Radar apparatus

• US 6,380,884 B1
• Filed: 01/11/2000
• Issued: 04/30/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Satou, Kazuhisa, Tohya, Ken-i-chi, Sugawara, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E.
• Application Number:
  US09/481,068
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 342/27, 342/28, 342/70, 342/71, 342/72, 342/104, 342/105-115, 342/118, 342/127-133, 342/165, 342/192-197, 342/159, 342/25, 342/155-158, 342/147
• US Class Current: 342/70
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S13/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/48 using multiple beams at emission or reception
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/505 using Doppler effect for determining closest range to a target or corresponding time, e.g. miss-distance indicator
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles

Abstract

A radar apparatus is provided that can correctly extract the necessary point for a determination related to the safe travel of one'"'"'s automotive vehicle among objects such as automotive vehicles moving at an angle in front and constructed objects. The radar apparatus of the present invention provides antennas that transmit beams in a plurality of directions and receive the reflected waves from objects as received signals. The objects that generated these reflected waves are detected. In addition, this radar apparatus provides a reflected location detection device that detects the reflected locations that are the generation source of the reflected waves for this plurality of directions, a grouping device that groups each of these detected reflected locations into a group of single or plural reflected locations assuming they belong to the same object, and a device that extracts reflected locations having the shortest distance from the moving body from among these grouped reflected locations to serve as reference points related to the safe travel of this moving body.

Claims

1. A radar apparatus providing antennas that transmit beams in a plurality of directions and receive as reception signals the reflected waves from an object, and is mounted on a moving object that detects objects that generate these reflected waves, the radar apparatus comprising:

a reflected location detection device that detects the generation source of reflected waves, referred to hereinafter as reflected locations, for each of a plurality of directions;

a device for grouping each of said detected reflected locations into a group of a single or plural reflected locations from the same object; and

a device that detects the reflected location having the shortest distance from this moving object from among said grouped reflected locations to serve as a reference point related to travel safety associated with this moving body.

2. A radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving body is a car and

the transmission of a beam in said plurality of directions is carried out by time-sharing from a plurality of antennas arranged facing different directions.

3. A radar apparatus providing an antenna that transmits beams in a plurality of directions and receives as reception signals the reflected waves from an object, and is mounted on a moving object that detects objects that generate these reflected waves, the radar apparatus comprising:

a reflected location detection device that detects the reflected locations for each of a plurality of directions;

a device for grouping each of said detected reflected locations into a group of a single or plural reflected locations from the same object; and

a line segment extraction device that extracts line segments that form the profile of a body from the arrangement of said grouped reflected locations.

4. A radar apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the radar apparatus comprises a device for extracting the point having the shortest distance from said moving object that is on the profile formed by said extracted line segments to serve as the reference points related to the safe travel of this moving body.

5. A radar apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the radar apparatus comprises a device that draws a line perpendicular from each point that is on said extracted line segments to the line of the expected travel of the center of said moving body, and that detects the point on this perpendicular line whose length is shortest to serve as the reference point related to the safe travel of said moving object.

6. A radar apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said line extracting device calculates each reflected location while weighting the length of the perpendicular line drawn from each of said reflected locations to the line segment of,said extracted object, and extracting said line segment so that the summation of these additions is minimized.

7. A radar apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the radar apparatus comprises a device that recognizes the points to which said two extracted line segments are nearly perpendicular as the end points of the object.

8. A radar apparatus providing an antenna that transmits beams in a plurality of directions and receives as reception signals the reflected waves from an object, and is mounted on a moving object that detects objects that generate these reflected waves, the radar apparatus comprising:

a reflected location detection device that detects reflected locations in each of said plurality of directions; and

an unnecessary data elimination device that treats and eliminates as unnecessary data in these directions the reflected locations detected as reflected locations having an equal distance from the moving object in single or plural directions among said extracted reflection points and having a reception level that is lower than the pre-determined threshold value in the directions of the reflected locations.

9. A radar apparatus providing an antenna that transmits beams in a plurality of directions and receives as reception signals the reflected waves from an object, and is mounted on a moving object that detects objects that generate these reflected waves, the radar apparatus comprising:

a reflected location detection device that detects reflected locations in each of said plurality of directions; and

an unnecessary data elimination device that treats and eliminates as unnecessary data in these directions the reflected locations having a reception level that is lower than the pre-determined value of reflected locations detected as reflected locations having an equal distance from the moving object in single or plural directions among said extracted reflection points.

10. A radar apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the determination of said unnecessary data being carried out having an additional condition for determining whether, among each of said detected reflected locations, reflected locations are included having a high reception level and different distance in comparison to candidate unnecessary data.

11. A radar apparatus according to claims 9, wherein the reflection body making said unnecessary data appear being determined to have a profile crossing or a vector that will cross the direction of progression of one'"'"'s vehicle.