Traffic environment recognition method and system for carrying out the same

• US 7,994,936 B2
• Filed: 05/23/2007
• Issued: 08/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Astemo Ltd. (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Muramatsu, Shoji, Takenaga, Hiroshi, Otsuka, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Phung
• Application Number:
  US11/752,494
• Publication Number:
  US 20100265101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,539 Days
• Field of Search: 340/907, 340/901, 340/903, 340/904, 340/933, 340/937, 340/939, 340/988, 340/539.1, 701/301, 701/117
• US Class Current: 340/907
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/805 Azimuth angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/12 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/726 Multiple target tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9319 Controlling the accelerator
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9325 for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A traffic environment recognition system includes units for image-processing and information-merging, a radar unit. A network is connected to the image-processing unit. The radar, information-merging, and a vehicle control unit control the traveling operation of the vehicle. The image-processing unit recognizes headway distance, the azimuth, relative speed and width of a preceding vehicle, and the lane position of the host vehicle. The radar unit recognizes headway distance, the azimuth and relative speed of the preceding vehicle. The information-merging unit receives recognition results provided by the image-processing unit. The radar unit through the network, merges and identifies those results. When the recognition results provided by the image-processing unit and the radar unit relate to the same vehicle, output information is produced by the information-merging unit to identify the vehicles as one and the same vehicle and sends the output information through the network to the vehicle control unit.

Claims

1. An environment recognition system comprising;

a plurality of host vehicle environment recognizing units operatively connected to a network;

distinguishing units for distinguishing results recognized by each of the plurality of environment recognizing units, and

information merging units for the recognized results distinguished by the distinguishing units, wherein

the merging unit adds a time information and a position information of at least one recognized object out of the plurality of recognized objects to the merged information.

2. The environment recognition system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a time signal generating unit for outputting a common time information of each of the plurality of environment recognizing unit to the network.

3. The environment recognition system according to claim 2, wherein the time information includes a measurement time.

4. The environment recognition system according to claim 3, wherein

the information merging unit is configured to judge that a first object recognized by a the first of the environment recognizing units and a second object recognized by a the second of the environment recognizing units are the same when a time measured by the first environment recognizing unit and a time measured by the second environment recognizing unit are in a predetermined time.

5. The environment recognition system according to claim 3, wherein

the information merging unit is configured to judge that a first object recognized by a first of the environment recognizing units and a second object recognized by a second of the environment recognizing units are different when a time measured by the first environment recognizing unit and a time measured by the second environment recognizing unit are not in a predetermined time.

6. An environment recognition method in a system having a plurality of host-vehicle environment recognizing units operatively connected to a network comprising;

distinguishing each result recognized by each of the plurality of host-vehicle environment recognizing units, and

information from merging each of the results recognized and distinguished including adding time information and position information of at least one recognized object out of the plurality of recognized objects to the merged information.

7. The environment recognition method according to claim 6, further comprising generating a time signal for outputting common time information of each of the plurality of environment recognizing unit to the network.

8. The environment recognition method according to claim 7, wherein the time information includes measurement time.

9. The environment recognition method according to claim 8, wherein the information merging includes judging that a first recognized object of the first environment recognizing unit and a second recognized object of the second environment recognizing unit are the same when a time measured by a first environment recognizing unit and a time measured by a second environment recognizing unit are in a predetermined time.

10. The environment recognition method according to claim 8, wherein the information merging includes judging that a first recognized object of the first environment recognizing unit and a second recognized object of the second environment recognizing unit recognized are different when a time measured by a first environment recognizing unit and a time measured by a second environment recognizing unit are not in a predetermined time.