DISTANCE DETECTION SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES

An automobile distance detection system includes an image camera system which photographs an object which exists in a required range external to an automobile, from a plurality of different directions and obtains a plurality of pictures, and a picture processing unit which processes the plural number of pictures photographed by the camera system and outputs a distance distribution for an entire picture. The image processing unit includes a coincidence calculation element which performs high-speed calculation of a degree of coincidence for each required region, and corresponding to the plural number of pictures photographed by the camera system, and a discrepancy amount determination element determines discrepancy amounts corresponding to the plural number of pictures on the basis of a minimum value for the coincidence, as information relating to the distance distribution.