WO2011138820A1

WO2011138820A1 - Object detector

Info

Publication number: WO2011138820A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/003143
Authority: WO
Inventors: 和田陽介; 小池伸
Original assignee: トヨタ自動車株式会社
Priority date: 2010-05-07
Filing date: 2010-05-07
Publication date: 2011-11-10

Abstract

Provided is an object detector which is capable of detecting objects more accurately than conventional ones. The object detector detects an object that is present around a vehicle on which the detector is mounted. The object detector is characterized by including: a position detecting section for detecting at least the information on the vertical position of an object that is present on the road surface ahead of the vehicle; an object distinguishing section for distinguishing at least whether the object detected by the position detecting section is an obstacle which has the potential for colliding with the vehicle; an angle calculating section for calculating the relative pitch angle formed between the road surface of the road ahead of the vehicle and the axial detection line of the position detecting section on the basis of the information on the vertical position of the object; and a setting modifying section for correcting the setting of the position detecting section in accordance with the relative pitch angle to thereby prevent an erroneous distinction by the object distinguishing section.

Description

Object detection device

The present invention relates to an object detection device, and more particularly to an object detection device that is mounted on a vehicle and detects an object around the vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an object detection device that detects an object existing around a host vehicle has been developed for the purpose of, for example, predicting the danger of a collision between the host vehicle and an obstacle.

An example of the object detection apparatus as described above is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The vehicle obstacle detection device disclosed in Patent Document 1 detects the position of the detected object in the vertical and horizontal directions. When the height of the detected object is within a predetermined range, the object is recognized as an obstacle such as a preceding vehicle.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 13-038142

However, in the vehicle obstacle detection device as in Patent Document 1 described above, it is determined whether or not an object is an obstacle when the posture of the vehicle on which the device is mounted changes or when the road gradient changes. There was a possibility that it could not be recognized correctly.

For example, as shown in FIG. 26, a heavy load is loaded on the trunk, so that the posture angle in the pitch direction of the own vehicle 800 on which the above-described vehicle obstacle detection device is mounted is directed upward as compared with the normal time. Assuming that FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a conventional vehicle obstacle detection device mounted on an inclined vehicle detects an object. In such a case, the region where the obstacle detection device for a vehicle can detect an object is also directed upward compared to the normal time. A region where the vehicle obstacle detection device can detect an object is indicated by hatching in FIG. In such a case, the vehicle obstacle detection device detects an object such as a sign 91 that is not normally detected. Then, the vehicle obstacle detection device may erroneously recognize an object such as a signboard 90 or the like that does not actually have a risk of colliding with the host vehicle 800 as an obstacle.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 27, even when the slope of the road on which the vehicle travels is changing, the signboard 92 that does not actually cause the vehicle obstacle detection device to collide with the host vehicle 800. There is a risk of misrecognizing such an object as an obstacle. FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a conventional vehicle obstacle detection device mounted on a vehicle traveling on a road with a changed slope detects an object.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an object detection apparatus capable of detecting an object more accurately than in the past.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following configuration. That is, the first aspect of the present invention is an object detection device that detects an object existing around a host vehicle, and detects position information that detects at least vertical position information of the object existing on the road surface of the host vehicle. , An object identification unit for identifying at least whether the object detected by the position detection unit is an obstacle that may collide with the own vehicle, a road surface of a road on which the own vehicle travels, and position detection An angle calculation unit that calculates a relative pitch angle formed by the detection axis of the unit based on the vertical position information of the object, and an object identification unit that corrects the setting of the position detection unit according to the relative pitch angle It is an object detection apparatus provided with the setting change part which suppresses misidentification.

The second aspect is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the angle calculation unit calculates a relative pitch angle according to a displacement amount of the vertical position of the object with respect to a predetermined reference position.

The third aspect further includes a storage unit that stores the current and past position information of the current object detected by the position detection unit in the second aspect, and the angle calculation unit is configured to store the current and past stored in the storage unit. An average position of the upper and lower positions of the past object is calculated, and a relative pitch angle is calculated according to a displacement amount of the average position with respect to the reference position.

The fourth aspect further includes a condition determination unit that determines whether or not a condition for accurately detecting the vertical position of the object is satisfied for a predetermined time in the third aspect. When it is determined that the condition is satisfied for a predetermined time, the pitch angle is calculated based on the vertical position information of the object detected within the predetermined time.

In a fourth aspect, a fifth aspect further includes a host vehicle acceleration / deceleration detection unit that detects acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle, and a rudder angle detection unit that detects a rudder angle of the host vehicle, and the condition determination unit includes: Judging that the acceleration / deceleration of the own vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and that the rudder angle of the own vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold as conditions for accurately detecting the vertical position of the object It is characterized by.

In a fourth aspect, according to the fourth aspect, a preceding vehicle determination unit that determines whether or not the object detected by the position detection unit is a preceding vehicle that travels ahead of the host vehicle, and an acceleration / deceleration of the preceding vehicle. A preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit for calculating, and the condition determination unit is configured such that the acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle are both equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, and the steering angle of the host vehicle is predetermined It is determined that it is below the threshold as a condition for accurately detecting the vertical position of the object, and the angle calculation unit is detected within the predetermined time when it is determined that the condition is satisfied for a predetermined time. The pitch angle is calculated based on the vertical position information of the preceding vehicle.

According to a seventh aspect, in any one of the first and second aspects, the object identifying unit determines whether or not the object is a roadside object disposed on a destination road surface, and the angle calculating unit includes a roadside Based on the current and past vertical positions of the object, a movement vector indicating a relative movement direction of the roadside object with respect to the host vehicle is calculated, and an angle formed by the movement vector and the detection axis of the position detection unit is used as a pitch angle. It is characterized by calculating.

In an eighth aspect, in the first to seventh aspects, whether or not the storage unit that stores the vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit, and whether or not the road gradient of the destination has changed. A gradient determination unit that determines based on the vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit, and the angle calculation unit determines that the destination road gradient has not changed by the gradient determination unit In this case, the posture angle in the pitch direction with respect to the horizontal plane of the vehicle body of the host vehicle is calculated based on the pitch angle.

In the ninth aspect, in any one of the first and eighth aspects, a storage unit that stores current and past position information detected by the position detection unit, and a road gradient of a traveling destination are changed. A gradient determination unit that determines whether or not the current road is detected based on the vertical position information of the current and past objects, and the angle calculation unit changes the road gradient of the travel destination by the gradient determination unit. If it is determined that the vehicle is traveling, the gradient angle of the road ahead is calculated based on the pitch angle.

In a tenth aspect according to any one of the eighth to ninth aspects, the object identification unit determines whether or not the object detected by the position detection unit is a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle, The angle calculation unit calculates a relative pitch angle with the vehicle body of the host vehicle based on the vertical position information of the current and past preceding vehicles stored in the storage unit.

An eleventh aspect further includes, in the tenth aspect, a vertical position change amount calculation unit that calculates a change amount per unit time of the vertical position of the preceding vehicle based on the vertical position information of the current and past preceding vehicles. The slope determination unit determines that the road gradient of the destination vehicle has changed when the amount of change per unit time of the vertical position of the preceding vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and the vertical position of the preceding vehicle When the amount of change per unit time is less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the road gradient of the destination has not changed.

In a twelfth aspect according to any one of the eighth to ninth aspects, the object identifying unit determines whether or not the object is a roadside object arranged on a destination road, and the object is a roadside object. The angle calculation unit calculates a relative pitch angle with the vehicle body of the host vehicle based on current and past roadside object vertical position information stored in the storage unit. To do.

In a thirteenth aspect based on the twelfth aspect, the object identification unit further determines whether or not the roadside object is a belt-like belt-like roadside object extending at a certain height along the destination road surface. When the position detection unit determines that the object is a belt-like roadside object, the position detection unit detects the vertical position of the belt-like roadside object in front of the vehicle by a predetermined distance. If the difference value between the upper and lower positions is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the road gradient of the destination is changing, and if the difference value is less than the predetermined threshold, the road gradient of the destination Is determined not to have changed.

In a fourteenth aspect according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, the object identifying unit identifies that the object is an obstacle when the vertical position of the object is present in a predetermined region in the vertical direction. It is characterized by that.

According to a fifteenth aspect, in the fourteenth aspect, the object identification unit is configured such that when the vertical position of the object exists in a region that is greater than or equal to the lower end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle and less than the upper end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle, It is characterized by identifying it as a thing.

In a sixteenth aspect, in the fifteenth aspect, the object identifying unit identifies that the object is a step on the road surface when the vertical position of the object is present in a region below the lower end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle. Is located in a region above the upper end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle, the object is identified as an elevated object arranged at a position away from the road surface.

According to a seventeenth aspect, in any one of the first to sixteenth aspects, the position detection unit irradiates a detection wave in the detection axis direction and receives a reflected wave of the detection wave from the object. A radar device that detects a position, and the setting changing unit rotates the detection axis of the radar device in a direction in which the pitch angle decreases to change the detection area of the object by the radar device, thereby making an erroneous determination by the object identifying unit. It is characterized by suppressing.

According to the first aspect, the setting of the position detection unit can be changed according to the relative pitch angle formed by the road surface of the destination road of the host vehicle and the detection axis of the position detection unit. For example, when the position detection unit is a radar device, the detection area of the radar can be changed according to the pitch angle. Therefore, the position of the object can be accurately detected. Therefore, it can suppress misjudging whether the detected object is an obstruction. The relative pitch angle can be calculated based on the detected vertical position information of the object. Therefore, there is no need to mount a sensor or the like for calculating the pitch angle on the host vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to configure an object detection device that can change the setting of the position detection unit as described above at low cost.

According to the second aspect, the relative pitch angle formed by the road surface of the destination road of the host vehicle and the detection axis of the position detection unit is determined according to the amount of displacement of the vertical position of the detected object with respect to the predetermined reference position. It can be easily detected.

According to the third aspect, the pitch angle can be calculated based on the average value of the vertical positions of the objects detected a plurality of times during a predetermined time. Therefore, even if the object may not be temporarily detected accurately due to noise or the like, the pitch angle can be accurately calculated by using the average value.

According to the fourth aspect, the pitch angle can be calculated based only on the vertical position information of the object detected in a situation where the position of the object can be accurately detected. Therefore, the calculation accuracy of the pitch angle can be improved.

According to the fifth aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not the position of the object can be accurately detected by a simple process on the condition that the host vehicle is traveling straight at a constant speed.

According to the sixth aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not the position of the object can be accurately detected on the condition that the preceding vehicle is traveling at a constant speed. Therefore, the pitch angle can be calculated with high accuracy based on the position information of the preceding vehicle.

According to the seventh aspect, the pitch angle can be calculated based on the movement vector of the roadside object. Therefore, the pitch angle can be calculated using any roadside object.

According to the eighth aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not the road gradient of the destination is changing without using another device such as a navigation device. Also, when the road gradient of the destination has not changed, the attitude angle in the pitch direction with respect to the horizontal plane of the vehicle body of the host vehicle can be calculated based on the information obtained from the position detection unit. That is, it is not necessary to separately install hardware such as a gyro sensor in the host vehicle in order to detect the attitude angle of the host vehicle.

According to the ninth aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not the road gradient of the destination of the host vehicle has changed without using a device such as a camera or a navigation device. Further, when the road gradient of the destination of the host vehicle has changed, the gradient angle of the destination road can be calculated based on the information obtained from the position detection unit. That is, it is not necessary to separately install hardware such as a camera and a navigation device in the own vehicle in order to detect the road gradient.

According to the tenth aspect, it is possible to calculate the attitude angle of the host vehicle or the slope angle of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling based on the position information of the preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the host vehicle.

According to the eleventh aspect, whether or not the road gradient of the destination of the host vehicle is changing is determined by a simple process according to the amount of change per unit time of the vertical position information of the preceding vehicle. Can do.

According to the twelfth aspect, it is possible to calculate the attitude angle of the host vehicle or the gradient angle of the destination road of the host vehicle based on the position information of the roadside objects arranged on the road on which the host vehicle travels.

According to the thirteenth aspect, whether or not the road gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle has changed is determined by a simple process according to the vertical position information detected at different times of the strip-shaped roadside object such as a guardrail, for example. can do.

According to the fourteenth aspect, whether or not the detected object is an obstacle that may collide with the vehicle can be determined by a simple process.

According to the fifteenth aspect, whether or not the detected object is an obstacle that may collide with the vehicle can be determined according to the size of the vehicle body of the host vehicle.

According to the sixteenth aspect, the detected object can be distinguished and identified in more detail.

According to the seventeenth aspect, the object detection device according to the present invention can be configured using a radar device mounted on a vehicle. In addition, it is possible to suppress erroneous discrimination of obstacles by a simple process of changing the axis direction of the radar device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an object detection apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the obstacle detection ECU according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the obstacle detection ECU according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the detected object identification process executed by the object identification unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating definitions of threshold values Rth1 and Rth2 used when identifying a detected object. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process A executed by the condition determination unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process A executed by the angle calculation unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the definitions of the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk, the average preceding vehicle vertical position PzA, and the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the preceding vehicle 200 is detected by the radar device 10 while the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 is kept horizontal. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the detection position M1 of the preceding vehicle detected on the detection surface SA when the body of the host vehicle 100 is kept horizontal. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the preceding vehicle 200 is detected by the radar device 10 with the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 tilted. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating how the direction of the detection axis of the radar apparatus is changed. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the guard rail 300 is detected by the radar apparatus 10 in a state where the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 is tilted. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a condition determination process B executed by the condition determination unit according to the second embodiment. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process B executed by the angle calculation unit according to the second embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating definitions of the guardrail position reference position Gk, the average guardrail vertical position GzA, and the guardrail vertical displacement amount Gh1. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process C executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 18 is an example of an angle calculation process C executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a roadside object movement vector VeQ. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ when there is a gradient change in the destination road. FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process D executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process D executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the position of a guardrail arranged along a road with a gradient change is detected. FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process E executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process E executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a conventional vehicle obstacle detection device mounted on an inclined vehicle detects an object. FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a conventional vehicle obstacle detection device mounted on a vehicle traveling on a road with a changed slope detects an object.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, an object detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The object detection apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus that is mounted on the host vehicle 100 and detects objects around the host vehicle 100.

First, the hardware configuration of the object detection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the object detection apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the object detection device 1 includes a radar device 10, an acceleration sensor 11, a rudder angle sensor 12, and an obstacle detection ECU 13. The object detection device 1 is electrically connected to each of the collision determination ECU 40 and the vehicle control device 50 mounted on the host vehicle 100.

The radar device 10 is a device that detects position information of objects around the host vehicle 100 and the velocity Vm of the objects. For example, the radar device 10 irradiates a detection wave signal such as an electromagnetic wave or an ultrasonic wave around the host vehicle 100. Then, the position information of the object is detected based on the reflected wave of the detected wave signal reflected by the object (hereinafter referred to as a reflected wave signal). The radar device 10 is typically an FM-CW radar device that transmits and receives electromagnetic waves in the millimeter wavelength band. The radar device 10 is mounted on the front end of the host vehicle 100. The detection axis J of the radar device 10 is set so as to extend in the front-rear direction of the host vehicle 100 (see FIG. 9). The detection axis J is an axis indicating the direction in which the radar apparatus 10 emits the detection wave. In each drawing shown below, a region where the radar device 10 detects an object is illustrated by dot hatching. Hereinafter, an object detected by the radar device 10 is referred to as a detected object. For example, the radar device 10 detects the position of the detected object in an XYZ coordinate system with the radar device 10 as the origin. The radar apparatus 10 uses the direction along the detection axis J as the X-axis component, the vertical direction relative to the X-axis as the Z-axis component (see FIG. 5), and the left-right direction as the Y-axis component. Is detected. The radar device 10 is electrically connected to the obstacle detection ECU 13. The radar apparatus 10 transmits the detected position information of the detected object to the obstacle detection ECU 13. The radar device 10 corresponds to the position detection unit described in the claims.

The acceleration sensor 11 is a sensor that detects acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as host vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACs). The acceleration sensor 11 is an acceleration sensor such as a mechanical type, an optical type, or a semiconductor type. The acceleration sensor 11 may detect the own vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACs using any conventionally known method. The acceleration sensor 11 is electrically connected to the obstacle detection ECU 13. Then, the acceleration sensor 11 transmits data indicating the detected own vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACs to the obstacle detection ECU 13. The acceleration sensor 11 corresponds to the own vehicle acceleration detection unit described in the claims.

The steering angle sensor 12 is a sensor that detects the steering angle ω of the host vehicle 100. The rudder angle sensor 12 may detect the rudder angle ω using any conventionally known method. The steering angle sensor 12 is electrically connected to the obstacle detection ECU 13. Then, the steering angle sensor 12 transmits data indicating the detected steering angle ω to the obstacle detection ECU 13. The rudder angle sensor 12 corresponds to the rudder angle detector described in the claims.

The obstacle detection ECU 13 is typically a control device including an information processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage device such as a memory, an interface circuit, and the like. The obstacle detection ECU 13 is electrically connected to the collision determination ECU 40 and the vehicle control device 50, respectively.

Hereinafter, the functional configuration of the obstacle detection ECU 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the obstacle detection ECU according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the obstacle detection ECU 13 functionally includes a storage unit 131, an object identification unit 132, a preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 133, a gradient determination unit 134, a condition determination unit 135, an angle calculation unit 136, and A setting change unit 137 is provided. The obstacle detection ECU 13 functionally stores, for example, a storage unit 131, an object identification unit 132, and a preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit by causing the CPU to execute a control program stored in advance in a memory or the like included in the obstacle detection ECU 13. 133, the gradient determination unit 134, the condition determination unit 135, the angle calculation unit 136, and the setting change unit 137 operate.

The storage unit 131 is a functional unit that stores information related to the detected object detected by the radar device 10. Specifically, the storage unit 131 stores the position coordinates of the detected object received from the radar device 10 and the velocity Vm.

The object identifying unit 132 is a functional unit that identifies whether or not the detected object is an obstacle based on the vertical position information (Z coordinate) of the detected object stored in the storage unit 131. The object identifying unit 132 further identifies whether the detected object is an elevated object, a step, a preceding vehicle, a roadside object, or a guardrail based on the vertical position information (Z coordinate). In addition, the object identification unit 132 instructs the storage unit 131 to store information on the detected object in association with the identification result. Further, the object identification unit 132 outputs position information of the detected object identified as an obstacle to the collision determination ECU. Details of processing executed by the object identification unit 132 according to the first embodiment will be described later with reference to FIG.

The preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 133 is a functional unit that calculates the acceleration / deceleration of the preceding vehicle 200 (hereinafter referred to as the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACm). For example, the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 133 calculates the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACm by differentiating the speed Vm of the preceding vehicle 200 stored in the storage unit 131 with respect to time. Note that the above processing is an example, and the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 133 may calculate the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACm using any conventionally known method.

The gradient determination unit 134 determines whether or not the road gradient of the destination of the host vehicle 100 is changing based on the vertical position information (Z coordinate) of the detected object stored in the storage unit 131. In the first embodiment, the gradient determining unit 134 is based on the current and past vertical positions of the preceding vehicle 200 stored in the storage unit 131 (hereinafter referred to as the preceding vehicle vertical position Pz). It is determined whether or not the road gradient of the destination 100 has changed.

The condition determination unit 135 determines whether a condition for accurately detecting the vertical position of the object is satisfied for a predetermined time. In the first embodiment, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not a condition for accurately detecting the vertical position of the preceding vehicle 200 is satisfied for a predetermined time, based on the storage unit 131 and the object identification unit 132. The determination is based on information acquired from the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 133, the gradient determination unit 134, the acceleration sensor 11, and the rudder angle sensor 12. Details of processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the first embodiment will be described later with reference to FIG.

The angle calculation unit 136 uses the relative pitch angle θ (see FIG. 11) formed by the detection axis J of the radar device 10 and the road surface of the road on which the host vehicle 100 travels, the determination result of the condition determination unit 135, and the storage unit 131. Is calculated based on the preceding vehicle up-and-down position Pz. Further, the angle calculation unit 136 according to the first embodiment calculates the attitude angle ψ in the pitch direction of the host vehicle 100 based on the relative pitch angle. Then, the angle calculation unit 136 outputs the calculated attitude angle ψ to the vehicle control device 50. Details of the processing executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the first embodiment will be described later with reference to FIG.

The setting change unit 137 is a functional unit that changes the setting of the radar device 10. For example, the setting change unit 137 changes the position of the detection axis J of the radar device 10 according to the relative pitch angle θ. Specifically, the setting changing unit 137 moves the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 so that the relative pitch angle θ is small.

Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the collision determination ECU 40 is typically a control device including an information processing device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a memory, and an interface circuit. The collision determination ECU 40 acquires obstacle position information from the obstacle detection ECU 13. Then, the collision determination ECU 40 determines whether or not there is a high risk that the obstacle and the host vehicle 100 will collide. When the collision determination ECU 40 determines that there is a high risk of the obstacle and the host vehicle 100 colliding, the collision determination ECU 40 activates the vehicle control device 50 to urge avoidance of the collision.

The vehicle control device 50 is a control device such as a brake control device, a steering control device, an alarm device, and a suspension control device. Each of the brake control device, the steering control device, and the alarm device controls the traveling of the host vehicle 100 so as to avoid the collision between the obstacle and the host vehicle 100 or issues an alarm according to an instruction from the collision determination ECU 40. Or emit. Further, the suspension control device controls the suspension in accordance with the value of the posture angle ψ received from the angle calculation unit, and performs control so that the posture of the host vehicle 100 is kept horizontal.

Next, a process executed by the obstacle detection ECU 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the obstacle detection ECU according to the first embodiment. Obstacle detection ECU13 starts the process of the flowchart of FIG. 3, for example, when the IG power supply of the own vehicle 100 is set to an ON state. When the obstacle detection ECU 13 starts the process of the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, the obstacle detection ECU 13 executes the process of step A1.

In step A1, the storage unit 131 initializes the stored data relating to the detected object. When the IG power supply is set to the on-state, that is, by initializing the data relating to the detected object once stored at the time of starting the engine, it is not affected by the data of the detected object detected during the previous run. Values such as the relative pitch angle θ can be accurately calculated in the following processing.

Next, in step A2, the radar apparatus 10 detects the position information of the detected object and the velocity Vm of the object. Further, the storage unit 131 stores the position information of the detected object stored by the radar device 10 and the velocity Vm of the object.

Next, in step A3, the object identification unit 132 executes the detected object identification process shown in FIG. 4 to identify the detected object. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the detected object identification process executed by the object identification unit according to the first embodiment.

When the object identification unit 132 starts the detected object identification process shown in FIG. 4, it first determines whether or not the detected object exists in the region R2 (step A301). As shown in FIG. 5, the region R2 is a region where the Z coordinate is not less than a predetermined threshold Rth1 and less than Rth2 in the XYZ coordinate system indicating the position of the detected object. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating definitions of threshold values Rth1 and Rth2 used when identifying a detected object. The threshold value Rth1 is preferably set in advance to a value indicating the lower end position of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100. In addition, the threshold value Rth2 is preferably set in advance to a value indicating the upper end position of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100. Thus, by determining the values of the threshold values Rth1 and Rth2, the object identification unit 132 exists in the region R2 where the detected object is equal to or higher than the lower end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 and lower than the upper end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100. It can be determined whether or not. If the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object exists in the region R2 (Yes in step A301), the object identification unit 132 identifies the detected object as an obstacle that may collide with the host vehicle 100, and stores the identification result. 131 (step A302). Further, the object identification unit 132 outputs data stored in the storage unit 131 regarding the detected object identified as an obstacle to the collision determination ECU 40. When the process of step A302 is completed, the object identification unit 132 advances the process to step A306. On the other hand, when the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object does not exist in the region R2 (No in Step A301), the object identifying unit 132 identifies the detected object as not an obstacle and advances the process to Step A303.

In step A303, the object identification unit 132 determines whether the detected object exists in the region R1. As shown in FIG. 5, the region R1 is a region that is less than the threshold value Rth1 in the XYZ coordinate system that indicates the position of the detected object. That is, the object identification unit 132 determines whether or not the detected object is present in the region R1 below the lower end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100. When the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object is present in the region R1 (Yes in Step A303), the object identification unit 132 identifies that the detected object is a step and stores the identification result in the storage unit 131 (Step A304). On the other hand, when the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object does not exist in the region R1 (No in Step A303), the detected object exists in the region R3 above the upper end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100. Conceivable. Therefore, in such a case, the object identification unit 132 identifies the detected object as an elevated object that is installed above and away from the road on which the host vehicle 100 travels (step A305). Then, the object identification unit 132 stores the identification result in the storage unit 131. And the object identification part 132 will complete | finish the detection target identification process of FIG. 4, and will advance a process to step A4 of FIG. 3, if the process of step A304 or step A305 is completed.

If it is determined in step A302 that the detected object is an obstacle, the object identifying unit 132 further determines whether the detected object is a preceding vehicle. Specifically, the object identification unit 132 determines whether or not the movement locus of the detected object is similar to the movement locus of the host vehicle 100 (step A306). More specifically, the object identification unit 132 maps the movement locus of the detected object on a virtual map from the current and past position information of the detected object stored in the storage unit 131. Similarly, the object identification unit 132 maps the movement trajectory of the host vehicle 100 on the map. Then, the object identification unit 132 determines whether or not the shape of the movement locus of the detected object is similar to the shape of the movement locus of the host vehicle 100. When the object identification unit 132 determines that the movement trajectory of the detected object is similar to the movement trajectory of the host vehicle 100 (Yes in Step A306), the object identification unit 132 identifies the detected object as a preceding vehicle and stores the identification result in the storage unit 131. (Step A307). When the object identification unit 132 completes the process of step A307, the object identification unit 132 completes the detected object identification process and advances the process to step A4 of FIG.

On the other hand, if the object identification unit 132 determines that the movement locus of the detected object is not similar to the movement locus of the host vehicle 100 (No in step A306), that is, if it is determined that the detected object is not a preceding vehicle, the detected object is It is determined whether it is a roadside object. Specifically, the object identification unit 132 determines whether or not the detected object is stationary at the front side of the host vehicle 100 based on the position information stored in the storage unit 131 (step A308). If the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object is not stationary at the front side of the host vehicle 100 (No in Step A308), the object identification unit 132 completes the detected object identification process and advances the process to Step A4 in FIG. On the other hand, when the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object is stationary at the front side of the host vehicle 100 (Yes in Step A308), the object identification unit 132 identifies the detected object as a roadside object and stores the identification result. The information is stored in the unit 131 (step A309). When the process of step A309 is completed, the object identification unit 132 indicates whether or not the detected object identified as a roadside object is extended in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 100 in the position information stored in the storage unit 131. Based on the determination (step A310). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the length of the detected object in the X-axis direction is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. When the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object identified as the roadside object is extended in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 100, the object identification unit 132 identifies that the detected object is a guardrail, and stores the identification result in the storage unit 131. Store (step A311). On the other hand, when the object identification unit 132 determines that the detected object identified as the roadside object is not extended in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 100, the object identification unit 132 completes the detected object identification process and proceeds to step A4 in FIG. .

According to the processing of the object identification unit 132, an object can be easily identified based on the vertical position information of the detected object.

Note that the processing in step A306 is an example, and the object identification unit 132 determines in step A306 whether the movement locus of the detected object is similar to the movement locus of the host vehicle 100 using a conventionally known method. I do not care. The object identifying unit 132 is not limited to the process shown in step A306 above, and may determine whether the detected object is a preceding vehicle using any conventionally known method. In step A308, the object identification unit 132 may determine whether the detected object is stationary in front of the host vehicle 100 using a conventionally known method. Further, the object identification unit 132 is not limited to the above-described detection object identification process, and the detection object may be identified in more detail using any conventionally known method.

Returning to the description of FIG. 3, in step A4, the condition determination unit 135 executes a condition determination process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process A executed by the condition determination unit according to the first embodiment. When the condition determination process A is started, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not all of the following conditions from Step A40 to Step A45 are satisfied.

First, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the preceding vehicle 200 is currently detected based on the identification result by the object detection unit 132 stored in the storage unit 131 (step A40). Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling at a constant speed (step A41). Specifically, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether the host vehicle 100 is traveling at a constant speed depending on whether or not the host vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACs acquired from the acceleration sensor 11 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold ACsth. Judge whether or not. Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling straight ahead (in step A42). Specifically, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling straight depending on whether or not the rudder angle ω acquired from the rudder angle sensor 12 is less than a predetermined threshold ωth. judge. Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the preceding vehicle 200 is traveling at a constant speed (step A43). Specifically, first, the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 133 calculates the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACm. Then, the preceding vehicle 200 is traveling at a constant speed depending on whether or not the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration ACm acquired from the preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculating unit 133 by the condition determining unit 135 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold ACmth. It is determined whether or not. Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the preceding vehicle 200 is traveling straight ahead (step A44). Specifically, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the amount of change per hour of the lateral position (Y coordinate) of the preceding vehicle 200 stored in the storage unit 131 is less than a predetermined threshold. It is determined whether the preceding vehicle 200 is traveling straight ahead.

Next, in step A45, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether there is no change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. It is considered that when the preceding vehicle 200 starts running on a sloped road surface, the vertical position of the preceding vehicle 200 starts to fluctuate rapidly. Therefore, the gradient determination unit 134 first reads the value of the vertical position Pz of the current and past preceding vehicles 200 from the storage unit 131. Then, the amount of change per unit time of the vertical position Pz of the preceding vehicle 200 is calculated as the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔPz. When the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔPz is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value ΔPzth, the gradient determination unit 134 determines that there is no change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. On the other hand, when the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔPz is greater than a predetermined threshold value ΔPzth, it is determined that there is a change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. That is, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether or not the following expression (1) is satisfied. The condition determination unit 135 acquires the determination result by the gradient determination unit 134 and determines whether or not the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100 has changed.
ΔPz ≦ ΔPzth (1)

If all the conditions from step A40 to step A45 are satisfied (all from step A40 to step A45 are Yes), the condition determination unit 135 sets the accurate detection condition flag to ON (step A46). On the other hand, when any of the conditions from Step A40 to Step A45 is not satisfied (No in any one of Step A40 to Step A45), the accurate detection condition flag is set to OFF (Step A47). The accurate detection condition flag is a flag indicating that the vertical position of the detected object can be accurately detected when the flag is on. The on / off state of the accurate detection condition flag is stored in the storage device of the obstacle detection ECU 13. When the process of step A46 or step A47 is completed, the condition determination unit 135 advances the process to step A5 of FIG.

3, in step A5, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the accurate detection condition flag was set to ON. Specifically, the condition determination unit 135 measures the elapsed time T from the time when the accurate detection condition flag is set to ON. Then, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the elapsed time T is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold Tth. If the condition determination unit 135 determines that a predetermined time has elapsed since the accurate detection condition flag was set to ON (Yes in step A5), the process proceeds to step A6. On the other hand, if the condition determination unit 135 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the accurate detection condition flag is set to ON (No in step A5), the process proceeds to step A8.

According to the process of the condition determination unit 135 described above, when the situation in which the vertical position of the preceding vehicle 200 can be accurately detected continues for a predetermined time, the angle calculation process shown below is executed, and the relative pitch angle θ and the attitude angle are ψ is calculated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the relative pitch angle θ and the attitude angle ψ from being calculated based on the vertical position information of the preceding vehicle 200 detected in error. In addition, the condition that the host vehicle 100 is traveling at a constant speed and the preceding vehicle 200 is traveling at a constant speed makes it possible to obtain only the vertical position information Pz of the preceding vehicle 200 with higher accuracy. Based on this, the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ can be calculated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the setting of the radar apparatus 10 from being changed based on the relative pitch angle θ and the attitude angle ψ calculated in error.

In step A6, the angle calculation unit 136 executes an angle calculation process. The angle calculation unit 136 according to the first embodiment executes an angle calculation process A shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process A executed by the angle calculation unit according to the first embodiment.

When the angle calculation process A is started, the angle calculation unit 136 first calculates the average preceding vehicle vertical position PzA (step A61). The average preceding vehicle up / down position PzA is an average value of the up / down positions Pz of the preceding vehicle 200 detected at a plurality of times from the time when the accurate detection condition flag is set to ON.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1 (step A62). The preceding vehicle up / down displacement amount Ph1 is a displacement amount of the average preceding vehicle up / down position PzA with respect to the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk predetermined in the XYZ coordinate system indicating the position of the detected object as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the definitions of the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk, the average preceding vehicle up / down position PzA, and the preceding vehicle up / down displacement amount Ph1. As shown in FIG. 9, the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk is detected when the preceding vehicle 200 is detected when the radar device 10 detects the preceding vehicle 200 with the body of the host vehicle 100 kept horizontal. It is a value indicating the expected vertical position (Z coordinate). The value of the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk is arbitrarily determined by experiments or the like. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the preceding vehicle 200 is detected by the radar device 10 while the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 is kept horizontal. For example, when the preceding vehicle 200 is detected in the situation shown in FIG. 9 and the detection position of the preceding vehicle 200 is M1, the Z coordinate (the preceding vehicle vertical position Pz) of the detection position M1 of the radar apparatus 10 is As shown in FIG. 10, it is substantially the same value as the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the detection position M1 of the preceding vehicle 200 detected on the detection surface SA when the body of the host vehicle 100 is kept horizontal.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ formed by the detection axis J of the radar device 10 and the road surface on which the host vehicle 100 travels according to the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1 (step A63). Here, a case is assumed where the front end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 is directed upward, for example, as shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the preceding vehicle 200 is detected by the radar device 10 with the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 tilted. In such a case, the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 also faces upward together with the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100. Therefore, the detection position M2 of the preceding vehicle 200 is detected by the radar device 10 at a position shifted downward from the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk by the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1. Thus, when there is no gradient on the road surface where the host vehicle amount 100 travels, a correlation is obtained between the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1 and the inclination of the detection axis J. Therefore, the angle calculation unit 136 can calculate the relative pitch angle θ according to the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1. For example, the angle calculation unit 136 stores in advance a data table indicating the correlation between the relative pitch angle θ and the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1. Then, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ corresponding to the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1 with reference to the data table.

As described above, according to the process of the angle calculation unit 136, the relative pitch angle θ is calculated by a simple process for obtaining the vertical position shift (preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph1) of the preceding vehicle 200 with respect to the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk. It is possible. Also, when the vertical displacement amount Ph1 of the preceding vehicle is calculated based on the average value of the vertical position Pz of the preceding vehicle 200 detected at a plurality of different time points, the vertical position Pz is temporarily erroneously detected due to noise or the like. Even if there is, it is possible to accurately calculate the relative pitch angle θ while suppressing the influence of such erroneous detection.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the posture angle ψ based on the relative pitch angle θ (step A64). As shown in FIG. 11, when the host vehicle 100 is traveling on a flat road surface having no change in gradient, the relative pitch angle θ is considered to be a value corresponding to the posture angle of the host vehicle 100 in the pitch direction. It is done. Here, in the first embodiment, when it is determined from the processing of step A45 and step A5 that there is no change in the gradient of the road surface on which the host vehicle 100 travels, that is, the host vehicle 100 travels on a flat road surface. In this case, the relative pitch angle θ is calculated. Therefore, the angle calculation unit 136 can calculate the posture angle ψ based on the relative pitch angle θ. Here, for example, when the radar apparatus 10 is attached to the host vehicle 100 such that the detection axis J is inclined by the offset angle α with respect to an axis indicating the front-rear direction of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as the front-rear axis). Is assumed. In such a case, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the pitch angle with respect to the horizontal plane of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 as the posture angle ψ by subtracting the offset angle α from the relative pitch angle θ. When the value of the offset angle α is 0, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the value of the relative pitch angle θ as it is as the value of the posture angle ψ. The angle calculation unit 136 outputs the calculated value of the posture angle ψ to the vehicle control device 50. When the angle calculation unit 136 completes the process of step A64, the process proceeds to step A7 of FIG.

As described above, according to the object detection device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the relative pitch angle θ and the attitude angle ψ can be calculated based on the detected vertical position information of the preceding vehicle 200. Therefore, it is not necessary to install hardware such as a gyro sensor in the own vehicle in order to calculate the relative pitch angle θ and the attitude angle ψ. That is, the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ can be detected with an inexpensive configuration. Further, according to the object detection device 1 according to the first embodiment, the posture angle ψ can be calculated even in a situation where there is no roadside object such as a guardrail around the host vehicle 100.

3, the setting changing unit 137 changes the setting of the radar device 10 according to the value of the relative pitch angle θ calculated by the angle calculating unit 136 (step A7). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the setting change unit 137 moves the position of the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 so that the value of the relative pitch angle θ becomes small. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating how the direction of the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 is changed. More preferably, the setting change unit 137 moves the position of the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 so that the value of the relative pitch angle θ is zero. It should be noted that any conventionally known method may be used as the method by which the radar apparatus 10 moves the detection axis J. For example, the radar apparatus 10 may virtually move the position of the detection axis J by a calculation such as phase shifting the received reflected wave signal according to the relative pitch angle θ. Further, the radar apparatus 10 may physically move the position of the detection axis J by physically changing the angle and arrangement of the receiving antenna that receives the reflected wave signal with an actuator. When the process of step A7 is completed, the setting change unit 137 advances the process to step A8.

Next, in step A8, the obstacle detection ECU 13 determines whether or not the IG power source of the host vehicle 100 is set to an off state. When the obstacle detection ECU 13 determines that the IG power supply of the host vehicle 100 is maintained in the ON state, the obstacle detection ECU 13 returns the process to step A2 and repeatedly executes the processes from step A2 to step A7. On the other hand, when the IG power source of the host vehicle 100 is set to the off state, the obstacle detection ECU 13 ends the process of the flowchart of FIG.

As described above, according to the object detection device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the direction of the detection axis J of the radar device 10 can be corrected according to the relative pitch angle θ. More specifically, by changing the direction of the detection axis J so that the relative pitch angle θ becomes 0, the detection axis J is controlled to be always parallel to the road surface. Therefore, the height of the detected object from the road surface can be accurately detected. In addition, it is difficult to detect erroneously that an elevated object such as a signboard disposed above and away from the road surface exists at a low position. Then, since the position information of the detected object thus accurately detected is used to identify what kind of object the detected object is, the object detecting device 1 can accurately identify the object. it can.

If the calculation accuracy of the posture angle ψ may be low, the setting change unit 137 may omit the processing from step A4 to step A8. When performing such processing, the object detection device 1 may be configured not to include the acceleration sensor 11 and the steering angle sensor 12.

In step A7, the setting change unit 137 may perform arbitrary setting change processing according to the relative pitch angle θ for the setting of the radar device 10 without being limited to the above-described processing. For example, the setting change unit 137 may change the reception sensitivity of the reflected wave signal in the radar apparatus 10 according to the relative pitch angle θ. More specifically, the setting changing unit 137 may decrease the reception sensitivity of the reflected wave signal from a relatively upper region in the object detection region of the radar apparatus 10 as the relative pitch angle θ is larger. The setting change unit 137 may change the transmission intensity of the detection wave signal emitted by the radar apparatus 10 according to the relative pitch angle θ. More specifically, the setting change unit 137 may decrease the transmission intensity of the detection wave signal transmitted to a relatively upper region in the object detection region of the radar apparatus 10 as the relative pitch angle θ is larger. .

The object identifying unit 132 may identify a plurality of different preceding vehicles, and the angle calculating unit 136 may calculate the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ based on the vertical position information of each of the plurality of different preceding vehicles. Absent. For example, an average value of the relative pitch angles θ obtained for each of a plurality of different preceding vehicles may be calculated as the relative pitch angle θ.

<Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the example in which the object detection device 1 calculates the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ based on the vertical position information of the preceding vehicle 200 has been described. The relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ may be calculated based on the above. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state where the guard rail 300 is detected by the radar device 10 in a state where the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 is tilted. Hereinafter, an object detection device according to the second embodiment will be described.

The configuration of the object detection apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Further, the obstacle detection ECU 13 according to the second embodiment executes the process in the same procedure as the flowchart of FIG. 3, but the condition determination process executed by the condition determination unit 135 in step A4 and the angle calculation unit in step A6. The angle calculation process executed by 136 is different. Hereinafter, processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 and the angle calculation unit 136 according to the second embodiment will be described.

First, the condition determination process B executed in step A4 by the condition determination unit 135 according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of condition determination processing B executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the second embodiment. When the condition determination process B is started, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not all of the following conditions from Step B40 to Step B43 are satisfied.

First, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the guardrail 300 is currently detected based on the identification result by the object detection unit 132 stored in the storage unit 131 (step B40). Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling at a constant speed in the same manner as in step A41 (step B41). Next, the condition determining unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling straight ahead in the same manner as in step A42 (step B42).

Next, in step B43, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether there is a change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. When the guard rail 300 is installed along a sloped road surface, it is considered that the vertical position of the guard rail 300 fluctuates according to the change in the road slope (see FIG. 24). Therefore, the gradient determination unit 134 first acquires the vertical position of the guard rail 300 at a position away from the host vehicle 100 by a predetermined distance. More specifically, the gradient determining unit 134 reads from the storage unit 131 the Z coordinate of the guardrail 300 (hereinafter referred to as the guardrail vertical position Gz) at the position where the X coordinate is L1. It is assumed that the guardrail vertical position Gz is detected and stored in advance in step A2. A change amount per unit time of the guard rail vertical position Gz is calculated as a guard rail vertical change amount ΔGz. Then, when the guardrail up / down change amount ΔGz is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value ΔGzth, the gradient determination unit 134 determines that there is no change in the gradient of the destination road of the host vehicle 100. On the other hand, when the guard rail up / down change amount ΔGz is larger than a predetermined threshold value ΔGzth, it is determined that there is a change in the road gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. That is, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether or not the following expression (2) is satisfied.
ΔGz ≦ ΔGzth (2)

If all the conditions from step B40 to step B43 are satisfied (all from step B40 to step B43 is Yes), the condition determination unit 135 sets the accurate detection condition flag to ON (step B44). On the other hand, when any of the conditions from Step B40 to Step B43 is not satisfied (No in any one of Step B40 to Step B43), the accurate detection condition flag is set to OFF (Step B45). When the process of step B44 or step B45 is completed, the condition determining unit 135 advances the process to step A5 of FIG.

According to the condition determination process B, the angle calculation process B described below is performed when there is no change in the gradient of the road on which the host vehicle 100 travels and the guardrail 300 is continuously detected for a predetermined time. Is executed.

Next, the attitude angle process B executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the second embodiment in step A6 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process B executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the second embodiment.

When the condition determination process is started, the angle calculation unit 136 first calculates the average guardrail vertical position GzA (step B61). The average guardrail vertical position GzA is an average value of the guardrail vertical position Gz detected from the time when the accurate detection condition flag is set to ON until the present time. The guardrail vertical position Gz is the Z coordinate of the upper end of the guardrail 300 at a predetermined distance (for example, X = L1) from the host vehicle 100. It is assumed that the guardrail vertical position Gz is detected in the process of step A2 and stored in the storage unit 131. The angle calculation unit 136 reads the value of the guardrail vertical position Gz detected at the plurality of times from the storage unit 131, and calculates the average value of these values as the average guardrail vertical position GzA.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates a guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh1 (step B62). The guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh1 is a displacement amount of the average guard rail vertical position GzA with respect to the guard rail position reference position Gk that is predetermined in the XYZ coordinate system indicating the position of the detected object. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating definitions of the guardrail position reference position Gk, the average guardrail vertical position GzA, and the guardrail vertical displacement amount Gh1. The guardrail position reference position Gk is a value indicating the vertical position (Z coordinate) of the guardrail 300 that will be detected when the guardrail 300 is detected by the radar apparatus 10 with the body of the host vehicle 100 kept horizontal. is there. The guardrail position reference position Gk is arbitrarily determined by experiments or the like.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ formed by the detection axis J of the radar device 10 and the road surface on which the host vehicle 100 travels according to the guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh1 (step B63). Here, as shown in FIG. 13, a case is assumed in which a relatively heavy load is loaded on the rear portion of the host vehicle 100 and the vehicle body front end of the host vehicle 100 is directed upward. In such a case, the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 also faces upward. Therefore, the detection position M3 of the guard rail 300 is detected by the radar device 10 as a position shifted downward from the guard rail position reference position Gk by the guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh1. Thus, when there is no gradient on the road surface where the host vehicle amount 100 travels, a correlation is obtained between the guardrail vertical displacement amount Gh1 and the inclination of the detection axis J. Therefore, the angle calculation unit 136 can calculate the relative pitch angle θ according to the guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh1. More specifically, the angle calculation unit 136 stores in advance a data table indicating the correlation between the relative pitch angle θ and the guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh1, for example. Then, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ corresponding to the guardrail vertical displacement amount Gh1 with reference to the data table.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the posture angle ψ based on the relative pitch angle θ in the same manner as in step A64 (step B64). When the angle calculation unit 136 completes the process of step B64, the process proceeds to step A7 of FIG.

Thus, according to the object detection device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ can be calculated based on the detected vertical position information of the guard rail 300. Therefore, it is not necessary to install hardware such as a gyro sensor in the own vehicle in order to calculate the relative pitch angle θ and the attitude angle ψ. That is, the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ can be detected with an inexpensive configuration. In addition, according to the object detection device according to the second embodiment, the posture angle ψ can be calculated even in a situation where no preceding vehicle exists in front of the host vehicle 100.

Also, according to the object detection apparatus according to the second embodiment, the direction of the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 can be corrected according to the relative pitch angle θ, as in the first embodiment. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the position of the detected object and accurately identify what kind of object the detected object is.

In the above description, the relative pitch angle θ is calculated based on the average guardrail vertical position GzA obtained by averaging the current and past values of the guardrail vertical position Gz at a position (X = L1) that is a predetermined distance away from the host vehicle 100. However, the angle calculation unit 136 may calculate the relative pitch angle based not only on the positions separated by the distance L1 but also on the vertical positions of the guard rails 300 at different locations.

<Third Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, the angle calculation unit 136 has been described with respect to an example in which the relative angle pitch θ is calculated based on the vertical position information of a roadside object extending along a road such as a guard rail. In 136, the relative pitch angle θ may be calculated based on the change over time of the position information of an arbitrary roadside object. Hereinafter, the object detection apparatus according to the third embodiment will be described.

The configuration of the object detection apparatus according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the first and second embodiments (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Further, the obstacle detection ECU 13 according to the third embodiment executes the process in the same procedure as the flowchart of FIG. 3, but the condition determination process executed by the condition determination unit 135 in step A4 and the angle calculation unit in step A6. The angle calculation process executed by 136 is different. Hereinafter, processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 and the angle calculation unit 136 according to the third embodiment will be described.

First, the condition determination process C executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the third embodiment in step A4 will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process C executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the third embodiment. Note that, in the process of the condition determination process C shown in FIG. 17, the same process as the condition determination process B shown in FIG. When the condition determination process C is started, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not all of the following conditions from Step C40 and Step B41 to Step B43 are satisfied.

First, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the roadside object detected last time is still detected based on the identification result by the object detection unit 132 stored in the storage unit 131 (step C40). Next, it is determined whether the conditions from step B41 to step B43 are satisfied in the same manner as in the second embodiment. If all the conditions of Step C40 and Step B41 to Step B43 are satisfied (Yes in Step C40 and Step B41 to Step B43), the condition determination unit 135 sets the accurate detection condition flag to ON (Step B44). On the other hand, when any of the conditions from Step B40 to Step B43 is not satisfied (No in any one of Step C40 and Step B41 to Step B43), the accurate detection condition flag is set to OFF (Step B45). When the process of step B46 or step B47 is completed, the condition determining unit 135 advances the process to step A5 of FIG.

Next, an angle calculation process C executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the third embodiment in step A6 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process C executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the third embodiment.

According to the condition determination process C, the following angle calculation is performed when there is no change in the gradient of the road on which the host vehicle 100 is traveling and the same roadside object is continuously detected for a predetermined time. Process C is executed.

Next, when the condition determination process is started, the angle calculation unit 136 first calculates the roadside object movement vector VeQ (step C61). The roadside object movement vector VeQ is vector information indicating a change in position information of the roadside object detected by the radar apparatus 10. Hereinafter, an example in which the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the roadside object movement vector VeQ for the guard rail pole 400 detected as a roadside object will be described. Specifically, the angle calculation unit 136 stores the relative detection position Q1 of the pole 400 with respect to the host vehicle 100 at the current time T1, and the relative detection position Q2 of the pole 400 with respect to the host vehicle 100 at the past time T2. And is mapped on the XZ plane as shown in FIG. Then, a vector on the XZ plane connecting the detection position Q1 and the point is calculated as a roadside object movement vector VeQ. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the roadside object movement vector VeQ.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ formed by the detection axis J of the radar device 10 and the road surface on which the host vehicle 100 travels according to the positional relationship between the roadside object movement vector VeQ and the detection axis J. (Step C62). Specifically, the angle formed by the roadside object movement vector VeQ and the detection axis J is calculated as the relative pitch angle θ. As shown in FIG. 19, when the host vehicle 100 is traveling on a flat road surface without a change in slope, the detected pole 400 relatively approaches the host vehicle 100 as the host vehicle 100 travels. . Here, it is assumed that the posture of the host vehicle 100 is directed upward and the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 is also directed upward. In such a case, although the vertical positions of the detection points Q1 and Q2 of the actual pole 400 are not changed, the vertical position Qz1 of the pole 400 at the current time T1 detected by the radar device 10 is the past time T2. Compared with the vertical position Qz2 of the pole 400, it is detected as moving upward. That is, the vertical position of the roadside object changes with time according to the relative pitch angle θ indicating the direction of the detection axis J. Therefore, the relative pitch angle θ can be calculated by the roadside object movement vector VeQ indicating the change in the vertical position of the roadside object.

Thus, according to the object detection device of the third embodiment of the present invention, the relative pitch angle θ can be calculated based on the detected vertical position information of the pole 400. Therefore, there is no need to mount a sensor or the like for calculating the pitch angle on the host vehicle.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the posture angle ψ based on the relative pitch angle θ in the same manner as in Step B64 (Step C63).

As described above, according to the object detection apparatus according to the third embodiment, the relative pitch angle θ is not limited to a roadside object that forms a belt-like shape along a road such as a guardrail, but a roadside object of any form. And the attitude angle ψ can be calculated. In addition, according to the object detection device according to the third embodiment, the posture angle ψ can be calculated even in a situation where no preceding vehicle exists in front of the host vehicle 100.

Also, according to the object detection apparatus according to the third embodiment, the direction of the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 can be corrected according to the relative pitch angle θ, as in the first embodiment. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the position of the detected object and accurately identify the detected object.

Note that the angle calculation unit 136 is not limited to the pole 400 of the guardrail 300, and may execute the process of FIG. 18 based on the position information of an arbitrary roadside object stored in the storage unit 131. Moreover, the process of the said step C61 is an example, and the angle calculation part 136 may calculate the roadside object movement vector VeQ using the conventionally well-known arbitrary methods.

<Fourth Embodiment>
In the first to third embodiments, when it is assumed that there is no gradient change in the road on which the host vehicle 100 travels (Yes in Steps A45 and B43), the relative pitch angle θ and the posture angle ψ are Since it is considered that there is a correlation, the example in which the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the posture angle ψ based on the relative pitch angle θ has been described. On the other hand, when there is a gradient change in the road to which the host vehicle 100 travels and the attitude of the host vehicle 100 is kept horizontal, the detection axis J and the road surface of the road to which the host vehicle 100 travels are It is considered that the relative pitch angle θ formed is a value corresponding to the slope angle of the road as shown in FIG. Therefore, when there is a gradient change in the destination road of the host vehicle 100, the angle calculation unit 136 may calculate the slope angle φ of the destination road. Note that FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ when there is a gradient change in the destination road. Hereinafter, an object detection apparatus according to the fourth embodiment will be described.

The configuration of the object detection apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2), but the processing executed by the obstacle detection ECU 13 is different. Further, the obstacle detection ECU 13 according to the fourth embodiment executes the process in the same procedure as the flowchart of FIG. 3, but the condition determination process executed by the condition determination unit 135 in step A4 and the angle calculation unit in step A6. The angle calculation process executed by 136 is different. Hereinafter, processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 and the angle calculation unit 136 according to the third embodiment will be described. Hereinafter, processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 and the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fourth embodiment will be described.

First, the condition determination process D executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the fourth embodiment in step A4 will be described. FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process D executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the fourth embodiment. Note that, in the condition determination process D shown in FIG. 21, steps that perform the same process as the condition determination process A shown in FIG. 6 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. When the condition determination process D is started, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not all of the following conditions from Step A40 to Step A44 and Step D45 are satisfied.

In step D45, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether there is a change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. Specifically, the gradient determination unit 134 calculates the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔPz in the same manner as in the process of step A45 described above. Then, when the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔPz is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value ΔPzth, the gradient determination unit 134 determines that the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100 has changed. On the other hand, when the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔPz is greater than a predetermined threshold value ΔPzth, it is determined that there is no change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. That is, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether or not the following expression (3) is satisfied.
ΔPz> ΔPzth (3)

When all the conditions from step A40 to step A44 and step D45 are satisfied (all from step A40 to step A44 and step D45 are all Yes), the condition determination unit 135 sets the accurate detection condition flag to ON ( Step A46). On the other hand, if any of the conditions from Step A40 to Step A45 is not satisfied (No in any one of Step A40 to Step A44 and Step D45), the accurate detection condition flag is set to OFF (Step A47). When the process of step A46 or step A47 is completed, the condition determination unit 135 advances the process to step A5 of FIG.

According to the condition determination process D, when the road gradient of the destination of the host vehicle 100 is changing and the preceding vehicle 200 is continuously detected for a predetermined time, the following angle calculation is performed. Process D is executed.

Next, an angle calculation process D executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fourth embodiment in step A6 in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process D executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fourth embodiment.

When the angle calculation process D is started, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph2 (step D61). The preceding vehicle up / down displacement amount Ph2 is a displacement amount of the current preceding vehicle up / down position Pz with respect to the preceding vehicle position reference position Pk.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ according to the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph2 (step D62). For example, the angle calculation unit 136 stores in advance a data table indicating the correlation between the relative pitch angle θ and the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph2. Then, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ corresponding to the preceding vehicle vertical displacement amount Ph2 with reference to the data table.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the gradient angle φ based on the relative pitch angle θ (step D63). As shown in FIG. 20, the relative pitch angle θ is considered to be a value corresponding to the gradient of the road on which the host vehicle 100 travels. Therefore, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the value of the relative pitch angle θ as it is as the value of the gradient angle φ. When the radar apparatus 10 is mounted so as to be inclined by the offset angle α with respect to the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 as described above, the angle calculation unit 136 subtracts the offset angle α from the relative pitch angle θ. Thus, the pitch angle with respect to the horizontal plane of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 100 may be calculated as the gradient angle φ. When the angle calculation unit 136 completes the process of step D64, the process proceeds to step A7 of FIG.

Thus, according to the object detection device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ can be calculated based on the detected vertical position information of the preceding vehicle 200. Therefore, it is not necessary to install hardware such as a navigation device in the host vehicle in order to calculate the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ. That is, the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ can be detected with an inexpensive configuration. In addition, according to the object detection device according to the fourth embodiment, the gradient angle φ can be calculated even in a situation where there is no roadside object such as a guardrail around the host vehicle 100.

Further, according to the object detection device according to the fourth embodiment, the direction of the detection axis J of the radar device 10 can be corrected according to the relative pitch angle θ, as in the first embodiment. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the position of the detected object and accurately identify the detected object.

<Fifth Embodiment>
In the fourth embodiment, the example in which the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the gradient angle φ based on the vertical position information of the preceding vehicle 200 has been described. However, the angle calculation unit 136 changes the gradient as shown in FIG. The gradient angle φ may be calculated based on the vertical position information of the guardrail 301 arranged along a certain road. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the position of a guardrail arranged along a road with a gradient change is detected. The object detection apparatus according to the fifth embodiment will be described below.

The configuration of the object detection apparatus according to the fifth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2), but the processing executed by the obstacle detection ECU 13 is different. Further, the obstacle detection ECU 13 according to the fifth embodiment executes the process in the same procedure as the flowchart of FIG. 3, but the condition determination process executed by the condition determination unit 135 in step A4 and the angle calculation unit in step A6. The angle calculation process executed by 136 is different. Hereinafter, processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 and the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fifth embodiment will be described. Hereinafter, processing executed by the condition determination unit 135 and the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fifth embodiment will be described.

First, the condition determination process E executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the fifth embodiment in step A4 will be described. FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the condition determination process E executed by the condition determination unit 135 according to the fifth embodiment. Note that, in the condition determination process E shown in FIG. 24, steps that perform the same process as the condition determination process B shown in FIG. 14 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. When the condition determination process E is started, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not all of the following conditions from Step B40 to Step B42 and Step E43 are satisfied.

First, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the guardrail 300 is currently detected (step B40). Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling at a constant speed (step B41). Next, the condition determination unit 135 determines whether or not the host vehicle 100 is traveling straight ahead (step B42).

Next, in step E43, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether or not there is a change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. Specifically, the gradient determination unit 134 calculates the guardrail up / down change amount ΔGz in the same manner as the process of Step B43 described above. When the guard rail up / down change amount ΔGz is larger than a predetermined threshold value ΔGzth, it is determined that there is a change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. On the other hand, when the preceding vehicle vertical speed ΔGz is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value ΔGzth, the gradient determination unit 134 determines that there is no change in the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100. That is, the gradient determination unit 134 determines whether or not the following expression (4) is satisfied. The condition determination unit 135 acquires the determination result by the gradient determination unit 134 and determines whether or not the road surface gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100 has changed.
ΔGz> ΔGzth (4)

When all the conditions from step B40 to step B42 and step E43 are satisfied (all from step B40 to step B42 and step E43), the condition determination unit 135 sets the accurate detection condition flag to ON ( Step B44). On the other hand, if any of the conditions from Step B40 to Step B42 and Step E43 is not satisfied (No in any one of Step B40 to Step B42 and Step E43), the accurate detection condition flag is set to OFF ( Step B45). When the process of step B44 or step B45 is completed, the condition determining unit 135 advances the process to step A5 of FIG.

According to the condition determination process E, when the road gradient of the traveling destination of the host vehicle 100 is changed and the guardrail 300 is continuously detected for a predetermined time, the angle calculation process E shown below is performed. Is executed.

Next, the angle calculation process E executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fifth embodiment in step A6 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an angle calculation process E executed by the angle calculation unit 136 according to the fifth embodiment.

When the angle calculation process E is started, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh2 (step E61). The guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh2 is a displacement amount of the current guard rail vertical position Gzn with respect to the guard rail position reference position Gk. It is assumed that the current guardrail vertical position Gzn is detected in the process of step A2 and stored in the storage unit 131. The angle calculation unit 136 reads the value of the current guardrail vertical position Gzn from the storage unit 131 and calculates the displacement amount Gh2 from the guardrail reference position Gk.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ according to the guard rail vertical displacement amount Gh2 (step E62). For example, the angle calculation unit 136 previously stores a data table indicating the correlation between the relative pitch angle θ and the guardrail vertical displacement amount Gh2. Then, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the relative pitch angle θ corresponding to the guardrail vertical displacement amount Gh2 with reference to the data table.

Next, the angle calculation unit 136 calculates the gradient angle φ based on the relative pitch angle θ in the same manner as in step D63 (step E63). When the angle calculation unit 136 completes the process of step E64, the process proceeds to step A7 of FIG.

Thus, according to the object detection device of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ can be calculated based on the detected vertical position information of the guard rail 300. Therefore, it is not necessary to install hardware such as a navigation device in the host vehicle in order to calculate the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ. That is, the relative pitch angle θ and the gradient angle φ can be detected with an inexpensive configuration. In addition, according to the object detection device according to the fifth embodiment, it is possible to calculate the gradient angle φ even in a situation where there is no preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle 100.

Further, according to the object detection apparatus according to the fifth embodiment, the direction of the detection axis J of the radar apparatus 10 can be corrected according to the relative pitch angle θ, as in the first embodiment. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the position of the detected object and accurately identify what kind of object the detected object is.

In each of the above embodiments, the example in which the object detection device includes the radar device 10 as a position detection unit has been described. However, any device that can detect the position of an object may be used as the position detection unit. For example, the object detection device may include a camera that images the front of the host vehicle 100 as a position detection unit. In such a configuration, the detection axis J represents the optical axis of the camera.

In each of the above embodiments, the example in which the radar apparatus 10 detects the position of the detected object in the coordinate system having its own position as the origin has been described. You can get the information. For example, the radar apparatus 10 may detect the position of the road surface on which the host vehicle 100 travels, and detect the position of the detected object using the road surface position as the origin of the Z axis.

The object detection apparatus according to the present invention is useful as an object detection apparatus that can detect an object more accurately than in the past.

1 Object detection device 10 Radar device (position detection unit)
11 Accelerometer (Vehicle acceleration / deceleration detector)
12 Rudder angle sensor (steering angle detector)
13 Obstacle detection ECU
131 storage unit 132 object identification unit 133 preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit 134 gradient determination unit 135 condition determination unit 136 angle calculation unit 137 setting change unit 40 collision determination ECU
50

Vehicle control device

91, 92

Signboard

100, 800 Own vehicle 200 Preceding

vehicle

300, 301 Guardrail 400 Pole

Claims

An object detection device for detecting an object existing around a host vehicle,
A position detection unit for detecting at least vertical position information of an object existing on a road surface on which the host vehicle travels;
An object identification unit that at least identifies whether the object detected by the position detection unit is an obstacle that may collide with the host vehicle;
An angle calculation unit that calculates a relative pitch angle formed by a road surface of a road on which the host vehicle travels and a detection axis of the position detection unit based on vertical position information of the object;
An object detection apparatus comprising: a setting change unit that suppresses erroneous identification by the object identification unit by correcting the setting of the position detection unit according to the relative pitch angle.
The object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the angle calculation unit calculates the relative pitch angle according to a displacement amount of the vertical position of the object with respect to a predetermined reference position.
A storage unit that stores the vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit;
The angle calculation unit calculates an average position of current and past positions of the object stored in the storage unit, and calculates the relative pitch angle according to a displacement amount of the average position with respect to the reference position. The object detection device according to claim 2, wherein
A condition determination unit that determines whether a condition for accurately detecting the vertical position of the object is satisfied for a predetermined time;
The angle calculation unit calculates the pitch angle based on the vertical position information of the object detected within the predetermined time when it is determined that the condition is satisfied for a predetermined time. The object detection device according to claim 3.
A host vehicle acceleration / deceleration detecting unit for detecting acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle;
A steering angle detector for detecting a steering angle of the host vehicle,
The condition determination unit accurately determines the vertical position of the object that the acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and the steering angle of the host vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. The object detection device according to claim 4, wherein the object detection device is determined as a condition for detection.
A preceding vehicle determination unit that determines whether or not the object detected by the position detection unit is a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle;
A preceding vehicle acceleration / deceleration calculation unit for calculating acceleration / deceleration of the preceding vehicle,
The condition determining unit determines that the acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle are both equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, and the steering angle of the host vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. As a condition for accurately detecting the vertical position of
The angle calculation unit calculates the pitch angle based on vertical position information of the preceding vehicle detected within the predetermined time when it is determined that the condition is satisfied for a predetermined time. The object detection device according to claim 4.
The object identification unit determines whether or not the object is a roadside object arranged on the road surface of the destination,
The angle calculation unit calculates a movement vector indicating a relative movement direction of the roadside object with respect to the host vehicle based on the current and past vertical positions of the roadside object, and the movement vector and the position detection unit The object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an angle formed by a detection axis is calculated as the pitch angle.
A storage unit for storing vertical and vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit;
A gradient determination unit that determines whether or not the road gradient of the destination is changing based on the vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit;
The angle calculation unit calculates a posture angle in a pitch direction with respect to a horizontal plane of the vehicle body of the host vehicle based on the pitch angle when the gradient determination unit determines that the road gradient of the destination is not changed. The object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the object detection device is an object detection device.
A storage unit for storing vertical and vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit;
A gradient determination unit that determines whether or not the road gradient of the destination is changing based on the vertical position information of the current and past objects detected by the position detection unit;
The angle calculation unit calculates a gradient angle of the destination road based on the pitch angle when the gradient determination unit determines that the destination road gradient has changed. The object detection device according to claim 1.
The object identification unit determines whether the object detected by the position detection unit is a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle,
The angle calculation unit calculates a relative pitch angle with respect to a vehicle body of the host vehicle based on vertical position information of the current and past preceding vehicles stored in the storage unit. The object detection apparatus according to any one of 8 to 9.
A vertical position change amount calculating unit that calculates a change amount per unit time of the vertical position of the preceding vehicle based on current and past vertical position information of the preceding vehicle;
The gradient determination unit
When the amount of change per unit time of the vertical position of the preceding vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the road gradient of the destination has changed,
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein when the amount of change per unit time of the vertical position of the preceding vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the road gradient of the traveling destination has not changed. Object detection device.
The object identification unit determines whether the object is a roadside object arranged on the destination road, determines whether the object is a roadside object,
The angle calculation unit calculates a relative pitch angle with the vehicle body of the host vehicle based on current and past vertical position information of the roadside object stored in the storage unit. The object detection apparatus according to any one of 8 to 9.
The object identification unit further determines whether or not the roadside object is a belt-like beltlike roadside object extending at a certain height along the road surface of the destination,
When the position detection unit determines that the object is the belt-like roadside object, the position detection unit detects a vertical position of the belt-like roadside object in a predetermined distance forward with respect to the host vehicle,
The gradient determination unit
If the difference value between the current vertical position and the previous vertical position is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the road gradient of the destination has changed,
The object detection device according to claim 12, wherein when the difference value is less than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the road gradient of the travel destination has not changed.
The object identifying unit identifies the object as the obstacle when the vertical position of the object is within a predetermined region in the vertical direction. The object detection apparatus described in one.
The object identification unit identifies that the object is the obstacle when the vertical position of the object exists in a region that is equal to or higher than the lower end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle and less than the upper end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle. The object detection device according to claim 14, wherein:
The object identification unit is
When the vertical position of the object is present in a region below the lower end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle, the object is identified as a step on the road surface,
The object according to claim 15, wherein when the vertical position of the object exists in a region higher than an upper end of the vehicle body of the host vehicle, the object is identified as an elevated object arranged at a position away from the road surface. The object detection apparatus described.
The position detection unit is a radar device that detects a position of the object by irradiating a detection wave in the detection axis direction and receiving a reflected wave of the detection wave from the object,
The setting change unit suppresses erroneous determination by the object identification unit by rotating the detection axis of the radar device in a direction in which the pitch angle is reduced to change an object detection region by the radar device. The object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the object detection device is a feature.