A surround view image generation method with low distortion for vehicle camera systems using a composite projection

Abstract

This paper proposes a surround view image generation method for vehicle camera systems. To assist the driver during parking, a view with easy comprehension of distance and direction between the vehicle and objects is desirable. However, the conventional method of using an equidistant projection for generating a surround image of wide field of view causes image distortion, with straight lines appearing curved. This prevents the driver from correctly understanding the distance and direction of objects. Our proposed method uses a composite projection that combines two projection models: perspective projection and equidistant projection. This strategy can generate an image without distortion by using perspective projection near the vehicle and provides a wide field of view using equidistant projection. The experiments demonstrate the generation from parking scene images, using our proposed method, of a surround image with a wide field of view and no distortion near the vehicle.