Vehicle obstacle detecting device
First Claim
1. A vehicle obstacle detecting device adapted to be mounted on a vehicle to detect an obstacle, comprising:
- a plurality of sensors including at least a first sensor having a sensing scope that does not substantially overlap a sensing scope of the second sensor thereby defining a blind spot between the sensing scopes of the first and second sensors;
an obstacle behavior observing section configured to observe a behavior of an obstacle within at least the sensing scope of the first sensor; and
a blind spot behavior predicting section configured to predict a blind spot behavior of the obstacle in the blind spot between the sensing scopes of the first and second sensors based on the behavior of the obstacle in the sensing scope of the first sensor observed by the obstacle behavior observing section, the blind spot behavior predicting section is configured to obtain the blind spot behavior of the obstacle by using at least one parameter, and to adjust the at least one parameter based on a difference between the blind spot behavior and an actual behavior of the obstacle within the blind spot so that a blind spot behavior of a next obstacle within the blind spot is predicted using the at least one parameter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The vehicle obstacle detecting device improves safety of the vehicle by utilizing information detected by a plurality of sensors to appropriately handle situations in which an obstacle exists in a blind spot of the sensors. The vehicle obstacle detecting device includes at least first and second sensors arranged such that sensing scopes of the first and second sensors do not substantially overlap. The vehicle obstacle detecting device is configured to observe the behavior of an obstacle existing within the sensing scope of one of the first and second sensors and predict the blind spot behavior of the obstacle in a blind spot between the sensing scopes of the first and second sensors based on the observed behavior of the obstacle. Thus, the vehicle obstacle detecting device is configured to predict the existence of an obstacle in the blind spot where the first and second sensors cannot actually detect the obstacle.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A vehicle obstacle detecting device adapted to be mounted on a vehicle to detect an obstacle, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors including at least a first sensor having a sensing scope that does not substantially overlap a sensing scope of the second sensor thereby defining a blind spot between the sensing scopes of the first and second sensors; an obstacle behavior observing section configured to observe a behavior of an obstacle within at least the sensing scope of the first sensor; and a blind spot behavior predicting section configured to predict a blind spot behavior of the obstacle in the blind spot between the sensing scopes of the first and second sensors based on the behavior of the obstacle in the sensing scope of the first sensor observed by the obstacle behavior observing section, the blind spot behavior predicting section is configured to obtain the blind spot behavior of the obstacle by using at least one parameter, and to adjust the at least one parameter based on a difference between the blind spot behavior and an actual behavior of the obstacle within the blind spot so that a blind spot behavior of a next obstacle within the blind spot is predicted using the at least one parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for detecting an obstacle in a vicinity of a vehicle, comprising:
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sensing a first area adjacent the vehicle to define a first sensing scope; sensing a second area adjacent the vehicle to define a second sensing scope that does not substantially overlap with the first sensing scope such that a blind spot is defined between the first and second sensing scopes; observing a behavior of an obstacle within the first sensing scope; predicting a blind spot behavior of the obstacle in the blind spot between the first and second sensing scopes based on the behavior of the obstacle in the first sensing scope observed by the obstacle behavior observing section; obtaining the blind spot behavior of the obstacle by using at least one parameter; and adjusting the at least one parameter based on a difference between the blind spot behavior and an actual behavior of the obstacle within the blind spot so that a blind spot behavior of a next obstacle within the blind spot is predicted using the at least one parameter. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A vehicle obstacle detecting device adapted to be mounted on a vehicle to detect an obstacle, comprising:
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detecting means for detecting an obstacle within a plurality of prescribed sensing scopes, the prescribed sensing scopes defining a blind spot where the obstacle is undetectable by the detecting means; observing means for observing a behavior of the obstacle within one of the prescribed sensing scopes; and predicting means for predicting a blind spot behavior of the obstacle in the blind spot based on the behavior of the obstacle observed by the observing means; obtaining means for obtaining the blind spot behavior of the obstacle by using at least one parameter; and adjusting means for adjusting the at least one parameter based on a difference between the blind spot behavior and an actual behavior of the obstacle within the blind spot so that a blind spot behavior of a next obstacle within the blind spot is predicted using the at least one parameter.
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Specification