Abstract: The present invention provides a trackball and an in-vehicle device controller using the trackball. The trackball provides a stable operational feel and is easy to operate even in an environment in a vehicle where vibration and movement are present. The trackball includes a ball made of a non-magnetic material and having embedded therein bar members made of a magnetic material and arranged on three axes orthogonal to one another, a case enclosing the ball such that at least an upper portion of the ball is exposed, magnetic members fixed to the case on two axes penetrating through the center of the ball and orthogonal to each other so as to allow magnetic coupling to ends of the bar members, and another magnetic member fixed to the case on an axis penetrating through the center of the ball and orthogonal to the two axes so as to allow magnetic coupling to an end of one of the bar members.

Abstract: In a mobile communication device, when an inquiry packet sent from another mobile communication device for inquiring whether to accept or deny the participation in an ad hoc network is transferred to a work area, a transmission/reception control section determines whether or not a denial flag set in a storage device is 1. When the denial flag is 1, the transmission/reception control section generates a first response for denying the participation in the ad hoc network, and transmits the first response through a transmission/reception section to the other mobile communication device that transmitted the inquiry packet.

Abstract: A display system (100) is provided which includes two display devices (101a and 101b); a coupling section (102) for coupling the two display devices such that one display device can be displaced relative to the other display device; a detection section (111-114) for detecting a value by which a position of the one display device relative to the other display device can be identified; and a display control section (115) for generating an image to be displayed on each of the one and the other display devices, based on the position detected by the detection section. The one and the other display devices display their respective images generated by the display control section.

Abstract: In a steering wheel, when a driver rotates a rotating section 126 in either direction, a protruding section 1241 bends an elastic member 1218b, and a tip of the elastic member 1218b depresses a button of a switch 1217b. As a result, the switch 1217b outputs a signal. Also, the reaction force produced as soon as the button is depressed causes a force in the reverse direction to be exerted on a hand of the driver. Thus, the driver can sense that the button is depressed.

Abstract: In a rendering device Urnd1, a CPU 7 receives a captured image each from two image capture devices 1 and 2. The CPU 7 then receives a steering angle of a steering wheel of a vehicle from a steering angle sensor 3. Based on the steering angle, the CPU 7 derives an estimated trajectory for the vehicle to take in the course of time. Then, with reference to the estimated trajectory, the CPU 7 selects several pixels each from the captured images, and then generates a drive assistant image based on those pixels. In this manner, the drive assistant image generated by the rendering device Urnd1 hardly causes the driver to feel strange.

Abstract: A control system for reliably performing minimally required operations using a small number of input devices is provided. A rhythm input section (101) converts a rhythm pattern input by the user to an electrical signal, which is in turn output. A rhythm dictionary storage section (103) stores a rhythm dictionary table which associates the contents of a control of an apparatus with a registered rhythm pattern. The registered rhythm pattern is obtained by typifying a pronunciation pattern of a name indicating the contents of the control. A control section (102) analyzes the electrical signal from the rhythm input section (101) to recognize the input rhythm pattern input by the user, recognizes the contents of a corresponding control by referencing the rhythm dictionary storage section (103), and controls an operation of an in-vehicle apparatus.

Abstract: In a mobile communication device 1, when an inquiry packet sent from another mobile communication device 1 for inquiring whether to accept or deny the participation in an ad hoc network is transferred to a work area 13, a transmission/reception control section 12 determines whether a denial flag set in a storage device 6 is 1. When the denial flag is 1, the transmission/reception control section 12 generates a first response for denying the participation in the ad hoc network, and transmits it through a transmission/reception section 14 to the another mobile communication device 1 having transmitted the inquiry packet.

Abstract: A rhythm input section converts a rhythm pattern input by the user to an electrical signal, which is in turn output. A rhythm dictionary storage section stores a rhythm dictionary table which associates the contents of a control of an apparatus with a registered rhythm pattern. The registered rhythm pattern is obtained by typifying a pronunciation pattern of a name indicating the contents of the control. A control section analyzes the electrical signal from the rhythm input section to recognize the input rhythm pattern input by the user, recognizes the contents of a corresponding control by referencing the rhythm dictionary storage section, and controls an operation of an in-vehicle apparatus.

Abstract: An image processor has two types of image pickup devices connected thereto. One image pickup device shoots the state of the surroundings of a vehicle, and the other shoots the state of the inside of the vehicle. A processor uses images from the image pickup devices to generate a driving assist image representing both of the state of the surroundings of the vehicle and the state of the inside thereof. With this, it is possible to provide an image processor which generates a driving assist image capable of providing more information to a driver.

Abstract: In a rendering device, a processor derives an estimated path to be traced by the left- and right-rear wheels of a vehicle based on a rudder angle that is provided by a rudder angle sensor. The processor then determines positions for overlaying indicators on the derived estimated path. The processor then renders the indicators on the determined points in a captured image which is provided by an image capture device, and generates a display image. In the display image, the indicators move along the estimated path in the direction the vehicle is heading towards. In this manner, the estimated path in the display image that is generated by the rendering device becomes noticeable for a driver of the vehicle.

Abstract: In correspondence with each face of a rectangular parallelepiped obtained when the inside of the rectangular parallelepiped is shot, a monitor screen is split into a plurality of sub-screen areas. An image shot by a vehicle-mounted camera is processed and the processed image is split correspondingly to the sub-screen areas. Each split image is displayed in the corresponding sub-screen areas. This allows intuitive understanding of the direction of an image displayed in a sub-screen thereby providing the driver with an image free from a sense of incongruity.

Abstract: In an image processing apparatus carried on a vehicle, an image of a scene around the vehicle, which is photographed by an image pick-up, is inputted into a white line failure extractor. Then, outline points of a white line on a road and a guardrail, which is parallel to the white line, are sought. Further, the outline points are detected as a polynomial. Moreover, the image photographed by the image pick-up is also inputted into an intermittent image obtainer. Then, the images from the image pick-up are intermittently obtained at constant periodical intervals, and further the images are compressed using JPEG compression method. Further, in a synthesizer, the feature data from the white line feature extractor and the image data from the intermittent image obtainer are aligned in order of time. Moreover, the image data and feature data, which are aligned in order of time, are conserved within a given constant period by a recorder.

Abstract: The present invention provides a trackball and an in-vehicle device controller using the trackball. The trackball provides a stable operational feel and are easy to operate even in an environment in a vehicle where vibration and movement are present. A trackball 2 includes a ball 21 made of a non-magnetic material and having embedded therein bar members 26 to 28 made of a magnetic material and arranged on three axes orthogonal to one another, a case 22 enclosing the ball 21 such that at least an upper portion of the ball 21 is exposed, magnetic members 31 to 34 fixed to the case 22 on two axes penetrating through the center of the ball 21 and orthogonal to each other so as to allow magnetic coupling to ends of the bar members, and a magnetic member 35 fixed to the case 22 on an axis penetrating through the center of the ball 21 and orthogonal to the two axes so as to allow magnetic coupling to an end 28B of the bar member 28.

Abstract: The invention provides a vehicle surroundings monitoring system for synthesizing and displaying images captured by a plurality of cameras to provide images that, near the border between partial images, are more accurate and more readily understood by the user than has been the case conventionally. In the synthesized image, a partial image captured by a first camera and a partial image captured by a second camera are adjacent to one another at their border. Near this border, the capturing directions of the first and the second cameras both substantially match the direction of the border. Consequently, images of objects near the border extend along the border, and thus do not disappear on the synthesized image.

Abstract: An image processing device for a vehicle according to the present invention has an edge extractor for emphasizing edges of a traffic lane in a front road image signal generated by a digital image pick-up device, a threshold setter for setting a threshold to extract the edges of the traffic lane based on the result detected by the edge extractor, an outline extractor for extracting an outline of the traffic lane to generate an outline data based on the result detected by the edge extractor and the threshold set by the threshold setter, a noise eliminator for eliminating noise components from the outline data, a white line detector for detecting lane-indicating lines based on the outline data from which the noise components have been eliminated, an attitude change detector for estimating the attitude of the vehicle based on the detected lane-indicating lines, and a target advance direction detector for detecting a target direction to advance the vehicle based on the result obtained by the white line detector an

Abstract: In a rendering device, a processor receives surrounding images from image capture devices placed in a vehicle, and based thereon, generates a vehicle overlaid image. The processor also receives a rudder angle &thgr; from a rudder angle sensor placed in the vehicle. Then, based on the received rudder angle &thgr;, the processor calculates a 3D predictive trajectory of the vehicle, and on the vehicle overlaid image, renders the calculated 3D predictive trajectories thereby generating a display image. Therefore, the display image generated by the rendering device is driver-friendly.

Abstract: In correspondence with each face of a rectangular parallelepiped obtained when the inside of the rectangular parallelepiped is shot, a monitor screen is split into a plurality of sub-screen areas. An image shot by a vehicle-mounted camera is processed and the processed image is split correspondingly to the sub-screen areas. Each split image is displayed in the corresponding sub-screen areas. This allows intuitive understanding of the direction of an image displayed in a sub-screen thereby providing the driver with an image free from a sense of incongruity.

Abstract: For supporting a complicated driving operation, a synthesized image by using which a driver can drive with a sense of security is presented to the driver. Camera images of cameras installed on a vehicle are used so that an image with a lateral visual field of 180 degrees in the rear of the vehicle can be displayed in the form of a mirror image. Also, (a) tire loci (41) of the vehicle obtained by assuming a reverse operation are overlapped with the image to be displayed. Furthermore, (b) a far area (43) is enlarged to be displayed in a sub-window (44), or (c) auxiliary lines (45, 46 and 47) indicating distances from the vehicle are overlapped with the image to be displayed.

Abstract: A camera for taking a state behind a vehicle is installed in a position laterally shifted from the rear center of the vehicle. An image processing unit generates a rear image from a camera image by shifting merely a rectangular area of the camera image so that a vertical center line thereof can substantially accord with the center line along the lengthwise direction of the vehicle. Furthermore, processing for correcting lens distortion may be performed. As a result, when the vehicle is moved straight backward, an object present on the center line of the vehicle moves vertically in substantially the center of the screen, so that a user can be prevented from having an odd feeling to see the image.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for correctly determining the position of a vehicle in a traffic lane by obtaining correct information about the position of the traffic lane without being affected by variations in the road surface, weather, time of day, or such imaging conditions as fixed or moving lighting, are provided. An edge signal of a high spatial frequency component and a luminance signal of a low spatial frequency component of a digital image signal representing the view of the local area to the front of a vehicle are extracted. A road contour signal is then extracted from the edge signal, and a road region signal is extracted from the luminance signal. The position of the lane Sre is then detected with high precision by evaluating the lane contour Sre based on the road region signal Srr and lane contour data Sre.