IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD FOR DETECTING OBJECTS USING RELATIVE MOTION

摘要

An image based obstacle detection method. A camera mounted on a vehicle provides a set of image frames whilst the vehicle is in motion. The image frames define an image plane having a vertical aspect and a horizontal aspect. The relevancy of an object is determined by (i) selecting first and second feature points from the object that are spaced apart vertically in a first image frame; (ii) tracking the positions of the first and second feature points over at least a second image frame; and (iii) deciding the object to be relevant if the first and second feature points move dissimilar distances in physical space, within a tolerance, and deciding the object to be irrelevant otherwise. The motion of relevant objects is then estimated to determine if any relevant object is likely to become an obstacle to the vehicle.

主权项

1: An obstacle detection method, comprising:
(a) provisioning a vehicle with a camera having an external field of view; (b) acquiring a set of image frames provided by the camera whilst the vehicle is in motion, the image frames defining an image plane having a vertical aspect and a horizontal aspect; (c) determining one or more objects present in the set of images frames by edge detection; (d) determining the relevancy of an object by
(i) selecting first and second feature points from the object contour that are spaced apart vertically in a first image frame,(ii) tracking the positions of the first and second feature points over at least a second image frame, and(iii) deciding the object to be relevant if the first and second feature points move dissimilar distances in physical space, within a tolerance, and deciding the object to be irrelevant otherwise; (e) estimating the motion of relevant objects to determine if any relevant object is likely to become an obstacle to the vehicle.