OBJECT DETECTION APPARATUS

• US 20160116590A1
• Filed: 10/20/2015
• Published: 04/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kida, Akihiro, Fukuman, Masumi, Ohbayashi, Motonari
• Granted Patent: US 10,578,736 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/46 Indirect determination of position data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/66 Sonar tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/878 wherein transceivers are operated, either sequentially or simultaneously, both in bi-static and in mono-static mode, e.g. cross-echo mode
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2015/465 by Trilateration, i.e. two transducers determine separately the distance to a target, whereby with the knowledge of the baseline length, i.e. the distance between the transducers, the position data of the target is determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2015/938 in the bumper area radar in bumper area G01S2013/93275; bumper with obstacle sensor of electric or electronic type B60R19/483

Abstract

An object detection apparatus for detecting an object around a moving object by transmitting a probe wave and receiving reflections of the probe wave from the object via the plurality of ranging sensors. In the apparatus, an interaction determiner is configured to, if an object position calculated by a position calculator is within a range of a moving-object'"'"'s course, determine whether or not the detected object is likely to interact with the moving object based on a lateral position of the detected object and a degree of confidence of the object position calculated by the position calculator. The lateral position of the detected object is the object position calculated by the position calculator in a direction perpendicular to a moving direction of the moving object.

Claims

1. An object detection apparatus for detecting an object around a moving object with a plurality of ranging sensors attached to the moving object by transmitting a probe wave and receiving reflections of the probe wave from the object via the plurality of ranging sensors, the apparatus comprising:

a first detector configured to detect the object based on a direct wave that is a first reflection of the probe wave from the object, the probe wave and the first reflection being respectively transmitted and received by the same ranging sensor that is a first ranging sensor that is one of the plurality of ranging sensors;

a second detector configured to detect the object based on an indirect wave that is a second reflection of the probe wave from the object, the second reflection being received by a second ranging sensor that is another one of the plurality of ranging sensors;

a position calculator configured to calculate an object position as a position of the object based on the detections of the first and second detectors according to the principle of triangulation;

an interaction determiner configured to, if the object position calculated by the position calculator is within a range of a moving-object'"'"'s course, determine whether or not the detected object is likely to interact with the moving object based on a lateral position of the detected object and a degree of confidence of the object position calculated by the position calculator, the lateral position of the detected object being the object position calculated by the position calculator in a direction perpendicular to a moving direction of the moving object.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interaction determiner is configured to, based on the degree of confidence of the calculated object position, set a range of variation of the lateral position of the detected object within which the lateral position of the detected position may vary, and based on a positional relationship between the range of variation of the lateral position and the range of the moving-object'"'"'s course, determine whether or not the detected object is likely to interact with the moving object.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the interaction determiner is configured to, if the detected object in the current cycle has been determined to be likely to interact with the moving object in the last or previous cycle, set a smaller range of variation of the lateral position than before the detected object is determined to be likely to interact with the moving object in the last or previous cycle.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interaction determiner is configured to set a reduced range of the moving-object'"'"'s course by reducing the range of the moving-object'"'"'s course to a degree of reduction as a function of the degree of confidence in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the moving object, and based on a positional relationship between the reduced range of the moving-object'"'"'s course and the lateral position of the detected object, determine whether or not the detected object is likely to interact with the moving object.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the interaction determiner is configured to, if the detected object in the current cycle has been determined to be likely to interact with the moving object in the last or previous cycle, set the reduced range of the moving-object'"'"'s course by reducing the range of the moving-object'"'"'s course to a higher degree of reduction than before the detected object is determined to be likely to interact with the moving object in the last or previous cycle.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position calculator is configured to, based on receipt times of the reflections from the object, calculate a distance to the object in a moving direction of the moving object, and the interaction determiner is configured to, if the object position calculated by the position calculator is within the range of the moving-object'"'"'s course, determine whether or not the detected object is likely to interact with the moving object based on the lateral position of the detected object, the degree of confidence of the calculated object position, and the distance to the detected object calculated by the position calculator.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of ranging sensors is an ultrasonic sensor capable of transmitting an ultrasonic wave as the probe wave.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second ranging sensors are a pair of adjacent ranging sensors.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the moving object is a vehicle, and the apparatus is mounted in the vehicle.