1-7. (canceled)
8. A method for performing inter-vehicle distance control on a vehicle comprising:
determining an actual value of a distance variable describing a distance between the vehicle and a vehicle traveling in front;
determining a plurality of weighting values for the distance variable as a function of input variables describing a driving situation of the vehicle andor an ambient situation of the vehicle andor a driving behavior of a driver and determining a set point value for the distance variable as a function of the input variables
actuating a brake andor driving device of the vehicle so that the determined actual value of the distance variable assumes the determined set point value of the distance variable; and
multiplying the weighting values by one another to determine the set point value of the distance variable.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein to determine the set point value of the distance variable a geometric average of the weighting values is formed.
10. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein to determine the set point value of the distance variable the multiplied weighting values are restricted to a predefined value range.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the value range is defined by predefining an upper and a lower limiting value for the multiplied weighting values, the limiting values being predefined as a function of driving state variables describing the driving state of the vehicle.
12. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the multiplied weighting values for determining the set point value of the distance variable are multiplied by a predefined reference value for the distance variable, the reference value being predefined as a function of driving state variables describing the driving state of the vehicle.
13. The method as claimed in claim 11 further comprising issuing a driver warning to the driver of the vehicle if the determined actual value of the distance variable drops below the set point value of the distance variable given by the lower limiting value of the multiplied weighting values.
14. A device for performing inter-distance control on a vehicle comprising:
an evaluation unit determining an actual value of a distance variable describing a distance between the vehicle and a vehicle traveling in front, the evaluation unit determining a plurality of weighting values for the distance variable as a function of input variables describing a driving situation of the vehicle andor an ambient situation of the vehicle andor a driving behavior of a driver, the evaluation unit in turn determining as a function of the weighting values a set point value for the distance variable, the evaluation unit actuating a brake andor driving device of the vehicle so that the determined actual value of the distance variable assumes the determined set point value of the distance variable, and to determine the set point value of the distance variable the evaluation unit multiplies the weighting values by one another.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for detecting an ellipsoid comprising steps of:
extracting an ellipsoid candidate;
extracting an ellipsoid contour;
calculating an ellipsoid parameter;
calculating an adaptability ratio; and
eliminating the ellipsoid candidate, wherein
the step of extracting the ellipsoid candidate includes steps of:
inputting an image having various figures;
selecting the ellipsoid candidate from the various figures in such a manner that the ellipsoid candidate satisfies a predetermined condition; and
extracting a contour candidate point and a center point of the ellipsoid candidate,
the step of extracting the ellipsoid contour includes steps of:
drawing a plurality of straight lines passing through the center point of the ellipsoid candidate;
determining a pair of contour candidate points, which is a pair of cross points between each straight line and a contour of the ellipsoid candidate;
calculating a first distance between one of a pair of contour candidate points and the center point;
calculating a second distance between the other one of a pair of contour candidate points and the center point; and
defining a pair of the contour candidate points as a pair of ellipsoid contour points when a difference between the first and second distances is disposed in a predetermined range,
the step of calculating the ellipsoid parameter is performed based on a pair of ellipsoid contour points and the center point,
the step of calculating the adaptability ratio includes steps of:
drawing a complete ellipsoid based on the ellipsoid parameter; and
calculating the adaptability ratio between a contour of the complete ellipsoid and the contour of the ellipsoid candidate, and
the step of eliminating the ellipsoid candidate is performed when the adaptability ratio is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.
2. An image recognizing device for detecting an ellipsoid comprising:
a first extracting element for extracting an ellipsoid candidate;
a second extracting element for extracting an ellipsoid contour;
a first calculating element for calculating an ellipsoid parameter;
a second calculating element for calculating an adaptability ratio; and
an eliminating element for eliminating the ellipsoid candidate, wherein
the first extracting element is capable of:
inputting an image having various figures;
selecting the ellipsoid candidate from the various figures in such a manner that the ellipsoid candidate satisfies a predetermined condition; and
extracting a contour candidate point and a center point of the ellipsoid candidate,
the second extracting element is capable of:
drawing a plurality of straight lines passing through the center point of the ellipsoid candidate;
determining a pair of contour candidate points, which is a pair of cross points between each straight line and a contour of the ellipsoid candidate;
calculating a first distance between one of a pair of contour candidate points and the center point;
calculating a second distance between the other one of a pair of contour candidate points and the center point; and
defining a pair of the contour candidate points as a pair of ellipsoid contour points when a difference between the first and second distances is disposed in a predetermined range,
the first calculating element calculates the ellipsoid parameter based on a pair of ellipsoid contour points and the center point,
the second calculating element is capable of:
drawing a complete ellipsoid based on the ellipsoid parameter; and
calculating the adaptability ratio between a contour of the complete ellipsoid and the contour of the ellipsoid candidate, and
the eliminating element eliminates the ellipsoid candidate when the adaptability ratio is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.
3. The image recognizing device according to claim 2, wherein
the image includes a face of a human, and
the ellipsoid candidate is an iris or a pupil of an eye of the human in the image.
4. The image recognizing device according to claim 2, wherein
the image is detected by an infrared light.
5. A controller comprising:
the image recognizing device defined in claim 3;
a detecting element for detecting the iris or the pupil of the eye; and
an executing element for executing a process of control, wherein
the detecting element detects a movement of the ellipsoid detected by the image recognizing device as a movement of the iris or the pupil of the eye, and
the executing element is capable of:
estimating a behavior of the human based on the movement of the iris or the pupil of the eye; and
executing the process of control, which is suitable for the behavior of the human.
6. A method for detecting a center of a figure comprising steps of:
extracting a contour of the figure, which is disposed in an inputted image;
determining a mass-center of a parallelogram; and
determining the center of the figure, wherein
the step of determining the mass-center of the parallelogram includes steps of:
drawing a plurality of parallelograms, which are different together, wherein each parallelogram is inscribed in the contour of the figure; and
determining a plurality of mass-centers of parallelograms, and
the step of determining the center of the figure includes a step of defining the mass-center of the parallelogram as the center of the figure when the mass-center of the parallelogram has the highest occurrence rate among a plurality of mass-centers of parallelograms.
7. A method for detecting an ellipsoid comprising steps of:
extracting a contour of the figure, which is disposed in an inputted image;
determining a mass-center of a parallelogram;
determining the center of the figure; and
calculating an ellipsoid parameter, wherein
the step of determining the mass-center of the parallelogram includes steps of:
drawing a plurality of parallelograms, which are different together, wherein each parallelogram is inscribed in the contour of the figure; and
determining a plurality of mass-centers of parallelograms,
the step of determining the center of the figure includes a step of defining the mass-center of the parallelogram as the center of the figure when the mass-center of the parallelogram has the highest occurrence rate among a plurality of mass-centers of parallelograms, and
the step of calculating the ellipsoid parameter includes steps of:
approximating the contour of the figure with an ellipsoid, which is obtained from four corners of each parallelogram; and
calculating the ellipsoid parameter of the ellipsoid.
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising steps of:
calculating an adaptability ratio; and
eliminating the contour of the figure, wherein
the step of calculating the adaptability ratio includes steps of:
drawing a complete ellipsoid based on the ellipsoid parameter; and
calculating the adaptability ratio between a contour of the complete ellipsoid and the contour of the figure, and
the step of eliminating the contour of the figure is performed when the adaptability ratio is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.
9. An image recognizing device comprising:
an extracting element for extracting a contour of a figure, which is disposed in an inputted image;
a first determining element for determining a mass-center of a parallelogram; and
a second determining element for determining a center of the figure, wherein
the first determining element is capable of:
drawing a plurality of parallelograms, which are different together, wherein each parallelogram is inscribed in the contour of the figure; and
determining a plurality of mass-centers of parallelograms, and
the second determining element defines the mass-center of the parallelogram as the center of the figure when the mass-center of the parallelogram has the highest occurrence rate among a plurality of mass-centers of parallelograms.
10. The image recognizing device according to claim 9, further comprising:
a calculating element for calculating an ellipsoid parameter, wherein
the calculating element is capable of:
approximating the contour of the figure with an ellipsoid, which is obtained from four corners of each parallelogram; and
calculating the ellipsoid parameter of the ellipsoid.
11. The image recognizing device according to claim 10, further comprising:
a second calculating element for calculating an adaptability ratio; and
an eliminating element for eliminating the contour of the figure, wherein
the second calculating element is capable of:
drawing a complete ellipsoid based on the ellipsoid parameter; and
calculating the adaptability ratio between a contour of the complete ellipsoid and the contour of the figure, and
the eliminating element eliminates the contour of the figure when the adaptability ratio is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold.
12. The image recognizing device according to claim 10, wherein
the inputted image includes a face of a human, and
the figure is an iris or a pupil of an eye of the human in the image.
13. The image recognizing device according to claim 12, wherein
the image is detected by an infrared light.
14. A controller comprising:
the image recognizing device defined in claim 12;
a detecting element for detecting the iris or the pupil of the eye; and
an executing element for executing a process of control, wherein
the detecting element detects a movement of the ellipsoid detected by the image recognizing device as a movement of the iris or the pupil of the eye, and
the executing element is capable of:
estimating a behavior of the human based on the movement of the iris or the pupil of the eye; and
executing the process of control, which is suitable for the behavior of the human.