Obstacle detection apparatus and method for detecting obstacle
First Claim
1. An obstacle detection apparatus comprising:
- a transmission and reception device located at a predetermined height on a movable object and directed toward an outside, the transmission and reception device includingi) a transmission unit, being a single element, configured to repeatedly transmit sensing waves at a predetermined interval andii) a reception unit, being a single element, configured to receive reflective waves of the sensing waves from the detected object in a detection area;
a peak value detecting unit responsive to the reception unit, and configured to detect peak values of the reflective waves received by the reception unit and configured to store the detected peak values;
a difference arithmetic unit responsive to the detected peak values received from the peak value detecting unit, and configured to calculate a difference in the peak values detected by the peak value detecting unit with movement of the movable object closer to the detected object; and
an object determination unit responsive to the difference received from the difference arithmetic unit, and configured toi) determine a kind of the detected object to be a near-road-surface obstacle, which exists at a position close to a road surface, when the difference in the peak values calculated by the difference arithmetic unit is a negative value, andii) determine the kind of the detected object to be an other obstacle, which exists at a position higher than the position close to the road surface, when the difference in the peak values calculated by the difference arithmetic unit is a positive value.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A transmission and reception device is located at a predetermined height on a movable object and directed toward an outside. The transmission and reception device includes a transmission unit for repeatedly transmitting sensing waves at a predetermined interval and a reception unit for receiving reflective waves of the sensing waves from a detected object. A peak value detecting unit detects peak values of the received reflective waves and stores the detected peak values. A difference arithmetic unit calculates a difference in the detected peak values with movement of the movable object closer to the detected object. An object determination unit determines the detected object to be a near-road-surface obstacle, which is close to a road surface, when the difference is a negative value. The object determination unit determines the detected object to be an other obstacle than the near-road-surface obstacle when the difference is a positive value.
28 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An obstacle detection apparatus comprising:
-
a transmission and reception device located at a predetermined height on a movable object and directed toward an outside, the transmission and reception device including i) a transmission unit, being a single element, configured to repeatedly transmit sensing waves at a predetermined interval and ii) a reception unit, being a single element, configured to receive reflective waves of the sensing waves from the detected object in a detection area; a peak value detecting unit responsive to the reception unit, and configured to detect peak values of the reflective waves received by the reception unit and configured to store the detected peak values; a difference arithmetic unit responsive to the detected peak values received from the peak value detecting unit, and configured to calculate a difference in the peak values detected by the peak value detecting unit with movement of the movable object closer to the detected object; and an object determination unit responsive to the difference received from the difference arithmetic unit, and configured to i) determine a kind of the detected object to be a near-road-surface obstacle, which exists at a position close to a road surface, when the difference in the peak values calculated by the difference arithmetic unit is a negative value, and ii) determine the kind of the detected object to be an other obstacle, which exists at a position higher than the position close to the road surface, when the difference in the peak values calculated by the difference arithmetic unit is a positive value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15)
-
-
12. A method for detecting an obstacle, the method comprising:
-
causing a single-element transmission unit that is included in a transmission and reception device to repeatedly transmit sensing waves at a predetermined interval from a predetermined height on a movable object toward an outside of the movable object; causing a single-element receiving unit that is included in the transmission and reception device to receive reflective waves of the sensing waves at the predetermined height on the movable object from a detected object in a detection area; detecting peak values of the received reflective waves; storing the detected peak values; calculating a difference in the stored detected peak values with movement of the movable object closer to the detected object; determining a kind of the detected object to be a near-road-surface obstacle, which exists at a position close to a road surface, when the calculated difference in the peak values is a negative value; and determining the kind of the detected object to be an other obstacle, which exists at a position higher than the position close to the road surface, when the calculated difference in the peak values is a positive value. - View Dependent Claims (13, 16)
-
-
17. An obstacle detection apparatus comprising:
-
a transmission and reception device located at a predetermined height on a movable object and directed toward an outside of the movable object, the transmission and reception device including i) a single-element transmission unit configured to repeatedly transmit sensing waves at a predetermined interval, and ii) a single-element reception unit configured to receive reflected sensing waves from a detected object in a detection area; a peak value detecting unit configured to detect peak values of the reflected waves received by the reception unit as numeric values, and configured to store the detected peak values; a difference arithmetic unit configured to calculate a difference in the detected peak values as the movable object moves closer to the detected object; and an object determination unit configured to i) determine that the detected object is a near-road-surface obstacle, which exists at a position close to a road surface, when the difference in the detected peak values is negative, and ii) determine that the detected object is an above-road-surface obstacle, which exists at a position higher than the position close to the road surface, when the difference in the peak values is positive. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
Specification