US 12,394,217 B2
Apparatus and method for detecting a state of a road surface
Dietrich Dumler, Munich (DE); Franz Wenninger, Munich (DE); Wolfgang Gerner, Neubiberg (DE); and Harald Gossner, Neubiberg (DE)
Assigned to Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Munich (DE)
Filed by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Munich (DE)
Filed on Sep. 8, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/930,651.
Claims priority of application No. 102021210047.3 (DE), filed on Sep. 10, 2021; and application No. 102022201522.3 (DE), filed on Feb. 14, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0079037 A1, Mar. 16, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06V 20/58 (2022.01); G06T 7/11 (2017.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G06V 10/764 (2022.01)
CPC G06V 20/588 (2022.01) [G06T 7/11 (2017.01); G06T 2207/20021 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30256 (2013.01); G06V 10/764 (2022.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Apparatus for detecting a state of a road surface comprising:
an input interface for acquiring recording information of a road surface;
an image divider for dividing the recording information into a plurality of windows, wherein each window comprises a plurality of image elements, wherein each image element comprises at least two different pieces of information;
a parameter calculator for calculating at least two parameters per window by using the at least two different pieces of information of each image element in the window; and
a classifier for classifying the window on the basis of a tuple of the at least two parameters of the window, wherein the classifier is configured to detect, on the basis of the tuple of the at least two parameters of the window, as input values a state of the window and to output the state of the window as an output value,
wherein the input interface is configured to either acquire the recording information from a sensor, or to acquire several sensor recordings and to assemble the recording information from the acquired sensor recordings,
wherein the recording information of the road surface comprise per image element a first sensor recording with a first polarization filter comprising a first polarization angle, and at least one sensor recordings from the following group of sensor recordings:
a second sensor recording of the road surface with a first optical bandwidth in which water comprises a first absorption rate,
a third sensor recording of the road surface with a second optical bandwidth in which water comprises a second absorption rate that is higher than the first absorption rate,
and
a fourth sensor recording with a second polarization filter comprising a second polarization angle, wherein the two polarization filters differ in their polarization angles.