JP2021103101A - Object detector - Google Patents

Abstract

To detect an object with high accuracy and to improve processing time for detecting the object.SOLUTION: An object detector 50 includes: a light emitting part 110; a light receiving part 120; an identification part 230; a scene determination part 240; and a resolution determination part 250. The light emitting part irradiates a measurement range with irradiation light. The light receiving part has a plurality of light-receiving elements 124 capable of receiving incident light including reflected light of irradiation light from the measurement range, and outputs a light-receiving value corresponding to a light-receiving state of the light-receiving elements 124 included in each pixel as a pixel value of each pixel with a preset collection of light-receiving elements 124 as one pixel. The identification part identifies an object existing within the measurement range from an image represented by the pixel value of each pixel. The scene determination part acquires information about the scene and determines the scene according to the acquired information. According to the scene determination result, the resolution determination part determines a number of collections of light receiving elements 124 constituting one pixel in the light receiving part 120, and determines the resolution of each pixel.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to an object detection device.

In recent years, sensors such as image pickup cameras, millimeter-wave radars, and laser radars (also called LiDAR: Light Detection and Ranging) have been installed in vehicles to avoid vehicle collisions and drive assistance, and vehicle control is based on the detection results of these sensors. For example, techniques for performing driving force control, steering control, braking control, and the like have been proposed. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of recognizing an obstacle such as a preceding vehicle in front of the own vehicle by a sensor fusion recognition process of exploration in front of the own vehicle by a radar and photographing of the front of the own vehicle by a camera. ..

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-329779

In order to detect an object with high accuracy by a sensor such as a radar as described above, it is preferable that the resolution of the sensor is high and the resolution of the image represented by the data acquired by the sensor is high. However, the higher the resolution and the higher the resolution, the larger the amount of data to be acquired, and the longer the time required to process the acquired data. On the other hand, if the resolution of the sensor is low and the resolution of the acquired image is low, the amount of data to be acquired is small and the time required to process the acquired data is short. However, in this case, it becomes difficult to detect an object with high accuracy, and for example, a plurality of different objects in close proximity cannot be identified, and a plurality of different objects may be recognized as one object. Therefore, there is a demand for a technique capable of detecting an object with high accuracy and improving the processing time for detecting the object.

The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

As one form of the present disclosure, an object detection device (50) mounted on a vehicle is provided. This object detection device has a light emitting unit (110) that irradiates the measurement range with irradiation light, and a plurality of light receiving elements (124) capable of receiving incident light including reflected light from the measurement range, and has a plurality of light receiving elements (124) in advance. A light receiving unit (120) that outputs a set light receiving element as one pixel and outputs a light receiving value corresponding to the light receiving state of the light receiving element included in each pixel as a pixel value of each pixel, and a pixel of each pixel. An identification unit (230) that identifies an object existing in the measurement range from an image represented by a value, and a scene determination unit (240) that acquires information about the scene and determines the scene according to the acquired information. A resolution determining unit (250) is provided, which determines the number of groups of the light receiving elements constituting the one pixel in the light receiving unit according to the determination result of the scene, and determines the resolution of each pixel.

According to the object detection device of the above-described embodiment, for example, in a scene that should have high resolution, the resolution of each pixel is increased to enable highly accurate detection of an object, and if it is not a scene that should have high resolution, each pixel. It is possible to reduce the resolution of the object and improve the processing time for detecting the object.

The present disclosure can also be realized in various forms other than the object detection device. For example, it can be realized in the form of a vehicle provided with an object detection device, an object detection method, a computer program for realizing these devices and methods, a storage medium for storing the computer program, and the like.

An explanatory view showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle equipped with an object detection device as an embodiment of the present disclosure. The block diagram which shows the functional structure of the object detection apparatus in 1st Embodiment. The explanatory view which shows typically the structure of the light receiving element. A flowchart showing the procedure of the object detection process. Explanatory drawing which shows the example of the 1st scene. Explanatory drawing which shows the example of the 2nd scene. Explanatory drawing which shows another example of the 2nd scene. Explanatory drawing which shows the example of the 3rd scene. The block diagram which shows the functional structure of the detection part in 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the object detection processing in 2nd Embodiment.

A. First Embodiment:
A1. Device configuration:
As shown in FIG. 1, the object detection device 50 of the present embodiment is mounted on the vehicle 500 and detects an object existing in the range set by the vehicle 500, for example, another vehicle, a pedestrian, a building, or the like. The detection result is used for driving control such as driving force control, braking control, and steering control of the vehicle 500, for example.

The object detection device 50 irradiates the irradiation light Lz and receives the reflected light from the object. In FIG. 1, the origin is the emission center position of the irradiation light Lz, the front direction of the vehicle 500 is the Y-axis, the width direction of the vehicle 500 is the X-axis through the origin, and the Z is vertically above the origin. It is represented as an axis. As shown in FIG. 1, the irradiation light Lz is vertically long light in the Z-axis direction, and is irradiated to a vertically long predetermined range Ar by one irradiation. Further, the irradiation light Lz is applied to the entire MR in a predetermined measurement range by one-dimensional scanning in a direction parallel to the XY plane. In the object detection device 50, in addition to the reflected light of the irradiation light Lz from the object, light other than the reflected light, for example, sunlight, street light, headlight of another vehicle, etc. (hereinafter, referred to as "background light"). ) Is received.

The object detection device 50 identifies the light obtained by removing the background light from the received light as the reflected light from the object, and the time from irradiating the irradiation light Lz to receiving the reflected light, that is, the flight time of the light. Identify the TOF (Time of Flight). The object detection device 50 calculates the distance to the object, assuming that the flight time TOF is the time for light to reciprocate between the vehicle 500 and the object. Therefore, the object detection device 50 uses a reflection intensity image in which the light receiving intensity (also referred to as “light receiving value”) of the reflected light of the irradiation light Lz is the pixel value of each pixel, and the light receiving intensity of the background light as the pixel value of each pixel. A background light image to be used and a distance image representing the distance to the object are acquired, and the object is detected using these three images.

As shown in FIG. 2, the object detection device 50 includes a sensor device 10 and a processing device 20. As will be described later, the sensor device 10 irradiates the irradiation light Lz, acquires the received value of the incident light including the reflected light of the irradiation light Lz for each pixel, and outputs it as a pixel value for each pixel. As will be described later, the processing device 20 controls the sensor device 10 to acquire the pixel value of each pixel output from the sensor device 10, and detects an object by using the acquired pixel value of each pixel. The sensor device 10 is, for example, a LiDAR mounted on a vehicle.

The sensor device 10 includes a light emitting unit 110 that irradiates the irradiation light Lz, and a light receiving unit 120 that acquires the light receiving intensity of the incident light including the reflected light of the irradiation light Lz for each pixel and outputs it as a pixel value for each pixel. A scanning unit 130 for scanning the irradiation light Lz within a predetermined measurement range MR is provided.

The light emitting unit 110 includes a light emitting element 111 and a light emitting control unit 112. The light emitting element 111 is composed of a semiconductor laser diode, and emits pulsed laser light as irradiation light Lz at predetermined intervals according to the control of the light emitting control unit 112. For example, the predetermined period is set in advance by an experiment or the like as a period longer than the period required for the sensor device 10 to receive the reflected light from the object OB in the measurement range MR after being irradiated with the irradiation light Lz. There is. The irradiation light Lz emitted from the light emitting element 111 is formed into a vertically long irradiation light Lz as shown in FIG. 1 by an optical system (not shown). The light emitting control unit 112 drives the light emitting element 111 as described above according to the control of the processing device 20. The number of light emitting elements 111 may be one or a plurality. As the light emitting element 111, any other type of laser light emitting element such as a solid-state laser may be used instead of the semiconductor laser diode.

The scanning unit 130 is composed of a so-called one-dimensional scanner. The scanning unit 130 includes a mirror 131 that reflects the irradiation light Lz emitted from the light emitting unit 110, a rotating shaft 132 fixed along the central axis of the mirror 131, an actuator 133 that rotationally drives the rotating shaft 132, and an actuator. It includes an actuator control unit 134 that controls 133. The actuator 133 is, for example, a rotary solenoid, and repeats forward rotation and inversion within a predetermined angle range (hereinafter, also referred to as “angle of view range”) under the control of the actuator control unit 134. As a result, the scanning unit 130 rotates the mirror 131 around the rotation axis 132 to perform one-dimensional scanning of the irradiation light Lz from one end to the other end in the horizontal direction of the measurement range MR (see FIG. 1). Can be done throughout. The measurement range MR corresponds to the scanning range of the irradiation light Lz. The actuator 133 is not limited to the rotary solenoid, and various electric motors such as a brushless motor may be used. Further, the rotation type is not limited to repeating normal rotation and inversion within a predetermined angle of view range, and may be a rotary type that continues to rotate in the same direction and may receive and emit light within a certain range.

By performing one-dimensional scanning of the irradiation light Lz by the scanning unit 130, the light emitting unit 110 irradiates the measurement range MR (see FIG. 1) in front of the vehicle 500 while changing the direction of irradiating the irradiation light Lz. Irradiate light Lz. The irradiation light Lz may be horizontally long, and the scanning may be two-dimensional scanning. Further, the scanning unit 130 is omitted, the irradiation light is emitted from the light emitting unit 110 over the entire measurement range MR, and the light receiving unit 120 receives the light including the reflected light over the entire measurement range MR. You may do so.

The irradiation light Lz emitted by the light emitting unit 110 is reflected by the object OB in the measurement range MR. The light including the reflected light and the background light reflected by the object OB returns to the mirror 131 of the scanning unit 130 and is received by the light receiving element 121 of the light receiving unit 120.

The light receiving unit 120 includes a light receiving element 121 and a light receiving control unit 122. As shown in FIG. 3, the light receiving element 121 is a light receiving element array in which a plurality of light receiving elements 124 are two-dimensionally arranged in a plane on the light receiving surface 123. The light receiving element 124 is composed of, for example, a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD). However, the light receiving element 124 may be composed of other types of light receiving elements such as a PIN photodiode and an APD.

The light receiving control unit 122 arranges a plurality of light receiving elements 124 arranged on the light receiving surface 123 (see FIG. 3) in a two-dimensional manner with a group of light receiving elements 124 having a number H in the horizontal direction and a number V in the vertical direction as one pixel. It is divided into a plurality of pixel Ps, and the light receiving results of [H × V] light receiving elements 124 included in each pixel Ps are output as pixel values of each pixel Ps. H and V are integers of 1 or more, respectively. The number [H × V] of the light receiving elements 124 constituting one pixel Ps is also referred to as “pixel size”. The smaller the pixel size, the higher the resolution of the pixel that detects the light including the reflected light of the irradiation light Lz acquired by the light receiving unit 120, and the larger the resolution of the acquired image.

The pixel size of one pixel Ps, that is, the number of light receiving elements 124 [H × V] can be changed by the light receiving control unit 122. The light receiving control unit 122 sets the pixel size set according to the control from the processing device 20, that is, with the resolution, the light receiving values of the [H × V] light receiving elements 124 included in each pixel Ps, respectively, for each pixel Ps. Is output to the processing device 20 as the pixel value of. The pixel Ps_t shown by the alternate long and short dash line frame in FIG. 3 shows an example of a low-resolution pixel set to a pixel size of H = V = 8, and the pixel Ps_h shown by the broken line frame in FIG. 3 is H = V =. An example of a high-resolution pixel set to a pixel size of 4 is shown. The pixel sizes of the low-resolution pixels Ps_t and the high-resolution pixels Ps_h are examples, and are not limited to these, and can be set to arbitrary values.

The processing device 20 (see FIG. 2) is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and the CPU executes a program prepared in advance to execute various processes necessary for detecting an object. The processing device 20 may have a mode in which a CPU and a memory are provided in an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device). The processing device 20 includes a distance measuring unit 220, an identification unit 230, a scene determination unit 240, and a resolution determination unit 250, in addition to a control unit 210 that controls the entire object detection device 50 including the control of the sensor device 10.

The ranging unit 220 acquires a background light image, a reflection intensity image, and a distance image from the pixel values of each pixel output from the light receiving unit 120. The background light image, the distance image, and the reflection intensity image are acquired every cycle in which the light emitting unit 110 performs one scan. The period in which this scanning is performed is also referred to as a frame period, and the acquired distance image, background light image, and reflection intensity image are also referred to as a distance frame image, background light frame image, and reflection intensity frame image.

The background light image means an image showing the light receiving intensity of the background light. The background light image is an image acquired based on the pixel values of the other pixels excluding the pixels corresponding to the orientation estimated to receive the reflected light from the object OB. The distance image means an image showing the distance to the object OB calculated for each pixel of the light receiving surface 123 as a pixel value. In the distance image, for each pixel, the time from irradiating the irradiation light to receiving the reflected light, that is, the distance from the flight time TOF of the light to the object OB is calculated, and the calculated distance is used as the pixel value. It is an image which shows. The reflection intensity image means an image in which the intensity in each pixel of the light received from the region irradiated with the irradiation light Lz, that is, the predetermined range Ar shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, referred to as “reflection intensity”) is used as the pixel value. To do. The reflection intensity image may be composed of pixel values obtained by removing the corresponding background light values from the pixel values of each pixel output from the light receiving unit 120.

The identification unit 230 identifies objects such as other vehicles, pedestrians, and buildings existing in the measurement range MR from the reflection intensity image and the distance image. The scene determination unit 240 determines the scene in the measurement range MR from the identification result by the identification unit 230. The resolution determination unit 250 determines the resolution of one pixel of the frame image acquired in one frame period, that is, the resolution of the frame image, according to the determination result of the scene. The scene determination by the scene determination unit 240 and the resolution determination by the resolution determination unit 250 will be described later.

A2. Object detection processing:
When the start switch of the vehicle 500 (see FIG. 1) is turned on, the object detection device 50 repeatedly executes the object detection process shown in FIG. In the vehicle 500, an interface for receiving instructions from the user to start and end the object detection process, for example, a physical button or a menu screen displayed on the monitor is provided in advance on the instrument panel, and the button or menu screen is provided. The object detection process may be started when the process start instruction is received by the operation of. Steps S110 to S180, which will be described later, included in the object detection process are repeatedly executed every frame period.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 210 (see FIG. 2) controls the light emitting unit 110 to emit light from the light emitting element 111, that is, to irradiate the irradiation light Lz (step S110), and controls the light receiving unit 120. Then, the light receiving element 121 receives light, that is, each pixel having a set resolution receives light, and the light receiving value of each pixel is acquired as the pixel value of each pixel from the light receiving control unit 122 (step S120). Then, the control unit 210 performs the distance measurement process by the distance measurement unit 220 (step S130), and acquires a frame image of the background light, the distance, and the reflection intensity having the set resolution (step S140). In the following, the frame image of the background light, the distance and the reflection intensity is also simply referred to as a “frame image”. Then, the control unit 210 identifies an object OB such as another vehicle, a pedestrian, or a building existing in the measurement range MR from the frame image acquired by the distance measuring unit 220 by the identification unit 230 (step S150). ). Further, the control unit 210 determines the scene of the frame image acquired by the distance measuring unit 220 by the scene determination unit 240 (step S160), and the resolution determination unit 250 determines the scene in the subsequent one frame period according to the scene determination result. The resolution of one pixel of the frame image to be acquired, that is, the resolution of the frame image is determined (step S170). Then, the control unit 210 sets the light emission control condition of the light emitting unit 110 and the light reception control condition of the light receiving unit 120 in one frame period so as to correspond to the determined resolution (step S180), and ends the processing once.

A3. Scene judgment:
In the scene determination by the scene determination unit 240 described above, specifically, it is determined whether or not the scene corresponds to a preset scene. Then, when it is determined that the scene does not correspond to the preset scene, the resolution of one pixel of the acquired frame image is set to a low resolution such as the low resolution pixel Ps_t shown in FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is a possibility that the scene corresponds to a preset scene, the resolution of one pixel of the acquired frame image is set to a high resolution such as the high resolution pixel Ps_h shown in FIG. .. Examples of the preset scenes include the first to third scenes shown below.

(1) First scene For example, the following cases can be considered as the first scene.
(1a) When an object having a certain height or higher exists in the traveling direction of the own vehicle (see region 1a in FIG. 5).
(1b) When an object having a height above a certain level continuous from the road surface exists in the traveling direction of the own vehicle (see region 1b in FIG. 5).

When there are objects in the sky, such as signs, tunnels, elevated structures, pedestrian bridges, etc., in order to correctly identify the space under them and the vehicles passing through that space, the area where the objects in the sky are likely to exist is detected. , It is desirable to acquire a frame image with high resolution at least in the vertical direction from that area. Therefore, when it is determined that there is a possibility that the first scene is applicable, it is desirable to set at least the resolution in the vertical direction of one pixel of the acquired frame image to be high resolution.

The determination of the possibility of falling under the first scene can be executed, for example, as follows. A low-resolution pixel indicating the presence of an object included in a plurality of low-resolution pixels (hereinafter, also referred to as "low-resolution pixel group") constituting the acquired low-resolution frame image (hereinafter, also referred to as "low-resolution image"). Among them, the number N of low-resolution pixels whose height Hi from the road surface (i is a number indicating the position of the pixel) is equal to or higher than the predetermined height threshold Hth is obtained. Then, when the obtained number N is equal to or higher than a predetermined fixed number of pixels threshold value Nth, it is determined that there is a possibility of corresponding to the first scene, and the resolution of at least one pixel of the acquired frame image in the vertical direction is determined. Is a high resolution. The height threshold value Hth may be set based on various height restrictions defined by laws and regulations such as the Road Act. The number of pixels threshold Nth may be set to a number that can assume the existence of an object in the sky.

In the above description, the resolution of the entire frame image to be acquired has been increased, but only the area around the height threshold Hth in the vertical direction, that is, the area where an object having a height of a certain value or more exists. Alternatively, the resolution may be increased only in the region where an object having a height continuous above a certain level exists from the road surface and the peripheral region thereof.

(2) Second scene For example, the following cases can be considered for the second scene.
(2a) When the preceding vehicle does not exist within a certain distance, that is, when there is an area where there is no vehicle between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle (see region 2a in FIG. 6).
(2b) When there is an orientation determined to be the road surface in the acquired frame image (see region 2b in FIG. 7).

When there is a low-profile object existing on the road surface, in order to detect the low-profile object, in the area where the low-profile object may be present, that is, in a normal low resolution state, the road surface and the low-profile object are present. It is desirable to detect the region to be determined (hereinafter, also referred to as "road surface region") and acquire a frame image having a high resolution at least in the vertical direction from that region. Therefore, when it is determined that there is a possibility that the second scene is applicable, it is desirable to set at least the resolution in the vertical direction of one pixel of the acquired frame image to be high resolution.

The determination of the possibility of falling under the second scene can be executed, for example, as follows. When an object existing in the acquired low-resolution image is identified and a preceding vehicle or a road surface is detected, it is determined that there is a possibility of corresponding to the second scene, and at least the vertical resolution of one pixel of the acquired frame image is determined. Is set to high resolution. The detection of the preceding vehicle is executed by determining whether or not the shape of the object identified from the low-resolution image may be a "vehicle". Further, the detection of the road surface is executed by determining the region of the object identified from the low-resolution image as the region of the object having the predetermined road surface threshold Rth or less as the region of the road surface. The road surface threshold value Rth may be set based on various height restrictions defined by laws and regulations such as the Road Law.

In the above description, the resolution of the entire frame image to be acquired has been increased, but the area around the road surface threshold value Rth in the vertical direction, that is, the area determined to be the area where there is no vehicle, or the road surface. The resolution may be increased only in the determined region and the peripheral region thereof.

(3) Third scene For example, the following cases can be considered for the third scene.
(3a) When there is a space on the left side of a stopped object such as a stopped vehicle waiting for a right turn so that the own vehicle can pass through (area 3a in FIG. 8).

If there is a space on the left side of a stopped object such as a stopped vehicle waiting for a right turn, the space on the right side of the stopped object in the direction of travel and the space on the left side of it are used to determine whether or not it is possible to pass through that space. It is desirable to acquire a frame image having a high resolution at least in the horizontal direction, which can detect a region and measure the width of the region in the space with high accuracy. Therefore, when it is determined that there is a possibility that it corresponds to the third scene, it is desirable to set at least the resolution in the lateral direction of one pixel of the acquired frame image to be high resolution.

The determination of the possibility of falling under the third scene can be executed, for example, as follows. If an object existing in the acquired low-resolution image is identified, a stopped object existing on the right side of the road surface in the traveling direction is detected, and the road surface is detected in the left lateral direction thereof, it may correspond to the third scene. The resolution of at least one pixel of the acquired frame image in the lateral direction is set to high resolution.

In the above description, the resolution of the entire frame image to be acquired has been increased, but the resolution may be increased only in the space on the left side of the stopped object and the peripheral area thereof.

The above three scenes are examples, and are not limited to these three scenes. Various scenes in which it is judged that it is desirable to acquire an image with a high resolution instead of the usual low resolution to identify an object may be set as a preset scene. Further, all of the above three scenes and various other scenes may be preset scenes, and one or more of these scenes may be preset scenes.

As described above, the object detection device can usually detect an object with a low resolution, and can detect an object with a high resolution in the case of a scene in which the object can be detected with a high resolution. As a result, it is possible to detect an object with high accuracy and to improve the processing time for detecting the object.

B. Second embodiment:
The object detection device 50 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is different from the object detection device 50 of the first embodiment (see FIG. 2) in that the self-position detection device 30 is provided. Further, the object detection device 50 of the second embodiment is composed of the self-position detection device 30, the control unit 210 of the processing device 20, the distance measuring unit 220, the identification unit 230, the scene determination unit 240, and the resolution determination unit 250. As shown in FIG. 10, the procedure of the object detection process is different from the procedure of the object detection process of the first embodiment (see FIG. 4). Therefore, in the following, only the contents related to the procedure of the object detection process will be described.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the control unit 210 (see FIG. 9) starts the object detection process, it first acquires the surrounding information of the position where the own vehicle exists from the self-position detecting device 30, and from the acquired surrounding information. , The scene determination unit 240 determines the scene (step S102). For the self-position detecting device 30, for example, a navigation device mounted on a vehicle is used. The scene determination unit 240 is necessary for determining the scene as map information, traffic information, etc. within a certain distance from the position where the own vehicle exists (hereinafter, also referred to as “self-position”) detected by the self-position detection device 30. Information is acquired, and a scene is determined from the acquired information.

Then, the control unit 210 determines the resolution of one pixel of the frame image acquired in one frame period, that is, the resolution of the frame image, according to the determination result of the scene by the resolution determination unit 250 (step S104). Then, the control unit 210 sets the light emission control condition of the light emitting unit 110 and the light reception control condition of the light receiving unit 120 in one frame period so as to correspond to the determined resolution (step S106). Then, the control unit 210 irradiates the irradiation light Lz under the control of the light emitting unit 110 (step S110), receives light from the light receiving element 121 under the control of the light receiving unit 120 (step S120), and performs distance measurement processing by the distance measuring unit 220 (step S130). , The frame image is acquired (step S140), the object OB existing in the measurement range MR is identified by the identification unit 230 (step S150), and the process is temporarily terminated.

Examples of the scene determined by the information acquired from the self-position detection device 30 include the first to third scenes shown below.

(1) First scene For example, the following cases can be considered as the first scene.
(1c) From the information acquired from the self-position detection device, it is assumed that the vehicle will pass near the presence of objects of a certain height or higher (see areas 1a and 1b in FIG. 5) such as signboards, tunnels, elevated tracks, and pedestrian bridges. If done

The possibility of falling under the first scene is determined from the self-position detection device 30 within a certain distance in the direction in which the vehicle travels from the self-position, above a certain height of the above-mentioned signs, tunnels, elevated structures, pedestrian bridges, etc. When the information on the existence of the object is acquired, it is determined that it may correspond to the first scene, and at least the resolution in the vertical direction of one pixel of the acquired frame image is set to high resolution.

(2) Second scene For example, the following cases can be considered for the second scene.
(2c) When it is assumed from the information acquired from the self-position detection device that the vehicle passes near a low profile object (see region 2a in FIG. 6 and region 2b in FIG. 7).

In the determination of the possibility of falling under the second scene, information indicating that a low-profile object has fallen within a certain distance in the direction in which the vehicle travels from the self-position is acquired from the self-position detection device 30. In this case, it is determined that there is a possibility that the second scene is applicable, and at least the resolution in the vertical direction of one pixel of the acquired frame image is set to high resolution.

(3) Third scene For example, the following cases can be considered for the third scene.
(3b) When it is assumed that the vehicle will pass in the vicinity of a stopped object (see region 3a in FIG. 8) such as a right-turning vehicle on the road surface.

The determination of the possibility of falling under the third scene is when information indicating that a stopped object exists within a certain distance from the self-position in the direction in which the vehicle travels is acquired from the self-position detection device 30. In addition, it is determined that there is a possibility that it corresponds to the third scene, and at least the resolution in the lateral direction of one pixel of the acquired frame image is set to high resolution.

The scenes determined as the scenes to be improved in resolution from the information acquired from the self-position detection device 30 are not limited to the first to third scenes. As various scenes in which it is judged that it is desirable to acquire an image with high resolution instead of the usual low resolution to identify an object, various scenes that can be determined based on the information acquired from the self-position detection device 30 are used. It is also possible to set a preset scene.

As described above, the object detection device usually identifies an object with a low resolution, and when it is determined that the scene should be identified with a high resolution, the object can be identified with a high resolution. it can. This makes it possible to detect an object with high accuracy and improve the processing time for detecting an object with high accuracy.

C. Other embodiments:
(1) In the first embodiment, an object detection device that determines a scene to be high resolution based on the acquired frame image will be described, and in the second embodiment, high resolution will be described based on the information acquired from the self-position detection device. The object detection device that determines the scene to be used has been described. The object detection device does not have to be limited to one of the determinations, and may be configured to include both a scene determination based on the acquired frame image and a scene determination based on the information acquired from the self-position detection device.

The object detection device 50 and its method described in the present disclosure are provided by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions embodied by a computer program. , May be realized. Alternatively, the object detection device 50 and its method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer provided by configuring the processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the object detection device 50 and its method described in the present disclosure comprises a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions and a processor composed of one or more hardware logic circuits. It may be realized by one or more dedicated computers configured by a combination. Further, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transitional tangible recording medium as an instruction executed by the computer.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be realized by various configurations within a range not deviating from the gist thereof. For example, the technical features in each embodiment corresponding to the technical features in the embodiments described in the column of the outline of the invention may be used to solve some or all of the above-mentioned problems, or one of the above-mentioned effects. It is possible to replace or combine as appropriate to achieve part or all. Further, if the technical feature is not described as essential in the present specification, it can be deleted as appropriate.

10 ... sensor device, 20 ... processing device, 30 ... self-position detection device, 50 ... object detection device, 110 ... light emitting unit, 111 ... light emitting element, 112 ... light emission control unit, 120 ... light receiving unit, 121 ... light receiving element, 122 ... light receiving control unit, 123 ... light receiving surface, 124 ... light receiving element, 130 ... scanning unit, 131 ... mirror, 132 ... rotating shaft, 133 ... actuator, 134 ... actuator control unit, 201 ... light receiving element, 210 ... control unit, 220 ... ranging unit, 230 ... identification unit, 240 ... scene judgment unit, 250 ... resolution determination unit, 500 ... vehicle, Ar ... predetermined range, Lz ... irradiation light, MR ... measurement range, OB ... object, Ps ... pixel, Ps_h ... high resolution pixel, Ps_t ... low resolution pixel

Claims (7)

An object detection device (50) mounted on a vehicle.
A light emitting unit (110) that irradiates the measurement range with irradiation light,
The said, which has a plurality of light receiving elements (124) capable of receiving incident light including reflected light of the irradiation light from the measurement range, and includes a set of preset light receiving elements as one pixel in each pixel. A light receiving unit (120) that outputs a light receiving value according to the light receiving state of the light receiving element as a pixel value of each pixel, and a light receiving unit (120).
An identification unit (230) that identifies an object existing in the measurement range from an image represented by the pixel value of each pixel, and
A scene determination unit (240) that acquires information about a scene and determines the scene according to the acquired information.
A resolution determining unit (250) that determines the number of groups of the light receiving elements constituting the one pixel in the light receiving unit and determines the resolution of each pixel according to the determination result of the scene.
An object detection device. The object detection device according to claim 1.
The scene determination unit acquires the information from the identification result in the identification unit, and determines the scene according to the acquired information.
Object detector. The object detection device according to claim 1.
The scene determination unit is an object detection device that acquires the information from an external device (30) having the information and determines the scene according to the acquired information. The object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The scene determination unit determines whether or not the scene is a first scene in which an object having a height equal to or higher than a predetermined first height with respect to the road surface through which the vehicle passes can exist.
The resolution determining unit is an object detection device that increases the resolution of each pixel output from the light receiving unit at least in the height direction of the measurement range when the scene is the first scene. The object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The scene determination unit determines whether or not the scene is a second scene in which an object having a height equal to or lower than a predetermined second height with respect to the road surface through which the vehicle passes can exist.
The resolution determining unit is an object detection device that increases the resolution of each pixel output from the light receiving unit at least in the height direction of the measurement range when the scene is the second scene. The object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
The scene determination unit determines whether or not the scene is a third scene in which a stopped object may exist on the road surface through which the vehicle passes.
The resolution determining unit is an object detection device that increases the resolution of each pixel output from the light receiving unit at least in the lateral direction of the measurement range when the scene is the third scene. The object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The light receiving element is an object detection device having a SPAD that outputs a light receiving value according to the light receiving state.

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