TRAFFIC SIGNAL LIGHTING STATE IDENTIFICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To identify with a single camera or the like whether or not there is a traffic signal related to traffic of its own vehicle and a lighting state even with respect to light a feature point of which is hard to obtain by a small calculation amount. SOLUTION: The traffic signal lighting state identification apparatus is for photographing near a front of a mobile body, such as an automobile, and identifying either presence of the traffic signal included in the image or the lighting state or both and is provided with: an ellipse decision part 12 for deciding whether or not the light included in the image is elliptic; a normal vector calculation part 13 for obtaining a normal vector from a major axis and minor axis of the elliptic shape; and a light decision part 14 for deciding according to the normal vector of the light whether or not the light is related to the traffic of its own vehicle and identifying from the image a light of the traffic signal for its own vehicle to follow. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT