Vehicle Image Compositing Boundary Line Adjustment for Obstacle Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image generation devices often result in composite images where obstacles are cut, leading to deteriorated visibility, especially when multiple obstacles are present.
Innovation Solution
An image generation device comprising an image acquisition unit, a position recognition unit, and a boundary line setting unit that ensures obstacles are contained within the image captured by the closest imaging unit, preventing them from being cut in the composite image, and an image compositing unit that generates a composite image using this boundary line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a boundary line is set in the overlap region to composite multiple captured images, then the composite image can be generated efficiently, but obstacles may be cut by the boundary line leading to deteriorated visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting obstacles in advance within the overlap region and using this information to determine the boundary line position. The boundary line is set before image compositing occurs, ensuring obstacles are not cut. This is achieved by having the determination unit identify obstacle positions and adjust the boundary line accordingly, so when the compositing unit combines images, obstacles remain intact and visible.
2Reliability
If the boundary line is set to avoid cutting obstacles, then obstacle visibility is improved, but the boundary line placement becomes more complex requiring additional processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the boundary line determination locally adaptive to obstacle positions. Rather than using a fixed or uniformly calculated boundary line, the determination unit adjusts the boundary line position specifically in regions where obstacles are detected. This allows the boundary line to have different characteristics in different local areas - avoiding obstacles where needed while maintaining efficient compositing in other regions.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an image generation device including an image acquisition unit, a position recognition unit, a boundary line setting unit, and an image compositing unit. The image acquisition unit is mounted to a vehicle, and configured to acquire a plurality of captured images in which the periphery of the vehicle is imaged by a plurality of imaging units having an overlap region where imaging regions thereof partially overlap with each other. The position recognition unit is configured to recognize positions of specific obstacles which are one or more obstacles positioned in the overlap region. The boundary line setting unit is configured to set the boundary line so that each of the specific obstacles is contained in the image captured by the imaging unit which is closest in distance to the specific obstacle, among the plurality of imaging units. The image compositing unit is configured to generate a composite image in which the plurality of captured images are combined, using the boundary line as a boundary when combining the plurality of captured images.