JP6152299B2 - Sealed space detection device and automobile - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an enclosed space detection device and an automobile for detecting an enclosed space.

  Conventionally, an automobile driven by a motor is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to the motor. In such a car, an engine generator (engine and generator) for charging the battery is mounted, and when the remaining capacity of the battery decreases, the engine generator is driven to charge the battery. A so-called range extender car has been developed.

  In the range extender car, even when the vehicle is not running, when the remaining capacity of the battery becomes less than a predetermined threshold, the motor generator is automatically driven to charge the battery. However, if the motor generator is driven when an automobile is parked in a closed space such as a closed garage, the exhaust gas of the engine may fill the closed space. When an automobile is parked in an enclosed space, there has been proposed one in which an engine generator is not driven even if the remaining capacity of a battery is less than a threshold value (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-335443 A

  By the way, in the above-mentioned patent document 1, it is configured to detect whether or not an automobile is parked in a sealed space based on the output of the navigation device, that is, the position information, but the actual situation such as a garage (for example, garage Therefore, it is difficult to say that the sealed space is accurately detected.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the sealed space detection apparatus and motor vehicle which detect sealed space accurately.

In order to solve the above problems, an automobile of the present invention, based on the distance and direction of the distance measuring unit and a plurality point measured by the distance measuring unit for measuring a plurality of points in different directions the distance to surrounding objects A shape deriving unit for statistically deriving the geometric shape of the surrounding object, and determining whether the space formed by the surrounding object is a sealed space based on the shape derived by the shape deriving unit A sealed space determination unit, a motor for driving the wheel, a battery for supplying electric power to the motor, a generator for charging the battery by driving, and a remaining capacity detection unit for detecting the remaining capacity of the battery And a charge controller that drives the generator to charge the battery when the remaining capacity of the battery detected by the remaining capacity detector is less than a predetermined threshold. In the case where the charge control unit determines that the space is a sealed space by the sealed space determination unit even if the remaining capacity of the battery detected by the remaining capacity detection unit is less than the threshold value The motor generator is not driven.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to detect a sealed space with high accuracy.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of a motor vehicle. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of a motor vehicle. It is a figure which shows the measurement point measured by the radar in case a motor vehicle exists in a rectangular parallelepiped garage. (A) is a figure which shows the xy plane which compressed the coordinate position of the measurement point to the z-axis direction, (b) is a figure which shows the straight line obtained by carrying out Hough transformation of a measurement point. It is a figure which shows the xz plane which compressed the coordinate position of the measurement point to the y-axis direction. (A) is a figure which shows the garage in which the door is provided, (b) is a figure which shows the garage in which the opening window is provided. (A) is a figure when an object exists outside the garage where the door is opened, and (b) is projected onto the xy plane when an object exists outside the garage where the door is opened. It is a figure which shows a measurement point. (A) is a figure explaining extraction of the measurement point group which belongs to a straight line, (b) is a figure explaining extraction of the measurement point group which belongs to a straight line. It is the flowchart explaining the flow of the non-running charging process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of sealed space detection processing.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the automobile 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the automobile 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the automobile 100 is provided with a plurality of radars 102 (102a to 102e). The radar 102 emits radio waves toward the periphery at predetermined angles (predetermined intervals) and receives the reflected waves, thereby measuring the distance and direction to an object existing around the automobile 100.

  The radar 102 a is provided at the front part of the automobile 100 and measures the distance and direction to an object existing in front of the automobile 100. The radar 102 b is provided on the right side of the automobile 100 and measures the distance and direction to an object existing on the right side of the automobile 100. The radar 102 c is provided on the left side of the automobile 100 and measures the distance and direction to an object existing on the left side of the automobile 100. The radar 102d is provided in the rear part of the automobile 100, and measures the distance and direction to an object existing behind the automobile 100. The radar 102 e is provided on the ceiling of the automobile 100 and measures the distance and direction to an object existing above the automobile 100. Therefore, in the automobile 100, the distances and directions to the objects existing around the automobile 100 can be measured in all directions by the radars 102a to 102e.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the automobile 100 includes a radar 102, a control unit 104, a motor 106, a battery 108, a battery control unit (hereinafter also referred to as BCU (Battery Control Unit)) 110, an engine generator 112, and a display unit 116. It is set as the composition including.

  The radar 102 outputs information indicating the measured distance and direction to the object to the control unit 104.

  The control unit 104 is a microcomputer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and comprehensively controls each unit.

  The motor 106 is connected to the battery 108, and is driven to rotate by the electric power supplied from the battery 108 based on the control of the control unit 104, thereby rotating the shaft connected to the tire 114 (FIG. 1) and running the automobile 100. Let The motor 106 generates electric power by being rotated by a shaft connected to the tire 114, and stores the electric power obtained by the power generation in the battery 108.

  The battery 108 is connected to the BCU 110 and controlled by the BCU 110. The BCU 110 is connected to the control unit 104 and monitors the charge / discharge current amount, temperature, and the like of the battery 108 and calculates the remaining capacity (SOC (State Of Charge)) of the battery 108 based on the charge / discharge current amount. Battery information related to the battery 108 is output to the control unit 104 as necessary.

  The engine generator 112 is composed of an engine and a generator. The engine is driven based on the control of the control unit 104, and the generator generates electric power with the power obtained by driving the engine. When the generator generator 112 generates electric power, the generator generator 112 supplies the electric power to the battery 108 to charge the battery 108. In addition, a gasoline engine, a diesel engine, etc. are applied as an engine.

  In the automobile 100 having such a configuration, when the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20% that is required to be charged during traveling (the vehicle speed is not 0), the control unit 104 causes the generator 112 to operate. The battery 108 is charged by being driven. During traveling, the automobile 100 does not exist in a closed space such as a garage, and therefore the engine exhaust gas does not have to be filled even if the engine generator 112 is driven. Start charging as soon as it becomes less than%.

  In addition, when the automobile 100 is not running (the vehicle speed is 0) and the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20% and is not present in the sealed space, the control unit 104 drives the motor generator 112. The battery 108 is charged. During non-running, the automobile 100 may be present in a sealed space such as a garage. When the automobile generator 100 is driven when the automobile 100 is present in the sealed space, the exhaust gas of the engine is enclosed in the sealed space. There is a risk of filling inside. Therefore, even if the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20%, the control unit 104 does not drive the motor generator 112 when it is determined that the automobile 100 exists in the sealed space.

  Hereinafter, when the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20% and the battery 108 is not present in the sealed space when the vehicle is not traveling (the vehicle speed is 0), the engine generator 112 is started to charge the battery 108. The non-traveling charging process executed by the control unit 104 will be described in detail.

  When the control unit 104 detects that the vehicle speed of the automobile 100 acquired by a vehicle speed sensor (not shown) is 0, the non-traveling charge processing program stored in the ROM is expanded in the RAM and the non-traveling charging process is performed. Run. The control unit 104 functions as a data acquisition unit 200, a charging control unit 202, a shape derivation unit 204, a sealed space determination unit 206, and a display control unit 208 when executing the non-traveling charging process.

  The data acquisition unit 200 acquires battery information of the battery 108 via the BCU 110. The charging control unit 202 determines whether the remaining capacity of the battery 108 indicated by the battery information acquired by the data acquisition unit 200 is 20% or more. If the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is 20% or more, the battery 108 is determined. Judge that there is no need to charge. In addition, the charging control unit 202 determines that it is necessary to charge the battery 108 when the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20%.

  When the charging control unit 202 determines that the battery 108 needs to be charged, the data acquisition unit 200 sends a measurement instruction for measuring the distance and direction to an object around the automobile 100 to the radar 102.

  When a measurement instruction is sent from the data acquisition unit 200, the radar 102 emits radio waves at predetermined angles in the horizontal and vertical directions and receives reflected waves, thereby measuring the distance to the object in that direction. To do. The radar 102 outputs information indicating the distance and direction to the data acquisition unit 200.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating measurement points 122 measured by the radar 102 when the automobile 100 is present in a rectangular parallelepiped garage 120. In FIG. 3, the lateral width direction of the garage 120 is the x-axis direction, the depth direction of the garage 120 is the y-axis direction, and the height direction of the garage 120 is the z-axis direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the automobile 100 exists in a garage 120 formed in, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape, each radar 102 emits a radio wave at a predetermined angle in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction and receives a reflected wave. Thus, as shown by the black circles in FIG. 3, the distance and direction to the plurality of measurement points 122 are measured in all directions.

  More specifically, the radar 102a measures the distance and direction to the measurement point 122 on the front side surface 124a of the garage 120 where the automobile 100 exists. The radar 102b measures the distance and direction to the measurement point 122 on the right side surface 124b of the garage 120 where the automobile 100 is present. The radar 102c measures the distance and direction to the measurement point 122 on the left side surface 124c of the garage 120 where the automobile 100 is present. The radar 102d measures the distance and direction of the rear side surface 124d of the garage 120 where the automobile 100 exists to the measurement point 122. The radar 102e measures the distance and direction to the measurement point 122 on the ceiling 126 of the garage 120 where the automobile 100 is present. When the front side surface 124a, the right side surface 124b, the left side surface 124c, and the rear side surface 124d are described without distinction, they are simply referred to as the side surfaces 124.

  The data acquisition unit 200 acquires information indicating the distance and direction from the radar 102 to each measurement point 122. The shape deriving unit 204 performs coordinate conversion from information indicating the distance and direction to each measurement point 122 acquired by the data acquisition unit 200 to convert the coordinate position (x-axis direction, y-axis direction, z) of each measurement point 122. (Axial position) is calculated.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an xy plane in which the coordinate position of the measurement point 122 is compressed in the z-axis direction. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a straight line 128 obtained by performing the Hough transform on the measurement point.

  As shown in FIG. 3, since the side surface 124 has a large number of measurement points 122 along the z-axis direction, the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 is compressed in the z-axis direction as shown in FIG. When projected onto the xy plane, the measurement points 122 on the side surface 124 (measurement points 122 along the outer periphery) become dense on the xy plane, while the measurement points 122 on the ceiling 126 have the same density.

  Therefore, the shape deriving unit 204 compresses the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the z-axis direction, and then performs a Hough transform, so that straight lines 128 respectively corresponding to the front side surface 124a, the right side surface 124b, the left side surface 124c, and the rear side surface 124d. (128a to 128d) (the thin line in FIG. 4B) is derived.

  Then, the shape deriving unit 204 calculates the intersection 130 (130a to 130d) of the derived straight line 128, and derives the closed region 132 formed by connecting the straight lines 128 at the intersection 130.

  Here, for example, when one side surface of the garage 120 is completely open (when there is no one side surface), the straight line 128 is not derived at the portion where the side surface is completely open, and therefore, the side is surrounded by the straight line 128. Although the closed region 132 is not derived or the closed region 132 surrounded by the straight line 128 is derived, it is conceivable that the intersecting straight lines 128 intersect at an acute angle. Further, the closed region 132 surrounded by the straight line 128 is derived. However, when the automobile 100 does not exist in the closed region 132, the closed region 132 is not an area surrounding the automobile 100.

  Therefore, the closed space determination unit 206 derives the closed region 132 when the closed region 132 is not derived, but the closed region 132 is derived when the intersecting straight lines 128 intersect each other at an acute angle with respect to a preset angle. If the automobile 100 does not exist, the space formed by the garage 120 surrounding the automobile 100 is determined not to be a sealed space.

  Next, the shape deriving unit 204 derives a straight line 134 corresponding to the ceiling 126.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an xz plane in which the coordinate position of the measurement point 122 is compressed in the y-axis direction. As shown in FIG. 3, since there are a large number of measurement points 122 along the y-axis direction on the right side surface 124b, the left side surface 124c, and the ceiling 126, as shown in FIG. When compressed (projected on the xz plane), the measurement points 122 (outer periphery excluding the lower side in FIG. 5) of the right side surface 124b, the left side surface 124c, and the ceiling 126 become dense in the xz plane.

  Therefore, the shape deriving unit 204 compresses the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the y-axis direction, and then performs a Hough transform, so that straight lines 134 (134a to 134c) corresponding to the right side surface 124b, the left side surface 124c, and the ceiling 126, respectively. Is detected. Then, the shape deriving unit 204 derives a straight line 134c corresponding to the ceiling 126 by, for example, extracting a straight line within a predetermined inclination with respect to the x axis from the detected straight line 134. Note that the predetermined inclination is set to a value that the inclination of the straight line 134 should correspond to the ceiling 126.

  If the straight line 134c corresponding to the ceiling 126 is derived, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the garage 120 has the ceiling 126. If the straight line 134c is not derived, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the ceiling 126 Judge that there is no. If the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the garage 120 does not have the ceiling 126, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space formed by the garage 120 surrounding the automobile 100 is not a sealed space.

  FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating the garage 120 in which the door 140 is provided. FIG. 6B is a view showing the garage 120 provided with the opening window 142. By the way, even when the automobile 100 is present in the closed region 132 surrounded by the side surface 124, as shown in FIG. 6A, for example, a door 140 is provided on the front side surface 124a of the garage 120, and the door When 140 is opened, the inside of the garage 120 is not a sealed space. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6B, for example, when the opening window 142 is provided on the front side surface 124a of the garage 120, the inside of the garage 120 is not a sealed space.

  As described above, when there is an opening formed by opening the door 140 or an opening formed by the opening window 142 on the side surface 124, the radio wave emitted from the radar 102 passes through the opening, It reflects off an object that is outside the garage 120 or does not hit any object. Therefore, if there are openings in the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126, the distance and direction of an object existing outside the garage 120 is measured by the radar 102 through the openings, or nothing is measured by the radar 102. . In other words, when the measurement point 122 is outside the garage 120, or when the measurement point 122 is not at the position to be measured, there are openings in the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126.

  FIG. 7A is a diagram when the object 150 exists outside the garage 120 where the door 140 is opened. FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating the measurement points 122 projected on the xy plane when the object 150 exists outside the garage 120 where the door 140 is opened. FIG. 8A is a diagram for explaining extraction of the measurement point group 136 belonging to the straight line 128. FIG. 8B illustrates the extraction of the measurement point group 136 belonging to the straight line 134c.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, when the door 140 is opened and the distance and direction to the object 150 existing outside the door 140 are measured by the radar 102, as shown in FIG. A measurement point group 138 (measurement point 122 surrounded by a dashed ellipse in FIG. 7B) of the measurement point 122 that measured the object 150 is measured outside the closed region 132.

  In order to extract the measurement point group 138, the sealed space determination unit 206 filters the measurement points 122 to which the straight lines 128 and 134c belong (near each other) by filtering processing, as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b). Extracted as a group 136 (136a to 136e) (measurement points 122 surrounded by a dashed ellipse in FIGS. 8A and 8B).

  Then, the sealed space determination unit 206 extracts the remaining measurement points 122 by excluding the measurement points 122 belonging to the measurement point group 136 (136a to 136e) from all the measurement points 122. Then, the sealed space determination unit 206 calculates dispersion values of the remaining measurement points 122 in the x-axis direction, the y-axis direction, and the z-axis direction, and the calculated dispersion values are determined to be detected from the same object. The measurement point group 122 that is equal to or less than the threshold is extracted as the measurement point group 138.

  The sealed space determination unit 206 determines whether the extracted measurement point group 138 is outside the closed region 132 on the xy plane based on the xy coordinates of the measurement point group 138. When the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the measurement point group 138 is outside the closed region 132, the distance and direction from the opened door 140 to the object 150 outside the garage 120 are measured by the radar 102. It is determined that the space formed by the garage 120 surrounding the automobile 100 is not a sealed space.

  Further, the sealed space determination unit 206 derives a plane on which the measurement point 122 is arranged based on the coordinate position of the measurement point 122 belonging to the measurement point group 136. That is, since the measurement point 122 belonging to the measurement point group 136a is measured on the front side surface 124a, a plane corresponding to the front side surface 124a is derived from the measurement point 122 belonging to the measurement point group 136a. Similarly, planes corresponding to the right side surface 124b, the left side surface 124c, the rear side surface 124d, and the ceiling 126 are derived from the measurement points 122 belonging to the other measurement point groups 136b to 136e.

  Then, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines whether there is a region where there is no measurement point 122 having a certain area or more that is assumed to have an opening in the derived plane. If the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the area where the measurement points 122 having a certain area or more do not exist is in the plane, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space formed by the garage 120 surrounding the automobile 100 is not a sealed space. On the other hand, if the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that there is no region where the measurement points 122 having a certain area or more do not exist, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space formed by the garage 120 surrounding the automobile 100 is a sealed space.

  When the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20% and the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space surrounding the automobile 100 is not a sealed space, the charging control unit 202 drives the generator 112 to drive the battery. 108 is charged.

  The display control unit 208 does not charge the battery 108 when the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20% and the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space surrounding the automobile 100 is a sealed space. The reason and the time until the remaining capacity of the battery 108 runs out are displayed on the display unit 116.

(Non-running charging process)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the non-traveling charging process. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the sealed space detection process. The sealed space detection process shown in FIG. 10 is a subroutine of the non-traveling charging process shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when it is detected that the vehicle is not traveling, the control unit 104 performs a non-traveling charging process. The data acquisition unit 200 acquires battery information of the battery 108 via the BCU 110 (step S100). The charge control unit 202 determines whether the remaining capacity of the battery 108 indicated by the battery information acquired in step S100 is less than 20% (step S102), and the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is not less than 20% (20 % (NO in step S102), the non-running charging process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the remaining capacity of the battery 108 is less than 20% (YES in step S102), the data acquisition unit 200 sends a measurement instruction to the radar 102 (step S104), and the process proceeds to step S106.

  The sealed space determination unit 206 performs a sealed space detection process for detecting whether the space surrounding the automobile 100 is a sealed space (step S106), and moves the process to step S108. Details of the sealed space detection process will be described later.

  Based on the result of the sealed space detection process in step S106, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines whether the space surrounding the automobile 100 is a sealed space, that is, whether the automobile 100 exists in the sealed space (step S108). . If it is determined that the space surrounding automobile 100 is not a sealed space (NO in step S108), charging control unit 202 drives motor generator 112 to charge battery 108 (step S110), and returns to the process in step S102. .

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the space surrounding automobile 100 is a sealed space (YES in step S108), charging control unit 202 does not charge battery 108, and display control unit 208 does not charge battery 108. The display control process for displaying the reason until the remaining capacity of the battery 108 runs out on the display unit 116 is performed (S112), and the non-running charging process is terminated.

(Sealed space detection processing)
As shown in FIG. 10, the data acquisition unit 200 acquires information indicating distances and directions to a plurality of measurement points 122 measured by the radar 102 in accordance with the measurement instruction transmitted in step S104 (step S200). Then, the process proceeds to step S202.

  The shape deriving unit 204 compresses the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the z-axis direction, performs Hough transform, detects straight lines 128 corresponding to the side surfaces 124 (step S202), and moves the process to step S204.

  The shape deriving unit 204 calculates intersections 130 of the detected straight lines 128 and connects the straight lines 128 at the intersections 130. The shape deriving unit 204 is formed by connecting the straight lines 128 at the intersections 130. It is determined whether or not a closed region 132 that does not intersect at an acute angle has been detected (step S204). If the closed region 132 is not detected (NO in step S204), the process proceeds to step S218.

  On the other hand, when the closed region 132 is detected (YES in step S204), the shape deriving unit 204 compresses the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the y-axis direction, and then performs the Hough transform to detect the straight line 134. A straight line 134c corresponding to the ceiling 126 is derived from the inside (step S206), and the process proceeds to step S208.

  The sealed space determination unit 206 determines whether or not the straight line 134c corresponding to the ceiling 126 has been extracted in step S206 (step S208). If the straight line 134c corresponding to the ceiling 126 has not been derived (NO in step S208), The process moves to step S218.

  On the other hand, when the straight line 134c corresponding to the ceiling 126 is derived (YES in step S208), the sealed space determination unit 206 extracts the measurement points 122 belonging to the straight lines 128 and 134c as the measurement point group 136 by filtering processing. Further, the sealed space determination unit 206 is assumed to be detected from the same object from the measurement points 122 remaining by excluding the measurement points 122 belonging to the extracted measurement point group 136 from all the measurement points 122. The measurement point group 138 is extracted (step S210), and the process proceeds to step S212.

  The sealed space determination unit 206 determines whether the measurement point group 138 extracted in step S210 is outside the closed region 132 on the xy plane (step S212), and the measurement point group 138 is outside the closed region 132. If so (YES in step S212), the process proceeds to step S218.

  On the other hand, when there is no measurement point group 138 outside the closed region 132 (NO in step S212), the sealed space determination unit 206 calculates the plane on which the measurement point 122 to which the measurement point group 136 belongs is measured, Then, it is determined whether there is a region where there is no measurement point 122 of a certain area or more (step S214). If it is determined that there is a region where there is no measurement point 122 having a certain area or more (YES in step S214), the process proceeds to step S218.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no region where there is no measurement point 122 of a certain area or larger (NO in step S214), the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space surrounding the automobile 100 is a sealed space (step S216). Then, the sealed space detection process ends.

  If it is determined NO in step S204, NO in step S208, YES in step S212, YES in step S214, the sealed space determination unit 206 determines that the space surrounding the automobile 100 is not a sealed space (step S218). The sealed space detection process is terminated.

  As described above, the control unit 104 determines the straight lines 128 and 134c corresponding to the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126 of the garage 120 existing around based on the distance to the measurement point 122 for each predetermined angle measured by the radar 102. Statistically derived using the Hough transform. Then, the control unit 104 determines whether the space formed by the garage 120 is a sealed space based on the derived straight lines 128 and 134c. Thereby, the control part 104 can detect sealed space more accurately compared with the past.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Is done.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sealed space detection process is executed based on the distances measured by the plurality of radars 102a to 102e. However, the distance measured using one radar or another sensor. The sealed space detection process may be executed based on the above. For example, a laser or a stereo camera is applied.

  In the above-described embodiment, the closed space 132 is determined when there is a closed region 132 surrounded by the straight line 128. However, when the straight line 128 is separated by a predetermined distance or more, the closed region 132 is present. Even if it is a case, you may make it determine with it not being sealed space.

  In the embodiment described above, the straight lines 128 and 134c corresponding to the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126 are derived, but in addition to these, the floor surface is detected and the straight lines 128 and 134 corresponding to the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126 are detected. When 134c is derived and a floor surface is detected, it may be determined as a sealed space. As a method of detecting the floor surface, a method of detecting a distance and direction to the floor surface by a radar and a method of detecting by a camera image when entering the garage 120 can be applied.

  In the above-described embodiment, the straight lines 128 and 134c corresponding to the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126 are derived by calculating the straight lines 128 and 134 by Hough transforming the coordinate position of the measurement point 122. The straight lines 128 and 134c corresponding to the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126 may be detected by the least square method or the like.

  In the above-described embodiment, the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 is compressed in the y-axis direction, and then Hough transform is performed to derive straight lines 134c respectively corresponding to the ceiling 126. However, after compressing the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the x-axis direction, Hough transform may be performed to derive straight lines respectively corresponding to the ceiling 126. Further, based on the straight line 134c obtained by compressing the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the y-axis direction and the straight line obtained by compressing the coordinate position of each measurement point 122 in the x-axis direction, the ceiling 126 is respectively provided. A corresponding plane may be derived.

  In the embodiment described above, the shape of the garage 120 surrounding the automobile 100 is statistically calculated by deriving the straight lines 128 and 134c corresponding to the side surface 124 and the ceiling 126 by Hough transforming the coordinate position of the measurement point 122. Derived. However, the coordinate positions of the measurement points 122 are Hough transformed to derive straight lines 128 and 134c, which correspond to the side surfaces 124 and the ceiling 126 based on the coordinate positions of the measurement points 122 in the measurement point group 136 belonging to the straight lines 128 and 134c. The shape of the garage 120 may be statistically derived by deriving a plane to be used.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a sealed space detection device that detects a sealed space and an automobile.

100 ... automobile 102 ... radar (distance measuring unit)
104 ... Control unit (sealed space detection device)
106 ... motor 108 ... battery 112 ... engine generator 202 ... charge control unit 204 ... shape deriving unit 206 ... sealed space determination unit

Claims (1)

A distance measuring unit that measures multiple points in different directions to the surrounding object;
A shape deriving unit for statistically deriving a geometric shape of a surrounding object based on the distances and directions of a plurality of points measured by the distance measuring unit;
A sealed space determination unit that determines whether a space formed by the surrounding objects is a sealed space based on the shape derived by the shape deriving unit;
A motor that drives the wheels;
A battery for supplying power to the motor;
An engine generator for charging the battery by driving;
A remaining capacity detector for detecting the remaining capacity of the battery;
When the remaining capacity of the battery detected by the remaining capacity detector is less than a predetermined threshold, a charge controller that drives the generator to charge the battery;
With
The charge controller is
Even if the remaining capacity of the battery detected by the remaining capacity detection unit is less than the threshold value, if the sealed space determination unit determines that the space is a sealed space, the generator An automobile characterized by not being driven.

Images