JPH06148330A - Radar apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the existence and the direction of a target with good accuracy by installing a radar means which detects the existence of the target in every retrieval region and a direction detection means which detects the direction of the target. CONSTITUTION:A radar apparatus 2 is constituted of a scan-type sensor part 4 which radiates a laser beam 3 having a prescribed beam angle theta toward the advance direction of a vehicle 1 and which scans the beam 3 to the right and the left inside a prescribed retrieval area A and of a control part 5 which detects the direction of a target existing inside the area A on the basis of a signal from the sensor part 4. A beam of reflected light of the beam 3 is received by the sensor part 4, and the existence of the target inside the area A is detected. In this manner, irradiation regions a1, a2, a3 by the beam 3 having the prescribed beam angle theta are overlapped partly, and the existence of targets (a), (b), (c) inside the area A is detected by the apparatus 2. Consequently, one irradiation region is subdivided into an inherent region as an irradiation region and a region in which an adjacent irradiation region is overlapped, and the direction of the targets is detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a radar device, and more specifically, it is mounted on a vehicle or the like to determine the presence or absence of a target vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an obstacle within a predetermined search area, and based on the determination result. The present invention relates to a radar device that detects the direction of a target.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to improve the running stability of a vehicle, a radar apparatus using radio waves or a laser beam is mounted on the vehicle, and is there a preceding vehicle or an obstacle in the traveling direction of the vehicle? Attempts have been made to detect whether or not. For example, according to Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 61-6349, a scanning laser radar device that outputs a laser beam toward the front of the vehicle and scans the laser beam left and right within a predetermined search area is used in the traveling direction of the vehicle. An obstacle detection device for a vehicle is disclosed which detects the direction of a target such as an existing preceding vehicle or an obstacle and the distance to the target.

[0003]

By scanning the laser beam left and right within a predetermined search area in front of the vehicle as described above, the presence or absence of the target object in the search area and the direction of the target object are determined. In this case, the beam angle of the laser beam will be detected.
That is, by further subdividing the irradiation area of the laser beam, the disassembly performance in the predetermined search area is improved, and the detection accuracy of the target object in the search area is improved.
However, since the irradiation area of the laser beam is further subdivided, the amount of data for detecting the presence / absence of a target object and its orientation within a predetermined search area obtained by the laser beam is increased. In order to quickly process the data of 1 to detect the presence or absence of a target object and the direction of the target object within a predetermined time, a high-performance and large-sized control device is required as a control device for processing the data. ,
This leads to a reduction in the layout of the entire radar device of this type and an increase in cost.

Further, when a large amount of data for detecting the presence or absence of a target and the direction of the target is processed at high speed within a predetermined time, the durability of the control device for processing the data becomes a problem. .

In view of this, the present invention is a radar apparatus that determines the presence or absence of a target object within a predetermined search area and detects the direction of the target object based on the result of the determination, and the presence or absence of the target object within the search area and the An object of the present invention is to suppress an increase in the amount of data for detecting the azimuth of a target and to reliably detect the presence or absence of the target and the azimuth of the target without lowering the accuracy.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized in that it is configured as follows.

First, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application (hereinafter,
A first invention) is a radar device that determines the presence or absence of a target object in a predetermined search area and detects the direction of the target object based on the determination result, and divides the search area into a plurality of search areas. A radar means for partially overlapping adjacent search areas to detect the presence or absence of a target object for each search area; and a direction detecting means for detecting the direction of the target object based on a signal from the radar means. It is characterized by being provided.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application (hereinafter,
According to a second invention), the radar means in the first invention is a scan type radar means for scanning a predetermined search area by partially overlapping a laser beam having a predetermined beam angle. And

The invention according to claim 3 of the present application (hereinafter,
A third invention) is characterized in that the radar means in the first invention is a radar means for partially overlapping a plurality of laser beams having a predetermined beam angle and outputting the laser beams simultaneously over a predetermined search area. And

[0010]

According to each of the above inventions, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the predetermined search area is divided into a plurality of search areas, and adjacent search areas are partially overlapped to detect the presence or absence of a target object in each search area. Therefore, one search area is subdivided into an area unique to the search area and an overlap area where adjacent search areas overlap. For example, when the predetermined search area is divided into three search areas and adjacent search areas are partially overlapped, one search area is unique to the search area as described above. The adjacent search areas are subdivided into overlapping overlap areas, and the entire predetermined search area is subdivided into five search areas. Then, whether or not the target object is present in any of the subdivided search areas is determined, and the orientation of the target object is detected based on the determination result, which improves the detection accuracy. Will be done.

As described above, by partially overlapping the adjacent search areas, the predetermined search area is increased without increasing the number of search areas in the predetermined search area. By subdividing the area, the accuracy of detecting the orientation of the target object is improved, and it is prevented that the predetermined search area is subdivided into a plurality of search areas more than necessary. ,
It is possible to suppress an increase in the amount of data for detecting the presence or absence of the target object and its orientation in the search area. As a result, an increase in the size and cost of the radar device is suppressed, and the durability of the radar device is improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the presence or absence of the target is detected by the radar means scanning the laser beams having a predetermined beam angle in a predetermined search area while partially overlapping them. Therefore, similar to the first aspect of the invention, the accuracy of detecting the presence / absence of the target object in the predetermined search area and the direction of the target object is improved, and the radar means is of the scanning type. It is possible to search the entire predetermined search area with the radar means of the table and detect the direction of the target object in the search area.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the invention, the plurality of laser beams having the predetermined beam angle are partially overlapped by the radar means and are simultaneously output over the entire predetermined search area. The detection time for detecting the presence / absence of the target and the direction of the target over the entire predetermined search area is shortened.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a radar device 2 is mounted on the front portion of a vehicle 1. The radar device 2 has a laser beam 3 having a predetermined beam angle θ toward the traveling direction of the vehicle 1. And a scanning type sensor unit 4 for scanning the laser beam 3 left and right within a predetermined search area A.
And a control unit 5 for detecting the orientation of the target object existing in the search area A based on the signal from the sensor unit 4, and the sensor unit 4 receives the reflected light of the laser beam 3. Then, the presence or absence of the target object in the search area A is detected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor section 4 constituting the radar device 2 emits the laser beam 3 to the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG.
Of the laser beam transmitting / receiving unit 4a that receives the reflected light of the laser beam 3 and the reflected light of the laser beam 3 received by the laser beam transmitting / receiving unit 4a. A target object detection unit 4b for detecting the presence or absence of a target object in the interior, and the target object detection unit 4b
The laser beam transmitting / receiving unit 4a is configured to transmit a data indicating the distance of the target object detected by b to the control unit 5 and the laser beam transmitting / receiving unit 4a, as shown in FIG. Is configured to partially overlap the laser beam 3 having the above, and to scan left and right within a predetermined search area A. Therefore, the irradiation areas a1, a2, a3 of the laser beam 3 overlap each other, and one irradiation area is subdivided into a unique area and an overlap area indicated by hatching.

On the other hand, the control section 5 has a data receiving section 5a for receiving data from the data transmitting section 4c constituting the sensor section 4 and a target object based on the data received by the data receiving section 5a. A region discriminating unit 5b for discriminating a region, an azimuth detecting unit 5c for detecting the azimuth of the target based on the region in which the target discriminated by the region discriminating unit 5b exists, and the azimuth detecting unit 5c for detecting the azimuth. The target direction is set to a predetermined operation such as stable running operation of the vehicle 1,
For example, the data processing unit 5d is configured to process as reference data for performing an alarm operation, an automatic braking operation, and the like when it is detected that the target object is present on the traveling lane of the vehicle 1.

Next, based on the flow charts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a series of detecting the presence or absence of a target vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an obstacle located in front of the vehicle 1 by the radar device 2 and the direction of the target. The operation of the sensor unit 4 of the radar device 2 will be described first with reference to FIG.
In step S1, the laser beam 3 is output toward the front of the vehicle 1. Then, in step S2, the presence or absence of the target object is detected based on the reflected light of the laser beam 3 reflected from the target object, and in step S3, the distance to the target object is calculated based on the reflected light of the laser beam 3. After that, in step S4, data indicating the distance of the target object and the like is transmitted to the control unit 5.

On the other hand, in the control section 5, FIG.
As shown in, first, in step S5, the data from the sensor unit 4 is received, and then in step S6, the area where the target object exists is determined based on the data. afterwards,
In step S7, the orientation of the target is detected. in this case,
As shown in FIG. 1, each irradiation area a1 of the laser beam 3 is
Assuming that the target objects (a), (b), and (c) exist in a2 and a3, in the target object (a), the irradiation area a
It is determined that the target object (a) exists in the overlapping area of 1 and a2, and the direction of the target object (a) is detected based on this.

Further, in the target object (b), a region other than the overlap region in the irradiation region a2, that is,
It is determined that the irradiation area a2 exists in a unique area, and the azimuth of the target object (b) is detected based on this.

Further, it is determined that the target object (c) exists in the overlapping area of the irradiation areas a2 and a3, and the direction of the target object (c) is detected based on this. .

Then, the control unit 5 performs step S
8, the target object (a) detected in step S7,
The directions of (b) and (c) are processed as reference data for performing a predetermined operation such as a traveling stable operation of the vehicle 1.

As described above, according to the radar device 2 of this embodiment, the irradiation areas a1, a2, a3 of the laser beam 3 having the predetermined beam angle θ are partially overlapped with each other and the predetermined search area A is obtained. Target objects (a), (b),
Since the presence or absence of (c) is detected, one irradiation area is subdivided into an area unique to the irradiation area and an overlapping area where adjacent irradiation areas overlap.

For example, the range of the predetermined search area A is 40
When the scanning area A is set to 0 milliradian and the irradiation areas a1 ... One irradiation area is subdivided into irradiation areas of 5 milliradian each including an area unique to the irradiation area and an overlapping area where adjacent irradiation areas overlap each other. Will be subdivided into 80 irradiation areas.

In this case, when the predetermined search area A is scanned by the laser beam 3 whose irradiation area is set to 5 milliradians, it is necessary to scan the predetermined search area A every 80 times. In the present embodiment, the laser beam 3 whose irradiation area is set to 15 milliradians overlaps the irradiation area by 5 milliradians and scans the predetermined search area A. It is only necessary to scan 40 times, which makes it possible to reduce the presence or absence of the target object within the predetermined search area A and the number of data for orienting the target object in half while maintaining high resolution performance. Become.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the laser beam 3 within the predetermined search area A is partially overlapped by the irradiation areas of the laser beam 3.
As in the case where the number of irradiation areas is increased without increasing the number of irradiation areas, the predetermined search area A is subdivided, and the presence or absence of the target object and the detection accuracy of the direction of the target object are detected. And the predetermined search area A
The inside of the search area A is prevented from being subdivided into a plurality of search areas more than necessary, and an increase in the amount of data for detecting the presence or absence of the target object in the search area A and its direction is suppressed. As a result, an increase in the size and cost of the radar device 2 is suppressed, and the durability of the radar device 2 is improved.

In particular, the sensor unit 4 of the radar device 2 has a predetermined beam angle θ within a predetermined search area A.
Since it is a scanning type laser radar device that scans the laser beam 3 having the right and left,
Thus, it is possible to search the entire predetermined search area A and detect the orientation of the target in the area A.

Further, the sensor 4 section may be constructed so as to partially overlap a plurality of laser beams in a predetermined search area A and output them simultaneously. In this case, the predetermined search is performed. Since the plurality of laser beams are simultaneously irradiated over the entire area A, it is possible to shorten the detection time when detecting the orientation of the target object within the predetermined search area.

In this embodiment, the case has been described in which the laser beam 3 is scanned left and right within a predetermined search area A. For example, a radio wave has a predetermined spread angle (corresponding to a beam angle). In this case, a plurality of radar devices configured to detect a target object by outputting the reflected waves to the front of the vehicle 1 are partially used, and the radio waves output from the radar devices are partially overrun. It may be wrapped. Alternatively, the radio waves may be partially overlapped with each other to form a scan type in which a predetermined search area A in front of the vehicle 1 is scanned left and right. Further, it is possible to use sound waves or ultrasonic waves instead of the electromagnetic waves.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined search area is divided into a plurality of search areas and the presence or absence of a target object is detected for each search area, adjacent search areas are detected. By partially overlapping, the predetermined search area is subdivided in the same manner as when the number of search areas is increased without increasing the number of search areas in the predetermined search area. In addition, whether or not the target object is present in any of the subdivided search areas is determined, and the orientation of the target object is detected based on the result of the determination, which improves the detection accuracy. You can

Further, it is possible to prevent the predetermined search area from being subdivided into a plurality of search areas more than necessary, and to detect the presence / absence of the target object in the search area and its orientation. By suppressing the increase in the amount, it is possible to suppress the increase in size and cost of the radar device, and it is possible to improve the durability of the radar device.

According to the second invention, the radar means is
Since it is a scanning type laser means for detecting the presence / absence of a target by scanning a laser beam having a predetermined beam angle in a predetermined search area by partially overlapping it, one radar means is used. It is possible to search the entire predetermined search area and detect the orientation of the target object within the search area.

In particular, according to the third invention, the radar means is
Since a plurality of laser beams having a predetermined beam angle are partially overlapped and simultaneously output over the entire predetermined search area to detect the presence or absence of the target object, the entire predetermined search area is provided. It is possible to shorten the detection time when detecting the presence or absence of the target object and detecting the direction of the target object.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle equipped with a radar device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing a configuration of a radar device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a target object detecting operation by the radar device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of detecting the direction of a target object by the radar device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 radar device 3 laser beam 4 sensor section 4a laser beam transmitting / receiving section 4b target object detecting section 4c data transmitting section 5 control section 5a data receiving section 5b area discriminating section 5c azimuth detecting section 5d data processing section A search area a1, a2, a3 Laser beam irradiation area (a), (b), (c) Target

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A radar device for determining the presence or absence of a target object within a predetermined search area and detecting the direction of the target object based on the result of the determination, wherein the search area is divided into a plurality of search areas. A radar means for partially overlapping adjacent search areas to detect the presence or absence of a target object for each search area; and a direction detecting means for detecting the direction of the target object based on a signal from the radar means. A radar device provided. 2. The radar means is a scan type radar means for scanning a predetermined search area by partially overlapping a laser beam having a predetermined beam angle. The described radar device. 3. The radar means is a radar means for partially overlapping a plurality of laser beams having a predetermined beam angle and simultaneously outputting the laser beams over a predetermined search area. The described radar device.