An object of the present invention is to provide an
object detection apparatus capable of detecting an object at high precision in accordance with the type of the object. The
object detection apparatus of the present invention comprises: object position detection means 2, 22, 3, 23 for detecting the positions of objects;
object type estimating means 24 for estimating the types of the objects; and object estimating means 24 for integrating a plurality of detection results for positions within a search area obtained by the object position detection means 2, 22, 3, 23 and thereby estimating the sizes of the objects, the
object detection apparatus of the present invention being characterized in that the search area is set based on the types of the objects estimated by the
object type estimating means 24. Moreover, the object detection apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the object position detection means 2, 22, 3, 23 detects the positions of the objects by using a plurality of position detection criteria, that the
object type estimating means 24 estimates the types of the objects based on the position detection criteria, according to which the object position detection means 2, 22, 3, 23 have been able to detect the positions of the objects, and that the search area is set based on the position detection criteria, according to which the positions of the objects have been detected.