Driving assistance apparatus, imaging apparatus, imaging system, driving assistance system, vehicle, and driving assistance method

An imaging apparatus comprising:

• a lens;
• an image sensor;
• and
• a driving assistance apparatus comprising a communication interface configured to acquire information related to a position of a vehicle and road information related to a road and a processor configured to determine whether the road is passable based on the information related to the position of the vehicle and the road information.

An imaging system for mounting in a vehicle, the imaging system comprising:

• a position sensor configured to output information related to a position of the vehicle;
• an imaging apparatus configured to capture an image of a road on which the vehicle is driving and to output road information related to the road;
• and
• a driving assistance apparatus comprising a communication interface configured to acquire the information related to the position of the vehicle and the road information and a processor configured to determine whether the road is passable based on the information related to the position of the vehicle and the road information.

A driving assistance system comprising:

• a plurality of driving assistance apparatuses mounted in a plurality of vehicles;
• and
• an information processing apparatus external to the plurality of vehicles;
• wherein each of the driving assistance apparatus of the plurality of driving assistance apparatuses comprises:
• an information acquisition unit configured to acquire information related to a position of the vehicle in which each of the driving assistance apparatuses is mounted and driving path information related to a road on which the vehicle is driving;
• a first processor configured to generate first information indicating the position of the vehicle and to generate second information based on the driving path information;
• and
• a first communication unit configured to transmit the first information to the information processing apparatus in response to control by the first processor, to receive nearby road information related to a nearby road near the position of the vehicle as third information, and to transmit the second information to the information processing apparatus;
• wherein the first processor generates information related to whether the nearby road is passable based on the third information;
• and
• wherein the information processing apparatus comprises:
• a second communication unit configured to receive the first information and the second information from a vehicle and to transmit the third information to the vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;
• a storage configured to store a plurality of positions and nearby road information corresponding to each of the plurality of positions as fourth information;
• and
• a second processor configured to acquire the first information from the second communication unit, and based on the position of the vehicle included in the first information, to extract the nearby road information related to the nearby road as the third information from the fourth information stored in the storage;
• wherein the second processor updates the fourth information stored in the storage based on the first information and the second information received from the each driving assistance apparatus.