Omniview technology (also known as surround view or bird view) is a vehicle parking assistant technology that first was introduced in 2007 as the "Around View Monitor" option for the

Nissan Elgrand The is a minivan manufactured by Nissan Shatai for Nissan since 1997, available in three generations, with model codes E50 (1997–2002), E51 (2002–2010), and E52 (2010–present). The E50 Elgrand was also configured and produced as a light ...

and

Infiniti EX The Infiniti QX50, previously the Infiniti EX or Nissan Skyline Crossover until 2013, is a compact luxury crossover SUV produced by Infiniti, the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Nissan. The first-generation QX50 is a minor model upd ...

. It is designed to assist drivers in monitoring their surroundings, for example, while parking a vehicle in a small space.

Principle

Early vehicle parking assistant products used ultrasonic parking sensors and/or a single rear-view camera to view and obtain distances to objects surrounding the vehicle, providing drivers with an audible alarm or rear-view video through a

fisheye lens A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide angles of view, well beyond any rectilinear lens. Instead of p ...

. There are some drawbacks to these early products: the alarm only provides a proximity warning but not the position of the object(s) relative to the vehicle, and the rear-view camera has a limited field of view. However, omniview technology overcomes these problems and has seen increasing availability. File:Rossi lhf safdao Y1.jpg, Input images; clockwise from upper left: views from the rear, forward, right, and left side cameras File:Rossi lhf safdao Z1.jpg, Common output interface; rear-view camera given prominence on the left, and omniview shown on the right with generic rendered vehicle In most omniview systems, there are four wide-angle cameras: one in the front of the vehicle, one in the back of the vehicle, and one each in the side-mounted rear view mirrors. The four cameras have overlapping fields of view that collectively cover the whole area around the vehicle and serve as an

omnidirectional (360-degree) camera In photography, an omnidirectional camera (from "omni", meaning all), also known as 360-degree camera, is a camera having a field of view that covers approximately the entire sphere or at least a full circle in the horizontal plane. Omnidirectiona ...

. Video from the cameras are sent to the processor, which synthesizes a bird's-eye view from above the vehicle by stitching the video feeds together, correcting distortion, and transforming the perspective. In some cases, ultrasonic sensors are used in combination with the omniview system to provide distance information and highlight the relevant view that may be affected by potential obstacles. Because the bird's-eye view is a simulated perspective using camera inputs much closer to the ground, objects at ground level will appear relatively undistorted while those above the ground will appear to "lean away" from the vehicle. In addition, if the same object is captured by the overlapping fields of two cameras, it can appear to lean away in two different directions.

History

The first vehicle equipped with Nissan's "Around View Monitor" was the Japanese-market

Elgrand The is a minivan manufactured by Nissan Shatai for Nissan since 1997, available in three generations, with model codes E50 (1997–2002), E51 (2002–2010), and E52 (2010–present). The E50 Elgrand was also configured and produced as a light ...

, introduced in November 2007. In America, the system was introduced one month later, as an option for the EX35 from Nissan's luxury marque

Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...

. At about the same time,

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

implemented similar functionality as the "Multi-around monitor system" for the

Delica The is a range of vans and pickup trucks designed and built by the Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 1968. It was originally based on a cabover van and pickup truck introduced the previous year, also called the Delica, its name a ...

and "Multi-View Camera System" for the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

, respectively. Third-party automotive component suppliers such as

Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embe ...

and Continental AG have developed and marketed modular omniview systems, the latter through the acquisition of Application Solutions Ltd. (ASL Vision). Nissan have since added

moving object detection Moving object detection is a technique used in computer vision and image processing. Multiple consecutive frames from a video are compared by various methods to determine if any moving object is detected. Moving objects detection has been used for ...

using the cameras, billing the system as "Intelligent Around View Monitor" (I-AVM). In 2016, stuntman Paul Swift used the I-AVM system to match the world record for the tightest J-turn in a specially-prepared

Nissan Juke The is a subcompact crossover SUV (B-segment) produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2010. Debuted as a production vehicle at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March and positioned below the C-segment Qashqai, it was introduced to ...

, using a space just wider than the vehicle's length to turn it around with the windows completely blacked out. An omniview system that uses four cameras and displays a three-dimensional rendering of the vehicle and its surroundings has been proposed as a logical next step to increase the driver's awareness.direct URL
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References

External links

Omniview suppliers
Mobileye Israel

Percherry China
{{CarDesign nav Auto parts Vehicle safety technologies Automotive technologies Information technology Automotive engineering Parking

Principle

History

See also

References

External links