MONITORING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring device for a vehicle capable of easily judging the relation of the vehicle with any obstacle when the surrounding situation of the vehicle is to be photographed by an omnidirectional camera. SOLUTION: The front camera 10 of omnidirectional type is installed on the front bumper 1 at the end opposite the steering wheel 2 about the direction across the vehicle width. The omnidirectional camera 10 has a reflecting mirror 13, a camera 14 to photograph the image reflected by the mirror 13, and a casing 11 to hold the mirror 13 and the camera 14, wherein that portion of the casing 11 mating with the whole periphery of the mirror 13 is formed from a transparent cover member 12. The casing 11 can take the service position protruded to over the front bumper 1, shown in Fig. 5, and the accommodation position accommodated inside the front bumper 1, shown in Fig. 6. The front bumper 1 is positioned approximately plumb under the mirror 13 in the service position, and the outermost peripheral edge 1a of the front bumper 1 lies within the photographing range. The photographed image is displayed on a display 20a installed in the vehicle, and the image 1aK corresponding to the outermost peripheral edge 1a of the front bumper 1 is included in the image displayed. The optical axis of the mirror 13 may be inclined as positioned outside the vehicle body as going upward. COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI