阅读说明：本技术 成像控制设备、用于控制成像控制设备的方法以及移动体 (Imaging control apparatus, method for controlling imaging control apparatus, and moving body ) 是由 桥本弘和 今井秀明 柴山宪文 于 2018-03-16 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开涉及：能够提高安装在车辆中的立体相机的距离测量精度的成像控制装置；用于成像控制装置的控制方法；以及移动体。构成立体相机系统的一组相机被设置在车身的侧面,所述相机被在垂直于路面的方向上并排设置。此外,从成像得到的像素信号被按从前侧像素行开始的顺序并且在每个像素行中逐像素垂直地从成阵列的像素行依次读取。本公开可以应用于车内系统。(The present disclosure relates to: an imaging control device capable of improving the distance measurement accuracy of a stereo camera mounted in a vehicle; a control method for the imaging control apparatus; and a moving body. A group of cameras constituting a stereo camera system are disposed on the side of the vehicle body, the cameras being disposed side by side in a direction perpendicular to the road surface. Further, pixel signals resulting from imaging are sequentially read from the arrayed pixel rows in order from the front side pixel row and vertically pixel by pixel in each pixel row. The present disclosure may be applied to an in-vehicle system.)

1. An imaging control apparatus comprising:

A group of cameras installed in the moving body and constituting a stereoscopic camera system; and

A detection section configured to detect a distance of an observation point in a detection range based on an image imaged by the group of cameras,

Wherein the group of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of the moving body, and is configured to sequentially read imaging pixel signals in the vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array.

2. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the group of cameras is configured to read pixel signals sequentially in a vertical direction for each column in order from a pixel column on a front side of the moving body.

3. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the group of cameras is configured to read pixel signals sequentially in a vertical direction, in a direction from bottom to top, or in a direction from top to bottom for each column in order from a pixel column on a front side of the moving body.

4. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the one group of cameras are arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on each of a left side surface and a right side surface of the moving body, and the one group of cameras on each of the left side and the right side surface of the moving body are configured to read pixel signals sequentially in the vertical direction, in a direction from bottom to top, or in a direction from top to bottom for each column in order from a pixel column on a front side of the moving body.

5. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the one set of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on each of a left side surface and a right side surface of the moving body, and the one set of cameras on one of the left side and the right side of the moving body is configured to sequentially read pixel signals in a direction from bottom to top in a vertical direction for each column in order from a pixel column on a front side of the moving body, and the one set of cameras on the other of the left side and the right side is configured to sequentially read pixel signals in a direction from top to bottom in a vertical direction for each column in order from a pixel column on the front side of the moving body.

6. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group of cameras are arranged side by side on at least any one of a side surface of each of left and right in front of the moving body, a side surface of each of left and right in the center of the moving body, and a side surface of each of left and right in the rear of the moving body, so that parallax occurs in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface.

7. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each camera includes a camera having an angle narrower than a predetermined angle in a case where the group of cameras are arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of each of left and right in front of the moving body or on a side surface of each of left and right in rear of the moving body.

8. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each camera includes a camera having an angle wider than a predetermined angle in a case where the group of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road on a side of each of a center left side and a center right side of the mobile body.

9. The imaging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pixels of the camera are arranged in an array such that a width in a horizontal direction is larger than a width in a vertical direction.

10. the imaging control apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the pixels of the camera are arranged in an array such that a ratio of a width in a horizontal direction to a width in a vertical direction is about 16:9 or about 4: 3.

11. A method for controlling an imaging control apparatus including a detection section configured to detect a distance of an observation point in a detection range based on an image imaged by a set of cameras installed in a moving body and constituting a stereoscopic camera system, the method comprising:

A step of sequentially reading imaging pixel signals in a vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array by the group of cameras arranged side by side in the vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of the moving body.

12. A mobile body, comprising:

An image forming control apparatus includes

A group of cameras installed in the moving body and constituting a stereoscopic camera system; and

A detection section configured to detect a distance of an observation point in a detection range based on an image imaged by the group of cameras,

The group of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of the moving body, and is configured to read imaging pixel signals sequentially in the vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an imaging control apparatus, a method for controlling the imaging control apparatus, and a moving body, and particularly, to an imaging control apparatus, a method for controlling the imaging control apparatus, and a moving body, which can achieve distance measurement with high accuracy using a set of cameras arranged in a vertical direction.

Background

In recent years, attention has been focused on techniques of imaging the periphery of a vehicle and performing automatic driving and driving assistance using the imaged image.

In the proposed technology (see patent document 1), for example, a stereo camera system is mounted in a vehicle. The stereoscopic camera system includes a set of cameras arranged in the left-right horizontal direction, and measures the distance to the subject using the offset of the same subject in a set of images. Due to parallax between the cameras, a shift of the same subject occurs.

Reference list

Patent document

[PTL 1]

Japanese patent laid-open No.2013-070177

disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

Incidentally, the stereo camera system according to PTL1 monitors the front with a set of cameras arranged in the horizontal direction at the front end portion of the vehicle. However, in order to make the configuration advantageous for side monitoring from the front end portion of the vehicle, it is conceivable to implement a stereoscopic camera system for monitoring the side by a set of cameras arranged in the vertical direction.

However, in the camera included in the stereoscopic camera system according to PTL1, pixel signals of pixels arranged in an array are sequentially read in a vertical direction in units of rows, and the pixel signals are sequentially read in a horizontal direction for each row.

for this reason, when an object moves in the horizontal direction within the field of view of the camera, a shift in the read timing of the pixel signal occurs in units of lines, and therefore so-called focal plane distortion occurs in which an object shift that should exist at the same position in the horizontal direction occurs.

Further, a group of cameras arranged in the vertical direction generates parallax in the vertical direction. Therefore, in the two images to be imaged, the subject is imaged at the offset position in the vertical direction. This causes the reading timings of the pixel signals to be different, thereby shifting the subject which should exist at the same position in the horizontal direction.

As a result, there is a risk that: in two images imaged by a set of cameras arranged in the vertical direction, the same subject cannot be recognized as a subject at the same position in the horizontal direction, and distance measurement cannot be performed.

Therefore, it is conceivable to realize distance measurement by adding a configuration for correcting focal plane distortion and displacement of a subject in the horizontal direction between images imaged by the set of cameras. However, adding the configuration required for correction results in a complicated device configuration and increased cost.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and particularly realizes distance measurement with high accuracy using a set of cameras arranged in the vertical direction.

Solution to the problem

An imaging control apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a group of cameras installed in the moving body and constituting a stereoscopic camera system; and a detection section configured to detect a distance of an observation point in a detection range based on an image imaged by the one group of cameras, wherein the one group of cameras are arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of the moving body, and configured to sequentially read imaging pixel signals in the vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array.

each of the group of cameras may sequentially read pixel signals in a vertical direction for each column in order from a pixel column on the front side of the moving body.

Each of the group of cameras may sequentially read pixel signals in a vertical direction, in a direction from bottom to top, or in a direction from top to bottom for each column in order from a pixel column on the front side of the moving body.

The one set of cameras may be arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on each of left and right side surfaces of the moving body, and the one set of cameras on each of the left and right side surfaces of the moving body may sequentially read pixel signals in the vertical direction, in a direction from bottom to top, or in a direction from top to bottom for each column in order from a pixel column on a front side of the moving body.

The one set of cameras may be arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on each of left and right side surfaces of the moving body, and the one set of cameras on one of the left and right side surfaces of the moving body may sequentially read pixel signals in a vertical direction in a direction from bottom to top for each column in order from a pixel column on the front side of the moving body, and the one set of cameras on the other of the left and right side surfaces may sequentially read pixel signals in a direction from top to bottom in a vertical direction for each column in order from a pixel column on the front side of the moving body.

The group of cameras may be arranged side by side on at least any one of a side surface of each of left and right in front of the moving body, a side surface of each of left and right at the center of the moving body, and a side surface of each of left and right at the rear of the moving body, so that parallax occurs in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface.

In a case where the group of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side of each of left and right in front of the moving body or on a side of each of left and right in rear of the moving body, each camera may include a camera having an angle narrower than a predetermined angle.

In a case where the group of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road on a side of each of a center left side and a center right side of the moving body, each camera may include a camera having an angle wider than a predetermined angle.

The pixels of the camera may be arranged in an array such that the width in the horizontal direction is greater than the width in the vertical direction.

The pixels of the camera may be arranged in an array such that the ratio of the width in the horizontal direction to the width in the vertical direction is about 16:9 or about 4: 3.

information for controlling an imaging control apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a method for controlling an imaging control apparatus including a detection section configured to detect a distance of an observation point in a detection range based on an image imaged by a set of cameras mounted in a moving body and constituting a stereoscopic camera system, the method including a step of sequentially reading imaging pixel signals in a vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array by the set of cameras arranged side by side in the vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of the moving body.

A moving body according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a group of cameras installed in the moving body and constituting a stereoscopic camera system; and a detection section configured to detect a distance of the observation point in the detection range based on the image imaged by the group of cameras. The group of cameras is arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side surface of the moving body, and is configured to read imaging pixel signals sequentially in the vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a distance of an observation point in a detection range is detected based on an image imaged by a set of cameras mounted in a moving body and constituting a stereo camera system, and the set of cameras are arranged side by side in a vertical direction with respect to a road surface on a side of the moving body, and are configured to sequentially read imaging pixel signals in the vertical direction in units of pixels arranged in an array.

Advantageous effects of the invention

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, distance measurement can be achieved with high accuracy using a set of cameras arranged in a vertical direction in particular.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of an in-vehicle system to which the present techniques are applied.

Fig. 2 is a diagram depicting an example of the mounting position of the camera.

Fig. 3 is a diagram depicting an example of an appearance of a stereo camera system.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram depicting an example of the configuration of the imaging control section.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram depicting a configuration of the stereo distance measuring section.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a principle of distance measurement by the stereo camera system.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating focal plane distortion by a camera of a stereo camera system.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence in which a camera of a stereoscopic camera system according to the present disclosure reads pixel signals.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence in which a camera of a stereoscopic camera system according to the present disclosure reads pixel signals.

Fig. 10 is a diagram depicting an example of the mounting position of the display portion.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the surroundings monitoring process.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of obtaining sensor information.

Fig. 13 is a diagram depicting a modification of the appearance configuration of the stereo camera system.

Fig. 14 is a diagram depicting a modification of the appearance configuration of the stereo camera system.

Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating another example of a sequence in which a camera of a stereoscopic camera system according to the present disclosure reads pixel signals.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram depicting an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle control system.

Fig. 17 is a diagram for assisting in explaining an example of mounting positions of the vehicle exterior information detecting unit and the imaging unit.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Incidentally, in the present specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration will be assigned the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out the present technology will be described. The description will be made in the following order.