Target detection device

Abstract

A target detection device is provided. The target detection apparatus includes a radar device configured to transmit a radar signal in a first mode within a first horizontal viewing angle and a second horizontal viewing angle greater than the first horizontal viewing angle, and configured to transmit a radar signal in a second mode within the second horizontal viewing angle; a first camera configured to capture an image within a third horizontal viewing angle in a first mode; and a second camera configured to capture an image in a fourth horizontal viewing angle greater than the third horizontal viewing angle in each of the first mode and the second mode.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following description relates to an object detection method and an object detection device. Background Art

[0002] To improve vehicle and pedestrian safety, vehicles are equipped with various sensors, such as but not limited to ultrasonic sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar, to identify or sense the surrounding environment. These sensors can detect people, vehicles, animals, and moving objects within the sensor's line of sight (LOS) area, but cannot detect people or vehicles obscured by buildings, walls, or neighboring vehicles. In other words, a vehicle's sensors can detect targets within the sensor's LOS area, but not targets within the sensor's non-line of sight (NLOS) area.

[0003] If an additional sensor is used to detect an object in an NLOS region, the cost may increase according to the additional sensor. Therefore, a method of eliminating the cost increase by detecting an object in an NLOS region using a sensor implemented in a vehicle is desired. Utility Model Content

[0004] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a concise form, and these concepts will be further described in the Detailed Description below. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0005] In general terms, a target detection apparatus includes: a radar device configured to transmit radar signals within a first horizontal viewing angle and a second horizontal viewing angle in a first mode, and configured to transmit radar signals within the second horizontal viewing angle in a second mode; a first camera configured to capture images within a third horizontal viewing angle in the first mode; and a second camera configured to capture images within a fourth horizontal viewing angle that is greater than the third horizontal viewing angle in each of the first mode and the second mode.

[0006] In the first mode, the radar device can be configured to alternately perform an operation of transmitting a first radar signal within a first horizontal field of view and an operation of transmitting a second radar signal within a second horizontal field of view, and in the second mode, the radar device can be configured to only perform an operation of transmitting the second radar signal within the second horizontal field of view.

[0007] The object detection apparatus may further include: a controller configured to set the operation mode to one of the first mode and the second mode based on a driving speed of the vehicle.

[0008] The controller may be configured to set the operation mode to the first mode when the driving speed of the vehicle is less than or equal to a reference speed of the vehicle, and may be configured to set the operation mode to the second mode when the driving speed of the vehicle exceeds the reference speed of the vehicle.

[0009] The radar apparatus may be configured to transmit the radar signal alternately in a range of a first horizontal viewing angle and a range of a second horizontal viewing angle using a time division multiplexing method by changing beamforming in the first mode.

[0010] The target detection device may also include: a controller configured to detect a first target in a first mode based on radar data generated in response to a radar signal sent within a first horizontal angle of view and image data obtained from a first camera, and configured to detect a second target in the first mode based on radar data generated in response to a radar signal sent within a second horizontal angle of view and image data obtained from a second camera.

[0011] The target detection apparatus may further include a controller configured to detect the target in the second mode based on radar data generated in response to the radar signal transmitted within the second horizontal viewing angle and image data obtained from the second camera.

[0012] The first horizontal viewing angle may be less than 60 degrees, and the second horizontal viewing angle may be 60 degrees or more.

[0013] The third horizontal viewing angle may be less than 100 degrees, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle may be 100 degrees or more.

[0014] In general, a target detection method includes: receiving, by a radar device in a first mode, radar data within a first horizontal perspective and radar data within a second horizontal perspective greater than the first horizontal perspective; receiving, by the radar device in a second mode, radar data within the second horizontal perspective; receiving, by a first camera in the first mode, image data within a third horizontal perspective; and receiving, by a second camera in each of the first mode and the second mode, image data within a fourth horizontal perspective greater than the third horizontal perspective.

[0015] Receiving radar data by the radar device in the first mode may include: the radar device using a time division multiplexing method by changing beamforming to alternately send radar signals within the range of a first horizontal viewing angle and a range of a second horizontal viewing angle; and the radar device alternately receiving radar data corresponding to the radar signal sent within the first horizontal viewing angle and radar data corresponding to the radar signal sent within the second horizontal viewing angle.

[0016] The object detection method may include: determining, by a controller, an operation mode to be one of a first mode and a second mode based on a driving speed of a vehicle; and controlling, by the controller, the radar device, the first camera, and the second camera based on the determined operation mode.

[0017] Determining the operation mode by the controller may include: determining the operation mode as the first mode when the vehicle's travel speed is less than or equal to a reference speed of the vehicle; and determining the operation mode as the second mode when the vehicle's travel speed exceeds the reference speed of the vehicle.

[0018] The target detection method may include: in a first mode, the controller detects a first target by combining radar data within a first horizontal field of view and image data received from a first camera; and in the first mode, the controller detects a second target by combining radar data within a second horizontal field of view and image data obtained from a second camera.

[0019] The target detection method may include: in the second mode, detecting, by the controller, the target by combining radar data within the second horizontal viewing angle and image data received from the second camera.

[0020] The first horizontal viewing angle may be 60 degrees or less, and the second horizontal viewing angle is greater than 60 degrees.

[0021] The third horizontal viewing angle may be 100 degrees or less, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle may be greater than 100 degrees.

[0022] Other features and aspects will become apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 An exemplary object detection apparatus according to one or more implementations is shown.

[0024] Figure 2 Shows the instructions Figure 1 A flow chart of the operation of an exemplary controller is shown in FIG.

[0025] Figure 3 Shown by Figure 1 The exemplary controller shown in FIG. 1 detects a target in a low-speed mode.

[0026] Figure 4 Shown by Figure 1 The radar device shown in FIG is used to detect the horizontal viewing angle of the target in the NLOS area.

[0027] Figure 5 Shown by using Figure 1 A method for detecting targets in a NLOS area based on the reflection characteristics of an exemplary radar device shown in FIG.

[0028] Figure 6 An exemplary object detection apparatus according to one or more implementations is shown.

[0029] Throughout the drawings and detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements. For purposes of clarity, illustration, and convenience, the drawings may not be drawn to scale, and the relative sizes, proportions, and depictions of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following specific embodiments are provided to help the reader gain a comprehensive understanding of the methods, devices and / or systems described herein. However, various changes, modifications and equivalents of the methods, devices and / or systems described herein will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of the present application. For example, the order in the operations described herein and / or the order of the operations described herein are merely examples, and are not limited to the order set forth herein, except for the order in the operations and / or the order of operations that must occur in a specific sequence, but may be changed, as will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of the present application. As another example, except for the order in the operations and / or the order of operations that must occur in a sequence (e.g., a specific sequence), the order of operations and / or the order in the operations may be performed in parallel. In addition, for greater clarity and brevity, descriptions of features known after understanding the disclosure of the present application may be omitted.

[0031] Although terms such as "first," "second," and "third," or A, B, (a), (b), etc., may be used herein to describe various members, components, regions, layers, or portions, these members, components, regions, layers, or portions are not limited by these terms. Each of these terms is not intended to limit, for example, the importance, sequence, or order of the corresponding member, component, region, layer, or portion, but is merely used to distinguish the corresponding member, component, region, layer, or portion from other members, components, regions, layers, or portions. Thus, a first member, first component, first region, first layer, or first portion mentioned in these examples could also be referred to as a second member, second component, second region, second layer, or second portion without departing from the teachings of the examples described herein.

[0032] Throughout the specification, when a component, element, or layer is described as being “on,” “connected to,” “coupled to,” or “engaged to” another component, element, or layer, it may be directly “on,” directly “connected to,” “coupled to,” or “engaged to” the other component, element, or layer (e.g., in contact with the other component, element, or layer), or one or more other components, elements, or layers may reasonably be present between the component, element, or layer and the other component, element, or layer. When a component, element, or layer is described as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,” “directly coupled to,” or “directly engaged to” another component, element, or layer, there are no other components, elements, or layers between the component, element, or layer and the other component, element, or layer. Similarly, expressions such as “between” and “directly between,” as well as “adjacent” and “directly adjacent” may also be interpreted as described above.

[0033] The terms used herein are only used to describe various examples and are not used to limit the present disclosure. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the terms "one", "an" and "the" are intended to include plural forms as well. As non-limiting examples, the terms "comprise", "include" and "have" illustrate the presence of the described features, quantities, operations, components, elements and / or their combinations, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, quantities, operations, components, elements and / or their combinations, or the alternative presence of alternative features, quantities, operations, components, elements and / or their combinations. In addition, although an embodiment can set forth the terms "comprise", "include" and "have" to illustrate the presence of the described features, quantities, operations, components, elements and / or their combinations, other embodiments may exist in which one or more of the described features, quantities, operations, components, elements and / or their combinations are not present.

[0034] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any one of the associated listed items and any combination of any two or more items. Phrases such as "at least one of A, B, and C" are intended to have separate meanings, and these phrases such as "at least one of A, B, and C" also include examples in which one or more of A, B, and C can be present (e.g., any combination of one or more of A, B, and C), unless the corresponding description and implementation require that the list (e.g., "at least one of A, B, and C") be interpreted as having a combined meaning.

[0035] The features described herein may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein are provided merely to illustrate some of the many possible ways of implementing the methods, devices, and / or systems described herein that will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of this application. As used herein, the use of the term "may" with respect to an example or embodiment (e.g., with respect to what an example or embodiment may include or implement) means that there is at least one example or embodiment that includes or implements such a feature, and all examples or embodiments are not limited thereto. The terms "example" or "embodiment" as used herein have the same meaning (e.g., the phrase "in one example" has the same meaning as "in one embodiment," and "in one or more examples" has the same meaning as "in one or more embodiments").

[0036] One or more examples may provide an object detection method and an object detection apparatus capable of detecting an object in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) area.

[0037] Now, an object detection method and an object detection apparatus according to embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0038] Figure 1 An exemplary object detection apparatus according to one or more implementations is shown.

[0039] refer to Figure 1 , the target detection device 100 may include a radar device 110 , a camera 120 , a camera 130 and a controller 140 .

[0040] Radar device 110 can transmit radar signals based on a control signal received from controller 140. Radar device 110 can be installed at a predetermined location in the vehicle. In a non-limiting example, radar device 110 can be installed at the vehicle's bumper. Radar device 110 can detect targets within a first horizontal viewing angle and a second horizontal viewing angle. In an example, the second horizontal viewing angle can be greater than the first horizontal viewing angle.

[0041] The horizontal viewing angle of a long-range radar detecting a target at a long distance may typically be less than 30 degrees. The horizontal viewing angle of a medium-range radar detecting a target at a medium distance may be about 60 degrees, and the horizontal viewing angle of a short-range radar detecting a target at a close distance may be greater than 120 degrees.

[0042] According to an embodiment, the first horizontal viewing angle may be less than 60 degrees, and the second horizontal viewing angle may be 60 degrees or more. According to another embodiment, the first horizontal viewing angle may be 60 degrees or less, and the second horizontal viewing angle may be greater than 60 degrees.

[0043] According to another embodiment, the first horizontal viewing angle may be 30 degrees or less, and the second horizontal viewing angle may be 120 degrees or more.

[0044] According to another embodiment, the first horizontal viewing angle may be 40 degrees or less, and the second horizontal viewing angle may be 140 degrees or more.

[0045] The radar device 110 may transmit the radar signal within the first horizontal viewing angle or within the second horizontal viewing angle by beamforming the radar signal transmitted through the plurality of transmit antennas.

[0046] According to an embodiment, the radar device 110 may alternately transmit radar signals within a first horizontal viewing angle and transmit radar signals within a second horizontal viewing angle according to a control signal from the controller 140. The radar device 110 may transmit radar signals only within the second horizontal viewing angle according to a control signal from the controller 140.

[0047] In some embodiments, radar device 110 may alternately transmit radar signals within a first horizontal viewing angle and within a second horizontal viewing angle in the low-speed mode. In an example, radar device 110 may transmit radar signals only within the second horizontal viewing angle in the high-speed mode. Radar device 110 may alternately transmit radar signals within the first horizontal viewing angle and within the second horizontal viewing angle in the low-speed mode by changing beamforming using a time division multiplexing method.

[0048] Radar device 110 may generate radar data based on signals received in response to the transmission of radar signals. Radar device 110 may generate radar data based on signals received in response to radar signals transmitted within a first horizontal field of view, and may generate radar data based on signals received in response to radar signals transmitted within a second horizontal field of view.

[0049] The camera 120 may have a third horizontal viewing angle, may operate according to a control signal from the controller 140, and may capture images within the third horizontal viewing angle. In an example, the camera 120 may operate only in a low-speed mode.

[0050] The camera 130 may have a fourth horizontal viewing angle, may operate according to a control signal from the controller 140, and may capture images within a fourth horizontal viewing angle greater than the third horizontal viewing angle. In an example, the camera 130 may operate in both a low speed mode and a high speed mode.

[0051] According to an embodiment, camera 120 and camera 130 can capture the area in front of the vehicle. In an example, camera 120 can capture images within a third horizontal angle of view, and camera 130 can capture images within a fourth horizontal angle of view. Camera 120 and camera 130 can be installed at a position where they can capture the area in front of the vehicle.

[0052] Typically, the horizontal viewing angle of a long-range camera may be 30 degrees or less, the horizontal viewing angle of a medium-range camera may be approximately 60 degrees, and the horizontal viewing angle of a short-range camera may be 120 degrees or greater.

[0053] According to an embodiment, the third horizontal viewing angle of camera 120 may be less than 100 degrees, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle of camera 130 may be 100 degrees or more. The third horizontal viewing angle of camera 120 may be 100 degrees or less, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle of camera 130 may be greater than 100 degrees.

[0054] According to another embodiment, the third horizontal viewing angle of the camera 120 may be 60 degrees or less, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle of the camera 130 may be 120 degrees or more.

[0055] According to another embodiment, the third horizontal viewing angle of the camera 120 may be 70 degrees or less, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle of the camera 130 may be 180 degrees or more.

[0056] The controller 140 may control operations of the radar device 110, the camera 120, and the camera 130. The controller 140 may control operations of the radar device 110, the camera 120, and the camera 130 by transmitting a control signal to each of the radar device 110, the camera 120, and the camera 130.

[0057] The controller 140 may receive the driving speed of the vehicle and may control the operations of the radar device 110, the camera 120, and the camera 130 based on the driving speed of the vehicle.

[0058] In an example, if the vehicle's travel speed is faster than a predetermined reference speed, controller 140 may determine the operating mode for target detection as high-speed mode and may generate control signals based on the high-speed mode to be sent to radar device 110, camera 120, and camera 130. Controller 140 may transmit control signals based on the high-speed mode to radar device 110, camera 120, and camera 130. As a non-limiting example, the reference speed may be set to 30 km / h. The control signal based on the high-speed mode transmitted to radar device 110 may include information instructing operation at the second horizontal angle of view, and the control signal based on the high-speed mode transmitted to camera 130 may include information instructing to start operation. The control signal based on the high-speed mode transmitted to camera 120 may include information instructing to stop operation. Thus, controller 140 can obtain radar data generated in response to radar signals transmitted within the second horizontal angle of view and image data obtained within the fourth horizontal angle of view in the high-speed mode.

[0059] As another example, if the vehicle's travel speed is slower than a reference speed, the controller 140 may determine the operating mode as the low-speed mode and, based on the determined low-speed mode, may generate control signals to be transmitted to the radar device 110, the camera 120, and the camera 130. The controller 140 may transmit the control signals according to the low-speed mode to the radar device 110, the camera 120, and the camera 130. The control signal according to the low-speed mode transmitted to the radar device 110 may include information indicating a combination of operation at a first horizontal angle of view and operation at a second horizontal angle of view, and the control signal according to the low-speed mode transmitted to the camera 120 may include information indicating the start of operation.

[0060] The control signal sent to camera 130 according to the low-speed mode may include information instructing the start of operation. When radar device 110 receives information instructing a combination of operation at the first horizontal angle of view and operation at the second horizontal angle of view, radar device 110 may alternately perform operations of transmitting radar signals within the first horizontal angle of view and operations of transmitting radar signals within the second horizontal angle of view in the low-speed mode. In this example, when operating in the low-speed mode, the order or ratio of operations of transmitting radar signals within the first horizontal angle of view and operations of transmitting radar signals within the second horizontal angle of view can be arbitrarily set. Therefore, in the low-speed mode, controller 140 can obtain radar data generated in response to radar signals transmitted within the first horizontal angle of view, radar data generated in response to radar signals transmitted within the second horizontal angle of view, image data obtained within the third horizontal angle of view, and image data obtained within the fourth horizontal angle of view.

[0061] The controller 140 may detect a target using at least one of radar data generated within a first horizontal viewing angle, radar data generated within a second horizontal viewing angle, image data obtained within a third horizontal viewing angle, and image data obtained within a fourth horizontal viewing angle.

[0062] According to an embodiment, the controller 140 may combine or fuse radar data received from the radar device 110 and images received from the cameras 120 and 130 , and may detect targets in the LOS area and the NLOS area using the combined or fused data.

[0063] Figure 2 is a description of a method according to one or more embodiments Figure 1 The operation of the controller is shown in the flowchart. Figure 2 The operations in the embodiment may be performed in the order and manner shown. However, the order of some operations may be changed, or some of the operations may be omitted without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Figure 2 The operations shown in can be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Figure 2 One or more blocks and combinations of these blocks can be implemented by dedicated hardware computers that perform the specified functions or a combination of dedicated hardware and instructions (for example, computer instructions or processor instructions). Figure 2 In addition to the description, Figure 1 The description can also be applied to Figure 2 , and is incorporated herein by reference. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, the above description may not be repeated here. Figure 2 The operations may be performed by a processor.

[0064] refer to Figure 2 , the controller 140 may receive a driving speed of the vehicle (operation S210 ).

[0065] The controller 140 may determine an operating mode for target detection based on the vehicle's travel speed (operation S220). If the vehicle's travel speed is less than or equal to a reference speed, the controller 140 may determine the operating mode to be a low-speed mode, and if the vehicle's travel speed exceeds the reference speed, the controller 140 may determine the operating mode to be a high-speed mode.

[0066] When the operation mode is the high-speed mode (operation S230 ), the controller 140 may control operations of the radar device 110 , the camera 120 , and the camera 130 according to the high-speed mode (operation S240 ).

[0067] According to an embodiment, in an example of the high-speed mode, the controller 140 may send a control signal including information indicating an operation at a second horizontal viewing angle to the radar device 110, may send a control signal including information indicating a start of operation to the camera 130, and may send a control signal including information indicating a stop of operation to the camera 120.

[0068] The radar device 110 can send a radar signal within a second horizontal perspective through beamforming according to a control signal from the controller 140, can generate radar data within the second horizontal perspective by processing the received radar signal, and can send the generated radar data within the second horizontal perspective to the controller 140.

[0069] The camera 130 may capture an image within a third horizontal viewing angle according to a control signal from the controller 140 and transmit image data obtained from the camera 130 to the controller 140 .

[0070] In the high-speed mode, the controller 140 may detect a target using radar data generated from the radar device 110 within the second horizontal viewing angle and image data obtained within a fourth horizontal viewing angle (operation S250 ).

[0071] When the operation mode is the low speed mode (operation S230 ), the controller 140 may control operations of the radar device 110 , the camera 120 , and the camera 130 according to the low speed mode (operation S260 ).

[0072] According to an embodiment, in the example of the low-speed mode, the controller 140 may send a control signal including information indicating a combination of an operation at a first horizontal angle of view and an operation at a second horizontal angle of view to the radar device 110, and may send a control signal including information indicating a start of operation to the cameras 120 and 130.

[0073] Radar device 110 can alternately transmit radar signals within a first horizontal field of view and within a second horizontal field of view in response to a control signal from controller 140. Radar device 110 can generate radar data within the first horizontal field of view by processing radar signals received in response to radar signals transmitted within the first horizontal field of view, and can generate radar data within the second horizontal field of view by processing radar signals received in response to radar signals transmitted within the second horizontal field of view. Radar device 110 can transmit radar data within the first horizontal field of view and radar data within the second horizontal field of view to controller 140. For example, radar device 110 with a frame rate of 20 fps can obtain 20 pieces of radar data per second. Of the 20 pieces of radar data, 10 pieces may be data obtained within the first horizontal field of view, and the remaining 10 pieces may be data obtained within the second horizontal field of view.

[0074] The camera 120 may capture an image within the third horizontal viewing angle according to a control signal received from the controller 140 and transmit image data obtained from the camera 120 within the third horizontal viewing angle to the controller 140 .

[0075] The camera 130 may capture an image within the fourth horizontal viewing angle according to a control signal received from the controller 140 and transmit image data obtained from the camera 130 within the fourth horizontal viewing angle to the controller 140 .

[0076] In the low speed mode, the controller 140 detects a target using radar data generated from the radar device 110 within the first horizontal angle of view, radar data generated from the radar device 110 within the second horizontal angle of view, image data obtained within the third horizontal angle of view, and image data obtained within the fourth horizontal angle of view ( S270 ).

[0077] Figure 3 is a diagram showing a method of performing a Figure 1 Flowchart of a method for a controller to detect a target in a low-speed mode shown in FIG. Figure 3 The operations in the embodiment may be performed in the order and manner shown. However, the order of some operations may be changed, and some of the operations may be omitted without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Figure 3 The operations shown in can be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Figure 3 One or more blocks and combinations of these blocks can be implemented by dedicated hardware computers that perform the specified functions or a combination of dedicated hardware and instructions (for example, computer instructions or processor instructions). Figure 3 In addition to the description, Figures 1 to 2 The description can also be applied to Figure 3, and is incorporated herein by reference. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, the above description may not be repeated here. Figure 3 The operations may be performed by a processor.

[0078] refer to Figure 3 , the controller 140 can obtain radar data within a first horizontal perspective and radar data within a second horizontal perspective from the radar device 110 (operation S310). For ease of explanation, the radar data within the first horizontal perspective is referred to as first radar data, and the radar data within the second horizontal perspective is referred to as second radar data.

[0079] The controller 140 may obtain image data within a third horizontal viewing angle from the camera 120 (operation S320). The image data obtained from the camera 120 within the third horizontal viewing angle is referred to as first image data.

[0080] The controller 140 may obtain image data within a fourth horizontal viewing angle from the camera 130 (operation S330). The image data obtained from the camera 130 within the fourth horizontal viewing angle is referred to as second image data.

[0081] The controller 140 may detect a target by combining the first radar data and the first image data (operation S340 ).

[0082] The controller 140 may detect a target by combining the second radar data and the second image data (operation S350 ).

[0083] According to an embodiment, the controller 140 may detect a target using radar data and image data obtained within a similar horizontal viewing angle.

[0084] In the low-speed mode, there may be first radar data generated by radar device 110 within a first horizontal angle of view (e.g., 30 degrees) and second radar data generated within a second horizontal angle of view (e.g., 120 degrees), and there may be first image data captured by camera 120 within a third horizontal angle of view (e.g., 60 degrees) and second image data captured by camera 130 within a fourth horizontal angle of view (e.g., 120 degrees).

[0085] The controller 140 may detect a target using the first radar data corresponding to the narrow-angle area among the first radar data and the second radar data and the first image data corresponding to the narrow-angle area among the first image data and the second image data. The controller 140 may detect a target in the NLOS area using the first radar data and the first image data corresponding to the narrow-angle area.

[0086] In addition, the controller 140 may detect a target using the second radar data corresponding to the wide-angle area among the first radar data and the second radar data and the second image data corresponding to the wide-angle area among the first image data and the second image data. The controller 140 may detect a target in the LOS area using the second radar data corresponding to the wide-angle area and the second image data.

[0087] If the horizontal viewing angle of radar device 110 is similar to that of camera 120 or camera 130, the areas detected by radar device 110 and camera 120 or camera 130 may also be similar, and the probability of detecting the same target in similar areas may also increase. Cameras 120 and 130, as well as radar device 110, can compensate for the shortcomings of each camera and radar device. For example, cameras 120 and 130 may be significantly affected by external conditions such as fog or snow, but radar device 110 may be robust to external conditions. Therefore, by using radar data and image data obtained at similar horizontal viewing angles, controller 140 can improve target detection accuracy while compensating for the shortcomings of cameras and radars.

[0088] Figure 4 Shown by Figure 1 The horizontal viewing angle of the radar shown in Figure 1 to detect targets in the NLOS region.

[0089] refer to Figure 4 , assuming that the width of the road is 10m, the gap between the vehicle 40 and the building is 2m, the gap between the buildings is 3m, the width of one building is 7m, and the radar device 110 is set at the P position of the vehicle 40.

[0090] Targets 41 and 42 in the NLOS region may be obscured by obstacles such as buildings or other vehicles. Based on the radar device 110 mounted on vehicle 40, there is a high probability that targets 41 and 42 in the NLOS region are located in a direction 5 to 25 degrees from the front of vehicle 40. Therefore, when radar device 110 has a 30-degree horizontal viewing angle, radar device 110 can detect targets in the NLOS region. For example, target 41 in the NLOS region is located in a detectable position based on radar data obtained within a 15.9-degree horizontal viewing angle relative to radar device 110, and target 42 in the NLOS region is located in a detectable position based on radar data obtained within a 6.71-degree horizontal viewing angle. Therefore, radar device 110 can detect all targets 41 and 42 in the NLOS region using radar data obtained within a 30-degree horizontal viewing angle.

[0091] Meanwhile, in the high-speed mode, it may be difficult to detect the targets 41 and 42 in the NLOS area. In addition, the horizontal viewing angle of 120 degrees has poor resolution, so it may be difficult to detect the targets 41 and 42 in the NLOS area.

[0092] According to an embodiment, radar data acquired in low-speed mode within a 30-degree horizontal viewing angle may be used to detect targets in NLOS areas.

[0093] Figure 5 Shown by using Figure 1 The method of detecting targets in the NLOS area by using the reflection characteristics of the radar shown in FIG.

[0094] exist Figure 5 , it is assumed that the obstacle 51 is provided on the right side in the traveling direction of the vehicle 50 , the obstacle 52 is provided on the right front in the traveling direction of the vehicle 50 , and the target 55 is blocked by the obstacle 52 .

[0095] refer to Figure 5 , the radar device 110 mounted on the vehicle 50 can obtain radar data of the target 55 based on the radar signal reflected by the obstacle 52 .

[0096] The controller 140 may detect the target 55 by obtaining radar data of the target 55 from the radar device 110 .

[0097] However, the radar data obtained by the radar device 110 is not data based on direct radar signals, but may be data based on radar signals reflected by the wall of the obstacle 52. That is, based on the wall reflecting the signal, the controller 140 may identify the position of the ghost target 55′ outside the wall on a continuous line between the radar device 110 mounted on the vehicle 50 and the wall as the position of the actual target 55. Therefore, the controller 140 can detect the position of the actual target 55 by mirroring the position of the identified ghost target 55′ with the position of the reflective wall surface that reflected the radar signal as a reference.

[0098] In this example, the controller 140 can use the first image data obtained by the camera 120 to more accurately detect the position of the actual target 55. As an example, the controller 140 uses radar data generated within the first horizontal viewing angle of the radar device 110 to detect the position of the target, but if the target is not detected in the first image data obtained by the camera 120, it can be determined that the target is in the NLOS area. The controller 140 can determine that the target detected from the radar data is a ghost target 55' and can detect the position of the actual target 55 by mirroring the position of the ghost target 55' with respect to the position of the reflective wall surface.

[0099] Figure 5 The target detection method shown in may be an example, and other methods using radar data may be used.

[0100] Figure 6 An exemplary object detection apparatus according to one or more implementations is shown.

[0101] refer to Figure 6 , the exemplary object detection apparatus 600 may represent a computing device in which the above-described object detection method is implemented.

[0102] The target detection device 600 may include at least one processor 610, a memory 620, an input interface device 630, an output interface device 640, a storage device 650, and a network interface device 660. Each component may be connected and communicate with each other via a bus 670. In addition, each component may be connected via an independent interface or an independent bus centered around the processor 610 rather than the common bus 670.

[0103] The processor 610 may be implemented as various types such as an application processor (AP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc., and may be any semiconductor device that executes commands stored in the memory 620 or the storage device 650. The processor 610 may execute program commands stored in at least one of the memory 620 and the storage device 650. The processor 610 will be used to implement the reference Figure 1 Program commands for at least some of the functions of the controller 140 described are stored in the memory 620 and can be controlled to execute the reference Figures 1 to 5 Describes the operation.

[0104] The memory 620 and the storage device 650 may include various types of volatile storage media or non-volatile storage media. For example, the memory 620 may include a read-only memory (ROM) 621 and a random access memory (RAM) 622. The memory 620 may be provided inside or outside the processor 610, and the memory 620 may be connected to the processor 610 through various known means.

[0105] The input interface device 630 may be configured to provide data to the processor 610. The input interface device 630 may provide the processor 610 with radar data and image data.

[0106] The output interface device 640 may be configured to output data from the processor 610. The output interface device 640 may output a target detection result.

[0107] The network interface device 660 may transmit and receive signals to and from an external device through a wired network or a wireless network.

[0108] According to at least one of the embodiments, one radar device and two cameras may be used to detect targets in both LOS and NLOS areas.

[0109] According to at least one embodiment, when combining radar data generated by a radar device and image data generated by a camera, the accuracy of target detection can be improved by combining radar data and image data generated at similar horizontal viewing angles.

[0110] At least some of the object detection methods according to the embodiments may be implemented as a program or software running on a computing device, and the program or software may be stored in a computer-readable medium.

[0111] Furthermore, at least some of the object detection methods according to the embodiments may be implemented as hardware that may be electrically connected to a computing device.

[0112] Although the present disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of the present application that various changes in form and detail may be made to these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples described herein are to be understood in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The description of features or aspects in each example should be considered applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Appropriate results may still be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and / or if the components in the described systems, architectures, devices, or circuits are combined in different ways and / or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.

[0113] Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure includes the claims and their equivalents in addition to the above disclosure and all accompanying drawings, that is, all variations within the scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the present disclosure.

Claims

1. Target detection equipment, characterized in that, The target detection device comprises: a radar device configured to transmit radar signals within a first horizontal angle of view and a second horizontal angle of view in a first mode, and configured to transmit radar signals within the second horizontal angle of view in a second mode; a first camera configured to capture images within a third horizontal viewing angle in the first mode; and A second camera is configured to capture images within a fourth horizontal angle of view greater than the third horizontal angle of view in each of the first mode and the second mode.

2. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that In the first mode, the radar apparatus is configured to alternately perform an operation of transmitting a first radar signal within the first horizontal angle of view and an operation of transmitting a second radar signal within the second horizontal angle of view, and Wherein, in the second mode, the radar device is configured to perform the operation of transmitting the second radar signal only within the second horizontal viewing angle.

3. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that The target detection device also includes: A controller is configured to set an operation mode to one of the first mode and the second mode based on a driving speed of the vehicle.

4. The target detection device according to claim 3, characterized in that The controller is configured to set the operation mode to the first mode when the traveling speed of the vehicle is less than or equal to a reference speed of the vehicle, and to set the operation mode to the second mode when the traveling speed of the vehicle exceeds the reference speed of the vehicle.

5. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that The radar apparatus is configured to transmit the radar signal alternately in the range of the first horizontal viewing angle and the range of the second horizontal viewing angle using a time division multiplexing method by changing beamforming in the first mode.

6. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that The target detection device also includes: a controller configured to detect a first target based on radar data generated in response to the radar signal sent within the first horizontal angle of view and image data obtained from the first camera in the first mode, and configured to detect a second target based on radar data generated in response to the radar signal sent within the second horizontal angle of view and image data obtained from the second camera in the first mode.

7. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that The target detection device further includes a controller configured to detect a target in the second mode based on radar data generated in response to the radar signal transmitted within the second horizontal viewing angle and image data obtained from the second camera.

8. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that The first horizontal viewing angle is less than 60 degrees, and the second horizontal viewing angle is 60 degrees or greater.

9. The target detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The third horizontal viewing angle is less than 100 degrees, and the fourth horizontal viewing angle is 100 degrees or greater.

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