Method and System for Multiple Stereo Based Depth Estimation and Collision Warning/Avoidance Utilizing the Same

Machine readable and non-transitory medium having information stored thereon for determining depth information in autonomous driving, wherein the information, when read by the machine, causes the machine to perform the following:

• obtaining a first pair of stereo images from a first pair of stereo cameras deployed on a moving vehicle, wherein the first pair of stereo cameras have a wider field of view and are installed with respect to a baseline in a vertical plane for acquiring images of a scene surrounding the moving vehicle;
• detecting one or more objects appearing in different regions in the first pair of stereo images corresponding to different areas in the scene;
• for each of the one or more objects detected in a particular region of a stereo image corresponding to a particular area in the scene,
• determining a second pair of stereo cameras installed with respect to the baseline in the vertical plane with a narrower field of view that are configured to capture images of the particular area of the scene,
• receiving a second pair of stereo images from the second pair of stereo cameras,
• fusing each of the second pair of stereo images with the particular region of a corresponding image of the first pair of stereo images;
• estimating disparity based on fused stereo images;
• and
• computing depth information of each of the one or more objects based on the fused stereo images and the disparity.

A system for determining depth information in autonomous driving, comprising:

• a first pair of stereo cameras configured for obtaining a first pair of stereo images, wherein the first pair of stereo cameras are deployed on a moving vehicle and installed with respect to a baseline in a vertical plane for acquiring images of a scene surrounding the moving vehicle with a wider field of view;
• an object recognition unit configured for detecting one or more objects appearing in different regions in the first pair of stereo images corresponding to different areas in the scene;
• an adaptive image acquisition unit configured for, with respect to each of the one or more objects detected in a particular region of a stereo image corresponding to a particular area in the scene, selecting a second pair of stereo cameras, wherein the second pair of stereo cameras are installed with respect to the baseline in the vertical plane having a narrower field of view and configured for capturing a second pair of stereo images of the particular area of the scene;
• an image fusion unit configured for fusing each of the second pair of stereo images with the particular region of a corresponding image of the first pair of stereo images;
• a stereo based disparity estimator configured for estimating disparity based on fused stereo images;
• and
• a multi-stereo based depth estimator configured for computing depth information of each of the one or more objects based on the fused stereo images and the disparity.