JP3266832B2 - Recognition method of objects in vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle for controlling the operation of an actuator on the basis of data of a target located in front of a vehicle, and more particularly to a method for determining whether a target is a stationary object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle capable of recognizing a contrasting object in front of the own vehicle, the relative speed of the contrasting object detected by the contrasting object detection unit with respect to the own vehicle is lower than a certain threshold value. When it becomes smaller, the control object is determined to be a stationary object.

[0003]

However, there are cases where a reflector (so-called cat's eye) is embedded in a road surface, and when traveling on such a road surface, a preceding vehicle which is moving to be controlled is controlled. Due to the close proximity of the cat's eye to the reference object, the preceding vehicle and the cat's eye may be put together on the same label as the same control object. When the object is recognized as an independent object, the cat's eye, which is a stationary object, may be erroneously recognized as a moving object having a certain speed due to separation from the preceding vehicle. At this time, in the conventional method in which whether or not the object is a stationary object is determined at a certain threshold value, when the threshold value is set relatively high, the stationary object is quickly identified after the appearance of the cat's eye. It is possible to judge,
When the moving object is decelerated, the moving object may be erroneously determined to be a stationary object. When the threshold value is set relatively low, it takes time to determine that the cat's eye is a stationary object. Operation may be unnecessarily controlled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to accurately recognize a stationary object on a road surface while avoiding erroneous determination of a moving object as a stationary object. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for recognizing a control object in a vehicle, in which control is not unnecessarily generated.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises a contrast object detection sensor for detecting a position of a contrast object in front of the vehicle, and an output of the sensor. A control unit for detecting the control object having the same label as the same control by applying the same label to the control objects which are close to each other based on the control object, and operating based on the data of the control object detected by the control unit. In a vehicle equipped with an actuator that controls the speed of the object, the speed of the object detected by the object detection unit is compared with the speed of the object.
For each label , the speed of the control object is compared with a threshold value set to decrease with time from the appearance of the control object, and the speed of the control object is lower than the threshold value. Is determined to be a stationary object.

According to the above configuration of the present invention, when the time lapse from the appearance of the stationary object is relatively short, the object is determined to be the stationary object by a relatively high threshold value. It is possible to judge, and it is possible to avoid erroneously recognizing a stationary object as a moving object as much as possible. Since it is determined whether or not the vehicle is a stationary object with a low threshold value, even if the preceding vehicle suddenly decelerates, it is possible to control the operation of the actuator corresponding to the sudden deceleration without erroneously determining that the vehicle is a stationary object. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle in front of the own vehicle.
Control object detection sensor for detecting the position of the control object, and the sensor
Identical labels for controls that are close to each other based on the output of
To make the control with the same label the same control.
Object detection unit for detecting
The operation is controlled based on the data of the detected object
Object detection in vehicles equipped with an actuator
The speed of the object detected by the unit and the appearance of the object
Value set to decrease as time elapses from time
Is compared with the threshold value obtained by multiplying the vehicle speed by
And when the speed of the object is less than the threshold
And determining that the control object is a stationary object.
I do.

According to the above configuration of the invention of claim 2,
When the time lapse from the appearance of the stationary object is relatively short, the comparative object can be determined to be the stationary object by the relatively high threshold value. It is possible to avoid erroneously recognizing a moving object as much as possible, and determine whether a moving object is a stationary object with a relatively low threshold value if the object has been recognized as a control object for a relatively long time. Therefore, even if there is a sudden deceleration of the preceding vehicle, it is possible to control the operation of the actuator corresponding to the sudden deceleration without erroneously determining that the preceding vehicle is a stationary object.
Also, in particular, in the invention of claim 2, since the appearance of the control object,
The value set so that it becomes smaller as time passes
Since the threshold value is obtained by multiplying the vehicle speed, the threshold value is set relatively high when the own vehicle speed is high, and the threshold value is set relatively low when the own vehicle speed is relatively low.
The threshold value can be set according to the traveling state of the own vehicle.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on one embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle which follows a preceding vehicle at a fixed distance. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the electronic control unit, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a target determination unit, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a stationary object determination unit, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a setting table of an own vehicle speed ratio. is there.

[0011] First, in FIG. 1, the left front wheel W _FL and the front right wheel W _FR of the front wheel drive vehicle disc brake B _FL and the right front wheel disc brake B _FR for the left front wheel is mounted, the left rear wheels W _RL and rear right The wheel W _RR is equipped with a left rear wheel disc brake B _RL and a right rear wheel disc brake B _RR .

An oil passage 2 connected to an output port 1 of a master cylinder M for outputting a braking oil pressure according to a depression operation of a brake pedal P, and respective disk brakes B _FL , B _FR , B _RL ,
A brake actuator A ₁ is provided between the oil passages 3 _FL , 3 _FR , 3 _RL , and 3 _RR individually connected to the B _RR .
When the brake actuator A ₁ is not operating, the brake actuator A _{1 communicates} between the oil passage 2 and the oil passages 3 _FL , 3 _FR , 3 _RL , and 3 _RR to apply the braking oil pressure from the master cylinder M to each of the disk brakes B _FL , B _FR , B _RL , B _RR and the hydraulic pressure output by the brake actuator A ₁ while the oil passage 2 and the oil passages 3 _FL , 3 _FR , 3 _RL , 3 _RR are cut off during operation and the hydraulic pressure output by the brake actuator A ₁ are applied to each disc brake B _FL. , B _FR , B _RL , and B _RR .

A throttle valve 5 provided in an intake passage 4 of an engine (not shown) has a throttle actuator A _2.
Connected to the throttle actuator A ₂
Controls the opening of the throttle valve 4, that is, the output of the engine.

At the front of the vehicle, it is possible to transmit a signal from the own vehicle to the front and to receive a reflected signal from a contrasting object in front of the own vehicle. A contrast object detection sensor 6 such as a laser radar capable of calculating the position of the contrast object with respect to the own vehicle based on time is mounted. The contrast object detection sensor 6 scans in the vehicle width direction to scan the vehicle width direction. The position of the control object with respect to the own vehicle in a certain range can be detected.

The left and right rear wheels which are driven wheels have wheel speed sensors 7 _RL , 7 _RR for individually detecting their wheel speeds.
Are respectively attached. Thus, the control object detection sensor 6,
Wheel speed sensors 7 _RL , 7 _RR and vehicle yaw rate Y
From the yaw rate sensor 8 for detecting the brake actuator A ₁ and the throttle actuator A ₁ based on the signals from the sensors 6, 7 _RL , 7 _RR , 8 are input to the electronic control unit C. _Two
Controls the operation of

In FIG. 2, the electronic control unit C includes a vehicle speed calculating means 10, a contrast object detecting unit 11, a target determining unit 12, and a lock-on processing unit 1.
3 and an inter-vehicle control unit 14.

The own vehicle speed calculating means 10 calculates the own vehicle speed V based on the detected values of the wheel speed sensors 7 _RL and 7 _RR for detecting the driven wheel speed.

In the object detection unit 11, based on the signal from the object detection sensor 6, the position of the object is set at the origin (X = 0, Y = 0) as shown in FIG. The labels are expanded on the X and Y coordinates and the labels of the reference data that are close to each other on the coordinates are, for example, NO. 4,
8, 15,..., And the reference data close to each other are collected as the same reference having the same label. Thus, the contrast object detection unit 11 obtains the position P of the contrast object for each label by calculating the center of gravity position of each label, and calculates the temporal change amount of the position P of the contrast object for each label. Relative speed Δ of control object for each label with respect to own vehicle
V will be obtained.

The target determination unit 12 includes the own vehicle speed V obtained by the own vehicle speed calculating means 10 and the yaw rate sensor 8.
, The label L, the position P, and the relative speed ΔV of each control object obtained by the control object detection unit 11 are input. Thus, the target determination unit 12 determines a specific control target, that is, a target to be followed by the own vehicle based on the input values, and as shown in FIG.
It comprises a trajectory calculation means 16 and a target determination means 17.

In FIG. 5, the stationary object determining means 15 includes a duration counting section 18 for counting the duration of each label from the appearance of the reference object, and the vehicle speed according to the count time T in the counting section 18. A vehicle speed ratio setting unit 19 for determining the ratio K, and a relative speed Δ of the control object for each label with respect to the vehicle.
An adding unit 20 for adding the vehicle speed V and the vehicle speed V to obtain a reference object speed (absolute speed) for each label, and a vehicle speed ratio setting unit 19
A multiplying unit 21 that obtains a judgment threshold value by multiplying the own vehicle speed ratio K by the own vehicle speed V determined by the above, and determines that the contrast object is a stationary object when the contrast object speed becomes lower than the judgment threshold value. A comparator 22 for outputting a stationary object flag F which is a high-level signal.

As shown in FIG. 6, the own vehicle speed ratio setting unit 19 sets the own vehicle speed ratio as the count time T in the counting unit 18 increases, that is, as the time elapses from the beginning of the appearance of the contrasting object. K is preset so as to be small, and the determination threshold value obtained by the multiplication unit 21 is set so as to become smaller as time elapses from the appearance of the control object.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the own vehicle speed V and the yaw rate Y are input to the trajectory calculating means 16, and the own vehicle speed V and the yaw rate Y are calculated from the own vehicle speed V and the yaw rate Y, assuming that the own vehicle makes a constant-speed circular motion. The prediction calculation of the trajectory of the own vehicle up to 100 m ahead is performed.

The target determining means 17 includes a label L, a position P, and a relative speed ΔV of each object, a stationary object flag F determined by the stationary object determining means 15, and a vehicle prediction predicted by the trajectory calculating means 16. The target and the trajectory are input, and the target determining means 17 determines the contrast target of the label located closest to the own vehicle on the own vehicle predicted trajectory as the target to be followed.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the target determination unit 12 outputs the target determination means 1 of the unit 12.
7, the target label L _T ,
The relative speed ΔV _{T of} the target with respect to the own vehicle and the distance _DT to the target are output and given to the lock-on processing unit 13.

In the lock-on processing unit 13, for example, when the target is changed, the control processing of both actuators A ₁ and A ₂ is temporarily stopped until data of the changed target is stably obtained. A signal for temporarily stopping the control by the headway control unit 14 is given from the lock-on processing unit 13 to the headway control unit 14, but in other cases, the relative position of the target with respect to the own vehicle is The speed ΔV _T and the distance _DT are provided from the lock-on processing unit 13 to the following distance control unit 14.

In addition to the signal from the lock-on processing unit 13, the following distance control unit 14 includes
The vehicle speed V obtained at 0 is input, and the brake actuator A ₁ and the throttle actuator A are controlled so that the distance between the vehicle and the target is maintained at a constant distance.
Control signal for controlling the _second actuation is given from the vehicle control unit 14 to both the actuator A _1, A _2.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The speed of the object detected by the object detection unit 11 and the threshold value are compared by the comparator 22 of the stationary object determination means 15. When the speed of the object becomes lower than the threshold value, the control object is determined to be a stationary object, and the control object determined to be the stationary object is avoided from being set as a target. A ₁ ,
And so as to avoid unnecessary operation control of A _2.

Further, the multiplying section 21 multiplies the own vehicle speed V by the own vehicle speed ratio K, which becomes smaller as time elapses from the beginning of the appearance of the contrast object, to obtain a threshold value corresponding to the own vehicle speed V. When the own vehicle speed V is high, the threshold value is set relatively high, and when the own vehicle speed V is relatively low, the threshold value is set relatively low. Becomes possible.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the present invention described in the appended claims. It is possible to do.

For example, as a value based on a temporal change in the position of the control object detected by the control object detection unit 11, that is, the speed , the relative speed of the control object with respect to the own vehicle is used instead of the control object speed. It may be. Also, instead of not determining a target for a control object determined to be a stationary object, the control object determined to be a stationary object can be determined as a target, but a target for a stationary object is determined. The gain of the speed control of the own vehicle may be changed. Furthermore, if it is recognized that the control object has split due to detecting the body other than the reflecting member provided at the rear of the preceding vehicle, the count value before the split may be taken over, and if so, It is possible to prevent the preceding vehicle from being erroneously recognized as a stationary object.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a vehicle in which the running control following the target set as the target is performed has been described. The present invention can also be applied to a vehicle that applies an automatic brake when the value becomes equal to or less than the value or issues an alarm that alerts the vehicle driver.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the time elapsed since the appearance of the stationary object is relatively short, the object is stopped by a relatively high threshold value. Objects that have been recognized as controls over a relatively long period of time, and whether or not they are still objects are determined at a relatively low threshold. To minimize the possibility of erroneously recognizing a moving object as a moving object, and to control the actuator operation in response to the sudden deceleration of a preceding vehicle without erroneously judging it as a stationary object even if it suddenly decelerates. Can be.

In particular, in the invention of claim 2, the output of the control object
Set to decrease as time elapses from the current time
Since the threshold value is obtained by multiplying the value by the own vehicle speed, the threshold value can be set according to the running state of the own vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an electronic control unit.

FIG. 3 is a coordinate development diagram of control object detection data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a target determination unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a stationary object determination unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a setting table of a vehicle speed ratio.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 ... counterpart detection sensor 11 ... control object detection unit A ₁ ... brake actuator A ₂ ... throttle actuator

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for detecting a position of a control object in front of a host vehicle.
(6) and the output of the sensor (6)
Labeling controls that are close to each other based on the same label
To detect a control with the same label as the same control
A contrast object detection unit (11) and the contrast object detection unit.
Operation based on the data of the control object detected in (11)
The controlled actuator (A_One, A_TwoCar with
In both cases, the control object detected by the control object detection unit (11)speed
When,To compare with the speed of this controlRelease of the control
Set to decrease as time elapses from the current time
The threshold value is compared for each label, andControl speedBut
When the reference object is smaller than the threshold value,
Contrast in vehicles, characterized in that it is determined that
Object recognition method. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting a position of a control object in front of the own vehicle.
(6) and the output of the sensor (6)
Labeling controls that are close to each other based on the same label
To detect a control with the same label as the same control
A contrast object detection unit (11) and the contrast object detection unit.
Operation based on the data of the control object detected in (11)
Vehicle with controlled actuators (A ₁ , A ₂ )
In both cases, the speed of the object detected by the object detection unit (11)
And decrease with the passage of time from the appearance of the object
Is multiplied by the vehicle speed (V)
The obtained threshold value is compared for each label, and the speed of the control
When the degree is less than the threshold, the control
A method for recognizing a contrast object in a vehicle , comprising determining that the object is a stationary object .