JP2013218467A - Object detection device, object detection method, object detection program, and operation control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an object detection device, an object detection method, an object detection program, and an operation control system which can detect a curved road even when a preceding vehicle is not detected.SOLUTION: With respect to a target indicating a stationary object, a grouping unit calculates, for each combination comprising at least three targets, the characteristic values of a circle that passes through positions of all targets included in the combination, and performs grouping regarding the combinations on the basis of the calculated characteristic values of a circle. A curved road determination unit determines a target indicating a curved road side object on the basis of groups grouped by the grouping unit.

Description

  The present invention relates to an object detection device, an object detection method, an object detection program, and an operation control system.

Conventionally, techniques for detecting an object using a radar device and assisting driving of the vehicle using position information of the detected object, for example, an inter-vehicle distance warning system and a rear-end collision damage reducing brake system have been proposed. In a curved road (curve) in which the traveling direction changes, unlike a straight road, a structure that separates the road surface from other regions, such as a wall surface or a guard rail, may be detected as an obstacle in front of the traveling direction. Therefore, it has been proposed to detect whether or not the road surface in the traveling direction of the vehicle is a curved road.
For example, in the vehicle road curvature estimation apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a transmission wave is irradiated within a predetermined angle range in the vehicle width direction, a preceding vehicle is detected based on the reflected wave, and the lateral position of the detected preceding vehicle is detected. The curvature of the road ahead of the vehicle is calculated based on the rate of change of the vehicle.

JP 2001-319299 A

  However, in the vehicular road curvature estimation device described in Patent Document 1, when the preceding vehicle cannot be detected ahead in the traveling direction, the lateral position cannot be obtained, and therefore it cannot be detected that the vehicle is a curved road. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an object detection device, an object detection method, an object detection program, and an operation control system that can detect a curved road even if a preceding vehicle is not detected.

(1) The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and one aspect of the present invention includes a target representing a stationary object in each combination of at least three targets. Calculating a characteristic value of a circle that passes through the positions of all the targets to be determined, and based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle, a grouping unit that classifies the group with respect to the combination, and a group that the grouping unit classifies. An object detection apparatus comprising: a curved road determination unit that determines a target representing a curved roadside object.

(2) Another aspect of the present invention is the object detection device described above, wherein the grouping unit classifies combinations having at least one target in common into the same group.

(3) Another aspect of the present invention is the object detection device described above, wherein the grouping unit uses a radius and an orientation of a center position as the characteristic value of the circle.

(4) Another aspect of the present invention is the above-described object detection device, wherein the grouping unit is configured so that a target at a position within a predetermined range from the circumference of the circle related to the combination is the same as the combination. It is characterized by classifying into groups.

(5) Another aspect of the present invention is the above-described object detection device, wherein the grouping unit randomly selects the at least three targets from targets representing the stationary object. To do.

(6) Another aspect of the present invention is the above-described object detection device, characterized in that it is determined whether or not a curved roadside object is represented based on the number of groups into which the target is classified.

(7) Another aspect of the present invention is the object detection apparatus described above, wherein the curved road determination unit includes a target in which a target classified into a group having the largest number of targets represents a curved roadside object. It is characterized by judging.

(8) Another aspect of the present invention is an object detection method in an object detection device, wherein the object detection device includes a combination of at least three targets for a target representing a stationary object. A first step of calculating characteristic values of circles passing through the positions of all the included targets, and classifying groups with respect to the combinations based on the calculated characteristic values of the circles, and the object detection device includes: And a second step of determining a target representing a curved roadside object based on the classified group.

(9) According to another aspect of the present invention, for a target representing a stationary object, the computer of the object detection apparatus passes through the positions of all the targets included in the combination for each combination of at least three targets. A characteristic value of a circle is calculated, and a procedure for classifying the group with respect to the combination based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle, and a procedure for determining a target representing a curved roadside object based on the classified group are executed. It is an object detection program for making it happen.

(10) Another aspect of the present invention is an operation control system including an object detection device and an operation control unit that controls an operation related to a vehicle based on a position or speed of a target input from the object detection device. The object detection device calculates a characteristic value of a circle that passes through the positions of all targets included in the combination for each combination including at least three targets for the target representing the stationary object, and calculates the calculated value. A grouping unit that classifies groups with respect to the combination based on a characteristic value of a circle; and a curved road determination unit that determines a target that represents a curved roadside object based on the classified group, the operation control unit The target that is determined not to represent a curved roadside object with respect to the target that is determined to represent the curved roadside object by the curved road determination unit is control over the operation related to the vehicle. Or aspect is the operation control system according to claim different.

(11) Another aspect of the present invention is the motion control system described above, wherein the motion control unit is determined to represent a curved roadside object for a target that has not been determined to represent a curved roadside object. Whether or not to perform the control is determined according to whether the mark exists outside or inside the circle related to the mark.

  According to the present invention, a curved road can be detected without detecting a preceding vehicle.

It is the schematic showing the structure of the operation control system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic showing the structure of the object detection apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of the transmission signal and reception signal which concern on this embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of the level frequency characteristic of IF signal. It is a conceptual diagram showing arrangement | positioning of the receiving antenna which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart showing the object detection process which concerns on this embodiment. It is the schematic showing the structure of the curve discrimination | determination process part which concerns on this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the positional information for every target. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the characteristic value of the circle which concerns on the combination of a target. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the group of the combination of a target. It is a flowchart showing the curve discrimination | determination process which concerns on this embodiment. It is the schematic showing the structure of the curve discrimination | determination process part which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the group of the target classified by the grouping part. It is a flowchart showing the curve discrimination | determination process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the own vehicle and a road surface. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the other example of the own vehicle and a road surface.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an operation control system 1 according to the present embodiment.
The motion control system 1 includes n (n is an integer greater than 1) receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n, a transmitting antenna 102, an object detection device 11, a control instruction unit (motion control unit) 13, and driving support control. The unit 14 and the speed measurement unit 15 are included. The operation control system 1 controls, for example, presentation of information to an operation mechanism of a vehicle and a driver driving the vehicle.

The object detection device 11 includes a signal transmission / reception unit 110 and a position information generation unit 120.
The signal transmission / reception unit 110 generates a transmission signal and outputs the generated transmission signal to the transmission antenna 102 that radiates by radio waves. The signal transmission / reception unit 110 receives an intermediate frequency (IF) signal based on the reception signal input from the reception antennas 101-1 to 101-n that receives the radio wave reflected by the object as a reception signal and the transmission signal described above. Generate. The signal transmission / reception unit 110 outputs the input reception signal and the generated IF signal to the position information generation unit 120. The configuration of the signal transmitting / receiving unit 110 will be described later.

  The position information generation unit 120 calculates the distance, direction, and relative speed for each target based on the IF signal input from the signal transmission / reception unit 110. A target is information representing a detected object. The position information generation unit 120 generates position information representing the calculated distance, direction, and relative speed for each target.

The position information generation unit 120 determines whether the generated position information is position information related to a target representing the position of a stationary object based on the speed information input from the speed measurement unit 15.
The position information generation unit 120 is a target representing a stationary object for each target, calculates a characteristic value of a circle passing through the position of each target for each combination of at least three targets, and calculates the calculated value. Based on the characteristic value of the circle, a group for classifying the combination is determined. The position information generation unit 120 determines whether or not each target represents a curved roadside object based on the determined group, and for the target determined to represent the curved roadside object, that fact Curve path information representing is generated. The position information generation unit 120 adds the generated curved road information to the position information, and outputs the position information to which the curved road information is added to the control instruction unit 13. The configuration of the position information generation unit 120 will be described later.

The control instruction unit 13 generates a control signal based on the position information for each target input from the position information generation unit 120. This control signal is a signal for instructing whether or not it is necessary to reproduce at least a part of a plurality of operations related to the vehicle performed by the driving support control unit 14, for example, brake control, accelerator control, and warning sound. For example, the control instruction unit 13 generates a control signal when a target whose distance represented by the input position information is smaller than a predetermined first threshold is included. The control instruction unit 13 controls the control signal when the relative speed represented by the position information of the target is smaller than a predetermined speed threshold and the distance represented by the position information is smaller than a second predetermined threshold. May be generated. The second threshold value is smaller than the first threshold value. The control instruction unit 13 outputs the generated control signal to the driving support control unit 14.
For a target in which curved road information is added to position information, the control instruction unit 13 is different from the above-described target in which curved road information is not added to the position information in whether or not a control signal is generated. Like that. For example, the control instruction unit 13 may include a target in which curved road information is added to the position information, even if the distance represented by the input position information is smaller than a predetermined first threshold. It is not necessary to generate the control signal. In this case, the control instruction unit 13 may generate a control signal and output the generated control signal to the driving support control unit 14 after a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) has elapsed.

The driving support control unit 14 controls a function for supporting driving of the vehicle based on the control signal input from the control instruction unit 13. The driving support control unit 14 includes, for example, an alarm sound control unit 141, a brake control unit 142, and an accelerator control unit 143. When the control signal is input, the warning sound control unit 141 presents a warning sound that warns the driver that the object has approached. When the control signal is input and the brake operation is not performed, the brake control unit 142 starts the brake operation and decelerates the vehicle. The accelerator control unit 143 stops the acceleration operation of the vehicle by stopping the accelerator operation when the control signal is input and the accelerator operation is being performed.
The speed measurement unit 15 detects the speed of the vehicle and outputs a speed signal representing the detected speed to the position information generation unit 120. The speed measurement unit 15 is, for example, a speedometer (speedometer).

Next, the configuration of the signal transmission / reception unit 110 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the object detection device 11 according to the present embodiment.
The signal transmission / reception unit 110 includes a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) 111, n mixers 112-1 to 112-n, a distributor 114, n filters 115-1 to 115-n, and SW (switch). 116, ADC (A / D [Analog-to-Digital, analog-digital] converter, received wave acquisition unit) 117, control unit 118, and triangular wave generation unit 119.

The VCO 111 generates a signal having a predetermined frequency, and generates a transmission signal by frequency-modulating the generated signal based on the triangular wave signal input from the triangular wave generation unit 119. The VCO 111 outputs the generated transmission signal to the distributor 114.
The mixers 112-1 to 112-n mix the reception signals input from the reception antennas 101-1 to 101-n with the transmission signals input from the distributor 114 to generate IF signals. The IF signal is sometimes called a beat signal. Channels corresponding to the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n may be referred to as CH-1 to CH-n, respectively. The frequency of the IF signal is the difference (beat frequency) between the frequency of the corresponding received signal and the frequency of the transmitted signal. The mixers 112-1 to 112-n output the generated IF signals of CH-1 to CH-n to the filters 115-1 to 115-n, respectively.
The distributor 114 outputs the transmission signal input from the VCO 111 to the transmission antenna 102 and the mixers 112-1 to 112-n.

Filters 115-1 to 115-n band-limit the CH-1 to CH-n IF signals input from mixers 112-1 to 112-n and output the band-limited IF signals to SW 116.
The SW 116 sequentially switches the channels of the CH-1 to CH-n IF signals input from the filters 115-1 to 115 -n in synchronization with the sampling signal input from the control unit 118 and outputs the IF signals to the ADC 117.
The ADC 117 performs A / D conversion on the analog IF signal, in which the channel is sequentially switched, input from the SW 116, is converted into a digital IF signal at a predetermined sampling frequency, and the converted IF signal is converted into the position information generation unit 120. Are sequentially stored in the storage unit 121.

The control unit 118 controls the operation of each unit of the object detection device 11. The control unit 118 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 118 generates a sampling signal having a predetermined sampling period, and outputs the generated sampling signal to the SW 116, the ADC 117, and the triangular wave generation unit 119.
The triangular wave generation unit 119 generates a triangular wave signal having a predetermined modulation frequency (or modulation period), and outputs the generated triangular wave signal to the VCO 111.
The triangular wave is a waveform in which the amplitude increases linearly from a predetermined minimum value to the maximum value, and decreases linearly from the maximum value to the minimum value after reaching the maximum value at a predetermined period T. is there. As a result, the VCO 111 generates a transmission signal that is frequency-modulated with a modulation period T and a frequency modulation width Δf around a predetermined center frequency f ₀ . The transmission signal has a rising portion where the frequency increases with time and a falling portion where the frequency decreases.

Next, the configuration of the position information generation unit 120 will be described.
The position information generation unit 120 includes a storage unit 121, a reception intensity calculation unit 122, a DBF (Digital Beam Forming) processing unit 123, a distance detection unit 124, a speed detection unit 125, an azimuth detection unit 126, and a target takeover process. A unit 127, a curve discrimination processing unit 128, and a target output processing unit 129.

The reception intensity calculation unit 122 reads the IF signal for each channel from the storage unit 121, and calculates the complex number data in the frequency domain by, for example, Fourier transforming the read IF signal. The reception intensity calculation unit 122 outputs the calculated complex number data for each channel to the DBF processing unit 123.
The reception intensity calculation unit 122 calculates a spectrum based on an addition value obtained by adding complex number data of all channels. The reception intensity calculation unit 122 may calculate the spectrum based on the complex number data of one of the channels, but the noise component is averaged by calculating the spectrum based on the added value, and the S / N ( (Signal to Noise) ratio is improved.
The reception intensity calculation unit 122 detects, from the calculated spectrum, a portion that exceeds a predetermined level threshold and has a maximum level as a signal level peak for each of the above-described rising portion and falling portion. The reception intensity calculation unit 122 generates peak frequency information representing the detected peak frequency, and outputs the generated peak frequency information to the distance detection unit 124 and the speed detection unit 125.
When the peak cannot be detected, the reception intensity calculation unit 122 generates position information indicating that the target has not been detected, and outputs the generated position information to the target output processing unit 129.

  The DBF processing unit 123 further performs Fourier transform (spatial axis Fourier transform) on the complex number data for each channel input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122 in the antenna arrangement direction (channel direction) to generate complex number data in the spatial frequency domain. . The DBF processing unit 123 calculates a reception intensity that is a spectrum intensity for each angle channel with a predetermined angular resolution from the generated complex number data, and generates reception intensity information indicating the calculated reception intensity. The DBF processing unit 123 outputs the generated reception intensity information to the direction detection unit 126.

The distance detection unit 124 calculates the distance R to the object represented by the target for each target based on the ascending portion frequency f _u and the descending portion frequency f _d represented by the peak frequency input from the reception intensity calculating unit 122. For example, it calculates using Formula (1).

In equation (1), c represents the speed of light and T represents the modulation period. In other words, the expression (1) shows the distance c · T / 2 where the light travels within the elapsed time T / 2 of the rising portion or the falling portion, the frequency f _{u of the} rising portion and the frequency f _{d of the} falling portion for each target. Is multiplied by the ratio of the averaged average value to the modulation frequency Δf to give the distance R. The distance detection unit 124 outputs distance information representing the calculated distance R for each target to the target takeover processing unit 127.

The speed detection unit 125 uses the relative speed V of the object based on the frequency f _{u of the} rising portion and the frequency f _{d of the} falling portion represented by the peak frequency input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122, for example, using Equation (2). To calculate.

That is, Equation (2) indicates that the relative velocity V is given by multiplying the light velocity c by the ratio of the difference between the frequency f _{u of the} rising portion and the frequency f _d of the falling portion to the center frequency f ₀ . The speed detection unit 125 outputs speed information representing the calculated relative speed V for each object to the target takeover processing unit 127.

  The azimuth detecting unit 126 detects the angle φ at which the reception intensity indicated by the reception intensity information input from the DBF processing unit 123 is maximum as the azimuth of the object represented by the target, and generates azimuth information representing the detected azimuth. The bearing detection unit 126 outputs the generated bearing information to the target takeover processing unit 127.

  The target takeover processing unit 127 receives distance information from the distance detection unit 124, speed information from the speed detection unit 125, and direction information from the direction detection unit 126. The target takeover processing unit 127 reads distance information, speed information, and direction information related to the previous modulation cycle from the storage unit 121. The target takeover processing unit 127 calculates the difference value between the distance, the relative distance, and the azimuth calculated in the current modulation cycle and the distance, the relative distance, and the azimuth calculated in the previous modulation cycle for each difference value. It is determined whether or not it is smaller than a predetermined threshold value. When it is determined that each difference value is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the target handover processing unit 127 determines that the target related to the current modulation period and the target related to the previous modulation period are the same. judge. In that case, the target takeover processing unit 127 increases the target takeover frequency of the target by 1, and associates the target with the distance information, speed information, and azimuth information related to the current modulation period, and stores the storage unit 121. To remember. Further, the target takeover processing unit 127 associates the target with the distance information, speed information, and azimuth information related to the current modulation period, and outputs them to the curve determination processing unit 128.

  When it is determined that the target related to the current modulation cycle and the target related to the previous modulation cycle are not the same, the target handover processing unit 127 determines that a new object has been detected. The target takeover processing unit 127 generates a target representing a new object, and stores the generated target in association with the distance information, speed information, and direction information related to the current modulation cycle in the storage unit 121. Further, the target takeover processing unit 127 associates the target with the distance information, speed information, and azimuth information related to the current modulation period, and outputs them to the curve determination processing unit 128. Hereinafter, distance information, speed information, and direction information may be collectively referred to as position information.

The curve determination processing unit 128 receives position information from the target takeover processing unit 127 in association with the target. The curve determination processing unit 128 is input when the relative speed represented by the speed information of the position information input from the target takeover processing unit 127 and the speed represented by the speed information input from the speed measurement unit 15 cancel each other. It is determined that the position information is position information representing the position of a stationary object.
The curve determination processing unit 128 calculates a characteristic value of a circle passing through each target for each combination of at least three targets, and determines a group to which the combination belongs based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle. The curve determination processing unit 128 determines whether or not each target represents a curved roadside object based on the determined group, and for a target determined to represent a curved roadside object, a curved road indicating that fact. Generate information. The curve discrimination processing unit 128 adds the generated curved road information to the position information, and outputs the positional information to which the curved road information is added to the target output processing unit 129 in association with the target. The configuration of the curve discrimination processing unit 128 will be described later.

  The target output processing unit 129 outputs the position information input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122 or the curve discrimination processing unit 128 to the control instruction unit 13.

(Detection of distance and relative speed)
Next, the principle that the position information generation unit 120 detects the distance and the relative speed will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission signal and a reception signal according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents frequency.
In the upper part of FIG. 3, the frequency of the transmission signal is represented by a thick solid line, and the frequency of the reception signal is represented by a thick broken line. The transmission signal is frequency-modulated with a modulation width Δf around the center frequency f ₀ . In the example shown in FIG. 3, the received signal is delayed by ΔT and shifted in frequency by δf. The delay is the time from when the transmission signal is transmitted until the reception signal received by the object reflecting the transmission signal is elapsed. The frequency shift is due to the Doppler effect caused by the relative velocity V to the object. Therefore, the delay time ΔT increases as the distance R to the object represented by the target increases, and the frequency shift δf increases as the relative speed of the object increases.

The lower part of FIG. 3 represents the frequency of the IF signal with a solid line. The frequency of the IF signal is an absolute value for the difference between the frequency of the reception signal and the frequency of the transmission signal. The frequency of the IF signal shown in the lower part of FIG. 3 is a peak frequency detected by the reception intensity calculation unit 122. The rising portion, the frequency of the IF signal is _{f u.} The rising portion is a section in which the frequency of both the transmission signal and the reception signal increases with time. In FIG. 3, it is T / 2 from time ΔT. The descending portion, the frequency of the IF signal is _{f d.} The descending portion is a section in which the frequency of both the transmission signal and the reception signal decreases with time. In FIG. 3, it is ΔT from time T / 2 + ΔT. The above-described modulation width Δf and frequency deviation δf are determined by the frequency f _{u of the} rising portion and the frequency f _{d of the} falling portion. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the distance R and the relative speed V can be calculated based on the ascending portion frequency f _u and the descending portion frequency f _d detected by the reception intensity calculating unit 122.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the level frequency characteristic of the IF signal.
In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents frequency and the vertical axis represents level.
The upper part of FIG. 4 represents the level of the IF signal in the rising portion. The level of the IF signal has a peak at the frequency _fu in the rising part. The lower part of FIG. 4 represents the level of the IF signal in the descending part. Level of the IF signal has a peak at frequency f _d at the falling portion.
The reception intensity calculation unit 122 may detect peak frequencies respectively corresponding to a plurality of targets. In that case, the reception strength calculation unit 122 generates peak frequency information in association with common identification numbers in ascending order of frequency for each of the rising portion and the falling portion, and the generated peak frequency information is used as the distance detection unit 124, Output to the speed detector 125.

(Direction detection)
Next, the principle by which the direction detection unit 126 detects the direction of the object represented by the target will be described.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the arrangement of the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n according to this embodiment.
Receiving antennas 101-2 through 101-n is, a primary reception antenna, from, for instance, a receive antenna 101-1 are arranged at a position separated by the distance _{d 1 ~d n-1,} respectively. When a reception signal from an object arrives from the azimuth φ with respect to the arrangement plane of the reception antennas 101-1 to 101-n, a phase difference occurs between the reception antennas. The direction φ is an angle with respect to an axis perpendicular to the arrangement surface. For example, the phase difference between the receiving antennas 101-1 and 101-n is 2πf (dn ₋₁ · sin φ / C).
The DBF processing unit 123 calculates a reception intensity that is a spectrum intensity for each angle channel corresponding to each azimuth so that the phase difference with respect to each azimuth φ is compensated for the reception signal for each channel by the above-described processing. . Therefore, the azimuth detecting unit 126 can estimate the azimuth φ at which the reception intensity calculated by the DBF processing unit 123 is maximum as the azimuth of the object represented by the target.

(Object detection processing)
Next, the object detection process according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing object detection processing according to the present embodiment.
(Step S101) The ADC 117 converts the analog IF signal generated by mixing the reception signal and the transmission signal into a digital IF signal, and sequentially stores the converted IF signal in the storage unit 121 of the position information generation unit 120. (Data storage). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S102.
(Step S <b> 102) The reception intensity calculation unit 122 performs Fourier transform on the IF signal for each channel from the storage unit 121 and calculates complex number data in the frequency domain. The reception intensity calculation unit 122 outputs the calculated complex number data for each channel to the DBF processing unit 123. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S103.
(Step S <b> 103) The DBF processing unit 123 further performs Fourier transform on the complex number data for each channel input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122 in the antenna arrangement direction to generate complex number data in the spatial frequency domain. The DBF processing unit 123 calculates reception strength for each predetermined angle channel based on the generated complex number data, and generates reception strength information indicating the calculated reception strength. The DBF processing unit 123 outputs the generated reception intensity information to the direction detection unit 126. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S104.

(Step S104) The reception intensity calculation unit 122 calculates a spectrum based on an addition value obtained by adding complex number data of all channels. The reception intensity calculation unit 122 detects, from the calculated spectrum, a portion that exceeds a predetermined level threshold and has a maximum level as a signal level peak for each of the above-described rising portion and falling portion. The reception intensity calculation unit 122 generates peak frequency information representing the detected peak frequency, and outputs the generated peak frequency information to the distance detection unit 124 and the speed detection unit 125. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S105.

(Step S105) The distance detection unit 124 calculates the distance R to the object represented by the target based on the frequency f _{u of the} rising portion represented by the peak frequency input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122 and the frequency f _{d of the} falling portion. For example, the calculation is performed using Expression (1). The distance detection unit 124 outputs distance information representing the calculated distance R for each target to the target takeover processing unit 127.
The speed detection unit 125 calculates the relative velocity V of the object represented by the target based on the frequency f _{u of the} rising portion and the frequency f _{d of the} falling portion represented by the peak frequency input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122, for example, 2). The speed detection unit 125 outputs speed information indicating the calculated relative speed V for each target to the target takeover processing unit 127. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S106.

(Step S106) The direction detection unit 126 detects the angle φ at which the reception intensity indicated by the reception intensity information input from the DBF processing unit 123 is maximum as the direction of the object represented by the target, and represents the detected direction. Generate information. The bearing detection unit 126 outputs the generated bearing information to the target takeover processing unit 127. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S107.

(Step S107) The target takeover processing unit 127 receives position information from the distance detection unit 124, speed information from the speed detection unit 125, and direction information from the direction detection unit 126 as position information. The target takeover processing unit 127 reads position information related to the previous modulation cycle from the storage unit 121. When the difference value between the position information calculated in the current modulation cycle and the position information calculated in the previous modulation cycle is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the target takeover processing unit 127 relates to the current modulation cycle. It is determined that the target and the target related to the previous modulation cycle are the same. In that case, the target takeover processing unit 127 associates the target with the position information related to the current modulation period, stores them in the storage unit 121, and outputs them to the curve determination processing unit 128.
When it is determined that the object related to the current modulation cycle and the target related to the previous modulation cycle are not the same, the target handover processing unit 127 generates a new target (identification number), and the generated target and the current target Are stored in the storage unit 121 in association with each other and output to the curve discrimination processing unit 128. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S108.

(Step S <b> 108) The curve determination processing unit 128 receives position information associated with the target from the target takeover processing unit 127. Based on the speed information input from the speed measurement unit 15, the curve determination processing unit 128 determines whether the input position information is position information representing the position of a stationary object.
The curve determination processing unit 128 calculates a characteristic value of a circle passing through the position of each target for each combination of targets representing at least three stationary objects, and the combination belongs based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle. Determine the group. The curve determination processing unit 128 determines whether or not each target represents a curved roadside object based on the determined group, and for a target determined to represent a curved roadside object, a curved road indicating that fact. Generate information. The curve discrimination processing unit 128 adds the generated curved road information to the position information, and outputs the positional information to which the curved road information is added to the target output processing unit 129 in association with the target. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S109.
(Step S109) The target output processing unit 129 outputs the position information input from the reception intensity calculation unit 122 or the curve discrimination processing unit 128 to the control instruction unit 13. Thereafter, the process ends.

(Curve discrimination processing part)
Next, the configuration of the curve discrimination processing unit 128 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the curve determination processing unit 128 according to the present embodiment.
The curve determination processing unit 128 includes a stationary object determination unit 1281, a grouping unit 1282, and a curve determination unit 1283.

  Position information is input to the stationary object determination unit 1281 in association with the target from the target takeover processing unit 127. The stationary object determination unit 1281 is input when the relative speed represented by the speed information included in the position information input from the target takeover processing unit 127 and the speed represented by the speed information input from the speed measurement unit 15 cancel each other. It is determined that the received position information is position information representing the position of the stationary object. Here, the stationary object determination unit 1281 calculates the absolute difference between the relative speed represented by the speed information of the position information input from the target takeover processing unit 127 and the speed represented by the speed information input from the speed measurement unit 15. When the value is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that both cancel each other. The stationary object determination unit 1281 associates the target with the position information determined to represent the position of the stationary object, and outputs it to the grouping unit 1282. The stationary object determination unit 1281 associates the target with position information that has not been determined to represent the position of the stationary object, and outputs it to the target output processing unit 129.

The target and position information are input to the grouping unit 1282 in association with each other from the stationary object determination unit 1281. The grouping unit 1282 calculates a radius and a center position as characteristic values of circles passing through the positions represented by the position information of the three targets belonging to the combination for each combination of the three input targets. For example, the grouping unit 1282 calculates a radius r and center coordinates (c _x , c _y ) that satisfy all of the relationships shown in Expression (3).

In equation (3), each coordinate value is represented by two-dimensional orthogonal coordinates with the center of gravity of each position of the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n as the origin. The x direction is an arrangement direction of the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n and is parallel to the horizontal plane. The y direction is a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n and parallel to the horizontal plane. (X ₀ , y ₀ ), (x ₁ , y ₁ ), and (x ₂ , y ₂ ) indicate the coordinates relating to the three targets, respectively.
Therefore, when the number of pieces of input position information is N, the grouping unit 1282 determines in advance all or a part of the K (= _N C ₃ ) combinations (L, L is greater than 2 and smaller than K). The radius r and the center coordinates (c _x , c _y ) are calculated for each combination. Here, _N C ₃ is N · (N−1) · (N−2) / (3 · 2 · 1). When selecting the L combinations, the grouping unit 1282 repeats the process of randomly selecting three targets from N targets L times.
Instead of randomly selecting the target, the grouping unit 1282 may repeat the process of selecting the target in another order. The grouping unit 1282 may use, for example, the ascending order of the distance represented by the position information corresponding to each target, the descending order thereof, or the like.

  The grouping unit 1282 determines whether one combination of K pieces (or L pieces) and the other combination satisfy a grouping condition described later. When it is determined that the grouping condition is satisfied, the grouping unit 1282 classifies the one combination and the other combination into the same group. The grouping unit 1282 generates grouping information for each target belonging to the combinations classified into the same group. The grouping information is information indicating that the group has been classified, for example, a grouping flag for identifying each group.

The above-described grouping condition is, for example, that all of the following (1) to (3) are satisfied.
(1) Two targets are common among three targets belonging to one combination and three targets belonging to one other combination.
(2) The absolute value of the difference Δr between the radius r of the circle related to one combination and the radius r ′ of the circle related to the other combination is smaller than a predetermined radius threshold.
(3) The azimuth in the x direction of the center position of the circle related to one combination and the center position of the circle related to the other combination are the same direction. For example, the grouping unit 1282 determines that the azimuth in the x direction is the same direction when the positive and negative x coordinate values are the same.
These conditions represent that the position of the object represented by the target belonging to each combination is approximated by the circumference of the same circle.
The grouping unit 1282 outputs the position information input in association with each target and the generated grouping information to the curve determination unit 1283.

  Position information and grouping information are input to the curve determination unit 1283 from the grouping unit 1282 in association with each target. The curve determination unit 1283 counts the number of groups classified for each target as a curve counter value based on the input grouping information. The curve determination unit 1283 determines that an object represented by a target whose counted curve counter value is larger than a predetermined curve counter value is a curved roadside object (curved roadside object). The curve determination unit 1283 generates curve information (curved road information) indicating that it is a curved roadside object for each target. The curve determination unit 1283 adds the curve information generated for each target to the input position information, and outputs the position information added with the curve information to the target output processing unit 129 in association with each target.

  In the present embodiment, the curve determination unit 1283 may count the number of targets classified for each group instead of counting the number of groups for each target. Here, the curve determination unit 1283 generates curve information for the targets classified into the group having the largest number of counted targets.

Next, an example of position information for each target is shown.
FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of position information for each target.
In FIG. 8, the horizontal axis represents the x axis and the vertical axis represents the y axis. In FIG. 8, the origin is located at the center of gravity of each point of the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n, and the receiving antennas 101-1 to 101-n are arranged on the front surface of the vehicle 2 in the x-axis direction. A to m surrounded by a square in front of the vehicle 2 indicate positions represented by position information of the respective targets. a to m are distributed within the range of the visual field 31.

Next, an example of a characteristic value of a circle related to a combination of targets will be shown.
FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a characteristic value of a circle related to a combination of targets.
The vertical axis, horizontal axis, and origin in FIG. 9 are the same as the vertical axis, horizontal axis, and origin in FIG. A circumference 32 is a part of a circle that passes through positions on the xy plane of the objects a, b, and c. The center 33 indicates the center of the circle. The radius r is the radius of the circle.

Next, an example of a group of target combinations is shown.
FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a group of target combinations.
The vertical axis, horizontal axis, and origin of FIG. 10 are the same as the vertical axis, horizontal axis, and origin of FIG. In FIG. 10, each ellipse represents a combination of targets. The shaded rectangles indicate the positions on the xy plane of the targets belonging to the combinations classified into the same group. In FIG. 10, combinations of targets (h, f, a), (f, a, b), (a, b, c), (b, c, i), (c, i, g), (i , G, j) indicate that they are classified into the group. These combinations satisfy the grouping conditions described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the distribution of the targets h, f, a, b, c, i, g, and j approximates the circumference 32. In this embodiment, such targets h, f, a, b, c, i, g, j are determined to be curved roadside objects.

Next, the curve determination process according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a curve determination process according to the present embodiment.
(Step S201) The stationary object determination unit 1281 receives position information associated with the target from the target handover processing unit 127. When the relative speed represented by the speed information included in the input position information cancels out the speed represented by the speed information input from the speed measurement unit 15, the stationary object determination unit 1281 displays the input position information as a stationary object. It is determined that the position information represents a position. The stationary object determination unit 1281 outputs the positional information determined as the positional information representing the position of the stationary object to the grouping unit 1282 in association with the target. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S202.

(Step S202) Position information is input to the grouping unit 1282 in association with a target from the stationary object determination unit 1281. The grouping unit 1282 repeats the processing of steps S203 to S207 for each combination of three targets.
(Step S203) The grouping unit 1282 calculates the radius and the center position as a characteristic value of a circle passing through the position represented by the position information of the three targets belonging to each combination, for example, using Expression (3). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S204.
(Step S204) The grouping unit 1282 repeats the processes of steps S205 and S206 for each combination other than the combination.
(Step S205) The grouping unit 1282 determines whether or not the characteristic value of the circle related to the combination satisfies the above grouping condition with the characteristic value of the circle related to another combination. If it is determined that the above grouping condition is satisfied (step S205 Y), the process proceeds to step S206. If it is determined that the above grouping conditions are not satisfied (step S205 N), the process proceeds to step S207.
(Step S206) The grouping unit 1282 generates grouping information indicating that the combination and other combinations are classified into the same group. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S207.
(Step S207) Another combination to be processed is changed to another unprocessed combination, and the process proceeds to Step S204. If there are no more unprocessed combinations, the process proceeds to step S208.
(Step S208) The combination to be processed is further changed to another unprocessed combination, and the process proceeds to Step S202. When there are no more unprocessed combinations, the grouping unit 1282 outputs the position information input in association with each target and the generated grouping information to the curve determination unit 1283. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S209.

(Step S209) The curve determination unit 1283 receives position information and grouping information from the grouping unit 1282 in association with each target. The curve determination unit 1283 repeats the processes of steps S210 to S213 for each target.
(Step S210) The curve determination unit 1283 counts the number of groups classified for each target based on the input grouping information. Then, it progresses to step S211.
(Step S211) The curve determination unit 1283 determines whether or not the counted number of groups is larger than a predetermined number. When it is determined that the number is larger than the predetermined number (step S211 Y), the process proceeds to step S212. When it is determined that the number is equal to or smaller than the predetermined number (step S211 N), the process proceeds to step S213.
(Step S212) The curve determination unit 1283 determines that the object represented by the target is a curved roadside object (curved roadside object). The curve determination unit 1283 generates curve information indicating that the target is a curved roadside object for each target. The curve determination unit 1283 adds the curve information generated for each target to the input position information. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S213.
(Step S213) The target to be processed is changed to another unprocessed target, and the process proceeds to step S209. When there is no other unprocessed target, the curve determination unit 1283 outputs the position information to which the curve information is added to the target output processing unit 129 in association with each target. Thereafter, the process ends.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a target representing a stationary object, and a characteristic value of a circle passing through the position of each target is calculated for each combination of at least three targets. Based on the characteristic value, the group to which the combination belongs is determined. Moreover, in this embodiment, it is determined whether each target represents a curved roadside object based on the determined group. Therefore, in this embodiment, a curved road can be detected without detecting a preceding vehicle.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The configuration of the operation control system according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the operation control system 1 (FIG. 1). However, the position information generation unit 120 (FIG. 1) includes a curve discrimination processing unit 228 instead of the curve discrimination processing unit 128. Hereinafter, the same configurations and processes as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the curve determination processing unit 228 according to the present embodiment.
The curve determination processing unit 228 includes a stationary object determination unit 1281, a grouping unit 2282, and a curve determination unit 2283.

The grouping unit 2282 receives position information associated with the target from the stationary object determination unit 1281. The grouping unit 2282 uses, for example, Equation (3) for each combination of three input targets as a characteristic value of a circle passing through the position represented by the position information of the three targets belonging to the combination. The radius r and the center position (c _x , c _y ) are calculated.

The grouping unit 2282 counts the number of matching targets for each combination. The conforming target is position information of another target that does not belong to the combination, and is position information that represents the coordinates of the target included within a predetermined error range from the circumference of the circle related to the combination. . In addition, the number of conforming targets is referred to as a conforming target number. The grouping unit 2282 classifies the compatible targets into the same group as the combination. The grouping unit 2282 generates grouping information indicating the same group for each target classified into the same group.
The grouping unit 2282 further calculates, for each combination, the sum of the square values (norms) of the distances (errors) between the coordinates indicated by the matching targets classified into the same group as the combination and the circumference of the combination. A certain norm sum may be calculated.

The grouping unit 2282 selects a group having the largest number of matching targets. When the number of selected groups is plural, the grouping unit 2282 may select one group having the minimum norm sum. The grouping unit 2282 generates selected group information representing the selected group.
The grouping unit 2282 outputs the position information input in association with each target, the generated grouping information, and the selected group information to the curve determination unit 2283.

The curve determination unit 2283 receives position information, grouping information, and selection group information from the grouping unit 2282 in association with each target. The curve determination unit 2283 counts the number of classified groups as a curve counter value for each target classified into the group represented by the selected group information. Here, the curve determination unit 2283 identifies the group classified for each target using the grouping information.
The curve determination unit 2283 determines that an object represented by a target whose counted curve counter value is larger than a predetermined curve counter value is a curved roadside object (curved roadside object). The curve determination unit 2283 generates curve information (curved road information) indicating that the target is a curved roadside object for each target. The curve determination unit 2283 adds the curve information generated for each target to the input position information and outputs the position information with the curve information associated with each target to the target output processing unit 129.
The curve determination unit 2283 may omit the process of counting the counter value for each target, and may determine that the object represented by the target classified into the group represented by the selected group information is a curved roadside object.

Next, an example of the target group classified by the grouping unit 2282 is shown.
FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a target group classified by the grouping unit 2282.
The vertical axis, horizontal axis, and origin of FIG. 13 are the same as the vertical axis, horizontal axis, and origin of FIG. In FIG. 13, a square represents the position of each object on the xy plane, and an ellipse represents a combination of targets. A circumference 41 is a circumference of a circle passing through the position of the combination (a, b, c). Two broken lines sandwiching the circumference 41 represent a predetermined error range and error range 42 from the circumference 41. A circumference 43 is a circumference of a circle passing through the position of the combination (e, d, b). Two broken lines sandwiching the circumference 43 represent a predetermined error range and error range 44 from the circumference 43.
The error range 42 includes the positions of the targets h, f, i, g, and j in addition to the positions of the corresponding targets a, b, and c. In FIG. 13, the positions of these targets are indicated by shaded squares. That is, the group corresponding to the combination (a, b, c) includes targets h, f, i, g, j.
In the error range 44, there is no target including the position other than the corresponding targets e, d, and b. That is, the other target is not included in the group corresponding to the combination (e, d, b).

  In the present embodiment, a group of targets having the largest number of targets included in the error range is determined as a group of curved roadside objects. Since curved roadside objects are usually distributed around the circumference representing the curve, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the object represented by the detected target is a curved roadside object.

Next, the curve determination process according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a curve determination process according to the present embodiment.
The curve determination process shown in FIG. 14 is common to the curve determination process shown in FIG. 11 in that steps S201-203, 208, and 210-212 are included. However, in the curve determination process shown in FIG. 14, step S304 is executed after step S203, and step S309 is executed after step S208.

(Step S304) The grouping unit 2282 repeats steps S305-307 for each piece of position information of other targets that do not belong to the combination.
(Step S305) The grouping unit 2282 determines whether or not the position indicated by the position information of the other target is included within a predetermined error range from the circumference of the circle calculated in Step S203. When it is determined that it falls within the predetermined error range (Y in step S305), the grouping unit 2282 proceeds to step S306. When it is determined that it is not included in the predetermined error range (step S305 N), the process proceeds to step S308.
(Step S306) The grouping unit 2282 adds 1 to the number of targets classified into the group corresponding to the target combination, and counts the number as a compatible target number. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S307.
(Step S307) The grouping unit 2282 accumulates the square value (norm) of the distance (error) between the coordinates of the target classified into the group corresponding to the combination and the circumference related to the combination. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S308.
(Step S308) The grouping unit 2282 changes another target that does not belong to the combination as a processing target to another unprocessed target, and proceeds to step S304. If there are other targets that do not belong to the combination and there is no unprocessed target, the process proceeds to step S208.

(Step S309) The grouping unit 2282 selects a group having the largest number of matching targets. When the number of selected groups is plural, the grouping unit 2282 may select one group that is the group with the smallest norm sum. The grouping unit 2282 generates selected group information representing the selected group.
The grouping unit 2282 outputs the position information input in association with each target, the generated grouping information, and the selected group information to the curve determination unit 2283. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S310.

(Step S310) The curve determination unit 2283 receives position information, grouping information, and selection group information from the grouping unit 2282 in association with each target. The curve determination unit 2283 executes steps S210 to 212 for each target classified into the group indicated by the selected group information, and proceeds to step S313.
(Step S313) The target to be processed is changed to a target classified into a group indicated by other unprocessed selected group information. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S310. If there is no target classified in the group indicated by the other unprocessed selected group information, the process is terminated.

  Also in the present embodiment, the grouping unit 2282 includes all (K) or part (L) combinations of three targets among the detected N targets, and the target numbers for each of the combinations. Counting and norm summation may be calculated (FIG. 14, steps S202 to S208). Similar to the grouping unit 1282, the grouping unit 2282 repeats the process of randomly selecting three targets from N targets L times. Here, the number of repetitions L may be determined so as to satisfy Expression (4).

In Expression (4), M is the number of expected roadside targets. The expected roadside target is a target that is expected to be a curved roadside target among the detected targets. That is, the left side of Equation (4) is a probability that a combination in which any or all of the N randomly selected ones are not curved roadside targets will be repeated L times. p is the target probability. That is, the expression (4) indicates that the probability that the combination in which at least one of the three randomly selected is not a curved roadside target (curved roadside target) is repeated is lower than the target probability p. Indicates that
For example, as shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that 7 out of 13 targets a to m are expected roadside targets. At this time, the probability that at least one of the three selected in one combination is not a curved roadside target is 251/286 (= 1− (7 · 6 · 5) / (13 · 12 · 11)). . Here, if the target probability p is 1%, (251/286) ³⁶ <0.01, so the number of repetitions L may be at least 36 or 36. When the target probability p is 0.1%, (251/286) 53 <0.001, and therefore the number of repetitions L may be at least 53 or 53. The calculated 36 and 53 are both smaller than the total number of combinations N (= 286). In this way, the processing amount can be reduced by reducing the number of target combinations related to the calculation of the target count and the norm summation according to the target probability.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, targets at positions in a predetermined range from the circumference of a circle related to the combination are classified into the same group as the combination. Since the targets distributed around the common circumference are classified as a group, the target grouping is performed efficiently. Therefore, in this embodiment, it can be determined efficiently whether such a target represents a curved roadside object.

Conventionally, an operation control system has been proposed that predicts a route to travel based on the vehicle speed, steering angle, yaw rate, and the like, and controls the operation when approaching a detected object. An operation | movement is presenting a warning sound with respect to a driver | operator, for example, decelerating the speed of a vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 15, the vehicle is traveling straight at the current position of the host vehicle (vehicle 2), but the route along the road surface 51 cannot be predicted on the road surface 51 having a curve in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. . This is because, at the current position, both the steering angle and the yaw rate take values that approximate zero, as in the case of traveling on the straight road (road surface 52) shown in FIG. Therefore, in the conventional motion control system, an object around the preceding curved road and in the straight direction of the host vehicle 2 may be detected as an obstacle 53 and an operation may be executed unnecessarily.
On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment, since the detected object is determined to be a curved roadside object before proceeding on the curved road, unnecessary operations can be prevented.

In the above-described embodiment, the curve determination units 1283 and 2283 have a target that represents an object that has not been determined to be a curved roadside object, and exists within the circumference of the target that represents the object that has been determined to be a curved roadside object. It may be determined whether it exists outside the circumference.
Here, the curve determination unit 1283 selects one of the combinations related to the target representing the object determined to be a curved roadside object based on the grouping information. There may be a plurality of circles corresponding to the combination related to the target, but as described above, the areas occupied by the circumferences of these circles are approximate to each other. The curve determination unit 2283 selects a combination of targets related to the group using the selected group information input from the grouping unit 2282 described above.

  The curve determination units 1283 and 2283 calculate the radius and the center position of a circle passing through the three targets related to the selected combination by themselves, or acquire them from the grouping units 1282 and 2282, respectively. Then, the curve determination units 1283 and 2283 calculate the distance from the position of the target representing the object that has not been determined to be a curved roadside object to the center position of the circle. For example, when the calculated distance is smaller than the radius of the circle, the curve determination units 1283 and 2283 determine that the calculated distance exists inside the circumference. If the calculated distance is larger than the radius of the circle, the curve determination units 1283 and 2283 exist outside the circumference. Judge that. The curve determination units 1283 and 2283 generate inside / outside determination information indicating whether or not each target is present within the circumference, and the target output processing unit 129 is associated with the above-described position information and each target. To the control instruction unit 13.

  Based on the inside / outside determination information input in association with each target, the control instruction unit 13 determines whether the object represented by the target is located outside or inside the circumference. It is determined whether to generate a control signal. For example, when a target representing an object that has not been determined to be a curved roadside object exists inside the circumference, the control instruction unit 13 generates a control signal for the object. In addition, when a target representing an object that has not been determined to be a curved roadside object exists outside the circumference, the control instruction unit 13 does not generate a control signal for the object. Thereby, in this embodiment, the presence or absence of control can be determined depending on whether the object that has not been determined to be a curved roadside object is present inside or outside the curved road approximated as a circumference. . For example, an object represented by a target detected inside a curved road has a high possibility of abnormally approaching or contacting the target when the vehicle travels along the curved road. This is unlikely to occur for an object represented by a target detected in. Here, the driving support control unit 14 performs a predetermined operation (for example, brake operation, accelerator stop, alarm sound reproduction, etc.) on the object represented by the target detected inside the curved road, and the curved road The operation is not performed on the object represented by the target detected outside the object. Therefore, useless control for an object that is not determined to be a curved roadside object can be avoided.

In the above description, the example in which the characteristic value of the circle is calculated for each combination including the positions of the three targets has been described. However, in this embodiment, the positions of more than three (for example, four) target positions. The characteristic value of the circle may be calculated for each combination consisting of
In the grouping condition (1) described above, the case where two targets among the three targets belonging to one combination and the three targets belonging to the other combination are common has been described as an example. This is not a limitation. As another example, the grouping condition (1) may be that one target among a plurality of targets belonging to one combination and a plurality of targets belonging to one other combination is common.

In addition, a part of the object detection apparatus 11 in the above-described embodiment, for example, the control unit 118, the reception intensity calculation unit 122, the DBF processing unit 123, the distance detection unit 124, the speed detection unit 125, the direction detection unit 126, the target takeover. The processing unit 127, the curve determination processing unit 128, and the target output processing unit 129 may be realized by a computer. In that case, the program for realizing the control function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read by a computer system and executed. The “computer system” here is a computer system built in the object detection apparatus 11 and includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” is a medium that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, In such a case, a volatile memory inside a computer system serving as a server or a client may be included and a program that holds a program for a certain period of time. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.
Moreover, you may implement | achieve part or all of the object detection apparatus 11 in embodiment mentioned above as integrated circuits, such as LSI (Large Scale Integration). Each functional block of the object detection device 11 may be individually made into a processor, or a part or all of them may be integrated into a processor. Further, the method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Further, in the case where an integrated circuit technology that replaces LSI appears due to progress in semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on the technology may be used.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is possible to

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operation control system, 101 (101-1 to 101-n) ... Reception antenna,
102: Transmitting antenna,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Object detection apparatus, 110 ... Signal transmission / reception part, 111 ... VCO,
112 (112-1 to 112-n) ... mixer, 114 ... distributor
115 (115-1 to 115-n) ... filter, 116 ... SW, 117 ... ADC,
118 ... control unit, 119 ... triangular wave generation unit,
120 ... position information generation unit, 121 ... storage unit, 122 ... reception intensity calculation unit,
123 ... DBF processing unit, 124 ... distance detection unit, 125 ... speed detection unit, 126 ... azimuth detection unit,
127 ... Target takeover processing section,
128, 228 ... curve discrimination processing unit, 1281 ... stationary object judgment unit,
1282, 2282 ... grouping unit, 1283, 2283 ... curve determination unit,
129 ... Target output processing unit,
13 ... Control instruction unit, 14 ... Driving support control unit, 141 ... Alarm sound control unit,
142 ... Brake control unit, 143 ... Accelerator control unit, 15 ... Speed measurement unit

Claims (11)

For a target representing a stationary object, calculate a characteristic value of a circle that passes through the positions of all the targets included in the combination for each combination of at least three targets, and based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle A grouping unit for classifying groups with respect to the combination;
A curved road determination unit for determining a target representing a curved roadside object based on the group classified by the grouping unit;
An object detection apparatus comprising:   The object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit classifies combinations having at least one target in common into the same group.   The object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit uses a radius and an orientation of a center position as the characteristic value of the circle.   The object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit classifies targets at positions within a predetermined range from a circumference of a circle related to the combination into the same group as the combination.   5. The object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit randomly selects the at least three targets from targets representing the stationary object. 6.   5. The object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the curved road determination unit determines whether to represent a curved roadside object based on a number of groups into which the target is classified. .   The object detection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the curved road determination unit determines that a target classified into a group having the largest number of targets is a target representing a curved road side object. An object detection method in an object detection device,
The object detection device calculates a characteristic value of a circle passing through the positions of all the targets included in the combination for each combination of at least three targets for the target representing the stationary object, and the calculated circle A first step of classifying groups with respect to the combination based on the characteristic values of
A second process in which the object detection device determines a target representing a curved roadside object based on the classified group;
An object detection method characterized by comprising: In the computer of the object detection device,
For a target representing a stationary object, calculate a characteristic value of a circle that passes through the positions of all the targets included in the combination for each combination of at least three targets, and based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle , A procedure for classifying groups with respect to the combination,
A procedure for determining a target representing a curved roadside object based on the classified group,
Object detection program to execute. An operation control system comprising an object detection device and an operation control unit that controls an operation related to a vehicle based on a position or speed of a target input from the object detection device,
The object detection device includes:
For a target representing a stationary object, calculate a characteristic value of a circle that passes through the positions of all the targets included in the combination for each combination of at least three targets, and based on the calculated characteristic value of the circle A grouping unit for classifying groups with respect to the combination;
A curved road determination unit for determining a target representing a curved roadside object based on the classified group,
In the operation control unit, for a target that the curved road determination unit determines to represent a curved roadside object, a target that has not been determined to represent a curved roadside object is the presence or absence of control over the operation related to the vehicle or An operation control system having different aspects.   The motion control unit, for a target that is not determined to represent a curved roadside object, exists outside the circle related to the target that is determined to represent a curved roadside object or whether it exists within the circle The operation control system according to claim 10, wherein whether or not to perform the control is determined in response.

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