Obstacle detection method of vehicle and related device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an obstacle detection method for a vehicle and a related device. The obstacle detection method comprises the following steps: acquiring an ultrasonic echo signal and a sonar echo signal; and determining an obstacle detection result according to the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal. In this way, through fusion detection of the ultrasonic signal and the sonar signal, the accuracy of obstacle detection and recognition under the vehicle floating state is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of vehicle floating water emergency treatment, and specifically relates to an obstacle detection method and related device for a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Currently, the sensors (including millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic radar, camera, lidar, etc.) on which the vehicle body perception system is based are mainly used for functions such as land ranging, land driving and parking.

[0003] Although there are very few vehicle models equipped with systems developed based on wading functions, they only use ultrasonic radars installed on the rearview mirrors to measure the height from the rearview mirror to the water surface in the wading or floating state; due to the relatively extremely small acoustic impedance of air compared with other media, from the air layer to the water surface layer, its ultrasonic signal will undergo total reflection, and almost no ultrasonic energy penetrates to reach the water layer. Therefore, underwater detection cannot be achieved. If there are sharp objects or large obstacles, etc. in the vehicle floating state, it will pose greater functional safety risks to components such as the chassis and tires of the vehicle itself. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides an obstacle detection method and related device for a vehicle.

[0005] In the first aspect, this application provides an obstacle detection method for a vehicle, including:

[0006] Obtaining ultrasonic echo signals and sonar echo signals;

[0007] Determining an obstacle detection result according to the ultrasonic echo signals and the sonar echo signals.

[0008] In the second aspect, this application provides an electronic device, including a processor, a memory, a communication interface, and one or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory and are configured to be executed by the processor. The programs include instructions for performing the steps of the first aspect of this application.

[0009] In the third aspect, this application provides an obstacle detection system, including an ultrasonic radar, a sonar sensor, and the electronic device described in the second aspect above. The ultrasonic radar and the sonar are electrically connected to the electronic device.

[0010] In the fourth aspect, this application provides a vehicle, including the electronic device described in the second aspect, or including the obstacle detection system described in the third aspect.

[0011] Fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer storage medium storing a computer program for electronic data exchange, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute some or all of the steps described in any one of the first to third aspects of the present application.

[0012] Sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, and the computer program is operable to cause a computer to execute some or all of the steps described in the first aspect of the present application. The computer program product can be a software installation package.

[0013] It can be seen that in the present application, first, an ultrasonic echo signal and a sonar echo signal are acquired; an obstacle detection result is determined according to the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal. In this way, through the fusion detection of the ultrasonic signal and the sonar signal, the accuracy of detecting and identifying obstacles in the floating state of the vehicle is improved. Description of the Drawings

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0015] Figure 1a It is a top view of the structure of a vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 1b It is a schematic structural diagram of an on-vehicle sonar system of a vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 1c It is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2a It is a schematic flowchart of a method for detecting obstacles of a vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2b It is a schematic diagram of an underwater detection scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of an obstacle detection device of a vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed Embodiments

[0021] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of this application, the following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of this application.

[0022] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally further includes steps or units not listed, or optionally further includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, systems, products, or devices.

[0023] Referring to "embodiments" herein means that the specific features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments can be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The phrase appears in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. Those skilled in the art will explicitly and implicitly understand that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0024] The following will first introduce the relevant terms involved in this application.

[0025] Sonar: The English abbreviation is SONAR, and the full name is Sound Navigation And Ranging. It is an electronic device system that uses the propagation characteristics of sound waves underwater to complete underwater detection and communication tasks through electroacoustic conversion and information processing.

[0026] Hydrophone: A transducer that converts sound signals into electrical signals, used to receive sound signals in water, and is often called a receiving transducer or a hydrophone.

[0027] Transducer: A device that realizes the conversion of electrical energy, mechanical energy, or acoustic energy from one form of energy to another form of energy, and is called a transducer.

[0028] With global warming, climate change is becoming increasingly extreme and severe. Glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate, sea levels are rising, and extreme weather events such as droughts and floods occur frequently. Vehicles are forced to be stranded or even submerged. For example, in recent years, flooding events in certain cities have led to huge payouts by vehicle insurance companies; the lives of vehicle drivers and passengers are threatened, etc. Statistical data shows that out of 657 cities across the country, as many as 300 cities' drainage systems or flood control infrastructure do not meet national standards; among southern cities, there were 184 cities with waterlogging in 2012, 234 in 2013, and 125 in 2014. Regarding waterlogging and flood situations, such as the 3,610 waterlogged vehicles in Huangshan City on July 7, 2020, with an estimated loss of 47.71 million yuan; in July 2021, in Henan Province, there were 180,000 vehicle insurance claims due to waterlogging, with an estimated loss of 5.2 billion yuan, etc. Even if we ignore the property or life threats brought about by these climate changes, off-road vehicles in the wild often encounter rivers of varying depths, wading grasslands, uneven wading roads, etc.; therefore, the research on safe and reliable wading and floating systems is becoming increasingly important, and it is extremely necessary to study and understand the conditions of the floating water area in emergency floating situations.

[0029] Currently, the sensors (including millimeter-wave radars, ultrasonic radars, cameras, lidars, etc.) on which the vehicle body perception system is based are mainly used for functions such as land ranging, on-road driving, and parking.

[0030] Although there are very few vehicle models equipped with systems developed based on wading functions, they only use ultrasonic radars installed on the rearview mirrors to measure the height from the rearview mirror to the water surface in wading or floating states; due to the relatively extremely small acoustic impedance of air compared to other media, from the air layer to the water surface layer, the ultrasonic signal will undergo total reflection, and almost no ultrasonic energy penetrates to reach the water layer. Therefore, underwater detection cannot be achieved. In the vehicle floating state, if there are sharp objects or large obstacles, etc., it will pose greater functional safety risks to components such as the vehicle's chassis and tires.

[0031] To solve the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a method for detecting obstacles of a vehicle. This method can be applied to scenarios such as obstacle detection when the vehicle is wading or floating. It can obtain ultrasonic echo signals and sonar echo signals; determine the obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signals and the sonar echo signals. In this way, through the fusion detection of ultrasonic signals and sonar signals, the accuracy of detecting and identifying obstacles in the vehicle floating state is improved. This solution can be applied to a variety of scenarios, including but not limited to the application scenarios mentioned above.

[0032] The following introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0033] The vehicle according to the embodiment of the present application may include an ultrasonic sensing radar and a sonar 300. The ultrasonic radar 200 and the sonar 300 may be provided on the vehicle body 100. The vehicle further includes an electronic device 10 having a processor, and the electronic device 10 can utilize the detection signals of the ultrasonic radar 200 and the sonar 300 to obtain the underwater obstacle detection result.

[0034] As Figure 1a shown, the ultrasonic radar 200 may be provided in the rearview mirror of the vehicle body 100, vertically emit ultrasonic signals towards the water surface in the vehicle traveling direction, and receive corresponding ultrasonic echo signals; the sonar 300 may be provided under the front of the vehicle body 100, vertically emit sonar 300 signals towards the bottom of the water area in the vehicle traveling direction and receive corresponding sonar 300 echo signals; the electronic device 10 may be provided in the vehicle body 100, and is used to determine the obstacle detection result according to the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar 300 echo signal to determine the underwater condition when the vehicle is floating in water, so as to avoid the existence of sharp objects or large obstacles, etc. when the vehicle is in a floating state. It can be understood that the specific positions of the ultrasonic radar 200 and the sonar 300 can be set according to actual situations as long as the technical solution of the present application can be realized, and no unique limitation is made here.

[0035] As Figure 1b shown, the electronic device includes a control center 101, an ultrasonic output processing module 102, a sonar output processing module 103, an ultrasonic processing circuit 106 and a conditioning circuit 107. The ultrasonic signal processing process and the sonar signal processing process will be described separately.

[0036] When it is necessary to emit ultrasonic waves, the control center outputs a first control signal, which is processed by the ultrasonic output processing module to drive the ultrasonic radar to emit ultrasonic signals. The ultrasonic radar receives the ultrasonic echo signals of the emitted ultrasonic signals, and then the control center performs corresponding processing in combination with the sonar echo signals, and finally calculates the corresponding underwater depth data.

[0037] When it is necessary to emit sonar signals, the control center 101 outputs a second control signal, which is processed by the sonar output processing module to drive the sonar to emit sonar signals; the sonar receives the sonar echo signals of the emitted sonar signals, and after being amplified, filtered, analog-to-digital converted, sampled and matched by the conditioning circuit 107, and then through the control center 101 performs corresponding processing in combination with the ultrasonic signals, and finally calculates the corresponding underwater depth data.

[0038] The entire active sonar system is based on the sonar equation (in dB units):

[0039] DT = SL - 2*TL - NL + TS + DI

[0040] Where DT is the intensity of the echo signal, SL is the intensity of the signal source, TL is the propagation loss during transmission. Since it is a round trip of transmission and reception, the propagation loss is twice as much. NL is the noise level during propagation, and TS is the intensity of the source signal that reaches the target area after being affected by the propagation loss and noise. DI is due to the influence of directivity (DI means that the intensity will be different under different directivity conditions; therefore, this influence factor needs to be considered. For example, if the echo is at an angle of complete vertical coverage, all the echo energy is received; but if there is a certain directivity, the echo energy should be a part of the reflected signal). According to this sonar equation, the parameter performance indicators of the entire system can be determined, thus providing a solid system foundation for the hardware design of the system and the subsequent algorithm design.

[0041] The source signal can be generated by the MCU controller chip through built-in DAC digital-to-analog conversion or an external DAC chip, or the PWM interface of the MCU controller chip can be used to generate a pulse signal. After the pulse signal, it can also be combined with other coding and modulation methods (such as FM signals). The coded pulse can make the source signal more stable during transmission, not easily affected by external environmental noise, and thus can be transmitted over a longer distance. The signal after digital-to-analog conversion needs to pass through a power amplifier to increase the output power of the emission source, thereby generating a relatively large mechanical driving force inside the sonar and generating a high-power acoustic wave signal.

[0042] This application also provides an electronic device 10, as Figure 1c shown, which includes at least one processor 11; a display screen 12; and a memory 13. It may also include a communication interface 15 and a bus 14. Among them, the processor 11, the display screen 12, the memory 13, and the communication interface 15 can communicate with each other through the bus 14. The display screen 12 is set to display the preset user guidance interface in the initial setting mode. The communication interface 15 can transmit information. The processor 11 can call the logical instructions in the memory 13 to execute the method in the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0043] Optionally, the electronic device 10 can be a mobile electronic device, or an electronic device or other equipment, and no unique limitation is made here.

[0044] In addition, when the logical instructions in the above-mentioned memory 13 are implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0045] The memory 13, as a computer-readable storage medium, can be configured to store software programs and computer-executable programs, such as the program instructions or modules corresponding to the methods in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 11 executes functional applications and data processing by running the software programs, instructions, or modules stored in the memory 13, that is, implements the methods in the above embodiments.

[0046] The memory 13 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. Among them, the program storage area can store an operating system and application programs required for at least one function; the data storage area can store data created according to the use of the electronic device 10, etc. In addition, the memory 13 may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory. For example, various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical discs, can also be transient storage media.

[0047] The following details the specific method.

[0048] Please refer to Figure 2a , this application also provides an obstacle detection method for a vehicle, including:

[0049] Step S201, obtain ultrasonic echo signals and sonar echo signals.

[0050] In a specific implementation, an ultrasonic radar disposed in the rearview mirror of the vehicle emits ultrasonic signals with the emission port perpendicular to the vehicle chassis and receives the corresponding ultrasonic echo signals; a sonar emission port disposed below the front of the vehicle body emits sonar signals with the emission port perpendicular to the vehicle chassis and receives the corresponding sonar echo signals. At the same time, the installation position of the sonar should be such that the sonar remains in contact with the wading water area during the vehicle's wading driving.

[0051] Specifically, any number of ultrasonic radars can be set. In a preferred solution in this embodiment, two ultrasonic radars are set, which can be respectively set at the bottoms of the left and right rearview mirrors, and the emission ports are perpendicular to the vehicle chassis. The detection accuracy of setting two ultrasonic radars is stronger than that of a single radar. However, if more than two ultrasonic radars are set, the fusion calculation of the detection data will increase significantly. Therefore, two is a preferred solution. It can be understood that the ultrasonic radar can be set in other places, such as the front bumper of the vehicle head, the rear of the vehicle, etc., as long as it can implement the obstacle detection method for the vehicle in this application.

[0052] Specifically, in addition to being an integrated transceiver underwater sonar, the sonar can also be replaced by other underwater sensors that can only work underwater. At least two sonars are provided to avoid potential safety hazards caused by a single sonar being unable to fully detect the bottom conditions. For example, when a single sonar is set in the middle of the vehicle's front, due to the limited lateral beam angle of the sonar, it cannot fully detect the bottom conditions on both sides, which may cause the tires to press on sharp objects, resulting in safety risks; while setting the sonar on both sides of the vehicle cannot detect the bottom conditions on the opposite side. Therefore, at least two sonars are provided, and the positions of the two sonars are set according to the width of the vehicle to at least cover the underwater condition detection of the vehicle width.

[0053] Furthermore, underwater detection is carried out through a transducer. Since the detection beam emitted by the transducer can only propagate underwater, if the transducer fails to receive the second echo signal, it means that the transducer is not immersed in water. Therefore, it can be determined that the vehicle is not in a floating state, and the emission of the detection beam is stopped without subsequent processing. This can avoid misjudging that the vehicle is in a wading state when the ultrasonic radar cannot distinguish between water medium and other media.

[0054] Step S202: Determine the obstacle detection result according to the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal.

[0055] In a possible embodiment, determining the obstacle detection result according to the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal includes: determining the water height data of the vehicle according to the ultrasonic echo signal; determining the underwater depth data of the vehicle according to the water height data and the sonar echo signal; and determining whether there is an obstacle according to the underwater depth data.

[0056] In specific implementation, after receiving the ultrasonic echo signal, the distance between the water surface and the ultrasonic radar can be calculated according to the ultrasonic echo signal, which is the water height. During the vehicle's driving, the ultrasonic radar continuously or intermittently emits ultrasonic signals at short intervals, so the ultrasonic echo signal can be continuously obtained to obtain a set of water height data. Therefore, the current driving condition of the vehicle, such as the vehicle's tilt angle, whether it is balanced, the wading degree, etc., can be determined according to the continuous ultrasonic signals.

[0057] Specifically, determining the underwater depth data of the vehicle according to the water height data and the sonar echo signal includes: determining the tilt angle of the vehicle according to the water height data; determining the measured depth data of the sonar according to the sonar signal; and determining the underwater depth data according to the tilt angle and the measured depth data.

[0058] In this embodiment, after obtaining the water surface height data, the tilt angle of the vehicle can be calculated by fusing ultrasonic signals and sensor data such as IMU. The measured depth data is calculated based on the sonar echo signal. Since there may be errors in the measured depth data, in order to avoid measurement errors, the measured depth data is optimized based on the current tilt angle and the measured depth data to obtain accurate underwater depth data.

[0059] Further, the working principle of a single sonar is described. The sonar is set at the bottom of the front of the vehicle body, with its transmitting head facing directly downwards, forming a 90° angle with the vehicle chassis, emitting a single acoustic wave beam, which is reflected by the bottom interface layer and received by the same sonar; during the vehicle wading process, there may be depth measurement errors caused by the tilt angle and / or unevenness of the underwater medium interface. This tilt angle will also be included in the calculation of the later measured depth value. The calculation formula for the measured depth value d is as follows:

[0060] d = 0.5 * C water * t * cos(θ)

[0061] where d is the depth distance measured by a single sonar with a single beam, C water is the propagation speed of sound waves in the water medium, t is the propagation time of the acoustic wave emitted by the receiving sonar, and θ is the current tilt angle formed between the horizontal plane and the sonar transmitting head during vehicle driving.

[0062] Specifically, the sonar echo signal received by the sonar is called the original signal. This original signal is a signal mixed with various echoes and noises, and its amplitude will decay by dozens or even hundreds of times compared to the original transmitted signal. Generally, the obtained echo amplitude is at the mV level. Therefore, in this embodiment, the original signal is amplified, filtered, analog-to-digital converted, sampled, and matched by adding a conditioning circuit to obtain an effective echo signal. Optionally, this conditioning circuit can be directly placed at the back end of the sonar and connected through the I / O port. The data after analog-to-digital conversion can be output to the control center of the intelligent domain through the CAN bus, and the intelligent domain performs later digital signal processing such as Fourier transform, wavelet transform, digital filtering, convolution, etc. analysis, and at the same time, combined with the calculated tilt angle, calculates the underwater depth data from the sonar to the bottom layer of the water.

[0063] For example, assume that the first sonar is parallel to the horizontal road surface and emits acoustic waves at an angle perpendicular to the bottom interface of the water area; the second sonar is installed parallel to the first sonar, but within a range of 30 cm, and also emits signals perpendicular to the bottom layer of the water area; then, after simple geometric relationship processing, the dual-sonar system can obtain the underwater depth value. However, if the vehicle is tilted during driving, the underwater depth value needs to be calculated based on this tilt angle.

[0064] In this embodiment, since different tilt angles have a certain impact on the calculation of underwater depth data, in order to calculate the underwater depth data more accurately, the calculation method is adjusted according to the tilt angle.

[0065] In a specific implementation, Figure 2b for example, assume that there are two sonars, the first sonar A and the second sonar B, which are horizontally arranged at a certain distance on the vehicle chassis. The lateral beam angles of the first sonar A and the second sonar B are 60° (with a deviation of + / -10°), and the longitudinal beam angles are 30° (with a deviation of + / -5°). Both the first sonar A and the second sonar B are emitted at an angle perpendicular to the horizontal medium layer of the water area. It can be understood that due to different parameters of different sonars, the lateral beam angle and the longitudinal beam angle are only for illustration and not for unique limitation.

[0066] During the process of the vehicle wading, the water surface will surge back and forth as the vehicle enters. The surging amplitude is related to the vehicle speed, the volume of the vehicle, etc. During the surging process, the numerical changes from the wave crest to the wave trough of the water wave are diverse, and the density of the water wave is also relatively diverse and complex. At the same time, the bottom layer of the water area is very likely to be a silt layer, and the shape of the silt layer is easily affected by the environment and is uneven.

[0067] In such a situation, the relationship between the waves emitted by the first sonar A and B and the target point at the bottom layer of the water area is no longer a simple perpendicular incidence relationship; please continue to refer to Figure 2b , the triangle is an obstacle that is not a target object, and the position of the star is the target detection position. Due to the unevenness or the complexity of the bottom layer material, such as deposited stones, etc., it is very likely to cause Figure 2b a situation: that is, the side end of the wide beam will detect the obstacle in advance and then detect the target detection position. In this situation, especially when both are in the water surface state, the reflection coefficients of the obstacle and the target detection position (i.e., the bottom plane area) are the same, and even in a state where the reflection coefficient at the obstacle is stronger, the detection beam that contacts the obstacle in advance will be reflected back to the receiver end in advance, thus causing an error at the signal processing end: misjudging the height value of the obstacle that is about to be reached as the height value of the actual target object.

[0068] To improve this error, in this embodiment, a dual-sonar system is adopted: the distance d1 detected by the first sonar A (labeled as L1 in Figure 2b ), and the distance d2 detected by the second sonar B (in Figure 2bIt is marked as L2 in the figure, and L4 is the actual distance corresponding to L2. The distance between the first sonar A and the second sonar B is Sd, the horizontal beam angle is β, and the tilt angle is φ (φ and φ can be regarded as the same definition here: to distinguish the calculations in two cases where the tilt angle is very small and the tilt angle is relatively large, φ and φ are used). After performing a geometric relationship substitution, the height value of the actual detector reaching the medium surface is obtained.

[0069] Specifically, underwater depth data is determined according to the tilt angle and the measured depth data, including: when the tilt angle is greater than the first threshold, a first distance formula is obtained through geometric conversion according to the first relationship between the tilt angle, the measured depth data, and the physical spacing of the sonars; the underwater depth data is calculated according to the first distance formula.

[0070] In a specific implementation, half of the horizontal beam angle is used as the first threshold for distinguishing different situations. When According to the first relationship between the tilt angle, the measured depth data, and the physical spacing of the sonars:

[0071]

[0072] After conversion, the first distance formula is obtained:

[0073]

[0074] Substitute the corresponding data into the first distance formula, and it is remembered that the underwater depth data is obtained. Compared with a single sonar, when the material and profile of the water area bottom are unknown, without affecting the performance of other parameters, the detection error can be reduced to a certain extent.

[0075] Specifically, underwater depth data is determined according to the tilt angle and the measured depth data, including: when the tilt angle is less than or equal to the first threshold, a second distance formula is obtained through geometric conversion according to the second relationship between the tilt angle, the measured depth data, and the physical spacing of the sonars; the underwater depth data is calculated according to the second distance formula.

[0076] In a specific implementation, when According to the second relationship between the tilt angle, the measured depth data, and the physical spacing of the sonars:

[0077]

[0078] After conversion, the second distance formula is obtained:

[0079]

[0080] It can be seen that in this embodiment, by verifying the underwater depth value through the tilt angle and the measured depth data, the accuracy of the underwater depth value measurement is improved.

[0081] In a possible embodiment, determining whether there is an obstacle according to the underwater depth data includes: determining a corresponding statistical histogram according to the underwater depth data, where the statistical histogram includes multiple depth values; if the multiple depth values in the histogram are different and outside the error range, it is determined that there is an obstacle; if the multiple depth values are the same or the difference is within the error range, it is determined that there is no obstacle.

[0082] In specific implementation, there can be multiple underwater depth values. A corresponding statistical histogram is generated according to the underwater depth values, and then an image of the bottom of the water area can be depicted according to the statistical histogram. At the same time, it can be determined whether there is an obstacle within the effective range of the detection beam; if the multiple depth values in the histogram are different, it is determined that there is an obstacle, and if the multiple depth values are the same or the difference is within the error range, it is determined that there is no obstacle.

[0083] It can be seen that in this embodiment, through the fusion detection of ultrasonic signals and sonar signals, the accuracy of detecting and identifying obstacles in the floating state of the vehicle is improved.

[0084] In a possible embodiment, after determining the obstacle detection result according to the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal, the method further includes: determining the water surface height data of the vehicle according to the ultrasonic echo signal; when the water surface height value is less than or equal to a first preset value, the floating mode is activated. The floating mode is used to assist the vehicle to maintain balanced driving in the floating state; when the water surface height value is greater than the first preset value, the floating mode is deactivated. Further, after deactivating the floating mode, the sonar is controlled to stop emitting sonar signals.

[0085] In specific implementation, it can be determined whether the vehicle is in the floating state according to the water surface height data calculated by the ultrasonic radar. When the water surface height value is less than or equal to the first preset value, it is determined whether the vehicle is in the floating state, and then the preset floating mode of the vehicle is activated to assist the vehicle to maintain balanced driving in the floating state; when the water surface height value is greater than the first preset value, it is determined that the vehicle is not in the floating state, then the floating mode is deactivated, and at the same time, the sonar is controlled to stop emitting sonar signals to reduce energy consumption.

[0086] In a possible example, the sonar can provide an active floating mode after the warning line water level in the original passive floating state. Specifically, since the sonar can only work in the water medium to generate effective signals, when the ultrasonic radar in the rearview mirror detects that the vehicle is floating, the sonar is used to verify whether the vehicle is actually in the floating state. If the sonar fails to receive the echo signal of the detection beam, it proves that the ultrasonic radar detection is incorrect; if the sonar can receive the echo signal of the detection beam, it is determined that the vehicle is in the floating state. Therefore, the control center outputs a control signal to automatically activate the floating mode, so that the vehicle can automatically switch to the master-slave wading mode; and when the vehicle gets out of the floating state, the control center turns off the floating mode.

[0087] It can be seen that in this embodiment, the integration of the two functions of the ultrasonic radar and the underwater sonar can reduce the false alarm caused by the single ultrasonic radar being unable to distinguish the water medium from other media, and can assist the vehicle to automatically switch between the master-slave wading modes under certain conditions.

[0088] The above mainly introduces the solution of the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the execution process of the method side. It can be understood that in order for the mobile electronic device to implement the above functions, it includes the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, combining the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments provided in this article, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present application.

[0089] The embodiment of the present application can divide the electronic device into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiment of the present application is illustrative, only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0090] Please refer to Figure 3 , the present application also provides an obstacle detection device 30 for a vehicle. The obstacle detection device 30 for a vehicle includes:

[0091] An acquisition unit 31, configured to acquire ultrasonic echo signals and sonar echo signals;

[0092] The processing unit 32 is configured to determine an obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal.

[0093] It can be seen that in this application, first, the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal are obtained; the obstacle detection result is determined based on the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal. In this way, through the fusion detection of the ultrasonic signal and the sonar signal, the accuracy of detecting and identifying obstacles in the floating state of the vehicle is improved.

[0094] In a possible embodiment, in terms of determining the obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal, the processing unit 32 is specifically configured to: determine the water surface height data of the vehicle according to the ultrasonic echo signal; determine the underwater depth data of the vehicle according to the water surface height data and the sonar echo signal; determine whether there is an obstacle according to the underwater depth data.

[0095] In a possible embodiment, in terms of determining the underwater depth data of the vehicle according to the water surface height data and the sonar echo signal, the processing unit 32 is specifically configured to: determine the tilt angle of the vehicle according to the water surface height data; determine the measured depth data of the sonar according to the sonar signal; determine the underwater depth data according to the tilt angle and the measured depth data.

[0096] In a possible embodiment, in terms of determining the underwater depth data according to the tilt angle and the measured depth data, the processing unit 32 is specifically configured to: when the tilt angle is greater than the first threshold, perform geometric transformation according to the first relational formula between the tilt angle, the measured depth data, and the sonar physical spacing to obtain the first distance formula; calculate the underwater depth data according to the first distance formula.

[0097] In a possible embodiment, in terms of determining the underwater depth data according to the tilt angle and the measured depth data, the processing unit 32 is specifically configured to: when the tilt angle is less than or equal to the first threshold, perform geometric transformation according to the second relational formula between the tilt angle, the measured depth data, and the sonar physical spacing to obtain the second distance formula; calculate the underwater depth data according to the second distance formula.

[0098] In a possible embodiment, in terms of determining whether there is an obstacle according to the underwater depth data, the processing unit 32 is specifically configured to: determine the corresponding statistical histogram according to the underwater depth data, and the statistical histogram includes multiple depth values; if the multiple depth values in the histogram are different and outside the error range, it is determined that there is an obstacle; if the multiple depth values are the same or the difference is within the error range, it is determined that there is no obstacle.

[0099] In a possible embodiment, after determining the obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signal and the sonar echo signal, the obstacle detection device 30 of the vehicle further includes: a processing unit 32, further configured to determine the water height data of the vehicle according to the ultrasonic echo signal; and when the water height value is less than or equal to a first preset value, start a floating mode, where the floating mode is used to assist the vehicle to maintain balanced driving in a floating state; and when the water height value is greater than the first preset value, turn off the floating mode.

[0100] In a possible embodiment, after turning off the floating mode, the obstacle detection device 30 of the vehicle further includes: a processing unit 32, further configured to control the sonar to stop transmitting sonar signals.

[0101] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that the computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more collections of available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0102] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer storage medium, where the computer storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, and the computer program causes the computer to execute some or all of the steps of any of the methods described in the above method embodiments, and the above computer includes an electronic device.

[0103] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, where the computer program product includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, and the computer program is operable to cause the computer to execute some or all of the steps of any of the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer program product can be a software installation package, and the above computer includes an electronic device.

[0104] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above processes do not imply the order of execution. The order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0105] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, devices, and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces, and the indirect couplings or communication connections of devices or units can be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0106] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0107] In addition, in each embodiment of the present invention, the functional units can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can be physically included separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The above integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0108] The integrated unit implemented in the form of software functional units can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above-mentioned software functional units are stored in a storage medium and include several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute some steps of the methods according to various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, magnetic disks, optical disks, volatile memories, or non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus random access memory (DR RAM). And other various media that can store program codes.

[0109] Although the present invention is disclosed as above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and can make various modifications and alterations, including combinations of the above different functions and implementation steps, including software and hardware implementation manners, all within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for detecting obstacles of a vehicle, characterized in that, comprising: obtaining ultrasonic echo signals and sonar echo signals; determining an obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signals and the sonar echo signals.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, determining an obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signals and the sonar echo signals includes: determining water surface height data of the vehicle based on the ultrasonic echo signals; determining underwater depth data of the vehicle based on the water surface height data and the sonar echo signals; determining whether there is an obstacle based on the underwater depth data.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, determining underwater depth data of the vehicle based on the water surface height data and the sonar echo signals includes: determining the tilt angle of the vehicle based on the water surface height data; determining measured depth data of the sonar based on the sonar signals; determining the underwater depth data based on the tilt angle and the measured depth data.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, determining underwater depth data based on the tilt angle and the measured depth data includes: when the tilt angle is greater than a first threshold, performing geometric transformation according to a first relational expression among the tilt angle, the measured depth data and the physical distance of the sonar to obtain a first distance formula; calculating the underwater depth data according to the first distance formula.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, determining underwater depth data based on the tilt angle and the measured depth data includes: when the tilt angle is less than or equal to the first threshold, performing geometric transformation according to a second relational expression among the tilt angle, the measured depth data and the physical distance of the sonar to obtain a second distance formula; calculating the underwater depth data according to the second distance formula.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, determining whether there is an obstacle based on the underwater depth data includes: determining a corresponding statistical histogram based on the underwater depth data, the statistical histogram including a plurality of depth values; if the plurality of depth values in the histogram are different and outside the error range, determining that there is an obstacle; if the plurality of depth values are the same or the difference is within the error range, determining that there is no obstacle.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, after determining an obstacle detection result based on the ultrasonic echo signals and the sonar echo signals, the method further includes: determining water surface height data of the vehicle based on the ultrasonic echo signals; when the water surface height value is less than or equal to a first preset value, starting a floating mode, the floating mode being used to assist the vehicle in maintaining balanced driving in a floating state; when the water surface height value is greater than the first preset value, turning off the floating mode.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, after turning off the floating mode, the method further includes: controlling the sonar to stop emitting sonar signals.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that, Comprising a processor, a memory, a communication interface, and one or more programs, the one or more programs being stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, the programs comprising instructions for performing the steps in the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. An obstacle detection system, characterized in that it comprises an ultrasonic radar, a sonar sensor, and the electronic device according to claim 9, the ultrasonic radar and the sonar being electrically connected to the electronic device.

11. A vehicle, characterized in that it comprises the electronic device according to claim 9, or comprises the obstacle detection system according to claim 10.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the instructions for performing the steps in the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

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