阅读说明：本技术 一种驾驶辅助方法及装置 (Driving assistance method and device ) 是由 顾照泉 于 2019-10-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及驾驶辅助技术,尤其涉及一种驾驶辅助方法、一种驾驶辅助装置,以及一种计算机可读介质。本发明提供的上述驾驶辅助方法,包括步骤：实时获取车辆前方的地面标识图像及信号指示灯图像；识别所述地面标识图像以获取所述地面标识所指示的方向信息；识别所述信号指示灯图像以获取所述信号指示灯的状态；以及响应于所述方向信息对应的信号指示灯的状态为红灯而发出提示信息。本发明能够辅助驾驶人员识别道路四周的交通指示标识,从而提示驾驶人员规范行驶,以规避交通违章。(The present invention relates to a driving assistance technique, and more particularly, to a driving assistance method, a driving assistance apparatus, and a computer-readable medium. The driving assistance method provided by the present invention includes the steps of: acquiring a ground identification image and a signal indicator lamp image in front of a vehicle in real time; identifying the ground identification image to acquire direction information indicated by the ground identification; identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp; and sending out prompt information in response to the condition that the signal indicator light corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state. The traffic sign recognition method and the traffic sign recognition system can assist a driver to recognize the traffic sign around the road, so that the driver is prompted to drive normally, and traffic violation is avoided.)

1. A driving assistance method characterized by comprising:

acquiring a ground identification image and a signal indicator lamp image in front of a vehicle in real time;

identifying the ground identification image to obtain direction information indicated by the ground identification;

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state.

2. The driving assist method according to claim 1, wherein the recognizing the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp includes:

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in each direction;

the sending out the prompt message in response to the state of the signal indicator light corresponding to the direction information being a red light comprises:

determining a signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the state of the signal indicator light of the corresponding direction being a red light.

3. The driving assist method according to claim 1, wherein the recognizing the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp includes:

and identifying the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information so as to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction.

4. The driving assistance method according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring in real time the ground identification image and the signal indicator lamp image in front of the vehicle includes:

acquiring images of signal indicator lamps in the corresponding direction in front of the vehicle in real time according to the direction information;

the identifying the signal indicator light image to obtain the state of the signal indicator light comprises:

and identifying the image of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction.

5. The driving assistance method according to claim 1, wherein the issuing of the prompt message in response to the state of the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information being a red lamp includes:

responding to the state of the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information as a red light, and displaying image prompt information on a display screen of a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake; and/or

And responding to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state, and sending sound prompt information at a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake.

6. The driving assistance method according to claim 5, wherein the emitting of the audible prompt message at the center console of the vehicle to prompt the driver to brake includes:

and in response to the driver not braking according to the voice prompt message, increasing the frequency of the voice prompt message to further prompt the driver to brake.

7. The driving assistance method according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising:

and in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a green lamp state, canceling the prompt information.

8. The driving assistance method according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising:

and sending out prompt information in response to receiving an operation instruction which does not conform to the direction information.

9. A driving assistance apparatus characterized by comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

acquiring a ground identification image and a signal indicator lamp image in front of a vehicle in real time;

identifying the ground identification image to obtain direction information indicated by the ground identification;

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state.

10. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in each direction;

determining a signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the state of the signal indicator light of the corresponding direction being a red light.

11. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and identifying the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information so as to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction.

12. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

acquiring images of signal indicator lamps in the corresponding direction in front of the vehicle in real time according to the direction information; and

and identifying the image of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction.

13. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

responding to the state of the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information as a red light, and displaying image prompt information on a display screen of a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake; and/or

And responding to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state, and sending sound prompt information at a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake.

14. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and in response to the driver not braking according to the voice prompt message, increasing the frequency of the voice prompt message to further prompt the driver to brake.

15. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a green lamp state, canceling the prompt information.

16. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and sending out prompt information in response to receiving an operation instruction which does not conform to the direction information.

17. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the driving assistance method of any one of claims 1-8.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a driving assistance technique, and more particularly, to a driving assistance method, a driving assistance apparatus, and a computer-readable medium.

Background

The automobile is an indispensable vehicle in the current society, and brings great convenience to daily travel of people. However, with the rapid increase of the popularity of vehicles nowadays, the streets and alleys of each city are full of various vehicles.

In order to standardize the driving order of vehicles and thus build an ordered urban traffic environment, in recent years, the execution of the national traffic regulations has been obviously improved. Consequently, some drivers who do not drive the vehicle in strict accordance with traffic laws, and some new drivers who are not proficient in driving, may face a significant traffic violation penalty.

Nowadays, the road conditions of urban road traffic are complex, and traffic indicators are spread at various positions of roads, so that drivers need to pay attention to the real-time movement of surrounding vehicles and pedestrians all the time, and also pay attention to the traffic indicators spread around the roads. The complex driving environment is not friendly to drivers who are not familiar with road conditions or have unskilled driving techniques, and traffic violation is easily caused by negligence of the drivers.

The driving auxiliary system is used as an important content of current international intelligent traffic system research, and can realize real-time notification of the ambient environment condition of a driver by utilizing machine vision and sensor technology, so that the driver is assisted to drive a vehicle more easily. However, the existing driving assistance system mainly relates to driving assistance functions in the conventional technical fields of lane keeping, automatic parking and the like, but does not relate to a related technology for assisting a driver to avoid traffic violations, so that the problem that a user is about to face or faces a lot of traffic violations and penalties cannot be solved.

Therefore, in order to overcome the above defects in the prior art, a driving assistance technology is urgently needed in the art for assisting a driver to identify traffic indicators around a road, so as to prompt the driver to drive regularly to avoid traffic violations.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the invention provides a driving assistance method, a driving assistance device and a computer readable medium for assisting a driver to identify traffic indicators around a road so as to prompt the driver to drive normally to avoid traffic violation.

The driving assistance method provided by the present invention includes the steps of:

acquiring a ground identification image and a signal indicator lamp image in front of a vehicle in real time;

identifying the ground identification image to acquire direction information indicated by the ground identification;

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state.

Preferably, in the above driving assistance method provided by the present invention, the recognizing the signal indicating lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp may include:

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in each direction;

the sending out the prompt message in response to the state of the signal indicator light corresponding to the direction information being a red light comprises:

determining a signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the state of the signal indicator light of the corresponding direction being a red light.

Alternatively, in the above driving assistance method provided by the present invention, the recognizing the signal indicating lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp may include:

and identifying the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information so as to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction.

Optionally, in the driving assistance method provided by the present invention, the obtaining the ground identification image and the signal indicator light image in front of the vehicle in real time may include:

acquiring images of signal indicator lamps in the corresponding direction in front of the vehicle in real time according to the direction information;

the identifying the signal indicator light image to obtain the state of the signal indicator light comprises:

and identifying the image of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction.

Optionally, in the driving assistance method provided by the present invention, the sending a prompt message in response to the state of the signal indicator light corresponding to the direction information being a red light may include:

responding to the state of the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information as a red light, and displaying image prompt information on a display screen of a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake; and/or

And responding to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state, and sending sound prompt information at a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake.

Preferably, in the driving assistance method according to the present invention, the step of sending a voice prompt message to prompt the driver to brake may include:

and in response to the driver not braking according to the voice prompt message, increasing the frequency of the voice prompt message to further prompt the driver to brake.

Alternatively, in the driving assistance method provided by the present invention, the method may further include:

and in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a green lamp state, canceling the prompt information.

Alternatively, in the driving assistance method provided by the present invention, the method may further include:

and sending out prompt information in response to receiving an operation instruction which does not conform to the direction information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided herein a driving assistance apparatus.

The driving assistance device according to the present invention includes:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

acquiring a ground identification image and a signal indicator lamp image in front of a vehicle in real time;

identifying the ground identification image to acquire direction information indicated by the ground identification;

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state.

Preferably, in the above-described driving assistance apparatus provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in each direction;

determining a signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information; and

and sending out prompt information in response to the state of the signal indicator light of the corresponding direction being a red light.

Alternatively, in the above driving assistance apparatus provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

and identifying the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information so as to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction.

Alternatively, in the above driving assistance apparatus provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

acquiring images of signal indicator lamps in the corresponding direction in front of the vehicle in real time according to the direction information; and

and identifying the image of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp in the corresponding direction.

Alternatively, in the above driving assistance apparatus provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

responding to the state of the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information as a red light, and displaying image prompt information on a display screen of a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake; and/or

And responding to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a red light state, and sending sound prompt information at a center console of the vehicle to prompt a driver to brake.

Preferably, in the above-described driving assistance apparatus provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

and in response to the driver not braking according to the voice prompt message, increasing the frequency of the voice prompt message to further prompt the driver to brake.

Alternatively, in the above driving assistance device provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

and in response to the condition that the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information is in a green lamp state, canceling the prompt information.

Alternatively, in the above driving assistance device provided by the present invention, the processor may be further configured to:

and sending out prompt information in response to receiving an operation instruction which does not conform to the direction information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable medium is also provided herein.

The present invention provides the above computer readable medium having stored thereon computer instructions, which when executed by a processor, can implement any of the above driving assistance methods.

Drawings

The above features and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood upon reading the detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components having similar relative characteristics or features may have the same or similar reference numerals.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic flow diagram of a driving assistance method provided according to an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of acquiring images ahead of a vehicle in real time provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view illustrating a signal indicating lamp according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A illustrates a schematic diagram of a captured signal light image provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic diagram of a captured signal light image provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic configuration of a driving assistance apparatus provided according to another aspect of the present invention.

Reference numerals:

101-104 driving assistance method;

21 vehicle;

221 left turn ground identification;

23 traffic signal indicator lights;

231 a left turn signal indicator light;

31 a left turn signal indicator light;

32 straight signal indicator lamps;

33 right turn signal indicator light;

311 green light;

312 yellow light;

313 red light;

41 signal indicator light image;

42 signal indicator light images;

50 a driving assistance device;

51 a memory;

52 a processor.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present invention is provided for illustrative purposes, and other advantages and effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure. While the invention will be described in connection with the preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit its features to those embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is described in connection with the embodiments for the purpose of covering alternatives or modifications that may be extended based on the claims of the present invention. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The invention may be practiced without these particulars. Moreover, some of the specific details have been left out of the description in order to avoid obscuring or obscuring the focus of the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

Additionally, the terms "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "horizontal," "vertical" and the like as used in the following description are to be understood as referring to the segment and the associated drawings in the illustrated orientation. The relative terms are used for convenience of description only and do not imply that the described apparatus should be constructed or operated in a particular orientation and therefore should not be construed as limiting the invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms, but rather are used to distinguish one element, region, layer and/or section from another element, region, layer and/or section. Thus, a first component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second component, region, layer or section without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art, the present invention provides an embodiment of a driving assistance method, an embodiment of a driving assistance apparatus, and an embodiment of a computer readable medium for assisting a driver in identifying a traffic indicator around a road, thereby prompting the driver to regulate driving to avoid traffic violations.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 illustrates a flow chart of a driving assistance method according to an aspect of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, in the driving assistance method provided in the present embodiment, the method may include the steps of:

101: and acquiring a ground identification image and a signal indicator lamp image in front of the vehicle in real time.

The ground mark may be a mark indicating a direction in which an arbitrary lane of the road is allowed to pass. The ground mark may indicate one or more directions in which traffic is allowed.

The signal indicator lamp can be a traffic signal lamp arranged at a road intersection. The status of the signal indicator lights include, but are not limited to, a green light indicating permission to pass, a yellow light indicating parking, and a red light indicating prohibition of passing.

Referring to fig. 2 in combination, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for acquiring an image in front of a vehicle in real time according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 2, in one embodiment, the driving assistance device may use a wide-angle camera disposed at a grille of a head of the vehicle 21 to acquire an image of an environment in front of the vehicle 21 in real time. The wide-angle camera has a large shooting angle, so that an image of the ground in front of the vehicle 21 or an image of the sky in front of the vehicle can be acquired.

When the vehicle 21 passes through an intersection, the wide-angle camera may include a left-turn ground mark 221 for the lane in the ground portion of the environment image in front of the vehicle 21. At this time, the driving assistance apparatus may determine that it acquired the ground identification image in front of the vehicle.

Accordingly, when the traffic signal indicator lamp 23 (particularly, the left turn signal indicator lamp 231) is included in the sky portion of the environment image in front of the vehicle 21 acquired by the wide-angle camera, the driving assistance apparatus can determine that it acquired the signal indicator lamp image in front of the vehicle.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, since the wide-angle camera can acquire both the ground image in front of the vehicle 21 and the sky image in front of the vehicle, the ground logo image and the signal indicator light image in front of the vehicle may be acquired simultaneously in the same image or may be acquired separately in two different images.

Those skilled in the art will also understand that the above-mentioned solution of acquiring the image of the environment in front of the vehicle 21 in real time by using a wide-angle camera is only a preferred solution provided by the present embodiment, and is mainly used to simplify the vehicle structure and simplify the control procedure, but not to limit the scope of the present invention. In other embodiments, a person skilled in the art may select two cameras to respectively obtain the ground image in front of the vehicle 21 and the sky image in front of the vehicle in real time according to various practical factors such as manufacturing cost, so as to achieve the effect of obtaining the ground identification image and the signal indicator light image in front of the vehicle 21 in real time.

As shown in fig. 1, in the driving assistance method provided in the present embodiment, the method may further include:

102: and recognizing the ground identification image to acquire the direction information indicated by the ground identification.

As described above, the ground markings may indicate one or more directions in which the vehicle 21 is allowed to pass in the lane. The driving assistance apparatus may acquire the direction information indicated by the ground sign by recognizing the acquired ground sign image by an image recognition technique.

As shown in fig. 2, in one embodiment, the driving assistance device may employ an image recognition module, determine the arrow direction of the left-turn ground sign 221 of the lane where the vehicle 21 is located in the ground sign image by using an image recognition technology, and acquire the direction allowing the traffic of the lane according to the arrow direction.

Specifically, the driving assist device may determine the direction information indicated by the ground mark by determining an angle of an arrow direction of the ground mark with the vehicle traveling direction. If the arrow of the ground mark faces clockwise in the vehicle driving direction, the value of the included angle can be defined to be positive, and the driving assistance device can respond to the positive value of the included angle to judge that the lane allows right turn. On the contrary, if the arrow of the ground mark faces in the counterclockwise direction of the vehicle driving direction, the value of the included angle may be defined as negative, and the driving assistance device may determine that the lane allows left turn in response to the value of the included angle being negative.

In a preferable scheme, the driving assisting device can also judge that the lane is allowed to run straight in response to the included angle being within a smaller value range (for example, -15 degrees to 15 degrees), so that the situation that the running direction of the vehicle is inclined to cause misjudgment of the traffic direction is prevented.

As shown in FIG. 2, in one embodiment, the arrow of the left turn floor indicator 221 is oriented counterclockwise in the direction of vehicle travel and the arrow is oriented at an angle of-60 to the direction of vehicle travel. Therefore, the driving assist device can determine that the lane allows left turn in response to the angle taking-60 °.

It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned solution for determining the direction information indicated by the ground mark according to the angle between the arrow direction of the ground mark and the driving direction of the vehicle is only a specific example provided by the embodiment, and is mainly used to clearly demonstrate the concept of the present invention, and provide a specific solution convenient for the public to implement, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. In other embodiments, those skilled in the art may also adopt other technical means to achieve the same effect of determining the direction information indicated by the ground identifier.

It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that the scheme of allowing only one driving direction per lane shown in fig. 2 is only a specific example provided by the present embodiment, and is mainly used for clearly illustrating the concept of the present invention and providing a specific scheme convenient for the public to implement, but not for limiting the scope of the present invention. In other embodiments, the ground markings of any one lane may also include multiple arrows, allowing the vehicle to travel in multiple directions of travel. The driving assistance device may determine, by using an image recognition technique, a plurality of arrow orientations of the ground mark of the lane in which the vehicle 21 is located in the ground mark image, and acquire a plurality of directions in which the lane is allowed to pass, based on the plurality of arrow orientations.

As shown in fig. 1, in the driving assistance method provided in the present embodiment, the method may further include:

103: and identifying the signal indicator lamp image to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp.

As described above, the status of the signal indicator lights include, but are not limited to, a green light indicating that traffic is permitted, and a red light indicating that traffic is prohibited. The driving assistance device may employ an image recognition module, and recognize the acquired image of the signal indicating lamp using an image recognition technique, thereby acquiring a state of the signal indicating lamp.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in the present embodiment, the signal indicator lights shown in fig. 1 may include only a left turn signal indicator light 231 for indicating a left turn direction traffic state, a straight travel signal indicator light for indicating a straight travel direction traffic state, and a right turn signal indicator light for indicating a right turn direction traffic state. The left turn signal indicating lamp 231, the straight signal indicating lamp, and the right turn signal indicating lamp may emit green, yellow, and red light, respectively, to indicate a traffic state in a corresponding direction.

In yet another embodiment, FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a signaling light provided in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, in this embodiment, the signal indicating lamps may include a left turn signal indicating lamp 31 indicating a left turn direction traffic state, a straight travel signal indicating lamp 32 indicating a straight travel direction traffic state, and a right turn signal indicating lamp 33 indicating a right turn direction traffic state. The left turn signal indicating lamp 31, the straight signal indicating lamp 32, and the right turn signal indicating lamp 33 may further include a green lamp 311 indicating permission of traffic, a yellow lamp 312 indicating parking, and a red lamp 313 indicating prohibition of traffic. The signal indicator light can indicate the traffic state of the corresponding direction through the brightness of the green light 311, the yellow light 312 and the red light 313.

In one embodiment, the driving assistance apparatus may recognize the blinker image in response to acquiring the complete blinker image, thereby acquiring the state of each blinker in the left turn, straight run, and right turn directions. The driving assistance device may determine a signal indicator lamp corresponding to a direction (e.g., a left turn direction) in the signal indicator lamp image according to the direction information indicated by the previously recognized ground mark, and issue a braking message to prompt the driver in response to the state of the signal indicator lamp for the left turn direction being a red lamp.

It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned scheme of first acquiring the status of the signal indicator light in each direction in the signal indicator light image, and then determining the traffic status of the corresponding direction according to the direction information indicated by the ground mark is only a specific example provided by the embodiment, and is mainly used for clearly showing the concept of the present invention, and providing a specific scheme convenient for the public to implement, but not for limiting the protection scope of the present invention.

In another embodiment, in order to shorten the time required for recognizing the signal indicator lamp image and reduce the computational load of the driving assistance device, the driving assistance device may first determine the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction according to the direction information indicated by the ground mark, so as to recognize only the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in the signal indicator lamp image, and acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction.

It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the calculation load of the driving assistance device can be greatly reduced due to the reduction of the unnecessary image recognition process of the signal indicator light image, so that the prompt information can be sent to the driver in time for the driver to perform corresponding operations.

Referring to fig. 4A and 4B in combination, fig. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating two acquired signal indicator light images according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 4A, in the above-described embodiment, the driving assistance apparatus needs to acquire a complete image of the signal indicating lamp in order to acquire the state of the signal indicating lamp in each direction in the image of the signal indicating lamp. However, in practical application of the driving assistance method provided in this embodiment, when the vehicle is traveling on the leftmost left-turn lane of the road, the images collected by the camera may only include the images of some of the signal indicator lights as shown in fig. 4B.

In addition, as can be seen from fig. 1, if a complete image of the signal indicator lamp is to be acquired, the requirement for identifying the state of the signal indicator lamp must be implemented at a position far enough from the signal indicator lamp. Therefore, the scheme not only puts forward higher requirements on the shooting angle and the imaging quality of the camera, but also puts forward greater test on the recognition capability of the image recognition module.

In one embodiment, in order to reduce the requirements on the shooting angle and the image definition of the camera and the identification function of the image identification module, the driving assistance device can acquire the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction (for example, the left-turning direction) in front of the vehicle in real time according to the direction information indicated by the ground mark, and further recognize the image of the signal indicator lamp in the left-turning direction to acquire the state of the signal indicator lamp in the left-turning direction.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, in this embodiment, since the image of the signal indicator lamp in the corresponding direction in front of the vehicle only needs to be obtained in real time according to the direction information indicated by the ground mark, the driving assistance device can obtain a clearer signal indicator lamp image at a position closer to the signal indicator lamp, thereby reducing the requirements on the shooting angle and imaging definition of the camera and the recognition capability of the image recognition technology. Therefore, the above-described driving assistance method provided by this embodiment can also effectively reduce the manufacturing cost.

In addition, because the requirement for identifying the content contained in the image is reduced, the driving assistance method provided by the embodiment can more effectively avoid errors caused by the fact that the signal indicating lamp image cannot be identified, so that the reliability of the driving assistance device is improved, and better user experience is brought to drivers.

As shown in fig. 1, in the driving assistance method provided in the present embodiment, the method may further include:

104: and sending out prompt information in response to the state of the signal indicator light corresponding to the direction information being a red light.

The prompt information is mainly used for prompting a driver of the vehicle to carry out standard driving according to ground identification and signal indication regulations, so that traffic violation is avoided. The prompt information includes, but is not limited to, one or more of lighting or flashing of the corresponding indicator light, text or image information displayed on a console display screen of the vehicle, text or image information displayed on a front windshield of the vehicle using a head-up display, voice information emitted through a console of the vehicle, and a buzzer prompt tone emitted through a buzzer.

In one embodiment, the driving assistance apparatus may display an image prompt message on a center console display screen of the vehicle to prompt the driver to brake and emit a buzzer sound prompt message on the center console of the vehicle to prompt the driver to brake in response to the state of the left turn signal indicating lamp 231 corresponding to the left turn floor sign 221 being a red lamp.

In a preferred embodiment, the driving assistance means may further increase the frequency of the audible prompt message to further prompt the driver to brake in response to the driver not braking in accordance with the audible prompt message.

It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned scheme for displaying the image prompt message on the console display of the vehicle and sending the buzzing sound prompt message on the console of the vehicle is only a specific example provided in the embodiment, and is mainly used to clearly demonstrate the concept of the present invention and provide a specific scheme convenient for the public to implement, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. In other embodiments, a person skilled in the art may use the text, sound and image prompting messages individually to play a basic prompting role, or may combine the text, sound and image prompting messages arbitrarily to achieve a corresponding prompting effect.

In one embodiment, the driving assistance apparatus may further continue to acquire the image of the signal indicator lamp in real time after the driver brakes according to the prompt information, and cancel the issued prompt information in response to the state change of the signal indicator lamp corresponding to the direction information to a green light, or further issue a prompt information that prompts the driver that the driver can continue driving to assist the driver in driving.

In one embodiment, the driving assistance device may also monitor an operation instruction of the driver in real time and issue a prompt message in response to receiving the operation instruction that does not conform to the direction information, thereby preventing the driver from traffic violation.

For example: when the recognized ground mark indicates that the lane in which the vehicle 21 is located is a straight lane, the driving assistance apparatus may determine that the lane allows the vehicle to go straight only at the intersection. If the driver lights the turn indicator (including the left turn indicator and the right turn indicator) at the intersection or turns the steering wheel greatly, the driving assistance device can respond to the operation instruction to judge that the driver has the intention of controlling the vehicle to turn, so that the image prompt information is displayed on the center console display screen of the vehicle to prompt the driver that the intersection can only go straight.

While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein or not shown and described herein, as would be understood by one skilled in the art.

According to another aspect of the present invention, embodiments of a driving assistance apparatus are also provided herein.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a driving assistance apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 5, the driving assistance device 50 provided in the present embodiment may include a memory 51 and a processor 52 coupled to the memory 51.

The processor 52 may be configured to implement the driving assistance method provided in any one of the above embodiments, so as to assist the driver to recognize the traffic indicator around the road and prompt the driver to drive according to the regulations to avoid traffic violations.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the driving assistance device 50 provided in the present embodiment can be obtained by further installing a front camera for acquiring a ground mark image and a signal indicating lamp image in front of the vehicle in real time and an image recognition module for recognizing the ground mark image and the signal indicating lamp image on the basis of an existing vehicle. Therefore, the driving assistance device 50 can effectively prompt the driver to avoid traffic violations while controlling the low production cost.

According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-readable medium embodiment is also provided herein.

The computer readable medium provided by this embodiment may have stored thereon computer instructions, which when executed by the processor 52, may implement the driving assistance method provided by any one of the above embodiments, so as to assist a driver to identify a traffic indicator around a road and prompt the driver to regulate driving to avoid traffic violations.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information, signals, and data may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits (bits), symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software as a computer program product, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a web site, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk (disk) and disc (disc), as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks (disks) usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs (discs) reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.