Image-processing method and apparatus for recognizing objects in traffic

An image-processing method for correlating one or a plurality of feature image patterns with an original image, a feature image scene being formed from an original image scene through feature extraction, feature values of the feature image scene being locally softened through a transformation or a filter to define a transformed image scene, and the transformed image scene being correlated with the feature image patterns, and/or the feature values of the feature image patterns being softened through a transformation or a filter to define transformed feature image patterns, the transformed feature image patterns being correlated with the feature image scene, and with objects being detected and recognized with the processed image data and as a function of knowledge about the objects to be detected and/or on global knowledge about the situation in the scenario associated with the original image, the method comprising the steps of:

• correlating N feature image patterns with the feature image scene through creation of a pattern hierarchy having a plurality of levels, the pattern hierarchy including prototype patterns that are formed from a group of feature image patterns from a hierarchically subordinate level;
• and
• correlating the image scene with further prototype patterns from the hierarchically subordinate level in image regions in which a prototype pattern is successfully correlated with the feature image scene.