Abstract: The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus is provided with an imaging device and a device that transforms captured image to digital image. A first edge extraction mask is applied to detect multiple horizontal edges. The apparatus further includes a detector that detects upper end of the head of the object by detecting a horizontal edge having a highest edge intensity out of the multiple horizontal edges. A second edge extraction mask is used to detect the lower end of the head of the physical object by detecting multiple vertical edges and matching the positional variation of the multiple vertical edges with predetermined patterns.

Abstract: Provided is a vehicle periphery monitoring device having: a first distance calculating unit (25) which calculates a distance between a vehicle (10) and an object, using a parallax gradient of image sections of the same object among a plurality of images captured by infrared cameras (2R, 2L) at different times within a predetermined sampling interval; a vehicular velocity sensor (4) which detects a vehicular velocity of the vehicle (10); and a sampling interval setting unit (23) which sets the sampling interval shorter with the increase of the vehicular velocity of the vehicle (10).

Abstract: An imaging means mounted on a vehicle performs imaging resulting in grayscale images having brightness values corresponding to object temperature, and objects around the vehicle are detected from said images. On the basis of said grayscale images, display images to be displayed on a display device mounted on the vehicle are generated and displayed on the display device. The display images are generated by lowering the brightness of areas not corresponding to the objects detected in the grayscale images. The display device is positioned in the vehicle width direction at no more than a prescribed distance away from an imaginary line passing through the center of rotation of the vehicle steering wheel and extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Accordingly, because display images are generated in which only the objects are spotlighted, the driver can quickly comprehend the objects present when using a display device.

Abstract: A surrounding area monitoring apparatus, which is built into a vehicle, images the area surrounding the vehicle and detects physical objects in the area surrounding the vehicle based on the image taken. The apparatus determines whether the detected physical object is a pedestrian or an animal, and a warning is given to the driver of the vehicle if the determined physical object is present within a specified area from the vehicle. If it is determined that the detected physical object is an animal and that the animal is present within the specified area, the warning in continued for a specified period even after the animal has left the specified area. Since animals have habits of behaving in a herd, risk of lurking animals can be brought to the driver's attention by the continuation of the warning.

Abstract: A vehicle periphery monitoring device is provided with a symmetrical image portion extraction unit (21) which extracts a first image portion (A1) and a second image portion (A2) which are line-symmetrical to each other in the horizontal direction; and expanded region setting unit (22) which sets a first expanded region (B1) containing the first image portion (A1); an expanded search range setting unit (23) which sets an expanded search range (C) which contains the second image portion (A2); and an object class recognition unit (24) which searches in the expanded search range (C) a second expanded region (B2) which has a correlation degree to a mirror reflection image (B1m) of the first expanded region (B1), and recognizes the image containing the first image portion (A1) and the second image portion (A2) as the image of another vehicle if the second expanded region (B2) is detected.

Abstract: In a target-object distance measuring device and a vehicle on which the device is mounted, a human body detection device is utilized for calculating a distance between an image capturing device and a human body candidate in an actual space based on the size of the human body candidate in the image. The head width is approximately 15-16 cm. A body height in the actual space of the human candidate in the image is estimated based on the ratio between the head-width in the extracted image and at least one size of the human body feature, such as total height, in the extracted human body candidate region, and the distance from the image capturing device to the human body candidate in the actual space is calculated based on the estimated body height in the actual space and the body height of the human body candidate in the image.

Abstract: An object type determination apparatus, an object type determination method, a vehicle, and a program for determining an object type, capable of accurately determining the type of the object by appropriately determining periodicity in movement of the object from images, are provided.

Abstract: Provided is an apparatus capable of, even when an object is moving, measuring the position of the object at a high accuracy. According to a vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus (10), an enlargement factor relevant to when the degree of correlation between an enlarged local region (EB(?i)) obtained by enlarging a local region (B(k?1)) at a previous time (k?1) and a local region (B(k)) at a time (k) later than the previous time (k?1) becomes the maximum is calculated as a change rate (Rate(k)) of the size of the local region (B(k)). Based on the change rage (Rate(k)), it is possible to measure the distance (Z(k)) from a vehicle (1) to the object or the position (P(k)) at a high accuracy even when the object is moving.

Abstract: A vehicle periphery monitoring device is operable to report a high contact possibility between a vehicle and an object at an appropriate time or frequency according to the type of the object. When the object is determined to be a human being and the position of the object in real space is contained in a first contact determination area, a high contact possibility between the vehicle and the object is reported. On the other hand, when the object is determined to be a quadruped animal and the real spatial position of the object is contained in a second contact determination area, the corresponding report is made. The second contact determination area has an overlapped area that overlaps with the first contact determination area, and an overflowed area that has at least a part thereof overflowing from the first contact determination area.

Abstract: Provided is an apparatus capable of, even when an object is moving, measuring the position of the object at a high accuracy. A vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus (10) calculates the change rate (Rate(t)) of the size of an object region between two times separated by a specified interval (?T). The specified interval (?T) is a time interval defined so that the shapes and postures of an object in images resemble or match each other to such an extent that it is possible to identify that the object is identical. Based on the change rage (Rate(t)) of the size of the object region during the specified interval (?T), it is possible to measure the distance from a vehicle (1) to the object or the position at a high accuracy even when the object is moving.

Abstract: A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus, method, and program capable of reducing a possibility of overlap between a detection object and a background object in a standard image when detecting objects around the vehicle from images obtained by a plurality of image sensors so as to detect the objects accurately. The vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus detects the objects existing around the vehicle (10) from the images obtained by the image sensors (2R, 2L) mounted on the vehicle (10).

Abstract: A vehicle zone monitoring apparatus that detects physical bodies present in the vicinity of the vehicle from infrared images photographed by infrared cameras provided on the vehicle includes an object extracting device that extracts object images that emit infrared radiation from the infrared image and an artificial structure identifying device that identifies whether or not an object is an artificial structure by comparing an image of a search zone in proximity to the object extracted by the object extraction device, to a reference image of a pre-registered artificial structure which serves as an element that defines an artificial structure, and that identifies the object as an artificial structure if: within the search zone in proximity to the object, a section having a high correlation with the reference image exists; and a distance between the vehicle and the object is equal to a distance between the vehicle and the section having the high correlation with said reference image.

Abstract: A vehicle periphery monitoring device includes: a parallax calculating unit which extracts a first image section that contains a target object in real space from a first image imaged by a first imaging unit at a predetermined time and extracts a second image section correlated to the first image section from a second image imaged by a second imaging unit at the predetermined time, and then calculates the parallax between the first image section and the second image section; a parallax gradient calculating unit for calculating a parallax gradient based on a time series calculation of the parallax of the identical target object in real space by the parallax calculating unit; and a first distance calculating unit for calculating the distance from the vehicle to the target object on the basis of the parallax gradient and the velocity of the vehicle.

Abstract: Provided is a vehicle periphery monitoring device having: a first distance calculating unit (25) which calculates a distance between a vehicle (10) and an object, using a parallax gradient of image sections of the same object among a plurality of images captured by infrared cameras (2R, 2L) at different times within a predetermined sampling interval; a vehicular velocity sensor (4) which detects a vehicular velocity of the vehicle (10); and a sampling interval setting unit (23) which sets the sampling interval shorter with the increase of the vehicular velocity of the vehicle (10).

Abstract: A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus which includes: an imaging device that captures a surroundings of a vehicle; a temperature measuring device that measures a temperature of the imaging device; and an OFF signal output device that outputs a command signal to set a power supply of the imaging device to the OFF state in accordance with the temperature of the imaging device measured by the temperature measuring device.

Abstract: An apparatus for testing infrared cameras includes: a cover plate which has a plurality of holes formed therethrough and arranged in line in a horizontal direction at a regular interval, the cover plate being adapted to emit an amount of infrared light; and an emission source which is disposed in parallel to and behind the cover plate as viewed from infrared cameras to be tested, the emission source being adapted to emit a different amount of infrared light when compared with the cover plate.

Abstract: A vehicle periphery monitoring device comprising a distance detecting unit which detects the distance between cameras and an object, an object image extracting unit which extracts a first image portion of the object from the acquired image, a filtering unit which performs a filtering process to the acquired image, in which a target edge width is set to be narrower as the assumed value of the width is smaller and the distance is longer, and in which a target edge direction is set to a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction, and an object type identifying unit which identifies, on the basis of a shape of a second image portion extracted by the filtering process, whether or not the type of the object in real space corresponding to the second image portion is the specific type.

Abstract: Provided is a device for monitoring the surrounding area of a vehicle. The device separates and extracts an object around the vehicle in better precision from the background. The device detects the ambient temperature of the vehicle, and determines a temperature difference between the ambient temperature and an object surface temperature estimated on the basis of the ambient temperature. On the basis of the brightness value of the background of a captured image obtained by an infrared camera and a brightness difference corresponding to the temperature difference, the brightness value of the object is calculated. The captured image is binarized by using the brightness value of the object as a threshold value, and the object is extracted. Since the binary threshold value is set on the basis of the relation between the ambient temperature and the object surface temperature, the object can be separated and extracted in the better precision from the background.

Abstract: A system 1 for monitoring the area around a vehicle of the present invention capable of visually notifying the passenger in the vehicle 10 of not only the presence but also the kind of an object in images around the vehicle displayed in an HUD 7, for example, according to a difference in the display mode of the presence of the object, wherein the driver of the vehicle 10 is able to recognize which of a human or a four-footed animal the object belongs to, according to either a difference in the design between a first mark M1 and a second mark M2 or a difference in the design between a first frame F1 and a second frame F2 displayed on the HUD 7.

Abstract: A vehicle periphery monitoring device includes: a parallax calculating unit which extracts a first image section that contains a target object in real space from a first image imaged by a first imaging unit at a predetermined time and extracts a second image section correlated to the first image section from a second image imaged by a second imaging unit at the predetermined time, and then calculates the parallax between the first image section and the second image section; a parallax gradient calculating unit for calculating a parallax gradient based on a time series calculation of the parallax of the identical target object in real space by the parallax calculating unit; and a first distance calculating unit for calculating the distance from the vehicle to the target object on the basis of the parallax gradient and the velocity of the vehicle.