OBJECT DETECTION APPARATUS, OBJECT REMOVEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM, OBJECT DETECTION METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM STORING OBJECT DETECTION PROGRAM

• US 20160341848A1
• Filed: 05/09/2016
• Published: 11/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Satoshi Nakamura
• Inventors: NAKAMURA, Satoshi
• Application Number:
  US15/149,393
• Publication Number:
  US 20160341848A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/0844 including a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 8/12 using one transmitter and one receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

An object detection apparatus includes a light source to emit detection-use light, a light receiver to receive first light having lighting-period received light quantity used for detecting a detection-target object existing within a lighting area of the detection-use light when the light source emits the detection-use light, and second light having non-lighting-period received light quantity when the light source does not emit the detection-use light, and a detection processor to perform a detection process to determine whether a given condition used for detecting an increase or decrease of the detection-target object within the lighting area is satisfied based on lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the lighting-period received light quantity over the time, and non-lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the non-lighting-period received light quantity over the time.

Claims

1. An object detection apparatus comprising:

a light source to emit detection-use light

a light receiver to receive first light having lighting-period received light quantity used for detecting a detection-target object existing within a lighting area of the detection-use light when the light source emits the detection-use light, and second light having non-lighting-period received light quantity when the light source does not emit the detection-use light; and

a detection processor to perform a detection process to determine whether a given condition used for detecting an increase or decrease of the detection-target object within the lighting area is satisfied based on lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the lighting-period received light quantity over the time and a non-lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the non-lighting-period received light quantity over the time.

2. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the given condition includes a first condition and a second condition, the first condition is used to determine whether the increase or decrease of the detection-target object is detected within the lighting area using the lighting-period changed quantity without using the non-lighting-period changed quantity, and the second condition is used to determine whether a determination result of the first condition is used as a result of the detection process by using the non-lighting-period changed quantity.

3. The object detection apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first condition includes a condition that the lighting-period changed quantity is a first threshold or more, and the second condition includes a condition that the non-lighting-period changed quantity is smaller than a second threshold.

4. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the detection processor determines whether the given condition is satisfied, the detection processor does not use the lighting-period changed quantity when the non-lighting-period changed quantity is the second threshold or more.

5. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the detection processor obtains results of a plurality of detection processes performed within a given condition changeable period, the detection processor changes the given condition to be used for a detection process to be performed after the given condition changeable period based on the results of the plurality of detection processes.

6. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the detection processor obtains results of a plurality of detection processes performed within a given condition changeable period, the detection processor changes a duration of a change monitoring period for monitoring the change of the lighting-period received light quantity over the time to be used for a detection process to be performed after the given condition changeable period based on the results of the plurality of detection processes.

7. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection-target object is an object adhereable on an optical transparency material lighted by the detection-use light of the light source.

8. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection processor determines whether the detection process is to be performed depending on an operation timing of a removing unit capable of intermittently removing the detection-target object within the lighting area.

9. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lighting-period changed quantity is defined by a differential value between the lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at one time point and the lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at another time point.

10. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lighting-period changed quantity is defined by normalizing a differential value between the lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at one time point and the lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at another time point.

11. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-lighting-period changed quantity is defined by a differential value between the non-lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at one time point and the non-lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at another time point.

12. The object detection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-lighting-period changed quantity is defined by normalizing a differential value between the non-lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at one time point and the non-lighting-period received light quantity received by the light receiver at another time point.

13. A object removement control system comprising:

the object detection apparatus of claim 1; and

a control unit to control an operation of a removing unit capable of removing the detection-target object based on a result of a detection process by the object detection apparatus.

14. A method of detecting an object comprising:

emitting detection-use light from a light source;

receiving first light having lighting-period received light quantity used for detecting a detection-target object existing within a lighting area of the detection-use light when the light source emits the detection-use light, and second light having non-lighting-period received light quantity when the light source does not emit the detection-use light; and

performing a detection process to determine whether a given condition used for detecting an increase or decrease of the detection-target object within the lighting area is satisfied based on lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the lighting-period received light quantity over the time, and non-lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the non-lighting-period received light quantity over the time.

15. A non-transitory storage medium storing a program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute a method of detecting an object comprising:

emitting detection-use light from a light source;

receiving first light having lighting-period received light quantity used for detecting a detection-target object existing within a lighting area of the detection-use light when the light source emits the detection-use light, and second light having non-lighting-period received light quantity when the light source does not emit the detection-use light; and

performing a detection process to determine whether a given condition used for detecting an increase or decrease of the detection-target object within the lighting area is satisfied based on lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the lighting-period received light quantity over the time, and non-lighting-period changed quantity indicating a change of the non-lighting-period received light quantity over the time.