JPH07318650A - Obstacle detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect an obstacle with high sensitivity without restricting the spreading angle of transmitted light beam by detecting a poor visibility and controlling the power of transmitted light depending on the detected output. CONSTITUTION:In a poor visibility detection means 22, a laser output means 23 projects a laser beam to a vehicle 26 in front of an obstacle and a reflected light therefrom is received. A propagation loss detection means 29 then calculates the optical transmittances for fog, rainfall, and snowfall. A signal processing means 30, preset with the receiving light intensities (d)-(f) for these transmittances (a)-(c), makes a decision that fog, rainfall or snowfall started if the receiving light intensity is lower than (d)-(f), respectively. The laser beam is also projected onto a pavement 38 in order to detect 29 the optical transmittance between the vehicle and the pavement. When a decision is made that fog, rainfall or snowfall is started, the laser intensity is controlled 37 to increase more for lower transmittance to output 31 a predetermined laser beam and a reflected light from the vehicle 26 is received 33. A distance operating means 36 operates the distance up to the vehicle 26 based on the luminous flux and the time DELTAt1 elapsed before receiving 33 the laser beam.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an obstacle detecting device for a vehicle using a laser radar, and in particular, it detects a poor visibility condition such as fog, rainfall, snowfall, and controls the output of the laser radar. The present invention relates to an obstacle detection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 10 shows, for example, JP-A-5-196735.
2 shows a conventional obstacle detection device shown in the publication, in which 2 is a pulse generation circuit for generating a pulsed drive current, 3 is a laser diode for receiving the drive current and generates a laser beam, and 4 is a laser diode. The light transmitting lens 5 is a light receiving lens that receives the reflected light from the obstacle.

Further, 6 is a photodiode for receiving the reflected light and converting it into an electric signal, 7 is an amplifier for amplifying the output signal of the photodiode 6, 8 is a laser beam, and the laser beam is an obstacle. It is a distance detector that detects the distance to an obstacle from the time difference between the object being reflected on the object and being detected by the photodiode 6.

Further, 9 is a rain detection section, 10 is a fog detection section, and the respective detection outputs are input to a signal processing section 11,
The beam width can be controlled by the optical system changing unit 12 based on the beam width determination signal determined by the signal processing unit 11.

Next, the operation will be described. First, the distance between the host vehicle and the obstacle can be detected from the difference between the transmission / reception timings of the emitted light of the laser and the reflected light. At this time, the distance between the subject vehicle and the obstacle is detected. It is necessary to detect the poor visibility condition such as fog or rainfall that occurs in the detection area, and secure the reflected light power that enables distance detection. Therefore, in the obstacle detection device having the above-described configuration, the distance to the obstacle can be reliably detected by adjusting the beam width even when the visibility is poor.

That is, first, when the pulse generation circuit 2 generates a pulsed drive current, the laser diode 3 emits light in response to the drive current, and a pulsed laser beam having a predetermined beam width passes through the light-sending lens 4. The obstacle is irradiated via the. Then, the obstacle reflects the laser beam and is received by the photodiode 6 through the light receiving lens 5.

The light striking the photodiode 6 is converted into an electric signal here, amplified by an amplifier 7, and then input to a distance detector 8, where the time difference between the light transmission signal and the light reception signal is calculated. Then, the distance from the vehicle to the obstacle is calculated from this time difference.

On the other hand, the rain amount detecting section 9 and the fog detecting section 10 monitor the amount of rain and the generation of fog, and the signals of the respective detecting sections are input to the signal processing section 11 to make a determination process of the occurrence of fog or rainfall. Then, according to the determination result, the optical system changing unit 12
Sets the beam width (divergence angle) of the laser beam and reduces the beam width when rain or fog occurs to compensate for the reduction in detection capability due to the propagation loss of the laser beam.

[0009]

Since the conventional obstacle detecting device is constructed as described above, by narrowing the beam width in order to prevent the detection ability from being lowered due to poor visibility such as fog, rainfall, snowfall, etc. , The laser output per unit area is substantially increased to mitigate the deterioration of the distance detection ability due to the poor visibility condition, but the beam divergence angle changes even at the same detection distance depending on the weather condition, There was a problem that the possible area fluctuated.

Further, in a poor visibility state, the detection width is narrowed because the beam is narrowed, the blind spot portion due to laser detection increases, and it is necessary to provide another laser radar to compensate for the blind spot. There was a problem such as an increase in the number of systems.

Furthermore, it is necessary to add a drive mechanism for the light-sending lens 4 in order to change the beam width, which causes a problem that the laser head portion becomes large and malfunctions due to the drive mechanism occur.

The invention of claim 1 is to solve the above problems, and when the poor visibility condition such as fog, rainfall, snowfall, etc. is detected, the output itself of the transmitted light is appropriately increased. It is an object of the present invention to provide an obstacle detection device capable of performing obstacle detection with high sensitivity without narrowing the divergence angle of the beam of transmitted light.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the poor visibility is judged from the light transmittance, and the power of the light transmitted to the obstacle is controlled.
An object of the present invention is to obtain an obstacle detection device capable of ensuring desired obstacle detection sensitivity.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain an obstacle detection device capable of determining the visibility of the obstacle from the operating speed of the wiper, controlling the power of the light transmitted to the obstacle, and ensuring the desired obstacle detection sensitivity. To aim.

It is an object of the present invention to obtain an obstacle detection device which can judge the visibility from the rate of increase in rainfall and control the power of the light transmitted to the obstacle to ensure the desired obstacle detection sensitivity. And

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain an obstacle detection device capable of determining the visibility of the visibility from the operating state of the fog lamp, controlling the power of the light transmitted to the obstacle, and ensuring the desired obstacle detection sensitivity. To aim.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an obstacle detection device which can judge the visibility defect from the brightness of the road division line image, control the power of the light transmitted to the obstacle, and ensure the desired obstacle detection sensitivity. The purpose is to

[0018]

An obstacle detecting apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is provided with a poor visibility detecting means for detecting a poor visibility due to any one of fog, rainfall and snowfall, and the poor visibility detecting means detects the poor visibility. The laser intensity control means controls the power of the transmitted light according to the output.

The obstacle detecting device according to the invention of claim 2 is
The poor visibility detecting means is provided with a propagation loss detecting means for calculating the light transmittance with respect to fog, rainfall and snowfall, and the signal processing means is caused to judge the received light intensity with respect to the light transmittance obtained by the propagation loss detecting means, This determination output is input to the laser intensity control means.

The obstacle detecting device according to the invention of claim 3 is
The poor visibility detecting means is provided with a wiper operating speed calculating means for obtaining a wiper operating speed based on the output of the wiper operating sensor, and the poor visibility determining means is provided with rainfall based on the wiper operating speed obtained by the wiper operating speed calculating means. The visual field defect due to snowfall is determined, and the determination output is input to the laser intensity control means.

The obstacle detecting device according to the invention of claim 4 is
The poor visibility detection means is provided with a rain increase rate calculating means for calculating the increase rate of rainfall based on the output of the rain sensor,
According to the rainfall increase rate calculated by the rainfall increase rate calculation means, the rainfall degree determination means is caused to determine the degree of rainfall,
This determination output is input to the laser intensity control means.

An obstacle detecting device according to the invention of claim 5 is
The poor visibility detection means is a fog lamp operation detection means that is activated when the visibility is poor.

The obstacle detecting device according to the invention of claim 6 is
The poor visibility detection means is provided with an image pickup means for picking up an image in front of the vehicle including the road division line, and the poor visibility determination means is provided with:
Based on the brightness of the image of the road division line, the poor visibility due to fog or rainfall is determined, and the determination output is input to the laser intensity control means.

[0024]

In the obstacle detecting device according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the poor visibility detecting means detects the poor visibility, the laser intensity control means automatically raises the power of the laser light on the basis of the detected output. Functions to increase the transmission efficiency of transmitted light and enhance the ability to detect obstacles.

In the obstacle detecting device according to the second aspect of the present invention, a poor visibility condition such as fog, rainfall, snowfall, etc. is determined by detecting the transmittance of the transmitted light by the laser radar, and the received light intensity corresponding to the transmittance is determined. By appropriately increasing the power of the transmitted light in accordance with the above, it is possible to prevent the detection distance capability from being deteriorated due to the poor visibility state.

In the obstacle detecting device according to the third aspect of the present invention, rainfall and snowfall are detected from the operating speed of the wiper, and depending on the degree of deterioration of the distance detection ability due to rainfall and snowfall,
The power of the transmitted light is appropriately increased.

The obstacle detecting device according to the invention of claim 4 detects the rate of increase in rainfall when rainfall occurs, judges the degree of rainfall from this rate of increase in rainfall, and appropriately increases the power of the transmitted light in accordance with the degree of rainfall. Let

In the obstacle detecting device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of fog is judged by the operation of the fog lamp, and the power of the transmitted light is appropriately increased according to the judgment result.

The obstacle detection device according to claim 6 is a fog,
The occurrence of rainfall is detected based on the difference in the brightness of the lane division lines of the road obtained by the image camera imaging means. If the brightness falls below a certain value, it is determined that the visibility is poor and the power of the transmitted light is appropriately increased.

[0030]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the inventions of claims 1 and 2 will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 is an obstacle detection device, which is provided with a poor visibility detection means 22 having a laser radar for detecting a poor forward visibility due to fog, rain, snowfall or the like.

Further, 23 is a laser output means for outputting a pulsed laser beam, 24 is a light transmitting lens for narrowing this laser beam, 25 is a light receiving lens for receiving the reflected light from the road surface 38 as an obstacle, and 27 is a laser. The light receiving means 28 is an amplifying means for amplifying the electric signal output from the laser light receiving means 27.

Further, 29 is a propagation loss detecting means for calculating the light transmittance with respect to fog, rainfall, and snow based on the electric signal from the amplifying means 28, and 30 is the light transmittance obtained by the calculation. It is a signal processing unit that determines the received light intensity in accordance therewith.

On the other hand, 31 is a laser output means separately provided in the obstacle detection device 21, and 32 is a forward vehicle 26 in which the laser beam from the laser output means 31 is an obstacle.
A light-transmitting lens for irradiating the vehicle, 33 is a laser light-receiving means for receiving the reflected light from the front vehicle 26 through the light-receiving lens 34,
Reference numeral 35 is an amplification means for amplifying the output of the laser light receiving means 33.

Reference numeral 36 is a distance calculating means for calculating the distance to the forward vehicle 26 from the time difference between the time when the laser beam is sent from the laser output means 31 and the time when the laser beam is reflected by an obstacle and is detected by the light receiving means 33. Reference numeral 37 is a laser intensity control means for controlling the beam output from the laser output means 31 in accordance with the received light intensity determined by the signal processing means 30.

Next, the operation will be described. First, in the poor visibility detection unit 22, the laser beam pulse-outputted by the laser output unit 23 is focused by the light transmitting lens 24 to illuminate the front vehicle which is an obstacle, and the reflected light from the front vehicle 26 is received by the light receiving lens. The laser beam is received by the laser light receiving means 27, and the received light output is amplified by the amplifying means 12.

The laser light reception signal thus amplified is
It is input to the propagation loss detecting means 29, and the light transmittance with respect to fog, rainfall, and snow is calculated here. The light transmittance can be easily obtained because the laser receiving intensity increases almost in proportion to the square of the light transmittance as shown in FIG.

In the signal processing means 30, the received light intensity d for the transmittances a, b and c when fog, rainfall or snowfall occurs,
e and f are preset, and the received light intensities are d and
If e or f or less, it is determined that fog, rainfall, or snow has occurred correspondingly. The laser beam output from the laser output means 23 is normally directed toward the road surface to detect the light transmittance between the host vehicle and the road surface 38.

If it is determined from the transmittances that the fog, the rainfall, and the snowfall have occurred, the laser intensity control means 37 increases the laser intensity as the transmittance decreases.
1 is controlled, and the laser output means 31 outputs a pulsed laser beam of a predetermined control level.

Therefore, the pulsed laser beam is focused by the light transmitting lens 32 and applied to the front vehicle 26, and the reflected light is focused by the light receiving lens 34, and then detected by the laser light receiving means 33. Then, this detection output is amplified by the amplification means 35 and input to the distance calculation means 36.

In this distance calculating means 36, the laser beam is pulse-outputted from the laser output means 31, and the forward vehicle 2
From the time difference Δt1 until the laser beam is reflected by the laser light receiving means 33 and is detected by the laser light receiving means 33, an inter-vehicle distance D to the forward vehicle 26
1 is calculated with D1 = C · Δt1 / 2, where C is the speed of light.

FIG. 3 shows that the light receiving intensity can be increased from the light receiving intensity h when the laser output is small to the light receiving intensity i when the laser output is large by increasing the laser output itself at the same detection distance g. FIG. 6 is a light receiving intensity-detection distance characteristic diagram showing According to this, by increasing the laser output, it is possible to increase the received light intensity, and as a result, it is possible to extend the detection distance that can be detected by the increase in the laser output.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the change in transmittance due to fog generated in the distance detection section and the detection distance that can be detected by the output of the laser beam. Letting a be the transmittance of light when fog occurs, the maximum detection distance that can be detected with this transmittance a is the maximum detection distance j when the laser output is small, and the maximum detection distance when the laser output is large. k can be greatly extended.

When fog is generated, the transmittance of light with respect to the fog is calculated by the propagation loss detecting means 29, and the signal processing means 30 is calculated.
Then, it is determined that the fog is generated when the light transmittance with respect to the fog becomes a or less. Therefore, the laser intensity control means 37 sets the laser intensity according to the degree of decrease in the transmittance, and irradiates the forward vehicle 26 with the laser beam whose intensity is controlled by the laser output means 31.

As a result, even if fog occurs, the obstacle detecting device 21 can be controlled by appropriately increasing the laser intensity and outputting the laser.
It is possible to prevent a decrease in the distance detection ability of the. Further, when the fog is not generated, the detectable distance is inevitably extended, so that the laser intensity control means 37 controls the laser intensity to decrease.

Example 2. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the invention of claim 3, in which 41 is a wiper actuation sensor for detecting the wiper actuation of the host vehicle, and 42 is a wiper actuation speed calculated based on the detection output of the wiper actuation sensor 41. The wiper actuation speed calculation means 43 is a means for calculating the wiper actuation speed, and the reference numeral 43 is a visibility defect judgment means for determining a visibility defect due to fog, rainfall, or snowfall from the obtained wiper actuation speed.

In this embodiment, the wiper operation sensor 41 detects the operation of the wiper at the time of rain or snow in the distance detection area.
Is detected, the wiper actuation speed detection means 42 amplifies this detection output and calculates the wiper actuation speed.

When the calculated wiper operating speed reaches or exceeds a certain set value, the poor visibility determining means 43 determines that rain and snow have occurred, and the laser intensity controlling means 37 determines the laser intensity. Let it set. The laser output means 31 irradiates the forward vehicle 26 with a laser beam having the set laser intensity. Therefore, the inter-vehicle distance between the obstacle detection device 21 and the forward vehicle 26 can be detected by the same method as in the first embodiment.

Further, instead of the wiper actuation speed detecting means 42, a command signal to the wiper may be used, and the same effect as that of the above-mentioned embodiment can be obtained.

Example 3. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the invention of claim 4, in which 51 is a rainfall sensor, 52 is a rainfall increase rate calculation means for calculating an increase rate of rainfall based on the detection output of the rainfall sensor 51, and 53 is It is a rainfall degree determining means for determining the degree of rainfall from the rate of increase in rainfall.

In this embodiment, when the rainfall sensor 51 detects the rainfall occurring in the distance detection area, the rainfall increase rate calculation means 52 calculates the increase rate of the rainfall amount per unit time based on the detection result. Then, the rainfall degree determination means 5
When the rainfall increase rate reaches a preset value or more, it is determined that rainfall has occurred, and the laser intensity control means 37 sets the laser intensity to be amplified based on the degree of rainfall.

For this reason, the laser output means 31 irradiates the front vehicle 26 with a laser beam at the above-set laser intensity, and the inter-vehicle distance between the obstacle detection device 21 and the front vehicle 26 is the same as in the first embodiment. Can be detected by the method.

Example 4. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the invention of claim 5 in which the visibility defect detecting means 22 shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6 is a fog lamp operation detecting means 61.

In this embodiment, the fog generated in the distance detection area is judged by the operation of the fog lamp of the own vehicle, and the laser strength control means 37 sets the laser strength according to the judgment result, and the laser output means 31 sets it. By irradiating the front vehicle 26 with a laser beam having a different laser intensity, the inter-vehicle distance between the obstacle detection device 21 and the front vehicle 26 can be detected by the same method as in the first embodiment.

Example 5. FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the invention of claim 6. This is to detect the occurrence of fog and rainfall in the distance detection area by using an image camera, and the poor visibility detection means 22 by the image camera is arranged at a focal distance F away from the lens 71 as the imaging means P. The image of the road surface ahead of the vehicle has an image sensor 72.
An image is formed on the image sensor 72 by.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the image signal obtained from the image sensor 72 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 73 and then stored in the memory 74 under the control of the microprocessor 76. . FIG. 9 shows an image of an image obtained by the image signal stored in the memory 74.

On the other hand, in the poor visibility determination means 75, as shown in FIG.
Since the lane marking line 77 shown in (a) is brighter than other surrounding areas, the threshold value of the brightness when there is no fog or rainfall in the distance detection area is m1, and the brightness of the lane decreases due to the fog or rainfall. The threshold when it can be confirmed that the visibility is poor is m2,
The threshold when there is no lane is set to m3 in advance,
When the detected brightness is at a level between m2 and m3, it is determined that the poor visibility due to fog and rainfall has occurred.

When the poor visibility is determined in this way, the laser intensity control means 37 controls the laser intensity based on the output of the poor visibility determination means 75, and the laser output means 3
The front vehicle 26 is irradiated with a laser beam of a predetermined laser intensity controlled by the control unit 1, and the obstacle detection device 21 and the front vehicle 2 are irradiated.
The inter-vehicle distance to the vehicle 6 can be detected by the same method as in the first embodiment.

Note that FIG. 9A shows the screen of the front road surface captured by the image camera, and FIG. 9B shows the horizontal position L1 and the brightness level at each position when the lane marking line 77 on one side is captured. The graph showing is shown. Further, FIG. 9C shows a horizontal position L2 when the lane marking lines 77 on both sides are captured.
And a graph showing the brightness level at each position.

[0059]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the poor visibility detecting means for detecting the poor visibility due to fog, rainfall, and snow is provided, and the laser is output according to the detection output by the poor visibility detecting means. Since the intensity control means is configured to control the power of the emitted light, when the poor visibility condition such as fog, rainfall, snowfall, etc. is detected, the emitted light output itself of the laser beam for obstacle detection is appropriately increased. Therefore, there is an effect that an obstacle can be detected with high sensitivity without narrowing the divergence angle of the beam of the transmitted light.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the visibility loss detecting means is provided with a propagation loss detecting means for calculating the transmittance of light with respect to fog, rainfall and snowfall, and the signal processing means obtains the propagation loss detecting means. It is configured to judge the received light intensity with respect to the light transmittance, and to input the judgment output to the laser intensity control means. Therefore, it is possible to judge the poor visibility from the light transmittance and control the power of the light transmitted to the obstacle. by doing,
There is an effect that a desired obstacle detection sensitivity can be secured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the visibility defect detecting means is provided with a wiper operation speed calculating means for obtaining a wiper operation speed based on the output of the wiper operation sensor, and the wiper operation obtained by the wiper operation speed calculating means. The poor visibility determining means determines the poor visibility due to rainfall and snowfall based on the speed, and inputs the determination output to the laser intensity control means. By controlling the power of the light transmitted to the object, there is an effect that a desired obstacle detection sensitivity can be secured.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the poor visibility detecting means is provided with a rain increase rate calculating means for calculating the increase rate of the rain amount based on the output of the rain sensor, and the rain amount calculated by the rain increasing rate calculating means. According to the increasing speed, the rainfall degree determining means determines the degree of rainfall, and the determination output is input to the laser intensity control means. By controlling the power of the transmitted light, there is an effect that a desired obstacle detection sensitivity can be secured.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the poor visibility detecting means is configured to be the fog lamp operation detecting means which is activated when the visibility is poor. Therefore, the poor visibility is judged from the operating state of the fog lamp to detect an obstacle. By controlling the power of the transmitted light, there is an effect that a desired obstacle detection sensitivity can be secured.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the poor visibility detection means is provided with an image pickup means for picking up an image in front of the vehicle including the road division line, and the poor visibility determination means is provided with the luminance of the image of the road division line. First, the visibility is judged to be poor due to fog or rainfall, and the judgment output is input to the laser intensity control means. By controlling, there is an effect that a target obstacle detection sensitivity can be secured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device according to an embodiment of the inventions of claims 1 and 2. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a transmittance of a laser beam and a received light intensity for detecting an inter-vehicle distance in the invention of claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between an obstacle detection distance and a laser beam reception intensity in the second aspect of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the transmittance of the laser beam and the maximum detection distance of the laser radar in the invention of claim 2.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device according to an embodiment of the invention of claim 3;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device according to an embodiment of the invention of claim 4;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device according to an embodiment of the invention of claim 6;

9 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen by the image camera in FIG. 8 and a luminance change in a lane division line on the screen.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a conventional obstacle detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

22 poor visibility detection means, 26 forward vehicle (obstacle),
29 Propagation loss detecting means, 30 Signal processing means, 37
Laser intensity control means, 42 wiper operation speed calculation means, 43, 75 poor visibility judgment means, 52 rainfall increase speed detection means, 53 rainfall degree judgment means, 61 fog lamp operation detection means, P imaging means.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An obstacle detection device for detecting a distance to an obstacle based on a difference between transmission / reception timings of transmitted light and reflected light, and a poor visibility detection means for detecting a poor visibility due to any of fog, rain, and snow. An obstacle detection apparatus comprising: a laser intensity control unit that controls the power of the transmitted light according to the detection output of the poor visibility detection unit. 2. The poor visibility detecting means determines a propagation loss detecting means for calculating a light transmittance with respect to fog, rainfall and snowfall, and a received light intensity corresponding to the light transmittance obtained by the propagation loss detecting means. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1, further comprising a signal processing unit that inputs the determination output to the laser intensity control unit. 3. The poor visibility detecting means calculates a wiper operating speed based on the output of the wiper operating sensor, and the wiper operating speed calculating means, and the rain and snowfall based on the wiper operating speed calculated by the wiper operating speed calculating means. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1, further comprising: a poor visibility determination unit configured to determine a poor visibility due to the determination and input the determination output to the laser intensity control unit. 4. A visibility increase detecting means calculates a rain increase rate based on an output of a rain sensor, and a rain increase rate according to the rain increase rate calculated by the rain increase rate calculating means. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1, further comprising: a rainfall degree determination unit that determines whether or not the determination result is input to the laser intensity control unit. 5. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1, wherein the poor visibility detection means is fog lamp operation detection means that is activated when the visibility is poor. 6. The poor visibility detection means determines a poor visibility due to fog or rainfall based on the image pickup means for capturing an image in front of the vehicle including the road division line and the brightness of the image of the road division line, and outputs this determination. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1, further comprising: a poor visibility determination unit that inputs the value to the laser intensity control unit.