Vehicular radar device

• US 20050036130A1
• Filed: 07/20/2004
• Published: 02/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Automotive Electronics Company Limited (Nidec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Inventors: Asada, Yasutada, Arita, Satoru
• Granted Patent: US 7,158,218 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/4.10
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4802 using analysis of echo signal for target characterisation; Target signature; Target cross-section

Abstract

A vehicular radar device capable of accurately detecting rain or the like or a road surface by discriminating between the rain or the like or the road surface and others. The vehicular radar device has a control circuit which performs a detection operation in an up state in which the visual field of the radar is shifted comparatively upwardly in the vertical direction so that the road surface is not detected, and determines that, from among detection data obtained during the up state, detection data which does not vary in reception intensity nor in reception delay time (distance data) for a predefined time is detection data relative to rain or the like, and which performs a detection operation in a down state in which the visual field of the radar is shifted comparatively downwardly in the vertical direction so that the road surface is positively detected, and determines that, from among detection data obtained during the down state, detection data which varies in reception delay time compared to a detection operation in an immediately previous normal state is detection data relative to the road surface.

Claims

1. A vehicular radar device which detects an object such as an objective vehicle within a detection area on the basis of detection data having a reception intensity exceeding a predefined threshold, the detection data being contained in reflected-wave data on waves irradiated into the detection area outward of a vehicle provided with the vehicular radar device, comprising control processing means capable of varying a direction or/and a range of the detection area in a vertical direction,

the control processing means being operative to set, during a normal time, the direction or/and the range of the detection area in the vertical direction to a normal state in which the objective vehicle is correctly detected, and perform a detection operation in the normal state, and being operative to perform, during a rain decision time for making a decision as to rain or the like, a detection operation in an up state in which the direction or/and the range of the detection area is shifted comparatively upwardly in the vertical direction so that at least a road surface is not detected, and determine that, from among detection data obtained during the up state, detection data which does not vary in reception intensity nor in reception delay time for a predefined time is detection data relative to rain or the like.

3. A vehicular radar device according to claim 1, wherein the rain decision time is a time at which when a target decision based on a feature quantity of a received waveform is performed on the detection data obtained through the detection operation in the normal state, the result of the target decision shows that there exists detection data presumed to be relative to rain or the like.

9. A vehicular radar device according to claim 1, wherein the control processing means determines, as detection data relative to the road surface, only detection data which varies in a direction in which the reception delay time becomes shorter as the result of a shift to the down state.

12. A vehicular radar device according to claim 1, wherein the control processing means determines only detection data whose reception delay time is within a predefined range, as detection data relative to the road surface.

2. A vehicular radar device which detects an object such as an objective vehicle within a detection area on the basis of detection data having a reception intensity exceeding a predefined threshold, the detection data being contained in reflected-wave data on waves irradiated into the detection area outward of a vehicle provided with the vehicular radar device, comprising control processing means capable of varying a direction or/and a range of the detection area in a vertical direction,

the control processing means being operative to set, during a normal time, the direction or/and the range of the detection area in the vertical direction to a normal state in which the objective vehicle is correctly detected, and perform a detection operation in the normal state, and being operative to perform, during a rain decision time for making a decision as to rain or the like, a detection operation in an up state in which the direction or/and the range of the detection area is shifted comparatively upwardly in the vertical direction so that neither a road surface nor the objective vehicle is detected, and determine that detection data obtained during the up state is detection data relative to rain or the like.

8. A vehicular radar device according to claim 2, wherein the rain decision time is a time at which when a target decision based on a feature quantity of a received waveform is performed on the detection data obtained through the detection operation in the normal state, the result of the target decision shows that there exists detection data presumed to be relative to rain or the like.

10. A vehicular radar device according to claim 2, wherein the control processing means determines, as detection data relative to the road surface, only detection data which varies in a direction in which the reception delay time becomes shorter as the result of a shift to the down state.

13. A vehicular radar device according to claim 2, wherein the control processing means determines only detection data whose reception delay time is within a predefined range, as detection data relative to the road surface.

4. A vehicular radar device which detects an object such as an objective vehicle within a detection area on the basis of detection data having a reception intensity exceeding a predefined threshold, the detection data being contained in reflected-wave data on waves irradiated into the detection area outward of a vehicle provided with the vehicular radar device, comprising control processing means capable of varying a direction or/and a range of the detection area in a vertical direction,

the control processing means being operative to set, during a normal time, the direction or/and the range of the detection area in the vertical direction to a normal state in which the objective vehicle is correctly detected, and perform a detection operation in the normal state, and being operative to perform, during a road-surface decision time for making a decision as to a road surface, a detection operation in a down state in which the direction or/and the range of the detection area is shifted comparatively downwardly in the vertical direction so that the road surface is correctly detected, and determine that, from among detection data obtained during the down state, detection data which varies in reception delay time compared to a detection operation in an immediately previous normal state is detection data relative to the road surface.

5. A vehicular radar device according to claim 4, wherein the road-surface decision time is a time at which when a target decision based on a feature quantity of a received waveform is performed on the detection data obtained through the detection operation in the normal state, the result of the decision shows that there exists detection data presumed to be relative to the road surface or the like.

6. A vehicular radar device according to claim 4, wherein the control processing means determines, as detection data relative to the road surface, only detection data which varies in a direction in which the reception delay time becomes shorter as the result of a shift to the down state.

7. A vehicular radar device according to claim 4, wherein the control processing means determines only detection data whose reception delay time is within a predefined range, as detection data relative to the road surface.

11. A vehicular radar device according to claim 5, wherein the control processing means determines, as detection data relative to the road surface, only detection data which varies in a direction in which the reception delay time becomes shorter as the result of a shift to the down state.

14. A vehicular radar device according to claim 5, wherein the control processing means determines only detection data whose reception delay time is within a predefined range, as detection data relative to the road surface.