Collision prevention control apparatus

• US 9,481,365 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2014
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Tokoro, Setsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Jabr, Fadey
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHUDY, ANGELINA M
• Application Number:
  US14/564,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20150217765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 693 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/300, 701/301, 342/27, 342/28, 348/148, 348/149
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0088 Adaptive recalibration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0215 Sensor drifts or sensor failures
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/42 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/52 Radar, Lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0956 the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/00 Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit , e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0205 Diagnosing or detecting failures; Failure detection models
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/04 Monitoring the functioning of the control system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9323 Alternative operation using light waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9324 Alternative operation using ultrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 : in the front of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 : Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads

Abstract

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a collision prevention control apparatus is provided which includes an image sensor that detects an object near the vehicle; a radar sensor that detects the object near the vehicle; and a controller that, if only one of the sensors, among the image sensor and the radar sensor, detects the object, determines reliability of the other sensor, and changes, based on the determined reliability, a way of performing a collision prevention control for preventing a collision with the object detected by the one of the sensors.

Claims

1. A collision prevention control apparatus, comprising:

an image sensor that detects an object near a vehicle;

a radar sensor that detects the object near the vehicle; and

a controller that, when only a first one of the sensors, among the image sensor and the radar sensor, detects the object, determines a reliability of data obtained by a second one of the sensors, and changes, based on the determined reliability of the data obtained by the second one of the sensors, a performance of a collision prevention control for preventing a collision with the object detected by the first one of the sensors, wherein

the controller changes the performance of the collision prevention control such that a prevention capability by the collision prevention control is reduced as the determined reliability of the data obtained by the second one of the sensors increases.

2. The collision prevention control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller determines the reliability of the data obtained by the second one of the sensors based on a number of items of effective data obtained by the second one of the sensors, and

the number of items of effective data corresponds to a number of reflection points whose reception levels are higher than a predetermined strength, when the second one of the sensors is the radar sensor, and corresponds to a number of pixels for which edges or parallaxes are detected or optical flows can be determined, when the second one of the sensors is the image sensor.

3. The collision prevention control apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when only one of the image sensor and the radar sensor detects the object, the controller changes the performance of the collision prevention control such that the prevention capability by the collision prevention control is reduced compared to a case where both the image sensor and the radar sensor detect the object.

4. The collision prevention control apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when only one of the image sensor and the radar sensor detects the object that is stationary, the controller changes, based on the determined reliability of the data obtained by the second one of the sensors, the performance of the collision prevention control for preventing the collision with the object that is stationary.