System and method of alerting a driver that visual perception of pedestrian may be difficult

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(11)

EP 2 851 841 A8

(12)	CORRECTED EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
	Note: Bibliography reflects the latest situation

(15)	Correction information:
	Corrected version no 1 (W1 A3)

(48)	Corrigendum issued on:
	29.07.2015 Bulletin 2015/31

(88)	Date of publication A3:
	20.05.2015 Bulletin 2015/21

(43)	Date of publication:
	25.03.2015 Bulletin 2015/13

(21)	Application number: 14182908.5

(22)	Date of filing: 29.08.2014

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International Patent Classification (IPC):

G06K 9/00^(2006.01)

G06K 9/62^(2006.01)

(84)	Designated Contracting States:
	AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
	Designated Extension States:
	BA ME

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Priority:

23.09.2013 US 201314034103

(71)	Applicants:
	TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC. Erlanger KY 41018 (US) TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken, 471-8571 (JP) Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation Indianapolis, IN 46202 (US)

(72)	Inventors:
	Takahashi, Hiroyuki Toyota Aichi (JP) Sherony, Rini Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 48108 (US) Du, Eliza Y. Indianapolis, IN Indiana 46259 (US) Jiang, Pingge Philadelphia, PA 19104 (US) Yang, Kai Indianapolis, IN Indiana 46224 (US)

(74)	Representative: Kuhnen & Wacker
	Patent- und Rechtsanwaltsbüro Prinz-Ludwig-Straße 40A 85354 Freising 85354 Freising (DE)

(54)	System and method of alerting a driver that visual perception of pedestrian may be difficult

(57) A pedestrian perception alert system configured to issue a warning during real-time when a driver's visual detection of a pedestrian is difficult, and a method thereof is provided. The system includes a video camera, an alert for issuing a warning, a processor, and a Pedestrian Detection Unit ("PDU"). The PDU analyzes the video camera image to detect a pedestrian. A Global Clutter Analysis Unit ("GCAU") generates a global clutter score. A Local Pedestrian Clutter Analysis Unit ("LPCAU") generates a local pedestrian clutter score. The processer processes the global clutter score and local pedestrian clutter score so as to generate a pedestrian detection score. The alert is actuated when the pedestrian detection score is outside of a predetermined threshold so as to notify the driver that perception of a pedestrian is difficult at that time.