Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for recognizing traffic signs. The apparatus and the method for recognizing traffic signs includes an
image sensor, a neuromorphic
system in which a plurality of neurons storing a feature
pattern vector and a content
pattern vector of the
traffic sign are connected by a parallel
bus, and a
control unit that normalizes a window of a predetermined size for a
region of interest set in an
image frame inputted from the
image sensor unit by making the window slide in such a way to overlap by a predetermined pixel value, generates a first input vector that vectorizes, extracts a candidate region of the
traffic sign based on feature pattern information of a
neuron having a feature
pattern vector most similar to the inputted first input vector among the plurality of neurons stored in the neuromorphic
system, stores the coordinates of the extracted
traffic sign candidate region, converts the image size of the extracted candidate region, normalizes a window of a predetermined size for the candidate region of the converted image size, by making the window slide in such a way to overlap by a predetermined pixel value, generates a second input vector that vectorizes the normalized window, determines traffic sign content information of a
neuron having a content pattern vector most similar to the inputted second input vector among the plurality of neurons stored in the neuromorphic
system, stores the determined traffic sign content information, and recognizes the location and content of the traffic sign based on the coordinates of the stored candidate regions and the content information of the stored traffic sign when the traffic sign disappears.