阅读说明：本技术 用于提供前方车辆的制动水平的设备、方法和车辆 (Device, method and vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle ) 是由 李炫雨 于 2020-10-13 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于提供前方车辆的制动水平的设备、方法和车辆,可以将前方车辆的制动程度量化为制动水平,并且将前方车辆的制动水平提供给驾驶员。该设备包括：刹车灯位置识别装置,其配置为基于前方车辆的图像和相对加速度来识别前方车辆的刹车灯的位置；制动确定装置,其配置为基于从前方车辆的图像提取的刹车灯图像来确定是否执行了前方车辆的制动；制动水平确定装置,其配置为基于前方车辆的相对加速度来确定前方车辆的制动水平；以及制动水平图像提供装置,其配置为通过图像来提供所确定的前方车辆的制动水平。(An apparatus, method, and vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle may quantify a braking level of the preceding vehicle as the braking level and provide the braking level of the preceding vehicle to a driver. The apparatus comprises: a brake lamp position identifying device configured to identify a position of a brake lamp of a preceding vehicle based on an image and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle; a braking determination device configured to determine whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed based on a brake light image extracted from an image of the preceding vehicle; a braking level determination device configured to determine a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle; and a braking level image providing device configured to provide the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle through an image.)

1. An apparatus for providing a level of braking of a preceding vehicle, comprising:

a brake lamp position identifying device configured to identify a position of a brake lamp of the preceding vehicle based on an image of the preceding vehicle and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle;

a brake determination device configured to determine whether the preceding vehicle performs braking based on a brake lamp image extracted from an image of the preceding vehicle when the position of the brake lamp is recognized;

a braking level determination device configured to determine a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed; and

a braking level image providing device configured to provide the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle through an image when the braking level is determined.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brake lamp position identifying means acquires an image of the preceding vehicle from a front camera, and acquires a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle from a front radar.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired upon recognizing the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, the brake lamp position recognition means classifies the image of the preceding vehicle as one of an illumination image in which the brake lamp is turned on and a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on, stores the image of the preceding vehicle as one of the illumination image and the non-illumination image, and recognizes the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle by comparing the classified illumination image and non-illumination image with each other.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein in classifying the image of the preceding vehicle, the brake lamp position identifying device acquires an acceleration of a host vehicle and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, and classifies the acquired image of the preceding vehicle as one of the illumination image in which the brake lamp is turned on and the non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on based on the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the brake lamp position identifying means identifies the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, the brake lamp position identifying means stores position information of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, extracts a brake lamp image from the image of the preceding vehicle based on the position information of the brake lamp, and stores the extracted brake lamp image.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in determining whether the preceding vehicle performs braking, the braking determination means extracts the brake lamp image from the image of the preceding vehicle, and determines whether the preceding vehicle performs braking by comparing the extracted brake lamp image with previously stored brake lamp images in an illuminated state and a non-illuminated state.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, the braking level determining means acquires a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that the preceding vehicle performs braking, and determines the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when the acquired relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is lower than 0 kph/s.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the braking level determining means sets the braking level of the preceding vehicle to a minimum value before acquiring the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, when it is determined that the preceding vehicle performs braking.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, in determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, when a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10 is a maximum value of the braking level or less, the braking level determining means sets the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the result value.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein in determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, when a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10 is larger than a maximum value of the braking level, the braking level determining means sets the result value to the maximum value of the braking level.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in providing the braking level by an image, the braking level image providing means acquires an image of the preceding vehicle, selects a braking level display area from the image of the preceding vehicle, and provides the image displaying the braking level of the preceding vehicle to the selected braking level display area.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in providing the braking level through an image, the braking level image providing means processes an image of the preceding vehicle including the braking level using augmented reality and provides the processed image of the preceding vehicle to a display of a host vehicle.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in providing the braking level by an image, the braking level image providing means processes the image of the preceding vehicle using augmented reality when at least one brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in a non-illuminated state, so that the image of the preceding vehicle includes the image of the brake lamp in an illuminated state and the braking level, and provides the processed image of the preceding vehicle to a display of a host vehicle.

14. A method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle in an arrangement for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, the arrangement comprising brake light position identification means, braking determination means, braking level determination means and braking level image providing means, the method comprising:

identifying, by the brake lamp position identification device, a position of a brake lamp of the preceding vehicle based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle;

determining, by the braking determination means, whether the preceding vehicle performs braking based on a brake light image extracted from an image of the preceding vehicle when the position of the brake light is recognized;

determining, by the braking level determination means, a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that the preceding vehicle performs braking; and

when the braking level is determined, the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle is provided by the braking level image providing means through an image.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying the location of the brake lights of the leading vehicle comprises:

acquiring an image of the preceding vehicle;

acquiring an acceleration of a host vehicle;

acquiring relative acceleration of the front vehicle;

confirming whether the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle satisfy a first condition;

classifying the image of the preceding vehicle as a non-illuminated image in which the brake lamp is not turned on when the first condition is satisfied, and storing the image of the preceding vehicle as the non-illuminated image, and confirming whether the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle satisfy a second condition when the first condition is not satisfied;

classifying the image of the preceding vehicle as an illumination image with the brake lamp turned on when the second condition is satisfied, and storing the image of the preceding vehicle as the illumination image; and

identifying a position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle by comparing the illumination image and the non-illumination image with each other.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the first condition is a condition that both the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle are 0kph/s or higher; and is

The second condition may be that the acceleration of the host vehicle is 0kph/s and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is at a threshold value configured to be less than 0kph/s or lower.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein determining whether the leading vehicle performed braking comprises:

acquiring an image of the preceding vehicle;

extracting the brake light image from the image of the preceding vehicle;

comparing the extracted brake light image with pre-stored brake light images in an illuminated state and a non-illuminated state;

confirming whether a brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in the illuminated state as a result of the comparison of the extracted brake lamp images; and

recognizing that the preceding vehicle performs braking upon confirming that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in the illuminated state; and recognizing that the preceding vehicle is not braking, when it is confirmed that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is not in the illumination state.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the braking level of the leading vehicle comprises:

setting a braking level of the preceding vehicle to a minimum value when the preceding vehicle performs braking;

acquiring relative acceleration of the front vehicle;

confirming whether the relative acceleration of the front vehicle is lower than 0 kph/s;

determining a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is confirmed that the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is lower than 0 kph/s;

determining whether the determined level of braking is greater than a maximum value of the level of braking; and

setting the determined braking level to a maximum value of the braking levels when the determined braking level is greater than the maximum value, and setting the determined braking level to a braking level of the preceding vehicle when the determined braking level is not greater than the maximum value.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the level of braking via the image comprises:

acquiring an image of the preceding vehicle;

selecting a braking level display area from an image of the preceding vehicle;

combining the brake level with the selected brake level display area;

providing an image of the preceding vehicle including the braking level combined with the image of the preceding vehicle.

20. A vehicle, comprising:

a camera configured to acquire an image of a preceding vehicle;

a radar configured to acquire a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle;

a display configured to display a braking level image of the preceding vehicle; and

a device for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, the device being configured to determine the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on an image of the preceding vehicle and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, and to provide the braking level by image,

wherein the apparatus identifies a position of a brake lamp of the preceding vehicle based on an image of the preceding vehicle and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, determines whether the preceding vehicle performs braking based on a brake lamp image extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle, determines a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, generates the braking level image based on the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle, and provides the braking level image to the display.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for providing a braking level (braking level) of a preceding vehicle, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method and vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, which can quantify a braking degree of a preceding vehicle as a braking level and provide the braking level of the preceding vehicle to a driver.

Background

Generally, a brake lamp is installed at the rear end of a vehicle, and is turned on whenever a driver performs a braking operation, i.e., depresses a brake pedal.

Accordingly, the vehicle driver can recognize whether the preceding vehicle is braked by the on/off operation of the brake lamp installed at the rear end of the preceding vehicle.

In some cases, in order to increase visibility of the brake lights, auxiliary brake lights having various shapes may be additionally installed at the rear end of the vehicle in addition to the main brake lights installed at both sides of the rear end.

However, the brake lamp and the auxiliary brake lamp are only used to indicate whether a braking operation is performed, i.e., whether the driver depresses the brake pedal or removes his/her foot from the brake pedal, and thus, it may be difficult for the driver to immediately recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle.

That is, when the brake lights of the preceding vehicle are turned on, it is difficult for the vehicle driver to immediately recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle, and therefore, full braking is attempted for safety, resulting in unnecessary traffic congestion and energy waste.

Since a rule that the brake lights must be turned on at the same brightness regardless of the degree to which the brake pedal is depressed is definitely required, it is impossible to apply a technique of dividing the brightness of the brake lights into a plurality of levels or controlling the brightness of the brake lights using a plurality of luminous bodies to the brake lights.

Therefore, it is required to develop an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, which quantifies a braking level of the preceding vehicle into a braking level and displays the braking level of the preceding vehicle so that a driver can directly recognize a deceleration level of the preceding vehicle.

The information disclosed in the background section above is for the purpose of aiding in the understanding of the background of the disclosure, and should not be taken as an admission that the information forms any part of the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus, method, and vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle that substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus, method, and vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, which quantizes a braking level of the preceding vehicle to the braking level and displays the braking level of the preceding vehicle so that a driver can directly recognize a deceleration level of the preceding vehicle.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the disclosure. The objectives and other advantages of the disclosure may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle includes: a brake lamp position identifying device configured to identify a position of a brake lamp of a preceding vehicle based on an image of the preceding vehicle and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle; a braking determination device configured to determine whether the preceding vehicle performs braking based on a brake light image extracted from an image of the preceding vehicle when the position of the brake light is recognized; a braking level determination device configured to determine a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that the preceding vehicle performs braking; and a braking level image providing device configured to provide the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle through an image when the braking level is determined.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle in an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, the apparatus including brake lamp position identifying means, braking determining means, braking level determining means, and braking level image providing means, the method comprising: identifying, by a brake light position identification device, a position of a brake light of a preceding vehicle based on an image of the preceding vehicle and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle; determining, by the braking determination means, whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed based on the brake light image extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle when the position of the brake light is recognized; determining, by the braking level determining means, a braking level of the preceding vehicle based on a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed; and when the braking level is determined, providing the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle by an image through a braking level image providing means.

In still another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable recording medium having recorded therein a program for executing a method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle in an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle performs a process provided by the method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle.

In still another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle includes a camera configured to acquire an image of a preceding vehicle, a radar configured to acquire a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, a display configured to display a brake level image of the preceding vehicle, and a device for providing the brake level of the preceding vehicle, the device configured to determine the brake level of the preceding vehicle based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, and provide the brake level through the image, wherein the device identifies a position of a brake lamp of the preceding vehicle based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, determines whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed based on a brake lamp image extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle, determines the brake level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, generates a brake level image based on the determined brake level of the preceding vehicle, and provides the brake level image to the display.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present disclosure are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the disclosure as claimed.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a view illustrating a vehicle including an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a process of providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle;

fig. 4 is a view showing a braking level of a preceding vehicle displayed on a screen of a display;

fig. 5 to 9 are flowcharts illustrating a method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, and various modifications may be made. In the drawings, for the purpose of clearly describing the present disclosure, descriptions of elements that are not related to the present disclosure will be omitted, and the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals even when the same or similar elements are depicted in different drawings.

In the following description of the embodiments, it will be understood that when a component is referred to as "comprising" an element, it can also comprise other elements and does not exclude the presence of such other elements, unless otherwise stated. Further, in the following description of the embodiments, it will be understood that the suffixes "means", "unit", and "module" represent a unit for processing at least one function or operation, and may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Hereinafter, an apparatus, method, and vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle, which are applicable to embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 9.

In the present disclosure, the braking level may mean a level visually indicating a degree of deceleration of the vehicle, which is performed by a braking operation in which the driver presses a brake pedal.

Fig. 1 is a view illustrating a vehicle including an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 1, a vehicle according to the present disclosure may include a camera 100 acquiring an image of a preceding vehicle, a radar 200 acquiring a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, a display 400 displaying a brake level image of the preceding vehicle, and a device 300 for providing a brake level of the preceding vehicle, which determines the brake level of the preceding vehicle based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the relative acceleration and provides the brake level through the image.

Here, the apparatus 300 may recognize the position of the brake lamp of the front vehicle based on the image and the relative acceleration of the front vehicle, determine whether braking of the front vehicle is performed based on the brake lamp image extracted from the image of the front vehicle, determine the braking level of the front vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the front vehicle, generate a braking level image based on the determined braking level of the front vehicle, and provide the braking level image to the display 400.

For example, the display 400 may include at least one of an audio/video/navigation/telematics (AVNT) system, a head-up display (HUD), a windshield, and an instrument panel, but is not limited thereto.

Further, the apparatus 300 may acquire an image of the preceding vehicle from the front camera 100 of the plurality of cameras 100, and acquire a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle from the front radar 200 of the plurality of radars 200. Front-facing camera 100 and front-facing radar 200 may be communicatively connected to device 300.

Further, in identifying the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, the apparatus 300 may classify the image of the preceding vehicle as one of an illumination image in which the brake lamp is turned on and a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on, store the image of the preceding vehicle as one of the illumination image and the non-illumination image, and identify the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle by comparing the classified illumination image and the non-illumination image with each other.

Here, in classifying the image of the preceding vehicle, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, the apparatus 300 may acquire the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle with respect to the acceleration of the host vehicle, and classify the image of the preceding vehicle as one of an illumination image in which a brake lamp is turned on and a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on based on the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

For example, in classifying the images of the preceding vehicles, the apparatus 300 may classify the images of the preceding vehicles as non-illumination images with brake lights not turned on when both the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicles are 0 kilometer per hour per second (kph/s) or higher, and as illumination images with brake lights turned on when the acceleration of the host vehicle is 0kph/s and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicles is at a threshold value less than 0kph/s or lower.

Thereafter, the apparatus 300 may store position information of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, extract a brake lamp image from the image of the preceding vehicle based on the position information of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle when the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is stored, and store the extracted brake lamp image.

For example, in storing the position information of the brake lamp of the front vehicle, the apparatus 300 may store information about the position of the brake lamp of the front vehicle, including the position of the brake lamp disposed on the left side of the front vehicle, the position of the brake lamp disposed on the right side of the front vehicle, and the position of the brake lamp disposed on the upper portion of the front vehicle, but is not limited thereto.

That is, the apparatus 300 may previously store position information of a plurality of brake lights corresponding to various types of vehicles through learning.

Further, in storing the extracted brake light image, the apparatus 300 may store the brake light image including at least one of the brake light image in an illuminated state or the brake light image in a non-illuminated state.

In addition, in determining whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the apparatus 300 may extract a brake lamp image from the image of the preceding vehicle, and determine whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed by comparing the extracted brake lamp image with a previously stored brake lamp image in an illuminated state and a brake lamp image in a non-illuminated state.

For example, the apparatus 300 may compare the extracted brake lamp image with a previously stored brake lamp image in an illuminated state and brake lamp image in a non-illuminated state, and as a result of the comparison, determine that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed when it is recognized that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in the illuminated state, and determine that braking of the preceding vehicle is not performed when it is recognized that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in the non-illuminated state.

Thereafter, when determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, the apparatus 300 may acquire the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when determining that the braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, and determine the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when the acquired relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is lower than 0 kph/s.

Here, when it is determined that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the apparatus 300 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle to a minimum value before acquiring the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

For example, if the braking level is set to be within a range of 1 as the minimum value to 10 as the maximum value, the apparatus 300 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle to 1 to the minimum level when it is determined that the braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, and then determine the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

Further, when a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10 is a maximum value of the braking level or less when determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, the apparatus 300 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the result value.

Alternatively, when determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, the apparatus 300 may set a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10 to the maximum value of the braking level when the result value is larger than the maximum value of the braking level.

For example, if the braking level is set to be in the range of 1 as the minimum value to 10 as the maximum value of the braking level, the apparatus 300 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle to the maximum value, i.e., 10, even when the determined result value is 15.

Thereafter, when providing the braking level image, the apparatus 300 may acquire an image of the preceding vehicle, select a braking level display area from the image of the preceding vehicle, and provide the image displaying the braking level of the preceding vehicle to the selected braking level display area.

Here, when the braking level display area is selected, the apparatus 300 may select an area of the image of the preceding vehicle that does not overlap with the brake lamp as the braking level display area.

The reason for this is that both the image of the brake lamp and the braking level of the preceding vehicle are provided so that the driver can easily recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle.

For example, when the braking level display area is selected, the apparatus 300 may select a rear body area of the preceding vehicle, which does not overlap with the brake lights, from the image of the preceding vehicle, as the braking level display area, but the braking level display area is not limited thereto.

Thereafter, when providing the braking level image, the apparatus 300 may process an image of the front vehicle including the braking level using augmented reality (augmented reality) and provide the processed image of the front vehicle to the display 400.

In some cases, in providing the brake level image, if at least one brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is not turned on due to its failure, the device 300 may provide the image of the brake lamp in an illuminated state along with the brake level.

That is, in providing the braking level image, if at least one brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is not turned on due to a malfunction thereof, the apparatus 300 may process the image of the preceding vehicle using augmented reality such that the image of the preceding vehicle includes the image of the brake lamp in an illuminated state and the braking level, and provide the processed image of the preceding vehicle to the display 400 of the host vehicle.

In this way, the apparatus 300 according to the present disclosure quantizes the degree of braking of the preceding vehicle to the braking level and provides the braking level through an image, and thus may allow the driver to directly recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle, to enable the host vehicle to efficiently drive at the time of traffic congestion and to improve energy efficiency.

Further, the apparatus 300 according to the present disclosure displays the degree of braking of the preceding vehicle using augmented reality, and thus may provide information to assist the driver in safe driving to avoid unnecessary full braking.

In addition, the apparatus 300 according to the present disclosure recognizes full braking of the preceding vehicle from a far distance and then allows the driver to perform braking suitable for the host vehicle, so that the possibility of an accident can be reduced.

Further, the apparatus 300 according to the present disclosure recognizes a low braking level of the preceding vehicle and then allows the driver to perform braking suitable for the host vehicle, thereby being able to reduce unnecessary energy consumption.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 2, device 300 may include a processor 350. The processor 350 has an associated non-transitory memory storing software instructions that, when executed by the processor 350, provide the functions of the brake light position identifying means 310, the brake determining means 320, the brake level determining means 330 and the brake level image providing means 340. Processor 350 may take the form of one or more processors and associated memory that store program instructions. Processor 350 may be, for example, a computer, microprocessor, CPU, ASIC, circuit, logic circuit, or the like. Herein, the memory and the processor 350 may be implemented as separate semiconductor circuits. Alternatively, the memory and processor 350 may be implemented as a single integrated semiconductor circuit.

Here, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 of the processor 350 may recognize the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

The brake light position identification device 310 may acquire an image of the vehicle in front from the front camera and acquire the relative acceleration of the vehicle in front from the front radar.

In recognizing the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 may classify the image of the preceding vehicle as one of an illumination image in which the brake lamp is turned on and a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on, store the image of the preceding vehicle as one of the illumination image and the non-illumination image, and recognize the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle by comparing the classified illumination image and the non-illumination image with each other.

In classifying the image of the preceding vehicle, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 acquires the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle, and classifies the image of the preceding vehicle as one of an illumination image in which the brake lamp is turned on and a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on based on the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

For example, in classifying the image of the preceding vehicle, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 may classify the image of the preceding vehicle as a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp is not turned on when both the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle are 0 kilometer per hour (kph/s) or higher, and classify the image of the preceding vehicle as an illumination image in which the brake lamp is turned on when the acceleration of the host vehicle is 0kph/s and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is at a threshold value less than 0kph/s or lower.

Here, the threshold may be about-10 kph/s or lower, but is not limited thereto.

Further, when the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is stored, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 may store the position information of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, extract the brake lamp image from the image of the preceding vehicle based on the position information of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, and store the extracted brake lamp image.

Here, in storing the position information of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 may store information about the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle, which includes the position of the brake lamp disposed on the left side of the preceding vehicle, the position of the brake lamp disposed on the right side of the preceding vehicle, and the position of the brake lamp disposed on the upper portion of the preceding vehicle.

Further, in storing the extracted brake lamp image, the brake lamp position recognition device 310 may store the brake lamp image including at least one of the brake lamp image in an illuminated state and the brake lamp image in a non-illuminated state.

Thereafter, when the position of the brake lamp is recognized, the braking determination means 320 of the processor 350 may determine whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed based on the brake lamp image extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle.

Here, in determining whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the braking determination means 320 may extract a brake lamp image from the image of the preceding vehicle, and determine whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed by comparing the extracted brake lamp image with a previously stored brake lamp image in an illuminated state or a brake lamp image in a non-illuminated state.

That is, in determining whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the braking determination means 320 may compare the extracted brake lamp image with the brake lamp image in the illuminated state and the brake lamp image in the non-illuminated state, and as a result of the comparison, determine that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed when the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is recognized to be in the illuminated state, and determine that braking of the preceding vehicle is not performed when the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is recognized to be in the non-illuminated state.

Thereafter, upon determining that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the braking level determining means 330 of the processor 350 may determine the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

Here, in determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, the braking level determining means 330 may acquire the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that the braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, and determine the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle when the acquired relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is lower than 0 kph/s.

Further, when it is determined that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the braking level determination means 330 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle to a minimum value before acquiring the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle.

Thereafter, when determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, when a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10 is the maximum value of the braking level or less, the braking level determining means 330 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle based on the result value.

That is, when the braking level of the preceding vehicle is set, the braking level determining means 330 may use the obtained value as the braking level of the preceding vehicle.

For example, the braking level of the preceding vehicle may be the same as a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10.

For example, if the braking level is set in the range of 1 as the minimum value to 10 as the maximum value, the braking level determining means 330 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle to 8 when the determined result value is 8.

Alternatively, in determining the braking level of the preceding vehicle, when the result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10 is larger than the maximum value of the braking level, the braking level determining means 330 may set the result value as the maximum value of the braking level.

For example, the maximum value of the braking level may be smaller than a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10.

For example, if the braking level is set in the range of 1 as the minimum value to 10 as the maximum value, the braking level determining means 330 may set the braking level of the preceding vehicle to the maximum value, i.e., 10, when the determined result value is 15.

Thereafter, when the braking level is determined, the braking level image providing device 340 of the processor 350 may provide the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle through an image.

Here, when the braking level is provided by the image, the braking level image providing means 340 may acquire an image of the vehicle ahead, select a braking level display area from the image of the vehicle ahead, and provide the image displaying the braking level of the vehicle ahead to the selected braking level display area.

Here, when the brake level display area is selected, the brake level image providing device 340 may select an area of the image of the preceding vehicle that does not overlap with the brake lamp as the brake level display area.

For example, when the brake level display area is selected, the brake level image providing device 340 may select a rear body area of the preceding vehicle, which does not overlap with the brake lamp, as the brake level display area from the image of the preceding vehicle.

The reason for this is to provide an image of the brake lights and the braking level of the preceding vehicle so that the driver can easily recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle.

Further, when the braking level display area is selected, the braking level image providing means 340 may generate a braking level image including the braking level, combine the braking level image with the braking level display area of the image of the preceding vehicle, and provide a combined image including the braking level.

For example, the braking level image providing device 340 may process a combined image including the braking level using augmented reality and provide the processed image, but is not limited thereto.

In providing the braking level through the image, the braking level image providing device 340 may process the image of the preceding vehicle including the braking level using augmented reality and provide the processed image to the display 400 of the host vehicle.

Here, the display 400 of the host vehicle may include at least one of a windshield, an instrument panel, a head-up display (HUD), and an audio/video/navigation/telematics (AVNT) system, but is not limited thereto.

In some cases, in providing the braking level through the image, if at least one brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is not turned on due to its malfunction, the braking level image providing device 340 may provide an illumination image of the brake lamp together with the braking level.

That is, in providing the braking level through the image, if at least one brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is not turned on, the braking level image providing device 340 may process the image of the preceding vehicle using augmented reality such that the image of the preceding vehicle includes the illumination image and the braking level of the brake lamp, and provide the processed image of the preceding vehicle to the display 400 of the host vehicle.

Fig. 3 is a view showing a process of providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle.

As shown in fig. 3, in the present disclosure, an image of the preceding vehicle 20 may be acquired from a front camera 100 of the host vehicle 10, and a relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle 20 may be acquired from a front radar (not shown) of the host vehicle 10.

Further, in the present disclosure, the image of the front vehicle 20 may be classified into one of an illumination image in which the brake lamp 530 is turned on and a non-illumination image in which the brake lamp 530 is not turned on based on the acceleration of the host vehicle 10 and the relative acceleration of the front vehicle 20, the image of the front vehicle 20 is stored as one of the illumination image and the non-illumination image, and the position of the brake lamp 530 of the front vehicle 20 is recognized by comparing the classified illumination image and non-illumination image with each other.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, the brake lamp image may be extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle 20, and it may be determined whether braking of the preceding vehicle 20 is performed by comparing the extracted brake lamp image with the pre-stored images of the brake lamps 530 in the illuminated state and the non-illuminated state.

Subsequently, in the present disclosure, when it is determined that braking of the preceding vehicle 20 is performed, the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle 20 may be acquired, and when the acquired relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle 20 is lower than 0kph/s, the braking level 512 of the preceding vehicle 20 may be determined based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle 20.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, an image of the preceding vehicle 20 may be acquired, a brake level display area 520 may be selected from the image of the preceding vehicle 20, and a brake level image 510 displaying the brake level 512 may be provided to the selected brake level display area 520.

Here, in the present disclosure, the rear body region of the front vehicle 20 that does not overlap the brake lamp 530 may be selected from the image of the front vehicle 20 as the braking level display region 520, but the braking level display region 520 is not limited thereto.

The reason for this is that both the image of the brake lamp 530 of the preceding vehicle 20 and the braking level 520 of the preceding vehicle 20 are provided so that the driver can easily recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle 20.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, the image of the preceding vehicle 20 including the braking level image 510 may be processed using augmented reality, and the processed image may be provided to a display of the host vehicle 10.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the braking level of the preceding vehicle displayed on the screen of the display.

As shown in fig. 4, in the present disclosure, when the braking level display region is selected, a braking level image 510 including a braking level 512 may be generated, the braking level image 510 may be combined with the braking level display region of the image 22 of the preceding vehicle 20, the combined image including the braking level 512 may be processed using augmented reality, and the processed image may be displayed on the screen 410 of the display.

Here, in the present disclosure, the rear body region of the preceding vehicle 20 that does not overlap with the brake lamp region 532 may be selected from the image 22 of the preceding vehicle 20 as the brake level display region 520.

Further, in the present disclosure, a brake level image 510 may be provided, where differences in color, shape, sound, or color density may be used to distinguish the brake level.

In addition, in the present disclosure, a point of time when a brake lamp of the front vehicle is turned on or the relative acceleration of the front vehicle becomes a negative threshold or lower may be determined as the braking level display time.

Fig. 5 to 9 are flowcharts illustrating a method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5, in the present disclosure, the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle may be recognized based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle (S100).

In the present disclosure, when the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is recognized, it may be determined whether braking of the preceding vehicle is performed based on the brake lamp image extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle (S200).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when it is determined that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the braking level of the preceding vehicle may be determined based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle (S300).

Next, in the present disclosure, when the braking level of the preceding vehicle is determined, the determined braking level of the preceding vehicle may be provided through an image (S400).

Thereafter, it may be confirmed whether there is a request to terminate the process for providing the braking level of the preceding vehicle (S500), and the process for providing the braking level of the preceding vehicle may be terminated when it is confirmed that there is a request to terminate the process for providing the braking level of the preceding vehicle.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the identification (S100) of the position of the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle in fig. 5 in more detail.

As shown in fig. 6, in the present disclosure, an image of a preceding vehicle may be acquired (S110).

In the present disclosure, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, the acceleration of the host vehicle may be acquired (S120).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when the acceleration of the host vehicle is acquired, the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle may be acquired (S130).

Next, in the present disclosure, when the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is acquired, it may be confirmed whether the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle satisfy the first condition (S140).

Here, the first condition may be a condition that both the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle are 0kph/s or higher.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when the first condition is satisfied, the image of the preceding vehicle may be classified as a non-illuminated image in which the brake lamp is not turned on, the image may be stored (S150), and when the first condition is not satisfied, whether the acceleration of the host vehicle and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle satisfy the second condition may be confirmed (S160).

Here, the second condition may be a condition that the acceleration of the host vehicle is 0kph/s and the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is at a threshold value that is less than 0kph/s or lower.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when the second condition is satisfied, the image of the preceding vehicle may be classified as the illumination image with the brake lamp turned on, and stored (S170).

Next, in the present disclosure, the position of the brake lamp of the vehicle ahead may be recognized by comparing the classified and stored illumination image and non-illumination image with each other (S180).

Here, when the position of the brake lamp of the front vehicle is recognized, the position information of the brake lamp of the front vehicle may be stored, the brake lamp image may be extracted from the image of the front vehicle based on the brake lamp position information, and the extracted brake lamp image may be stored.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing in more detail whether the determination in fig. 5 is performed the braking of the preceding vehicle (S200).

As shown in fig. 7, in the present disclosure, an image of a preceding vehicle may be acquired (S210).

In the present disclosure, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, the brake lamp image may be extracted from the image of the preceding vehicle (S220).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, the extracted brake lamp image may be compared with the pre-stored images of the brake lamps 530 in the illuminated state and the non-illuminated state (S230).

Next, in the present disclosure, it may be confirmed whether the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in an illuminated state (S240).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when it is confirmed that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is in the illumination state, it may be recognized that braking of the preceding vehicle is performed (S250), and when it is confirmed that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is not in the illumination state, it may be recognized that braking of the preceding vehicle is not performed (S260).

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the determination of the braking level of the preceding vehicle (S300) in fig. 5 in more detail.

As shown in fig. 8, in the present disclosure, when braking of the preceding vehicle is performed, the braking level of the preceding vehicle may be set to a minimum value (S310).

Then, in the present disclosure, the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle may be acquired (S320).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, it may be confirmed whether the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is lower than 0kph/S (S330).

Next, in the present disclosure, when the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle is lower than 0kph/S, the braking level of the preceding vehicle may be determined based on the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle (S340).

Here, in the present disclosure, the braking level of the preceding vehicle may be determined based on a result value obtained by dividing the relative acceleration of the preceding vehicle by 10.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, it may be confirmed whether the determined braking level is greater than the maximum value (S350).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when the determined braking level is greater than the maximum value of the braking levels, the determined braking level may be set to the maximum value of the braking levels (S360), and when the determined braking level is not greater than the maximum value, the determined braking level may be set to the braking level of the preceding vehicle (S370).

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the providing of the braking level through an image (S400) in fig. 5 in more detail.

As shown in fig. 9, in the present disclosure, an image of a preceding vehicle may be acquired (S410).

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, when the image of the preceding vehicle is acquired, the brake level display area may be selected from the image of the preceding vehicle (S420).

Here, in the present disclosure, an area of the image of the preceding vehicle that does not overlap with the brake lamp may be selected as the brake level display area.

Thereafter, in the present disclosure, the braking level may be combined with the selected braking level display region (S430).

Next, in the present disclosure, a combined image including the braking level may be provided (S440).

Here, in the present disclosure, a combined image of a preceding vehicle including a braking level may be processed using augmented reality, and the processed image may be provided to a display of a host vehicle.

In this way, in the present disclosure, the degree of braking of the preceding vehicle is quantized to a braking level based on the image of the preceding vehicle and the acceleration of the preceding vehicle, and the braking level of the preceding vehicle is provided through the image, thereby allowing the driver to directly recognize the degree of deceleration of the preceding vehicle, so that the host vehicle can be efficiently driven at the time of traffic congestion and energy efficiency is improved.

Further, in the present disclosure, the degree of braking of the preceding vehicle is displayed using augmented reality, and thus information that assists the driver in safe driving may be provided to avoid unnecessary full braking.

In addition, in the present disclosure, full braking of the preceding vehicle is recognized from a long distance, thus allowing the driver to perform braking suitable for the host vehicle, so that the possibility of an accident can be reduced.

Further, in the present disclosure, a low braking level of the preceding vehicle is recognized, and thus the driver is allowed to perform braking suitable for the host vehicle, so that unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced.

Further, in the present disclosure, in which a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing a method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle in an apparatus for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is recorded, a process provided by the method for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle may be executed.

The present disclosure can be implemented as computer readable codes in a computer readable recording medium in which a program is recorded. Such computer-readable recording media may include all types of recording media in which data readable by a computer system is stored. For example, the computer-readable recording medium may include a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), a Solid State Disk (SSD), a Silicon Disk Drive (SDD), a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

As apparent from the above description, in an apparatus, a method, and a vehicle for providing a braking level of a preceding vehicle according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a braking degree of the preceding vehicle is quantized to a braking level based on an image of the preceding vehicle and an acceleration of the preceding vehicle, and the braking level of the preceding vehicle is provided through the image, thereby allowing a driver to directly recognize a deceleration degree of the preceding vehicle, so that a host vehicle can be effectively driven and energy efficiency can be improved at the time of traffic congestion.

Further, in the present disclosure, the degree of braking of the preceding vehicle is displayed using augmented reality, and thus information that assists the driver in safe driving may be provided to avoid unnecessary full braking.

In addition, in the present disclosure, full braking of the preceding vehicle is recognized from a long distance, thus allowing the driver to perform braking suitable for the host vehicle, so that the possibility of an accident can be reduced.

Further, in the present disclosure, a low braking level of the preceding vehicle is recognized, and thus the driver is allowed to perform braking suitable for the host vehicle, so that unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.