JP5208086B2 - Object detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an object detection device, and more specifically, by emitting a laser beam toward the periphery of the own vehicle and receiving a reflected wave obtained by reflecting the laser beam with an object existing around the own vehicle. The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting an object.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an object detection device mounted on a vehicle, for example, as in Patent Document 1 below, by combining a captured image by a camera and an object search result by a laser beam, the width of the object (with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle) The length in the horizontal direction) is accurately detected.

JP 2005-291805 A

  However, since the object detection device described in Patent Document 1 includes a camera, there is a problem in that the entire device is increased in size, weight, and cost.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to exclude the camera and perform object detection based only on the object search result by the radar light, but for example, a two-wheeled vehicle facing sideways that moves laterally with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle. When detecting, if the two-wheeled vehicle is far from the own vehicle, the wheel part having a small laser light reflection area or low reflectance cannot be detected, and only the part of the person straddling the two-wheeled vehicle is detected. When the distance between the two-wheeled vehicle and the host vehicle becomes short, the wheel portion can be gradually detected, and the detected object may gradually increase. In such a case, the vehicle control executed based on the object detection may be greatly affected.

  Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and to move the vehicle laterally with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle, for example, even when the object detection is performed based only on the object search result by the radar light. An object of the present invention is to provide an object detection device that can accurately detect a two-wheeled vehicle or the like facing the side.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an electromagnetic wave is transmitted to the periphery of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals, and the object is detected based on a reflected wave obtained by reflecting the object. An object detection means; an object lateral length calculation means for calculating a lateral length of the detected object with respect to a traveling direction of the own vehicle; and as the own vehicle approaches the detected object When the calculated lateral length of the object is increased, the apparatus is configured to include an object lateral length correction unit that corrects the detected lateral length of the detected object to a preset length.

  Further, in the object detection device according to claim 2, the detected object moves in a lateral direction with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle based on the position information of the object detected at the predetermined time interval. A lateral moving body determining means for determining whether or not the detected moving body is a lateral moving body, and when it is determined that the detected object is a lateral moving body, the detected positional information and the lateral direction of the corrected object Object future position predicting means for predicting the future position of the object based on the length of the vehicle, host vehicle running state detecting means for detecting the running state of the host vehicle, and the detected object being a laterally moving body. A vehicle future position predicting means for predicting a future position of the vehicle based on the detected traveling state of the vehicle when determined, and based on the predicted future position of the object and the future position of the vehicle. Whether there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and the object Contact possibility determination means for determining, and contact avoidance support means for operating contact avoidance support means for supporting contact avoidance between the vehicle and the object when it is determined that there is a possibility of contact by the contact possibility determination means And actuating means.

  Further, in the object detection device according to claim 3, when the object lateral length correction unit determines that the detected object is a laterally movable body, the lateral lateral movement of the object is performed. A speed is calculated, and the lateral length of the corrected object is further corrected based on the calculated lateral movement speed, and the object future position predicting means further corrects the detected position information and the further correction. The future position of the object is calculated based on the lateral length of the object.

  In the object detection device according to claim 1, an electromagnetic wave is transmitted to the periphery of the vehicle at a predetermined time interval, and the object is detected based on a reflected wave obtained by being reflected by the object, and the detected object When the lateral length of the calculated object becomes longer as the vehicle approaches the detected object, the lateral direction of the detected object becomes longer. Since the length of the vehicle is corrected to a preset length, even when object detection is performed based only on the object search result by radar light, for example, in a direction transverse to the traveling direction of the own vehicle. When detecting a two-wheeled vehicle that faces a moving side, etc., if the two-wheeled vehicle is in the distance, the wheel part with a small laser light reflection area or low reflectance cannot be detected, and the part of the person straddling the two-wheeled vehicle While only will detect As the distance between the two-wheeled vehicle and the vehicle becomes closer, the wheel part can also be detected gradually. As a result, the detected object tends to increase gradually. Can be detected. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the influence on the vehicle control executed based on the object detection.

  In the object detection device according to claim 2, the object detected based on the position information of the object detected at predetermined time intervals is a lateral moving body that moves in a direction transverse to the traveling direction of the host vehicle. When it is determined whether or not the detected object is a laterally moving body, the future position of the object is predicted based on the detected position information and the corrected lateral length of the object, When the traveling state of the host vehicle is detected and it is determined that the detected object is a laterally moving body, the future position of the host vehicle is predicted based on the detected traveling state of the host vehicle, and the predicted object Based on the future position and the future position of the vehicle, it is determined whether there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and the object, and when it is determined that there is a possibility of contact, assistance in avoiding contact between the vehicle and the object is supported. Since it is configured to activate the contact avoidance support means, for example, Avoid contact with the motorcycle facing side so as to move laterally Te can be performed accurately.

  In the object detection device according to claim 3, when it is determined that the detected object is a laterally moving body, the lateral lateral movement speed of the object is calculated, and based on the calculated lateral movement speed Further, the lateral length of the corrected object is further corrected, and the future position of the object is calculated based on the detected position information and the corrected lateral length of the object. Lateral movement according to the lateral movement speed of the lateral moving body that affects the driver's perception of contact risk when determining the possibility of contact based on the distance between the future position of the own vehicle and the future position of the lateral moving body The driver feels because it is configured to support the avoidance of contact between the vehicle and the lateral moving body by further correcting the lateral length of the body, determining the possibility of contact after correcting the future position of the lateral moving body Accurate contact judgment considering the danger Kill. Thereby, contact avoidance support can be performed accurately.

It is the schematic which shows the object detection apparatus based on the Example of this invention generally. It is explanatory drawing which shows the object detection etc. by the laser radar shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sub-routine flow chart showing a process of calculating and correcting an object lateral length in the flow chart of FIG. 3. 3 is an explanatory diagram relating to the correction of the object lateral length of the flow chart.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for implementing an object detection device according to the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall object detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a host vehicle (vehicle), and a four-cylinder internal combustion engine (shown as “ENG” in FIG. 1, hereinafter referred to as “engine”) 12 is mounted on the front portion thereof. The output of the engine 12 is input to an automatic transmission (shown as “T / M” in FIG. 1) 14. The automatic transmission 14 is a stepped type with 5 forward speeds and 1 reverse speed, and the output of the engine 12 is appropriately shifted there and transmitted to the left and right front wheels 16, driving the left and right front wheels 16, and the left and right rear wheels. 20 is driven and the vehicle 10 is driven.

  An alarm device 22 including an audio speaker and an indicator is provided in the driver's seat of the own vehicle 10, and when activated, the driver is warned by voice and vision. A brake pedal 24 disposed on the driver's seat floor of the host vehicle 10 includes brakes (disc brakes) mounted on the left and right front wheels 16 and the rear wheels 20 via a master back 26, a master cylinder 30 and a brake hydraulic mechanism 32, respectively. ) 34.

  When the driver operates (depresses) the brake pedal 24, the depressing force (depressing force) is increased by the master back 26, and the master cylinder 30 generates a braking pressure with the increased depressing force, via the brake hydraulic mechanism 32. Then, the brakes 34 attached to the front wheels 16 and the rear wheels 20 are operated to decelerate (brake) the vehicle 10.

  The brake hydraulic mechanism 32 includes an electromagnetic solenoid valve group inserted in an oil passage connected to a reservoir, a hydraulic pump, and an electric motor (all not shown) that drives the hydraulic pump. The electromagnetic solenoid valve group is connected to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 40 via a drive circuit (not shown).

  The ECU 40 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an input / output circuit, and the like, and the four brakes 34 are operated independently of each other by the ECU 40 separately from the operation of the brake pedal 24 by the driver. Composed.

  A laser radar (laser scan radar) 42 is provided in front of the host vehicle 10. The output of the laser radar 42 is input to a radar output processing ECU (electronic control unit) 42a formed of a microcomputer.

  The laser radar 42 emits laser light (transmits electromagnetic waves) toward the periphery (traveling direction) of the host vehicle 10 at predetermined time intervals (for example, 100 msec), and as illustrated in FIG. The object is detected by receiving the reflected wave obtained by reflecting the laser beam with the object existing in (). The object shown in FIG. 2 is a bicycle (two-wheeled vehicle) that is a laterally moving body 100 that specifically enters the traveling path of the own vehicle from the lateral direction and faces the side.

  The radar output processing ECU 42a detects the position of the laterally moving body 100 from the incident direction of the reflected wave obtained by emitting the laser light and the time until the reflected light is received. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the line segment constituting the outline of the laterally movable body 100 is recognized based on the arrangement of the point cloud obtained by projecting the reflection point onto the two-dimensional plane, and the recognized line is recognized. The left and right end positions YL and YR of the laterally movable body 100 are detected based on the minutes (in FIG. 2, for convenience of explanation, the bicycle is shown in a side view).

  Further, the position information of the lateral moving body 100 by the radar output processing ECU 42a is transmitted to the ECU 40 every predetermined time, and the ECU 40 calculates the moving state of the lateral moving body 100, specifically, the lateral movement speed and the lateral movement acceleration.

  A wheel speed sensor 46 is disposed in the vicinity of the front wheel 16 and the rear wheel 20 and outputs a pulse signal for each predetermined rotation angle of each wheel. A steering angle sensor 52 is disposed in the vicinity of the steering wheel 50 provided in the driver's seat of the host vehicle 10, and generates an output proportional to the steering angle of the steering wheel 50 input by the driver. Further, a yaw rate sensor 54 is disposed near the center position of the host vehicle 10 and generates an output corresponding to the yaw rate (angular velocity) around the gravity axis of the host vehicle 10.

  Outputs from the wheel speed sensor 46 and the like are also transmitted to the ECU 40. The ECU 40 counts the outputs of the four wheel speed sensors 46 and calculates the average value to detect the speed (traveling speed) of the host vehicle 10.

  In the above, the alarm device 22, and the brake hydraulic mechanism 32 and the brake 34 correspond to contact avoidance support means, and the object detection device according to the present invention includes the contact avoidance support means and the ECU 40 for controlling the operation thereof.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the object detection apparatus according to the present invention. The illustrated program is executed in the ECU 40 every predetermined time, for example, every 100 msec.

  In the following, first, in S10, the output of the laser radar 42, that is, the position information of the object is acquired from the radar output processing ECU 42a.

  Next, the process proceeds to S12, and the width of the object (the length in the lateral direction with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle, hereinafter referred to as “the lateral length”) is calculated and corrected based on the detected position information of the object. . FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the sub-routine.

  First, in S100, the lateral length Wrdr and the lateral movement speed Vy of the object are calculated. The lateral length Wrdr of the object is calculated based on the left and right end positions YL and YR of the detected object. The lateral movement speed Vy of the object is a speed in the lateral direction with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and is calculated based on the position information of the object acquired for each loop of the program.

  Here, when the present invention is outlined, as shown in FIG. 5, the detected object is a two-wheeled vehicle that faces a side surface that moves laterally with respect to the future position (path) of the own vehicle 10, and the two-wheeled vehicle is the own vehicle 10. (Time t1), the wheel portion having a small laser light reflection area or low reflectance cannot be detected, and only the portion of the person straddling the two-wheeled vehicle is detected. Therefore, the calculated lateral length Wrdr of the object is shorter than the original length of the motorcycle.

  When the distance between the two-wheeled vehicle and the future position of the host vehicle 10 approaches (time t2 or time t3), the wheel portion can be gradually detected, and the calculated lateral length Wrdr of the object tends to gradually increase. In view of this tendency, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the calculated lateral length of the object is replaced with a preset lateral length Wfix of the two-wheeled vehicle for correction.

  Returning to the description of the flow chart of FIG. 3, the process then proceeds to S102, in which it is determined whether or not the calculated lateral length Wrdr of the object exceeds a predetermined value W_thr1. Here, the predetermined value W_thr1 is a length of a general motorcycle, for example, 1.5 m. If the result in S102 is affirmative, the detected object is considered to be an object other than the two-wheeled vehicle facing the side, and the program is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the result in S102 is negative, the process proceeds to S104, and it is determined whether or not the lateral length correction flag fWhosei is set to 1. The lateral length correction lug fWhosei is set to 1 when the lateral length of the object is corrected as will be described later.

  The first program loop or the like is denied in S104, and the process proceeds to S106 to determine whether or not the distance between the vehicle 10 and the object has decreased. This determination is made based on the position information of the object acquired for each program loop.

  If the result in S106 is negative, the program is terminated. If the result is positive, the program proceeds to S108 and the calculated lateral movement speed Vy of the object is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed Vy_thr and the calculated lateral length of the object is determined. It is determined whether or not the current value Wrdr (n) is greater than the previous value Wrdr (n−1) and the calculated lateral length Wrdr of the object is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value W_thr2.

  The predetermined speed Vy_thr is set to a walking speed of the pedestrian, for example, 3 km to 5 km. The second predetermined value W_thr2 is set to the side width of the pedestrian, for example, 0.4 m.

  If the result in S108 is affirmative, it is determined that there is a high probability that the detected object is a two-wheeled vehicle facing sideways moving laterally with respect to the own vehicle, and the process proceeds to S110 to increment the counter value Cn by one. . On the other hand, when the result in S108 is negative, it is determined that the detected object is different from the two-wheeled vehicle, and the process proceeds to S112 to decrement the counter value Cn by one.

  In S108, the condition that the lateral movement speed Vy of the object is greater than or equal to the predetermined speed Vy_thr and the lateral length Wrdr of the object is greater than or equal to the second predetermined value W_thr2 may be excluded.

  Next, in S114, it is determined whether or not the counter value Cn exceeds a predetermined counter number Cn_thr. The predetermined counter number Cn_thr is set to 3 to 5 times, for example. When the result in S114 is negative, the program is terminated. When the result is affirmative, the program proceeds to S116 and the lateral length correction flag fWhosei is set to 1.

  Next, in S118, the detected lateral length Wrdr of the object is replaced with a preset lateral length Wfix (for example, 1.5 m) of the motorcycle. In addition, also when it affirms by S104, it progresses to S118 and performs the same process.

  Next, in S120, it is determined whether or not the detected object is the lateral moving body 100 that moves laterally with respect to the future position (path) of the host vehicle 10. Specifically, the lateral movement speed or lateral movement acceleration, which is the moving state of the object, is calculated from the position information of the object acquired for each program loop, and whether the lateral movement speed or the lateral movement acceleration is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed. It is determined whether or not the detected object is the lateral moving body 100.

  When the result in S120 is negative, the following process is skipped, while when the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to S122, and further correction is performed on the lateral length Wrdr (Wfix) of the replaced and corrected object. Specifically, a value obtained by multiplying the lateral movement speed Vy of the lateral moving body 100 by an appropriate correction coefficient K is added to the lateral length Wrdr of the replaced and corrected object. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5B, an increase correction is performed so as to increase the length of the lateral moving body 100 on the traveling direction side by that amount.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to S <b> 14, and it is determined again whether or not the detected object is the lateral moving body 100. If no in S14, the program is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the result in S14 is affirmative, the process proceeds to S16, and the traveling state of the host vehicle 10, specifically, the speed, yaw rate, steering wheel steering angle, and the like of the host vehicle 10 are acquired.

  Next, the process proceeds to S18, and the future position (route) of the host vehicle 10 is predicted from the acquired traveling state of the host vehicle 10. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the future position of the host vehicle 10 is predicted based on the traveling state of the host vehicle 10, and the predicted future position is moved laterally by a half of the vehicle width to change the lateral position. Is calculated.

  Next, in S20, as shown in FIG. 2, future left and right end positions YLf, YRf and future lateral movement speed VYf of the lateral moving body 100 when reaching the lateral position of the host vehicle 10 are calculated (predicted). Specifically, the lateral movement speed and the lateral movement acceleration are calculated from the position information of the lateral movement body 100 acquired for each program loop, and the future left and right of the lateral movement body 100 when reaching the lateral position of the own vehicle 10. The end positions YLf and YRf are calculated (predicted).

  Here, when the lateral length Wrdr of the object is corrected in S118 and S122, the future left and right end positions YLf and YRf of the laterally moving body 100 are calculated based on the left and right end positions YL and YR in consideration of the correction. Is done.

  Next, in S22, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility that the own vehicle 10 and the lateral moving body 100 are in contact with each other. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the future position of the host vehicle 10, more precisely, the distance between the lateral position Yof and the future right end position YRf of the lateral moving body 100 is less than a predetermined distance. That is, if this distance is less than the predetermined value, the future position of the own vehicle 10 and the future position of the lateral moving body 100 are very close to each other, and it is determined that there is a possibility of contact.

  In S122, since the length of the lateral moving body in the traveling direction is increased and corrected in accordance with the lateral movement speed Vy, it becomes easier to determine that there is a possibility of contact as the lateral movement speed Vy of the lateral movement body 100 increases.

  In this way, it is easy to determine that there is a possibility of contact when the vehicle is steered through the front of the lateral moving body 100 by steering the lateral moving body 100 and the own vehicle is increased as the lateral moving speed Vy increases. This is because the contact risk felt by the driver increases.

  When the result in S22 is negative, the program is terminated, while when the result is positive, the program proceeds to S24, and contact avoidance support such as an alarm (alarm device 22) and an automatic brake (brake hydraulic mechanism 32 and brake 34) is executed.

  In FIGS. 2 and 3, the avoidance of the lateral moving body that moves from left to right has been described, but the same applies to the avoidance of the lateral moving body that moves from right to left.

  As described above, in this embodiment, an object that transmits an electromagnetic wave to the periphery of the host vehicle (10) at a predetermined time interval and detects the object based on a reflected wave obtained by being reflected by the object. A detection means (laser radar 42, radar output processing ECU (electronic control unit) 42a) and an object lateral length for calculating a lateral length (Wrdr) of the detected object with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle. When the lateral length of the calculated object becomes longer as the vehicle approaches the detected object, the lateral length of the detected object is calculated by the height calculating means (ECU 40, S12, S100) An object lateral length correcting means (ECU 40, S12, S106 to S118) for correcting the height to a preset length (Wfix) is provided.

  Accordingly, even when object detection is performed based only on the object search result by radar light, for example, when detecting a two-wheeled vehicle facing sideways that moves laterally with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10, etc. When the two-wheeled vehicle is in the distance, the wheel part having a small laser light reflection area or low reflectance cannot be detected, and only the part of the person straddling the two-wheeled vehicle is detected. As a result of the closer detection of the wheel, the wheel part can also be detected gradually. As a result, the detected object tends to gradually increase, and the two-wheeled vehicle facing the side surface can be accurately detected by accurately grasping the tendency. Can do. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the influence on the vehicle control executed based on the object detection.

  Further, based on the position information of the object detected at the predetermined time interval, it is determined whether or not the detected object is a laterally moving body (100) that moves laterally with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle. Based on the detected position information and the length of the corrected object in the horizontal direction when it is determined that the detected object is a horizontal moving object. Object future position predicting means (ECU 40, S20) for predicting the future position of the object, own vehicle traveling state detecting means (ECU 40, S16) for detecting the traveling state of the own vehicle, and the detected object A vehicle future position prediction means (ECU 40, S18) for predicting a future position of the vehicle, more precisely a lateral position, based on the detected running state of the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle is a moving body; The predicted Contact possibility determination means (ECU 40, S22) for determining whether or not there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an object based on the future position of the body and the future position of the own vehicle, and contact by the contact possibility determination means When it is determined that there is a possibility of contact, contact avoidance support means operating means (ECU 40) for operating contact avoidance support means (alarm device 22, brake hydraulic mechanism 32, brake 34) that supports contact avoidance between the vehicle and the object. , S24).

  Thereby, for example, it is possible to accurately avoid contact with a two-wheeled vehicle facing sideways so as to move laterally with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10.

  The object lateral length correction means calculates a lateral movement speed of the object in the lateral direction when the detected object is determined to be a lateral movement body, and sets the calculated lateral movement speed to the calculated lateral movement speed. Based on this, the lateral length of the corrected object is further corrected (ECU 40, S12, S120, S122), and the object future position predicting means is configured to detect the detected position information and the further corrected object. The future position of the object is calculated based on the lateral length (ECU 40, S20).

  That is, when the possibility of contact is determined based on the predicted distance between the future position of the host vehicle 10 and the future position of the lateral moving body 100, the lateral movement of the lateral moving body 100 that affects the driver's perception of contact risk. The lateral length of the lateral moving body 100 is further corrected in accordance with the moving speed, the future position of the lateral moving body 100 is corrected, the possibility of contact is determined, and the contact between the own vehicle 10 and the lateral moving body 100 is avoided. Therefore, accurate contact determination can be performed in consideration of the danger felt by the driver. Thereby, contact avoidance support can be performed accurately.

  Further, instead of or in addition to the process of S24 of the flow chart, the driver's seat (not shown) of the own vehicle 10 may be vibrated by an appropriate means, or a seat belt (not shown) may be pulled in. . Further, instead of or in addition to the automatic brake in S24, the automatic transmission 14 may be used to shift down.

  Further, although an object is detected from the output of the laser radar 42, a millimeter wave radar may be used instead of or in addition thereto.

10: own vehicle, 22: alarm device, 32: brake hydraulic mechanism, 34: brake, 40: ECU, 42: laser radar, 42a: radar output processing ECU, 46: wheel speed sensor, 52: steering angle sensor, 54: Yaw rate sensor, 100: laterally moving body

Claims (3)

  Object detection means for detecting the object based on a reflected wave obtained by reflecting an electromagnetic wave around the vehicle at a predetermined time interval and reflected by the object, and a traveling direction of the vehicle of the detected object An object lateral length calculating means for calculating a lateral length with respect to the object, and when the calculated lateral length of the object becomes longer as the vehicle approaches the detected object, the detection An object detection apparatus comprising: an object lateral length correction unit that corrects the lateral length of the object that has been set to a preset length.   A lateral moving body determination for determining whether or not the detected object is a lateral moving body that moves laterally with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle based on position information of the object detected at the predetermined time interval. And an object for predicting a future position of the object based on the detected position information and a lateral length of the corrected object when it is determined that the detected object is a laterally moving object. Future position predicting means, own vehicle running state detecting means for detecting the running state of the own vehicle, and when the detected object is determined to be a laterally moving body, the detected running state of the own vehicle is set. Vehicle future position prediction means for predicting the future position of the vehicle based on the vehicle, and whether there is a possibility that the vehicle and the object are in contact based on the predicted future position of the object and the future position of the vehicle Contact possibility determination means for determining whether or not the contact is possible 2. A contact avoidance assisting means actuating means for actuating a contact avoidance assisting means for assisting avoidance of contact between the own vehicle and an object when it is determined by the determining means that there is a possibility of contact. The object detection apparatus described.   The object lateral length correction means calculates a lateral movement speed of the object in the lateral direction when it is determined that the detected object is a lateral movement body, and based on the calculated lateral movement speed In addition to further correcting the lateral length of the corrected object, the object future position predicting means may determine the object based on the detected position information and the lateral length of the further corrected object. The object detection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a future position is calculated.

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