JP2012242247A - Object detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an object detector capable of detecting the existence of a pedestrian or the like without increasing a load caused by image processing as much as possible.SOLUTION: An object detector comprises: width and position calculation means 33 for calculating the width and position of an object by regarding a range in a direction of reflected waves whose intensity is a predetermined value or more in each of detection regions as an object range where the object exists; and target detection means 39 for detecting whether a target to be detected exists or not on the basis of image data corresponding to separated portions of an object range, when it is determined, on the basis of the width and position of each object, that there is a road surface intersecting each of the detection regions in front of the detector and an object range in each of the detection regions is separated.

Description

  The present invention relates to an object detection apparatus that detects an object using a radar detection means and an imaging means.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus for detecting a pedestrian or the like in front of a vehicle is known for ensuring safe operation of the vehicle. As such an apparatus, a device that improves detection accuracy by detecting a pedestrian or the like based on data obtained by scanning an object with a radar and image data obtained by an imaging means is known. Yes.

  In such a device, for example, a radar device mounted on the vehicle detects the reflection intensity and distance from the vehicle in front of the vehicle, and the reflection intensity is within an extraction range set according to the distance from the vehicle. Are extracted as pedestrian candidate objects. And based on the image part of the pedestrian candidate object in the image data acquired separately, it is determined whether the pedestrian candidate object is a pedestrian (for example, refer to patent documents 1).

JP 2009-264947 A

  However, when detecting a pedestrian candidate object with the radar device mounted on the above-mentioned vehicle, when the front of the vehicle is uphill, the reflection intensity on the road surface is detected. The range of the reflection intensity is included in the range of the reflection intensity on the road surface, which may make it difficult to detect a pedestrian.

  In order to avoid this, it is also conceivable to detect the presence or absence of a pedestrian by processing image data corresponding to the entire range of reflection intensity on the road surface. However, if it does so, the load by image processing will increase.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an object detection device that can detect the presence of a pedestrian or the like without increasing the load due to image processing as much as possible in view of the problems of the conventional technology.

  An object detection device according to the present invention is mounted on a vehicle, radiates detection waves into a plurality of detection areas set in a vertical direction in front of the vehicle, receives the reflected waves, and receives the reflected waves. Detection means for outputting the distance to the reflection position of each reflected wave, imaging means for imaging a range overlapping with the detection area, and the intensity in each detection area based on the output from the detection means. A range of the direction of the reflected wave that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value is defined as an object range where the object exists, and a width / position calculating unit that calculates a width and a position of the object, and each object obtained by the width / position calculating unit When it is determined by the road surface determination means that the road surface is present, the road surface determination means for determining whether or not there is a road surface that intersects each detection area in front of the vehicle based on the width and position, In the detection area A separation determination unit that determines whether or not the body range is separated; and when the separation determination unit determines that the object range is separated, of the captured image of the imaging unit, And an object detection means for performing processing for detecting an object to be detected on an image portion corresponding to the separated portion.

  In this configuration, when it is determined by the road surface determination means that there is a road surface that intersects each detection area in front of the vehicle, for example, the vehicle equipped with the object detection device is a horizontal road surface before the uphill or Located on the downhill before the level road.

  In this case, since the object whose width and position are calculated by the width / position calculating means is a road surface, the object is longer in the horizontal direction and farther away as the object in the upper detection area. In addition, when a pedestrian is present on a road surface included in any detection area, the object range of the pedestrian in the detection area is included in the object range of the road surface that is a long object in the horizontal direction, and is distinguished. I can't.

  On the other hand, the object range of the object due to the road surface included in the detection area above the detection area including the road surface where the pedestrian is present generates a discontinuous portion due to the presence of the pedestrian in front, and is separated by the discontinuous portion. Is done.

  Therefore, when the separation determination unit determines that the object range is separated, processing for detecting the target object is performed on the captured image corresponding to the separated portion. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of an object without increasing the load caused by image processing as much as possible.

  In the present invention, the object detection unit performs a process of detecting the object for an image portion corresponding to the object range in the uppermost detection area in the captured image of the imaging unit. When the presence of the target object is detected, the position of the target object may be determined based on the position of the object in the detection area.

  According to this, when a target object such as a pedestrian exists on the road surface corresponding to the uppermost detection area, the object range of the target object in the detection area is the object range of an object that is long in the horizontal direction on the road surface. However, even in such a case, the target object can be reliably detected based on the captured image corresponding to the object range of the object in the detection area.

  In that case, there is a possibility that the range of the reflected wave from the object cannot be specified, and the position cannot be determined based on the reflected wave of the object. However, the object is likely to be located on the road surface corresponding to the uppermost detection area. Therefore, the position of the object is determined based on the position of the road surface that is an object in the detection area. Thereby, the position of the object can be specified without hindrance.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the object detection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detection area by the radar of the apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the object detection process by the process part of the apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the change of the reflection intensity with respect to the direction of the reflected wave used for calculation of an object width in the apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating inconveniences that may occur when the apparatus of FIG. 1 is in a specific situation. FIG. 2 is a diagram exemplarily illustrating an object range in each detection area when there is a road surface intersecting with each detection area in the apparatus of FIG. 1.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an object detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This object detection device is mounted on a vehicle and detects an object in front of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the object detection apparatus includes a radar 1 that detects an object in front of the vehicle, a camera 2 that images the front of the vehicle, and an object in front of the vehicle based on information from the radar 1 and the camera 2. The processing unit 3 for detecting the presence or absence of the output and the output unit 4 for outputting the processing result in the processing unit 3 are provided.

  The radar 1 performs a scanning operation of irradiating a detection wave in front of the vehicle and receiving the reflected wave, and outputs information such as the direction and intensity of each reflected wave and the distance to each reflected position. The radar 1 corresponds to detection means in the present invention.

  FIG. 2 shows a detection area by the radar 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the radar 1 sequentially scans three detection areas 5a to 5c having different elevation angles at the time of detection. The scanning operation over the detection areas 5a to 5c is performed every 100 msec, for example. For example, it takes about 3 msec to scan one detection area 5a, 5b or 5c. As the radar 1, a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar can be used.

  The camera 2 captures an area that overlaps the detection areas 5 a to 5 c in synchronization with the scanning operation of the detection areas 5 a to 5 c by the radar 1, and supplies the image data to the processing unit 3. The camera 2 corresponds to the imaging means in the present invention. As the camera 2, a CCD camera or an infrared camera can be used.

  The processing unit 3 is configured by a microcomputer or the like. The processing unit 3 includes a memory 31 that stores the direction and intensity of each reflected wave output from the radar 1 in synchronization with the scanning operation, and the distance to each reflection position, and the camera 2 outputs in synchronization with the scanning operation of the radar 1. An image memory 32 for storing image data to be stored.

  The processing unit 3 also includes an object width / position calculating unit 33 that calculates the width and position of an object based on information in the memory 31, and an object that determines whether the calculated object width is equal to or greater than a predetermined width. A width determination unit 34; a situation determination unit 35 that determines whether or not the object is in a specific situation regarding reflection intensity or weather; and an object range dividing unit 36 that divides an object range in which an object having a predetermined width or more exists. Prepare. The object range is recognized as the range of the reflected wave direction in which the intensity received by the radar 1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  Furthermore, the processing unit 3 determines whether or not the road surface in front of the vehicle is a slope or the like, and whether or not the object range of the object is separated when the road surface in front of the vehicle is a slope or the like. Based on the image data corresponding to each of the ranges after the separation by the separation determination means 38 and the object range division means 36 and the separation portion of the object range that has been found to be separated by the separation determination means 38 And object detection means 39 for detecting the presence or absence of.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing object detection processing by the processing unit 3. This process is executed every 100 msec, for example. In this process, a pedestrian is detected as an object.

  When the processing is started, the processing unit 3 first performs a scanning operation by the radar 1 in step S1 and acquires the obtained scan information. In addition, image data is acquired by the camera 2.

  That is, the radar 1 sequentially receives detection waves in the respective directions in the detection areas 5a to 5c and receives the reflected waves. The direction and intensity of each reflected wave, the distance to the reflection position of each reflected wave, etc. The information is output to the memory 31 of the processing unit 3. At the same time, the camera 2 captures an area overlapping the detection areas 5 a to 5 c and outputs the obtained image data to the image memory 32 of the processing unit 3.

  Next, in step S2, based on the information from the radar 1 obtained in step S1, the object exists within the range of the direction of the reflected wave whose intensity is greater than or equal to the first threshold value a by the object width / position calculating means 33. As the object range, the width and position of the object are calculated. This calculation is performed for each of the detection areas 5a to 5c. The first threshold value a is determined in order to extract an object range of a general object such as a pedestrian.

  As for the width of the object provided to the object width determining means 34, the object range is extracted by comparing the average of the reflected wave intensity information for each of the detection areas 5a to 5c with the first threshold value a. The object width may be calculated.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the change in the reflection intensity with respect to the direction of the reflected wave used for the calculation of the object width. The horizontal axis represents the direction of the reflected wave received by the radar 1, that is, the scan direction, and the vertical axis represents the intensity of the reflected wave received. In this case, the range of the direction of the reflected wave having the intensity equal to or higher than the first threshold value a, that is, the object range is a range from the direction d1 to the direction d6.

  In this case, the width of the object can be calculated based on, for example, the distance and direction to the reflection position of the reflected wave in the directions d1 and d6. The position of the object is specified by the direction of the object and the distance to the object, for example. In this case, the direction of the object can be specified as an intermediate direction between the directions d1 and d6 in the example of FIG. The distance to the object can be specified as an average distance of the distances to the reflection positions of the reflected waves in the directions d1 and d6.

  Next, in step S3, the object width determination unit 34 determines whether or not the width of the object calculated in step S2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined width w. Thereby, when it determines with it not being beyond the predetermined width w, the width | variety of an object corresponds to the width | variety of a pedestrian, and an object may be a pedestrian. Therefore, in this case, in step S4, the object range of the object determined not to be greater than or equal to the predetermined width w is determined as a detection range for the presence or absence of a pedestrian, and the process proceeds to step S15.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the width is equal to or greater than the predetermined width w, in step S5, it is determined by the situation determination means 35 whether the reflection intensity of the object or the weather is in a specific situation. The specific situation is a situation where the maximum value of the intensity of the reflected wave from a wide object whose width is determined to be greater than or equal to the predetermined width w is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, or a situation where the object detection device is used in rainy weather Is applicable. Whether or not the object detection device is used in the rain can be determined based on a signal S from a switch of a vehicle wiper or a raindrop sensor.

  When the maximum value of the reflected wave intensity of the object determined to be greater than or equal to the predetermined width w is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the object is a highly reflective object with a high reflected wave intensity. In this case, the object range of the object becomes wider than the actual object range of the object due to the influence of light leakage. Therefore, the width calculated in step S2 is larger than the actual width of the object.

  In the situation where the object detection device is used in rainy weather, the object range of the object recognized based on the reflected light due to the wet surface of the radar 1 is the actual object of the object. May be wider than range. Therefore, the width calculated in step S2 of the object may be wider than the actual width of the object.

  FIG. 5 illustrates inconveniences that may occur when in this particular situation. In this specific situation, as shown in FIG. 5A, when a pedestrian 52 is present in the vicinity of the wide object 51 whose width calculated in step 2 is larger than the actual width, FIG. As described above, there is a possibility that the object range 54 of the pedestrian 52 is merged with the object range 53 of the wide object 51.

  That is, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the range of the reflected wave direction from the pedestrian 52 is merged with the range of the reflected wave direction d1 to d6 whose intensity is equal to or greater than the first threshold value a. There may be a peak P1 of the intensity of the reflected wave related to the object 51 and a peak P2 of the intensity of the reflected wave related to the pedestrian.

  Therefore, when it is determined in step S5 that the vehicle is in a specific situation, the object range is divided by the object range dividing unit 36 in step S6. That is, based on the direction and intensity of the reflected wave acquired in step S1, the second threshold value b larger than the first threshold value a is applied, and the range of the reflected wave direction whose intensity is greater than or equal to the second threshold value b is extracted.

  Thus, if possible, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the object ranges d1 to d6 of the wide object are set as object ranges d2 to d3 close to the original object range of the wide object for each of the peaks P1 and P2. The pedestrian can be divided into object ranges d4 to d5.

  Next, in step S7, if the object range can be divided in step S6, each divided object range is determined as a detection range for the presence or absence of a pedestrian, and the process proceeds to step S15. If the object range could not be divided, there is a possibility that the object range could not be divided because a pedestrian exists very close to the object in the object range. Therefore, in this case, the object range that could not be divided is determined as a detection range for the presence or absence of a pedestrian, and the process proceeds to step S15.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that there is no specific situation, whether or not there is a road surface intersecting each of the detection areas 5a to 5c in front of the object detection device by the road surface determination means 37 in step S8. Determine. Examples of the road surface include a horizontal road surface in front of a downhill and an uphill road in front of a horizontal road surface.

  This determination is performed based on the width and position of the object in each of the detection areas 5a to 5c obtained in step S2. That is, when there is a road surface that intersects each of the detection areas 5a to 5c, in step S2, the width and position of the road surface are calculated. The calculated width is long in the horizontal direction, and the calculated position is farther as the object in the detection area having a larger elevation angle. Considering such a situation, the determination in step S8 is performed.

  FIG. 6 exemplarily illustrates an object range in each of the detection areas 5a to 5c when a road surface intersecting with each of the detection areas 5a to 5c exists. FIG. 6A shows a case where a pedestrian 52 exists on the road surface intersecting with the detection area 5c as shown in FIG. 6B. FIG. 6C shows a case where a pedestrian 52 exists on the road surface intersecting with the detection area 5a as shown in FIG. 6D.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6C, the object ranges 61a, 61b, and 61c of the detection areas 5a to 5c are formed by reflected waves from the road surface, so that detection is long in the horizontal direction and has a large elevation angle. The farther away the region is.

  At this time, if the pedestrian 52 exists on the road surface intersecting with the detection area 5c as shown in FIG. 6B, the object range of the pedestrian 52 in the object range 61c by the road surface as shown in FIG. 6A. Since 61p is included, the object range 61p of the pedestrian 52 cannot be distinguished, and the detection of the pedestrian 52 is hindered.

  On the other hand, when the pedestrian 52 exists on the road surface intersecting with the detection area 5a as shown in FIG. 6D, the object of the pedestrian 52 from the object range 61a in the detection area 5a as shown in FIG. 6C. The range 61p cannot be distinguished. However, the object ranges 61b and 61c of the detection areas 5b and 5c have a pedestrian 52 in front, and the distance of the part where the pedestrian 52 exists is different from the part of the object ranges 61b and 61c. Separated by existing parts.

  Therefore, if it is determined in step S8 that there is a road surface intersecting with each of the detection areas 5a to 5c, whether the object range of each of the detection areas 5a to 5c is separated by the separation determination means 38 in steps S9 to S12. Determine whether or not.

  That is, assuming that the detection area with the smallest elevation angle is the first (n = 1) and the detection area with the largest elevation angle is the Nth (n = N) detection area, the detection areas from the first to the N−1th are sequentially detected. It is determined whether or not the object range is separated for the region (steps S9 to S12). In this embodiment, N = 3.

  When it is determined that the object range in the n-th detection area is separated (step S11), in step S13, the range corresponding to the separated part of the object range in the n-th detection area is set as the presence or absence of a pedestrian. The detection range is determined. The range corresponding to the separated portion corresponds to the range corresponding to that portion in the object range of the n−1th detection region that is not separated.

  When the determination for the N-1th detection areas is completed (step S10), in step S14, the object range of the last Nth detection area is determined as a pedestrian detection range, and the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, the presence / absence of a pedestrian as a target object is detected based on the portion corresponding to the detection range determined in step S4, step S7, or steps S13 and S14 in the image data acquired in step S2. This detection can be performed by known pattern matching. When it is detected that there is a pedestrian, the output unit 4 displays or notifies that effect. Thereafter, the object detection process is terminated.

  At this time, when a pedestrian is detected in the detection range determined in step S4 or S14, the pedestrian's object range is fused or contained in the object range corresponding to the detection range. There is a possibility that the range of the reflected wave from the pedestrian cannot be specified and the position of the pedestrian cannot be determined. However, the pedestrian is likely to be located near the object corresponding to the detection range. Therefore, the position of the pedestrian is determined based on the position of the object.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the front of the object detection device is a road surface that intersects each detection area, and the object range of each detection area is separated, the separation portion Since the presence / absence of a pedestrian is detected based on the image data corresponding to, the presence / absence of a pedestrian can be detected without increasing the load caused by image processing as much as possible.

  Also, when the front of the object detection device is a road surface that intersects each detection area, the presence or absence of a pedestrian is detected based on image data corresponding to the object range in the detection area with the largest elevation angle. Is detected based on the position of the object in the detection area, that is, the position of the road surface, the pedestrian is reliably detected and the position of the pedestrian is detected. Can be identified without hindrance.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above description, in step S6, the object range is divided in the horizontal direction. However, when the number of detection areas is large or when scanning is also performed in the elevation angle direction, the object range is also divided in the elevation angle direction. Alternatively, the presence or absence of the target object may be detected by separating the target object from an upper signboard or the like having a high reflectance.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Radar (detection means), 2 ... Camera (imaging means), 33 ... Object width / position calculation means, 34 ... Object width determination means, 35 ... Situation determination means, 36 ... Object range division means, 37 ... Road surface determination means , 38 ... separation determination means, 39 ... object detection means.

Claims (2)

A detection wave is applied to a plurality of detection areas set in a vertical direction in front of the vehicle, and the reflected waves are received and the reflected waves are received. The direction and intensity of each reflected wave and the reflection position of each reflected wave Detection means for outputting the distance to
Imaging means for imaging a range overlapping with the detection area;
Based on the output from the detection means, the width and position for calculating the width and position of the object, with the range in the direction of the reflected wave in which the intensity in each detection area is equal to or greater than a predetermined value as the object range where the object exists A calculation means;
Road surface determination means for determining whether or not a road surface intersecting with each detection area exists in front of the vehicle based on the width and position of each object obtained by the width / position calculation means;
Separation determination means for determining whether or not the object range in each detection area is separated when the road surface determination means determines that the road surface exists;
When it is determined by the separation determination unit that the object range is separated, an image portion corresponding to a separated portion of the object range is detected as a detection target in the captured image of the imaging unit. An object detection apparatus comprising: object detection means for performing processing for detecting a certain object.   The target object detection unit performs processing for detecting the target object on an image portion corresponding to the object range in the uppermost detection area in the captured image of the imaging unit, and the target object exists. 2. The object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is detected, the position of the object is determined based on the position of the object in the detection area.

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