METHOD FOR OPERATING A DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM AND MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating a driver assistance system (2) of a motor vehicle (1), in which a rear image of an environmental region (11, 12, 14) of the motor vehicle (1) located substantially next to and/or behind the motor vehicle (1) is captured by at least one camera (3, 4) of the driver assistance system (2), the camera being provided on the vehicle, wherein at least one road marking (19) of a roadway (17) is recognized in the environmental region (11, 12, 14) based on the captured rear image.

Claims

1. A method for operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle, comprising: capturing a rear image of an environmental region of the motor vehicle located substantially next to and/or behind the motor vehicle by at least one camera of an electronic rearview mirror of the driver assistance system; and displaying the rear image on a display device in the motor vehicle; and identifying at least one road marking of a roadway in the environmental region based on the captured rear image.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rear image is captured reflection-mirrorless.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a lateral distance from a longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle to the at least one road marking is determined based on the at least one identified road marking.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a lateral speed, at which the motor vehicle approaches the at least one recognized road marking based on the at least one identified road marking.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: determining a period of time left until traversing the road marking by the motor vehicle depending on the determined lateral speed.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a number of lanes of the roadway is determined based on the at least one identified road marking.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a current position of the motor vehicle with respect to at least two lanes of the roadway is determined based on the at least one identified road marking.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the determined, current position of the motor vehicle is provided to a navigation apparatus of the motor vehicle.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the motor vehicle is at least semi-autonomously maneuvered depending on the at least one identified road marking.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: warning a driver of the motor vehicle of exiting a lane of the roadway depending on the at least one identified road marking.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein a front image of an environmental region of the motor vehicle located substantially in front of the motor vehicle is provided by a front camera of the motor vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the at least one road marking is additionally determined based on the front image.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: acquiring a lighting situation of the roadway by the driver assistance system; and identifying the at least one road marking depending on the acquired lighting situation in the rear image and/or the front image.

14. A driver assistance system comprising: a camera; and an evaluation device adapted for performing a method according to claim 1.

15. A motor vehicle with a driver assistance system according to claim 14.

Description

[0024] Below, embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail based on schematic drawings.

[0025] There show:

[0026] FIG. 1 in schematic plan view an embodiment of a motor vehicle according to the invention with a driver assistance system including a left lateral camera, a right lateral camera and a front camera;

[0027] FIG. 2 in schematic plan view the motor vehicle according to the invention on a schematically illustrated roadway; and

[0028] FIG. 3 in schematic plan view the motor vehicle according to the invention on the schematically illustrated roadway with four lanes.

[0029] In FIG. 1, a plan view of a motor vehicle 1 with a driver assistance system 2 according to an embodiment of the invention is schematically illustrated. The driver assistance system 2 includes a left lateral camera 3 and a right lateral camera 4 in the embodiment. Furthermore, the driver assistance system 2 includes an evaluation device 5, a display device 6, a navigation apparatus 7 as well as a front camera 8.

[0030] The left lateral camera 3 is attached to a left side 9 of the motor vehicle 1 such that it is oriented opposite to a forward direction of travel 10 of the motor vehicle 1 and captures a left environmental region 11 of the motor vehicle 1 and a rear environmental region 12 of the motor vehicle 1. The right lateral camera 4 is disposed on a right side 13 of the motor vehicle 1 and is also oriented opposite to the forward direction of travel 10. Thus, the right lateral camera 4 captures a right environmental region 14 of the motor vehicle 1 and the rear environmental region 12.

[0031] The display device 6 is disposed in a front area of the driver's cab of the motor vehicle 1, but can also be arbitrarily disposed in the motor vehicle 1. The display device 6 can include one or more screens. Thus, a rear image of the left lateral camera 3 can for example be displayed on a left screen of the display device 6, while a rear image of the right lateral camera 4 is displayed on a right screen of the display device 6.

[0032] The left lateral camera 3, the right lateral camera 4 and the display device 6 together constitute an electronic rearview mirror, which can also be referred to as eMirror. This electronic rearview mirror can be used alternatively or additionally to the wing mirrors of the motor vehicle 1. Thus, the electronic rearview mirror captures the left environmental region 11 and/or the rear environmental region 12 and/or the right environmental region 14 by means of the left lateral camera 3 and/or the right lateral camera 4 and provides this information on the display device 6.

[0033] According to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the evaluation device 5 is disposed centrally in the motor vehicle 1, but can be arbitrarily disposed in the motor vehicle 1. The evaluation device 5 can for example be a controller of the motor vehicle 1. The evaluation device 5 for example includes a digital signal processor. The navigation apparatus 7 can also be arbitrarily disposed in the motor vehicle 1. For example, the navigation apparatus 7 is based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), to which a GPS system and/or a Glonass system and/or a Galileo system and/or a Beidou system belong.

[0034] According to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the front camera 8 is disposed behind a rearview mirror of the motor vehicle 1. However, similarly, the front camera 8 can also be arbitrarily disposed in the motor vehicle 1 if a front environmental region 15 of the motor vehicle 1 can then be captured.

[0035] The left lateral camera 3, the right lateral camera 4, the evaluation device 5, the display device 6, the navigation apparatus 7 and the front camera 8 are connected to each other by a bus system 16 of the motor vehicle 1 for data transfer.

[0036] The left lateral camera 3 and/or the right lateral camera 4 and/or the front camera 8 can be a CMOS camera or else a CCD camera or any image capturing device, by which the rear image and/or a front image of the front camera 8 can be provided. The left lateral camera 3 and/or the right lateral camera 4 and/or the front camera 8 can also be a video camera, which continuously provides a sequence of frames.

[0037] According to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the motor vehicle 1 includes the electronic rearview mirror and no conventional wing mirror, which provides the left environmental region 11 and/or the rear environmental region 12 and/or the right environmental region 14 by means of a mirror in particular to the driver of the motor vehicle. However, the motor vehicle 1 can be also equipped with the conventional wing mirror in addition to the electronic wing mirror.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows the motor vehicle 1 on a roadway 17. The roadway 17 has a lane 18. The lane 18 is separated from adjacent lanes by means of a road marking 19. The left lateral camera 3 provides a left field of view 20, which extends over the left environmental region 11 and the rear environmental region 12. Analogously thereto, the right lateral camera 4 provides a right field of view 21, which extends at least partially over the right environmental region 14 and the rear environmental region 12.

[0039] In the left field of view 20 and/or the right field of view 21, now, the road marking 19 is recognized based on the respective rear image by means of the evaluation device 5. Based on the road marking 19, a left lateral distance 22 and/or a right lateral distance 23 can be determined. The left lateral distance 22 extends perpendicularly from a longitudinal axis 24 of the motor vehicle 1 to the road marking 19, which is disposed to the left of the motor vehicle 1. The right lateral distance 23 extends perpendicularly from the longitudinal axis 24 to the road marking 19, which is disposed to the right of the motor vehicle 1.

[0040] FIG. 3 shows the motor vehicle 1 on the roadway 17 with four lanes 18. Furthermore, the left field of view 20 and the right field of view 21 are shown. Thus, the evaluation device 5 is adapted to determine the left lateral distance 22 and/or the right lateral distance 23 based on the road marking 19. Based on the left lateral distance and/or the right lateral distance 23, a remaining period of time or a TTC (Time to Crossing) can be determined, which remains until traversing the road marking 19. The at least one recognized road marking for example serves for a lane departure warning system (LDW), which warns a driver of the motor vehicle 1 of exiting the lane 18. For example, the driver can be acoustically and/or visually and/or haptically warned.

[0041] Furthermore, a current position of the motor vehicle 1 with respect to at least two of the lanes 18—as shown in FIG. 3—can be determined by means of the evaluation device 5. This current position can be passed to the navigation apparatus 7 to assist a navigation of the driver and/or at least semi-automatic navigation of the motor vehicle 1.

[0042] The warning of the driver can be output if the lateral distance 22, 23 falls below a predetermined limit value.

[0043] Furthermore, the right lateral camera 4 and/or the left lateral camera 3, which each provide the rear image, and the front camera 8, which provides the front image, can be collectively used. Thus, the rear image and the front image can be fused to each other to recognize the road marking 19 by means of the evaluation device 5. Additionally or alternatively, a lighting situation of the roadway 17 can be determined by the evaluation device 5 and it can use the rear image and/or the front image for recognizing the road marking 19 depending thereon.