Vehicle Visibility Support Device with Trimmed Image Reference Lines
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicular visibility support systems fail to provide a clear positional reference for drivers to understand the relation between laterally rear obstacles and the host vehicle, especially after image trimming, making it difficult to grasp the positional relation and associate the trimmed image with the original view.
Innovation Solution
A vehicular visibility support apparatus comprising a camera, input portion, and control portion that trims the camera image based on vertical and horizontal reference lines containing the vehicle, allowing drivers to input desired region changes, thereby enhancing the understanding of the positional relation between the vehicle and obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the camera image is trimmed to display only the desired region, then the display area is optimized and irrelevant areas are removed, but the positional reference for the driver is lost making it difficult to grasp the relation between obstacles and the host vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
Reference lines are introduced as intermediary elements that mediate between the trimmed image and the driver's spatial understanding. These lines serve as visual anchors that connect the cropped view to the actual vehicle position, allowing drivers to interpret obstacle locations relative to the host vehicle even when the full scene is not visible.
Solution Approach 2:
The reference lines create a virtual copy of the vehicle's spatial orientation within the trimmed image. By projecting the vehicle's position and orientation as reference lines onto the displayed image, the system preserves positional information that would otherwise be lost in the trimming process, enabling drivers to mentally reconstruct the relationship between the trimmed view and the actual scene.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the trimmed image is changed to show a different desired region, then the driver can view different areas laterally rear of the vehicle, but it becomes difficult to associate the changed trimmed image with the original view
Solution Approach 1:
Reference lines are pre-established based on the vehicle's position and orientation before any trimming or region changes occur. These pre-established reference lines remain consistent across different trimmed views, providing a stable spatial framework that helps drivers associate different trimmed regions with the original scene and understand how the view has changed.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
In a vehicular visibility support apparatus (100), a camera (110) positioned on a front portion on a side that is either the left side or the right side of a vehicle provides an image of a view laterally behind the vehicle including a part of a face of the side of the vehicle as a camera image. An input portion (120) accepts input manipulation to generate an input signal. A control portion (130) trims a desired region in the camera image based on the input signal and provides a trimmed image. The control portion trims the camera image based on: a vertical reference line (V) including a part of the face on the side of the vehicle in a trimmed image before the input manipulation is accepted by the input portion, and a horizontal reference line (H1 to H3) orthogonal to the vertical reference line; and a direction of movement for change to the desired region inputted to the input portion.