras in which the obstacle is detected on the two-dimensional view of the area around the bottom of the vehicle to inform an operator of the detected obstacle above the vehicle.