Object Detecting Apparatus and Method for Detecting an Object

• US 20090135065A1
• Filed: 02/23/2007
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Tsuchida, Jun, Tokoro, Setsuo
• Granted Patent: US 7,825,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/454
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9325 for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles

Abstract

An object detection apparatus includes a radar means that detects the position of an object; an imaging means that detects the position and size of an object; a fusion processing means that fuses the object detected by the radar means and the object detected by the imaging means as the same object, when the detection results of the radar means and the imaging means satisfy a prescribed fusion condition, to generate a fusion object having position information and size information. A provisional fusion object is generated if the detection result from the imaging means does not satisfy the fusion condition with respect to the detection result from the radar.

Claims

1. An object detection apparatus comprising

a radar that detects position information of an object,

an imaging device that detects position and size information of an object,

a fusion processing device that fuses the object detected by the radar and the object detected by the imaging device when the detection results of the radar and the imaging device satisfy a prescribed fusion condition to generate a fusion object having position information and size information,

wherein the fusion processing device includes an updating device that updates the size information of the previously acquired fusion object to a size information, which is a value other than zero, acquired by an interpolation based on size information of the previously acquired fusion object, when the detection result from the imaging device does not satisfy the fusion condition with respect to the detection result from the radar, and the provisional fusion object has the updated size information.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the updating device changes the size information of the provisional fusion object acquired by the interpolation so as to depart from a value that is close to the size information of the previously acquired fusion object, with the passage of time in the case in which the detection result from the imaging device does not satisfy the fusion condition with respect to the detection result from the radar.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the updating device non-linearly increases the amount of change of the size information of the provisional fusion object.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the updating device makes the size information of the provisional fusion object smaller than the size information of the previously acquired fusion object.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the updating device generates the provisional fusion object having a size information that is larger than the size information of the previously acquired fusion object.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the updating device updates size information of the previously acquired fusion by using a prescribed coefficient.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the fusion processing device sets an object search area based on position information of an object detected by the radar and, when the image object position set based on the position and size information of an object detected by the imaging device is determined to be included within the search area, determines that the prescribed fusion condition is satisfied.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a collision predictor that predicts the possibility of a collision with another vehicle in the forward direction, based on position information of a fusion object generated by the fusion processing device.

9. A method for detecting an object comprising the steps of

receiving position information of an object by a radar,

receiving position and size information of an object by an imaging device, and

fusing the object detected by the radar and the object detected by the imaging device when the detection result of the radar and the imaging device satisfy a prescribed fusion condition to generate a fusion object having position information and size information and

updating the size information of the previously acquired fusion object to a size information, which is a value other than zero, acquired by an interpolation based on size information of the previously acquired fusion object, when the detection result from the imaging device does not satisfy the fusion condition with respect to the detection result from the radar, and the provisional fusion object has the updated size information.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein

in the step of generating the provisional fusion object, the size information of the provisional fusion object by the interpolation is set so as to depart from a value that is close to the size information of the previously acquired fusion object, with the passage of time in the case in which the detection result from the imaging device does not satisfy the fusion condition with respect to the detection result from the radar.