KR20120080065A - Ultrasonic sensor and parking control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ultrasonic sensor and a parking control system are provided to control the parking of a vehicle according to the height of object. CONSTITUTION: An ultrasonic sensor(100) comprises a signal transmitting unit(110), a reflected signal receiving unit(120), a secondary echo existence judging unit(130), and an object type recognition unit(140). The signal transmitting unit transmits signals. The reflected signal receiving unit receives reflected signals. The secondary echo existence judging unit detects secondary echo existence by using the intensity of reflected signals and critical value. In case the secondary echo is not detected, the object type recognition unit recognizes the object as a first type and in case the secondary echo is detected, the object is recognized as a second type.

Description

Ultrasonic Sensor and Parking Control System {ULTRASONIC SENSOR AND PARKING CONTROL SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic sensor and a parking control system. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ultrasonic sensor for classifying and recognizing object types, and to a parking control system for performing safe parking control using the same.

The parking control system is a system that detects an object in a space to park using an ultrasonic sensor and the like and controls the vehicle to be parked in the space to park using the detection result.

However, such a conventional parking control system or a conventional ultrasonic sensor detects the presence or location of an object and has a limitation in not recognizing an object having a certain height. Due to this limitation, there is a problem in that the parking attempt is not made in the space in which the parking attempt is possible, or a collision accident may occur in the parking attempt in the space in which the parking attempt is not possible.

In this background, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic sensor that can recognize whether an object is a high object or a low object.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a parking control system that distinguishes and recognizes whether an object is a high object or a low object and provides parking control according to the recognized result.

In order to achieve the above object, in one aspect, the present invention, a transmission signal transmission unit for transmitting a transmission signal; A reflection signal receiver which receives a reflection signal reflected from the transmission signal by an object; A secondary echo presence determination unit determining whether a secondary echo exists in the received reflected signal by comparing the signal strength and a threshold value of the received reflected signal; And an object type recognition unit that recognizes the object as a first type when it is determined that the secondary echo does not exist and recognizes the object as a second type when it is determined that the secondary echo exists. to provide.

In another aspect, the present invention, an object recognition method of the ultrasonic sensor, comprising the steps of: transmitting a transmission signal; Receiving a reflection signal in which the transmission signal is reflected by an object; Determining whether a secondary echo exists in the received reflected signal by comparing the signal strength and a threshold value of the received reflected signal; And recognizing the object as the first type when it is determined that the second echo does not exist, and recognizing the object as the second type when it is determined that the second echo exists. do.

In another aspect, the present invention, by comparing the signal strength and the threshold value of the reflection signal received by the transmission signal is reflected on the object, it is determined whether there is a secondary echo in the received reflection signal, the determination result, An ultrasonic sensor recognizing the object as a first type when it is determined that there is no secondary echo, and recognizing the object as a second type when it is determined that the second echo exists; And a parking attempt control unit that permits the parking attempt when the object is recognized as the first type and limits the parking attempt when the object is recognized as the second type.

In another aspect, the present invention, by comparing the signal strength and the threshold value of the reflection signal received by the transmission signal is reflected on the object, it is determined whether there is a secondary echo in the received reflection signal, the determination result, An ultrasonic sensor recognizing the object as a first type when it is determined that there is no secondary echo, and recognizing the object as a second type when it is determined that the second echo exists; And when the object is recognized as the first type, the parking control is performed such that a separation distance between the vehicle and the object is equal to or greater than a first minimum separation distance, and when the object is recognized as the second type, the vehicle and the object It provides a parking control system including a parking control unit for performing a parking control so that the separation distance between the second minimum separation distance or more.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect of providing an ultrasonic sensor that can recognize whether an object is a high object or a low object.

In addition, according to the present invention, there is an effect of providing a parking control system that distinguishes whether an object is a high object or a low object and provides a parking control according to the recognized result.

1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram for describing a method of determining whether a secondary echo exists by an ultrasonic sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to recognize a type of an object.
3 is another exemplary diagram for describing a method of determining whether a secondary echo exists by the ultrasonic sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to recognize a type of an object.
4 is a diagram illustrating a first echo point and a second echo point according to a recognized type of an object in an ultrasonic sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an object recognition method of an ultrasonic sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a block diagram of a parking control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a view for explaining the control of the parking attempt in the parking control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a block diagram of a parking control system according to another embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a view for explaining the control of the separation distance from the object according to the parking control system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. In adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

In addition, in describing the component of this invention, terms, such as 1st, 2nd, A, B, (a), (b), can be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. When a component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "connected" to another component, the component may be directly connected to or connected to the other component, It should be understood that an element may be "connected," "coupled," or "connected."

1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The ultrasonic sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 transmits a transmission signal (ultrasound signal) and an apparatus for recognizing an object using a reflection signal received by the transmission signal being reflected by the object. For example, in addition to recognizing the existence of an object or recognizing the position or speed of the object, the type of the object may be recognized according to the height.

The ultrasonic sensor 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a transmission signal transmitter 110 for transmitting a transmission signal, a reflection signal receiver 120 for receiving a reflection signal reflected from the transmitted transmission signal, and an object. By comparing the signal strength and the threshold value of the received reflection signal, the secondary echo presence determination unit 130 to determine whether there is a secondary echo (Echo) in the received reflection signal, and there is no secondary echo The object type recognition unit 140 may recognize the object as the first type, and the object type recognition unit 140 may recognize the object as the second type.

The second echo presence determination unit 130 described above, if there is a second point where the signal strength of the received reflection signal starts to be larger than the threshold value through a comparison between the signal strength of the received reflection signal and the threshold value; It is determined that there is a secondary echo in the received reflected signal, and if there is no second point where the signal strength of the received reflected signal starts to be greater than the threshold value, it is determined that there is no secondary echo in the received reflected signal. do.

In the present specification, the first type and the second type are referred to as the types of objects, where the "type 1" is "lower object type" than the reference height, and the second type means "higher object type" than the reference height. . Here, the "reference height" is setting information that is used as a reference to distinguish the type of the object. For example, if the ultrasonic sensor 100 is used to recognize an object (obstacle) in the parking control, the reference height is a height for distinguishing the height of the object from which the vehicle can attempt to park around or over the object and the impossible height. The vehicle may have a height for distinguishing a height of an object from which an object can be parked close to an object and a height of an impossible object.

As described above, in order for the ultrasonic sensor 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention to recognize the type of the object (particularly, the type of the object according to the height) of the surrounding, the transmission signal is transmitted and the transmitted signal is transmitted. When the signal strength of the reflected signal is reflected by the surrounding object and compared with the threshold, if the signal strength of the reflected signal is greater than the threshold, it is detected as an echo, and the detected echo, the second echo, the second echo among them, is detected. To recognize the type of object.

In the following, a method of recognizing the type of the object for the case of the second type (high object type) and the case of the first type (low object type) will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates that, when the object 200 is of the second type (high object type), the ultrasonic sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has a secondary echo to recognize the type of the object 200. Figure for explaining a method for determining.

FIG. 2 (a) is a graph showing the ultrasonic sound pressure according to the time in the ultrasonic sensor 100 (which indicates the signal strength, in which voltage is a unit), and the solid line in the graph in which the x and y axes are the time and the voltage. The ultrasonic sound pressure is shown and the dotted line is the threshold compared with the ultrasonic sound pressure (voltage).

Referring to FIG. 2A, in the solid line representing the ultrasonic sound pressure, the first peak portion is the ultrasonic sound pressure corresponding to the transmission signal ⓐ, and the second and third peak portions correspond to the reflected signal. Ultrasonic sound pressure. In the second peak, the portion where the ultrasonic sound pressure is above the threshold is the first echo (ⓑ) first detected in the reflected signal, and in the third peak, the portion where the ultrasonic sound pressure is above the threshold is detected secondly in the reflected signal. Is the second echo ⓒ. This means that the object 200 corresponds to the second type, meaning "object type higher than the reference height."

As shown in the graph of FIG. 2 (a), the reason for the existence of the secondary echo ⓒ is shown in FIG. 2 (b), as shown in FIG. The transmission signal ⓐ is reflected at a lower portion of the object 200 so that the first echo ⓑ is detected first, and the transmission signal ⓐ at a higher portion of the object 200 (higher than the reference height). Is reflected so that the secondary echo ⓒ is detected following the primary echo ⓑ.

3 illustrates that when the object 300 is the first type (low object type), the ultrasonic sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention determines whether a secondary echo exists in order to recognize the type of the object. It is a figure for demonstrating a method.

3 (a) is a graph showing the ultrasonic sound pressure according to the time in the ultrasonic sensor 100 (which indicates the signal strength, in which voltage is a unit), and in the graph in which the x and y axes are time and voltage, The ultrasonic sound pressure is shown and the dotted line is the threshold compared with the ultrasonic sound pressure (voltage).

Referring to FIG. 3A, in the solid line representing the ultrasonic sound pressure, the first peak portion is the ultrasonic sound pressure corresponding to the transmission signal ⓐ, and the second peak portion is the ultrasonic sound pressure corresponding to the reflected signal. . The portion where the ultrasonic sound pressure is greater than the threshold in the second peak portion is the first echo (ⓑ) first detected in the reflected signal. In FIG. 3A, unlike FIG. 2A, since the third peak portion does not exist, the second point where the ultrasonic sound pressure starts to be larger than the threshold value, that is, the second echo ⓒ is not detected. Do not. This means that the object 300 corresponds to the first type, meaning "object type lower than the reference height."

As shown in the graph of FIG. 3 (a), the reason why the secondary echo ⓒ does not exist is that, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), an object of the first type (ie, an object type lower than the reference height) ( 300 transmits a transmission signal ⓐ at a lower portion of the object 300 so that the primary echo ⓑ is detected. However, unlike the object 200 in FIG. 2B, the object 300 in FIG. 3B has a secondary echo ⓒ because the height is lower than the reference height. This is then not detected.

2 and 3, the reference height for distinguishing the first type from the second type is a height for determining whether or not the secondary echo is detected.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a primary echo point and a secondary echo point for the case of the first type of object and the second type of object in the ultrasonic sensor 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the case of the first type of object, that is, the object lower than the reference height, only the primary echo point exists and the secondary echo point does not exist. In addition, in the case of the second type of object, that is, the object higher than the reference height, it can be confirmed that not only the primary echo point but also the secondary echo point exist.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an object recognition method of the ultrasonic sensor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the object recognition method of the ultrasonic sensor 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include transmitting a transmission signal (S500) and receiving a reflection signal reflected by the transmission signal ( (S502) and determining whether there is a secondary echo in the received reflected signal by comparing the signal strength and the threshold of the received reflected signal (S504), and if it is determined that the secondary echo does not exist, removing the object. Recognizing as the first type, and if it is determined that there is a secondary echo is included in the step (S506) and the like to recognize the object as the second type.

6 is a block diagram of a parking control system 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the parking control system 600 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may compare the received signal with a signal strength and a threshold value of the reflected signal received by the transmission signal reflected on the object. It is determined whether there is a secondary echo, and if it is determined that the second echo does not exist, the ultrasonic sensor recognizes the object as the first type, and if it is determined that the second echo exists, the ultrasonic sensor which recognizes the object as the second type ( 610 and a parking attempt control unit 620 for allowing a parking attempt when the object is recognized as the first type and limiting the parking attempt when the object is recognized as the second type.

The above-mentioned "first type" means "lower object type" than the reference height, and the second type means "higher object type" than the reference height. Here, the "reference height" is setting information that is used as a reference to distinguish the type of the object. For example, if the ultrasonic sensor 610 is used to recognize an object (obstacle) during parking control, the reference height is a height for distinguishing the height of the object from which the vehicle can attempt to park around or over the object and the impossible height. The vehicle may have a height for distinguishing a height of an object from which an object can be parked close to an object and a height of an impossible object.

The above described parking attempt control unit 620, if the object is recognized as the first type corresponding to the curb (the road and the sidewalk or the stone between the road and the roadway), parking the one wheel of the vehicle over the object ( Such parking may be allowed to attempt parking (also referred to as "frog parking").

7 is a view for explaining the parking attempt control according to the parking control system 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 (a) and 7 (c) are diagrams illustrating a case where a conventional parking control system in which object type recognition according to height is impossible is operated.

Referring to FIG. 7A, since an object in a space between two vehicles is a low object type (first type) object such as curb, it is possible to park only one wheel, but the conventional parking control system There is a problem in that it does not recognize the type according to the height of the object in the space between the two vehicles, it is recognized as a general obstacle to attempt to park.

Referring to (c) of FIG. 7, an object in a space between two vehicles cannot park without collision because an object of a high object type (second type), such as a parking sign, cannot be parked without a collision. There may be a problem that the parking attempt is not made because the type of the object in the space between the two vehicles is not recognized.

7 (b) and 7 (d) are diagrams illustrating a case in which the parking control system 600 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention capable of object type recognition according to height is operated.

Referring to FIG. 7B, an object in a space between two vehicles may park only on one wheel because the object is a low object type (first type), such as a curb, etc. One embodiment of the present invention Since the parking control system 600 can recognize the type according to the height of the object in the space between the two vehicles, the object in the space between the two vehicles has a low object type (first type) such as curb. It can also be recognized that the object can be parked according to only one wheel over the object. Therefore, even if the object is in the space to be parked, it can be recognized as a low object type (first type) object, such as curb, and allow the parking attempt. Therefore, in the same situation, the conventional parking control system did not attempt to park, the parking control system 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention will attempt to park.

Referring to FIG. 7D, an object in a space between two vehicles cannot park without collision because it is a high object type (second type) object such as a parking sign, which is one embodiment of the present invention. The parking control system 600 according to the present invention recognizes an object in the space between two vehicles as an object type (second type) higher than the reference height, thereby limiting attempts to park in the space between the two vehicles. .

8 is a block diagram of a parking control system 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the parking control system 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention may compare the received signal with a signal intensity and a threshold value of the reflected signal received by the transmission signal reflected on the object. It is determined whether there is a secondary echo, and if it is determined that the second echo does not exist, the ultrasonic sensor recognizes the object as the first type, and if it is determined that the second echo exists, the ultrasonic sensor which recognizes the object as the second type ( 810), and when the object is recognized as the first type, the parking control is performed such that the separation distance between the vehicle and the object is equal to or greater than the first minimum separation distance, and when the object is recognized as the second type, the separation distance between the vehicle and the object is And a parking control unit 820 for performing parking control to be equal to or greater than the second minimum separation distance (> first minimum separation distance).

The above-mentioned "first type" means "lower object type" than the reference height, and the second type means "higher object type" than the reference height. Here, the "reference height" is setting information that is used as a reference to distinguish the type of the object. For example, if the ultrasonic sensor 810 is used to recognize an object (obstacle) in the parking control, the reference height is a height for distinguishing the height of the object from which the vehicle can attempt to park around or over the object. The vehicle may have a height for distinguishing a height of an object from which an object can be parked close to an object and a height of an impossible object.

The first minimum separation distance mentioned above is set to a predetermined value or less than the second minimum separation distance. This allows melee parking to park closer to the object if the object is of the first type (lower object type) and safer parking farther from the object if the object is of the second type (higher object type). Parking can be enabled.

The above-described parking control unit 820, when the object is recognized as the first type (lower object type) corresponding to the curb (the roadway or sidewalk or the stone that is the boundary between the roadway and the roadside), the separation distance between the vehicle and the object is The parking control is performed so that the first minimum separation distance, which is zero, is parked on one of the wheels of the vehicle over the object.

9 is a view for explaining the control of the distance from the object according to the parking control system 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

9 (a) and 9 (c) are diagrams illustrating a situation in which a parking space is parked at the same distance from a low object and a high object in a conventional parking control system that does not recognize the type of the object according to the height. In this case, even if the parking can be parked closer to the lower object in Figure 9 (a) does not have the problem, in Figure 9 (c) the vehicle door opening space and the driver may not be secured enough space to get on and off Problems may also arise.

In contrast, FIGS. 9B and 9D illustrate a parking control system 800 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention capable of recognizing a type of an object according to a height. Parking can be made by adjusting the distance closer to the parking, and safe parking can be possible by adjusting the distance from a higher object to a higher distance in order to secure a space where a door is opened for a high object.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. In other words, within the scope of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively operated in combination with one or more. In addition, although all of the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, some or all of the components may be selectively combined to perform a part or all of the functions in one or a plurality of hardware. As shown in FIG. Codes and code segments constituting the computer program may be easily inferred by those skilled in the art. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium and read and executed by a computer, thereby implementing embodiments of the present invention. As the storage medium of the computer program, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, a carrier wave medium, or the like may be included.

It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprises, "" comprising," or "having ", as used herein, mean that a component can be implanted unless specifically stated to the contrary. But should be construed as including other elements. All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (11)

A transmission signal transmitter for transmitting a transmission signal;
A reflection signal receiver which receives a reflection signal reflected from the transmission signal by an object;
A secondary echo presence determination unit determining whether a secondary echo exists in the received reflected signal by comparing the signal strength and a threshold value of the received reflected signal; And
And an object type recognition unit for recognizing the object as the first type when it is determined that the secondary echo does not exist and for recognizing the object as the second type when it is determined that the second echo exists. The method of claim 1,
The second echo presence determination unit,
Through comparison between the signal strength of the received reflected signal and the threshold,
If there is a second point where the signal strength of the received reflected signal starts to be greater than the threshold value, it is determined that the second echo exists in the received reflected signal,
And if there is no second point at which the signal strength of the received reflected signal starts to be greater than the threshold, it is determined that the second echo does not exist in the received reflected signal. The method of claim 1,
And the first type is an object type lower than the reference height, and the second type is an object type higher than the reference height. In the object recognition method of the ultrasonic sensor,
Transmitting a transmission signal;
Receiving a reflection signal in which the transmission signal is reflected by an object;
Determining whether a secondary echo exists in the received reflected signal by comparing the signal strength and a threshold value of the received reflected signal; And
Recognizing the object as a first type when it is determined that the second echo does not exist, and recognizing the object as a second type when it is determined that the second echo exists. Through the comparison between the signal strength and the threshold value of the reflection signal received by the transmission signal reflected on the object, it is determined whether there is a secondary echo in the received reflection signal, and as a result of the determination, the secondary echo does not exist An ultrasonic sensor that recognizes the object as a first type and recognizes the object as a second type when it is determined that the second echo exists; And
And a parking attempt control unit that permits parking attempts when the object is recognized as the first type and limits parking attempts when the object is recognized as the second type. The method of claim 5,
And wherein the first type is an object type lower than the reference height, and the second type is an object type higher than the reference height. The method of claim 5,
The parking attempt control unit,
And when the object is recognized as the first type corresponding to the curb, allowing a parking attempt to park one wheel of the vehicle over the object. Through the comparison between the signal strength and the threshold value of the reflection signal received by the transmission signal reflected on the object, it is determined whether there is a secondary echo in the received reflection signal, and as a result of the determination, the secondary echo does not exist An ultrasonic sensor that recognizes the object as a first type and recognizes the object as a second type when it is determined that the second echo exists; And
When the object is recognized as the first type, parking control is performed such that the separation distance between the vehicle and the object is equal to or greater than a first minimum separation distance, and when the object is recognized as the second type, the parking control is performed between the vehicle and the object. Parking control system including a parking control unit for performing a parking control so that the separation distance is greater than or equal to the second minimum separation distance. The method of claim 8,
And wherein the first type is an object type lower than the reference height, and the second type is an object type higher than the reference height. The method of claim 8,
The first minimum separation distance is set to a predetermined value or less than the second minimum separation distance parking control system. The method of claim 8,
The parking control unit,
When the object is recognized as the first type corresponding to the curb, the distance between the vehicle and the object is the first minimum distance, which is zero, and one wheel of the vehicle spans the object. A parking control system, characterized in that for performing parking control for parking.

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