Road environment recognition device and method of recognizing road environment
First Claim
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1. A road environment recognition device comprising:
- a radar unit on a subject vehicle, wherein the radar unit emits a plurality of beams in a predetermined angle range in a width direction and a height direction of the subject vehicle, and receives a plurality of reflection beams reflected by objects;
an object recognizing element recognizing a position of one object relative to the subject vehicle and an attribute of the one object based on a first portion of the emitted plurality of beams and the reflection beam;
a lane marker recognizing element recognizing a position of a lane mark relative to the subject vehicle based on a second portion of the emitted plurality of beams different than the first portion of the emitted plurality of beams and the reflection beam;
a traveling amount measuring element measuring a traveling amount of the subject vehicle;
a coordinate calculating element repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle in an absolute coordinate system having a predetermined point as an origin point based on the traveling amount measured by the traveling amount measuring element, repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the one object based on the calculated absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle and the position of the one object relative to the subject vehicle and repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the position of the lane mark based on the calculated absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle and the position of the lane mark relative to the subject vehicle; and
a road environment recognizing element memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinates of the subject vehicle, memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinates of the one object and memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinates of the position of the lane mark, and recognizing a road environment of the subject vehicle by integrating the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates and the attribute of the one object with the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the position of the lane mark;
whereinthe lane mark representing a boundary of a lane on which the subject vehicle is driven;
the radar unit emits the first portion of the plurality of beams toward a forward area of the subject vehicle, and the second portion of the plurality of beams is radiated toward a road face;
the radar unit receives light reflected by the lane mark, when the second portion of the plurality of beams radiated toward the road face is reflected by the lane mark; and
the road environment recognizing element recognizes a lane change of the subject vehicle based on a change of the absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle relative to the absolute coordinate of the lane mark in the absolute coordinate system;
wherein present data is unified with past data by updating all of the plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the one object detected in a past detection point in accordance with a change in position of the subject vehicle.
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Abstract
A radar unit emits beams, and receives a reflection beam reflected by an object. A position of the object relative to a vehicle and an attribute of the object are recognized based on the emitted beams and the reflection beam. A coordinate position of the vehicle in an absolute coordinate is calculated based on a traveling amount of the vehicle, and a coordinate position of the object is calculated based on the calculated position of the vehicle and the position of the object relative to the vehicle. A road environment of the vehicle is recognized based on the coordinate positions and the attribute of the object.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A road environment recognition device comprising:
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a radar unit on a subject vehicle, wherein the radar unit emits a plurality of beams in a predetermined angle range in a width direction and a height direction of the subject vehicle, and receives a plurality of reflection beams reflected by objects; an object recognizing element recognizing a position of one object relative to the subject vehicle and an attribute of the one object based on a first portion of the emitted plurality of beams and the reflection beam; a lane marker recognizing element recognizing a position of a lane mark relative to the subject vehicle based on a second portion of the emitted plurality of beams different than the first portion of the emitted plurality of beams and the reflection beam; a traveling amount measuring element measuring a traveling amount of the subject vehicle; a coordinate calculating element repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle in an absolute coordinate system having a predetermined point as an origin point based on the traveling amount measured by the traveling amount measuring element, repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the one object based on the calculated absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle and the position of the one object relative to the subject vehicle and repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the position of the lane mark based on the calculated absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle and the position of the lane mark relative to the subject vehicle; and a road environment recognizing element memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinates of the subject vehicle, memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinates of the one object and memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinates of the position of the lane mark, and recognizing a road environment of the subject vehicle by integrating the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates and the attribute of the one object with the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the position of the lane mark;
whereinthe lane mark representing a boundary of a lane on which the subject vehicle is driven; the radar unit emits the first portion of the plurality of beams toward a forward area of the subject vehicle, and the second portion of the plurality of beams is radiated toward a road face; the radar unit receives light reflected by the lane mark, when the second portion of the plurality of beams radiated toward the road face is reflected by the lane mark; and the road environment recognizing element recognizes a lane change of the subject vehicle based on a change of the absolute coordinate of the subject vehicle relative to the absolute coordinate of the lane mark in the absolute coordinate system; wherein present data is unified with past data by updating all of the plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the one object detected in a past detection point in accordance with a change in position of the subject vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of recognizing a road environment comprising:
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emitting a plurality of beams from a radar unit mounted on a vehicle in a predetermined angle range in a width direction and a height direction of the vehicle and the plurality of beams are reflected by objects as a plurality of reflection beams; recognizing a position of one object relative to the vehicle and an attribute of the one object based on a first portion of the emitted plurality of beams and the reflection beam reflected by the one object; recognizing a position of a lane mark relative to the vehicle based on a second plurality of the emitted plurality of beams different from the first portion and the reflection beam; measuring a traveling amount of the vehicle; repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the vehicle in an absolute coordinate system having a predetermined point as an origin point based on the measured traveling amount, repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the one object based on the calculated absolute coordinate of the vehicle and the position of the object relative to the vehicle and repeatedly calculating an absolute coordinate of the position of the lane mark based on the calculated absolute coordinate of the vehicle and the position of the lane mark relative to the vehicle; and memorizing a plurality of data points of the calculated absolute coordinate of the vehicle, a plurality of data points of the one object and a plurality of data points of the position of the lane mark; recognizing a road environment of the vehicle based on the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the vehicle and by integrating the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinate of the one object, and the attribute of the one object with the memorized plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the position of the lane mark;
wherein,the lane mark representing a boundary of a lane on which the vehicle is driven; the radar unit emits the first portion of the plurality of beams toward a forward area of the vehicle, and the second portion of the plurality of beams is radiated toward a road face; the radar unit receives light reflected by the lane mark, when the second portion of the plurality of beams radiated toward the road face is reflected by the lane mark; the road environment recognizing element recognizes a lane change of the vehicle based on a change of the absolute coordinate of the vehicle relative to the absolute coordinate of the lane mark in the absolute coordinate system; wherein present data is unified with past data by updating all of the plurality of data points of the absolute coordinates of the one object detected in a past detection point in accordance with a change in position of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification