OBJECT DETECTING DEVICE

• US 20110050482A1
• Filed: 09/01/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Nanami, Takeshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,466,827 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/52
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/426 Scanning radar, e.g. 3D radar G01S13/66 takes precedence
• 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 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

The present invention is directed to provide an object detecting device which can reduce the influence of an error caused by temporal displacement between a detection result by a radar and a detection result by image processing and thus, the precision of object detection can be improved. An object detecting unit of an object detecting device comprises an image portion search means which searches image data captured by an image capture unit, referring to detection point data detected by a radar detecting unit, and detects an image portion corresponding to a target object to be detected; a detection point extracting means which extracts, from the detection point data detected by the radar detecting unit, detection point data corresponding to the target object to be detected, and an image portion correcting means which corrects, in accordance with the detection point data extracted by the detection point extracting means, the position of the image portion detected by the image portion search means.

Claims

1. An object detecting device comprising:

an image capture unit which captures images within a predetermined range and acquires image data;

a radar detecting unit which irradiates an object with electromagnetic waves in a plurality of different directions within the predetermined range and acquires, for each of the irradiation directions of the electromagnetic waves, detection point data including data of the distance to an object existing in the direction; and

an object detecting unit which detects a predetermined target object to be detected, based on the image data captured by the image capture unit and the detection point data detected by the radar detecting unit, wherein

the object detecting unit comprises;

an image portion search device which searches the image data captured by the image capture unit, referring to the detection point data detected by the radar detecting unit, and detects an image portion corresponding to the target object to be detected;

a detection point extracting device which extracts, from the detection point data detected by the radar detecting unit, detection point data corresponding to the target object to be detected; and

an image portion correcting device which corrects, in accordance with the detection point data extracted by the detection point extracting device, the position of the image portion detected by the image portion search device.

2. The object detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the image portion correcting device corrects the position of the image portion so that the end of the image portion fits the end of the region comprising the detection point data extracted by the detection point extracting device.

3. The object detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the image portion correcting device corrects the position of the image portion when the detection point data extracted by the detection point extracting device exists outside the image portion.

4. The object detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the detection point data for use in the image portion correcting device is the detection point data detected after the image data for use in the image portion search device has been captured.

5. The object detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the object detecting unit further comprises an object information calculating device which calculates information relating to the target object to be detected, from the detection point data extracted by the detection point extracting device and the image portion whose position has been corrected by the image portion correcting device.

6. The object detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the target object to be detected is a vehicle.