Obstacle recognition device, obstacle recognition method and program
The obstacle recognition device enhances millimeter-wave radar by distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant obstacles using distance-based determinations, improving collision avoidance accuracy and reducing unnecessary vehicle controls.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-19
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-29
AI Technical Summary
Millimeter-wave radar struggles to distinguish between obstacles that a vehicle needs to avoid and those that do not need to be avoided, particularly on unpaved roads, due to low height resolution and vulnerability to environmental factors like dust, rain, and fog, leading to potential collision risks.
An obstacle recognition device that uses millimeter-wave radar information to determine if detected targets are within specific distance areas, distinguishing between targets that require collision avoidance and those that do not, by comparing current and past detections to discard irrelevant data.
Effectively distinguishes between obstacles requiring collision avoidance and those that do not, reducing unnecessary vehicle controls and enhancing safety by accurately identifying potential collision hazards.
Smart Images
Figure 2026088720000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to an obstacle recognition device, an obstacle recognition method, and a program.
Background Art
[0002] Patent Document 1 describes an autonomous driving vehicle that autonomously drives at a preset driving speed on a preset driving route in a mine. Further, Patent Document 1 describes that a millimeter-wave radar has a characteristic that it is difficult to identify whether a detected object is a road surface unevenness, a rockfall, or a manned vehicle. Therefore, in the autonomous driving vehicle described in Patent Document 1, a millimeter-wave radar and a lidar (LiDAR) are used in combination.
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0003]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0004] LiDAR is vulnerable to adverse environments such as dust / rain / fog / backlighting. Therefore, in order to ensure robustness to the environment, it is preferable to improve the recognition accuracy of the millimeter-wave radar alone (that is, to improve the recognition accuracy of obstacles using only the millimeter-wave radar without using LiDAR).
[0005] On the other hand, if only millimeter-wave radar is used without LiDAR, the millimeter-wave radar may mistakenly identify reflected waves from nearby road surface irregularities and small stones on unpaved roads as targets (obstacles). This is because the reflected waves from road surface irregularities and small stones are large in the vicinity. Furthermore, if only millimeter-wave radar is used without LiDAR, the millimeter-wave radar cannot distinguish between targets that a vehicle does not need to avoid, such as road surface irregularities and small stones, and targets that a vehicle must avoid, such as rocks above a certain height, other vehicles, or people. This is because the height resolution of millimeter-wave radar is low. Therefore, relying solely on information about targets in front of a vehicle detected by millimeter-wave radar may not be sufficient to avoid collisions with obstacles and to drive the vehicle appropriately.
[0006] In view of the above, the present disclosure aims to provide an obstacle recognition device, an obstacle recognition method, and a program that can distinguish between objects that a vehicle does not need to avoid colliding with and objects that a vehicle needs to avoid colliding with, based on information about objects located in front of a vehicle detected by millimeter-wave radar. [Means for solving the problem]
[0007] (1) One aspect of the present disclosure is an acquisition unit that acquires information about a target located in front of the vehicle detected by a millimeter-wave radar mounted on the vehicle; a first determination which determines whether the target is located in a first area which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is less than a predetermined value, based on the information about the target acquired by the acquisition unit; and whether the target, which was determined to be located in the first area in the first determination, was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was located in a second area which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. An obstacle recognition device comprising: a determination unit that performs a second determination, which is a determination of the first determination; an output unit that discards information about the object if the first determination determines that the object is in the first area and the second determination determines that the object was not detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was in the second area, and outputs information about the object if the first determination determines that the object is in the first area and the second determination determines that the object was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was in the second area.
[0008] (2) In the obstacle recognition device of (1), the information relating to the target may include target position information and tracking information.
[0009] (3) In the obstacle recognition device of (1), the determination area information, which is information that defines the first area where the target corresponding to the information discarded by the output unit may exist, may be adjusted according to the operating environment of the vehicle.
[0010] (4) One aspect of the present disclosure is an acquisition step in which an obstacle recognition device acquires information about an object located in front of the vehicle detected by a millimeter-wave radar mounted on the vehicle from the millimeter-wave radar; a first determination in which the obstacle recognition device determines, based on the information about the object acquired in the acquisition step, whether or not the object is located in a first area which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is less than a predetermined value; and when the object determined to be located in the first area in the first determination is located in a second area which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, it is detected by the millimeter-wave radar An obstacle recognition method comprising: a determination step of performing a second determination of whether or not an object is present; and an output step in which the obstacle recognition device discards information about the object if it is determined in the first determination that the object is present in the first area and in the second determination that the object was not detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was present in the second area, and outputs information about the object if it is determined in the first determination that the object is present in the first area and in the second determination that the object was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was present in the second area.
[0011] (5) One aspect of the present disclosure is a processor comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring information about a target located in front of the vehicle detected by a millimeter-wave radar mounted on the vehicle; a first determination of whether the target is located in a first area, which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is less than a predetermined value, based on the information about the target acquired in the acquisition step; and whether the target, which was determined to be located in the first area in the first determination, was located in a second area, which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, was detected by the millimeter-wave radar. This program is for executing a determination step that performs a second determination of whether or not a target exists, and an output step that discards information about the target if the first determination determines that the target is in the first area and the second determination determines that the target was not detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was in the second area, and outputs information about the target if the first determination determines that the target is in the first area and the second determination determines that the target was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was in the second area. [Effects of the Invention]
[0012] According to this disclosure, based on information about targets located in front of the vehicle detected by millimeter-wave radar, it is possible to distinguish between targets that the vehicle does not need to avoid colliding with and targets that the vehicle does need to avoid colliding with. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0013] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of a vehicle 1 to which the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment is applied. [Figure 2] Figure 1 shows an example of the data flow within vehicle 1. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the processor 153 of the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment. [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates a specific example of the process shown in Figure 3. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the obstacle recognition device, obstacle recognition method, and program of this disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0015] <First Embodiment> Figure 1 shows an example of a vehicle 1 to which the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment is applied. Figure 2 shows an example of the data flow within the vehicle 1 shown in Figure 1. In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2, vehicle 1 is equipped with a millimeter-wave radar 11, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 12, a vehicle status sensor 13, a position information acquisition device 14, an obstacle recognition device 15, a vehicle control device 16, a steering actuator 16A, a braking actuator 16B, and a drive actuator 16C. The millimeter-wave radar 11 is positioned, for example, at the front of the vehicle 1. The millimeter-wave radar 11 detects targets TG1 to TG6 (see Figure 4) located in front of the vehicle 1 and transmits information (sensor data) regarding targets TG1 to TG6 to the obstacle recognition device 15.
[0016] Through diligent research, the inventors have discovered that while vehicle 1 is moving forward on an unpaved road, the millimeter-wave radar 11 not only detects large rocks as targets TG5 (see Figure 4) that require vehicle 1 to avoid a collision (i.e., control of the steering actuator 16A and braking actuator 16B), and detects other vehicles as targets TG6 (see Figure 4), but also detects small bumps and small stones on the road surface as targets TG1 to TG4 (see Figure 4) that do not require vehicle 1 to avoid a collision (i.e., control of the steering actuator 16A and braking actuator 16B) (i.e., receives reflected waves from small bumps and small stones). Furthermore, the inventors have found that small irregularities on the road surface, small stones, etc., are detected as targets TG1 to TG4 by the millimeter-wave radar 11 when they are located in the first area (area near the vehicle 1) AR1 (see Figure 4), which is an area less than a predetermined value from the moving vehicle 1, but are not detected as targets TG1 to TG4 by the millimeter-wave radar 11 when they are located in the second area (area far from the vehicle 1) AR2 (see Figure 4), which is an area greater than a predetermined value from the moving vehicle 1. Therefore, in the examples shown in Figures 1 and 2, measures described later are taken to distinguish between targets TG1 to TG4, which Vehicle 1 does not need to avoid colliding with, and targets TG5 and TG6, which Vehicle 1 does need to avoid colliding with.
[0017] In the examples shown in Figures 1 and 2, the HMI 12 has the function of receiving various operations from the user of the vehicle 1 and transmits signals indicating the user's operations to the vehicle control device 16, etc. The operations of the user of the vehicle 1 that the HMI 12 receives include, for example, operations to have the vehicle control device 16 execute automatic driving of the vehicle 1, and operations to switch from automatic driving to manual driving of the vehicle 1. The vehicle status sensor 13 includes, for example, a vehicle speed sensor. The vehicle status sensor 13 transmits information indicating the status of vehicle 1 (for example, vehicle speed) to the obstacle recognition device 15, the vehicle control device 16, etc.
[0018] The position information acquisition device 14 acquires information indicating the position of the vehicle 1. The position information acquisition device 14 includes, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) device that measures the position of the vehicle 1. The position information acquisition device 14 may perform well-known self-position estimation processing (localization) to improve the accuracy of the information indicating the position of the vehicle 1. The position information acquisition device 14 transmits the information indicating the position of the vehicle 1 to the obstacle recognition device 15, the vehicle control device 16, and the like.
[0019] The vehicle control device 16 is constituted by, for example, a vehicle control ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The vehicle control device 16 controls the steering actuator 16A, the braking actuator 16B, and the driving actuator 16C based on information (signals) transmitted from, for example, the HMI 12, the vehicle state sensor 13, the position information acquisition device 14, the obstacle recognition device 15, and the like. The vehicle control device 16 has a function of executing the automatic driving of the vehicle 1.
[0020] The obstacle recognition device 15 is constituted by a microcomputer including a communication interface (I / F) 151, a memory 152, and a processor 153. The communication interface 151 has an interface circuit for connecting the obstacle recognition device 15 to the millimeter-wave radar 11, the HMI 12, the vehicle state sensor 13, the position information acquisition device 14, the vehicle control device 16, and the like. The memory 152 stores programs and various data used in the processes executed by the processor 153. The data stored in the memory 152 includes, for example, determination area information (see FIG. 2), etc. The determination area information is information in which parameters (such as size, etc.) regarding a first area AR1 (see FIG. 4) where there may be targets TG1 to TG4 (road surface unnecessary targets) that the vehicle 1 does not need to avoid a collision are defined. The range in which targets TG1 to TG4 (road surface unnecessary targets (such as small irregularities and small stones on the unpaved road surface)) that the vehicle 1 does not need to avoid a collision are detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 varies depending on the state and material of the road surface on which the vehicle 1 travels. Therefore, the parameters regarding the first area AR1 are adjusted according to the usage environment of the vehicle 1 by, for example, the user of the vehicle 1, etc. That is, the memory 152 stores, for example, determination area information adjusted according to the usage environment of the vehicle 1 by the user of the vehicle 1, etc. The processor 153 has functions as an acquisition unit 3A, a determination unit 3B, and an output unit 3C.
[0021] The acquisition unit 3A acquires, from the millimeter-wave radar 11, information (specifically, time-series data) regarding targets TG1 to TG6 (see FIG. 4) existing in front of the vehicle 1 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11. The information regarding targets TG1 to TG6 includes target position information (information indicating the relative positions of targets TG1 to TG6 with respect to the vehicle 1) and tracking information. The tracking information is information that can distinguish whether the targets TG1 to TG6 output from the millimeter-wave radar 11 in time series are the same. In the example shown in FIG. 4 described later, based on the tracking information output from the millimeter-wave radar 11, it can be recognized that each of the targets TG5 and TG6 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 at a past time point shown in FIG. 4(A) and each of the targets TG5 and TG6 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 at the current time point shown in FIG. 4(B) are the same.
[0022] Based on the information about targets TG1 to TG6 (see Figure 4(B)) acquired by the acquisition unit 3A, the determination unit 3B performs a determination (first determination) as to whether targets TG1 to TG6 are located within the first area AR1 (see Figure 4(B)). Furthermore, based on the information about targets TG1 to TG6 (see Figures 4(A) and 4(B)) acquired by the acquisition unit 3A, the determination unit 3B performs a determination (second determination) as to whether targets TG1 to TG5 (see Figure 4(B)), which were determined to be located within the first area AR1 (see Figure 4(B)) in the first determination, were detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 when they were located within the second area AR2 (see Figure 4(A)).
[0023] The output unit 3C discards information about targets TG1 to TG4 if, in the first determination performed by the determination unit 3B, it is determined that targets TG1 to TG4 (see Figure 4(B)) are located within the first area AR1 (see Figure 4(B)), and in the second determination performed by the determination unit 3B, it is determined that targets TG1 to TG4 (see Figure 4(A)) were located within the second area AR2 (see Figure 4(A)) but were not detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11. The output unit 3C also outputs information about target TG5 to the vehicle control device 16 if, in the first determination performed by the determination unit 3B, it is determined that target TG5 (see Figure 4(B)) is located within the first area AR1 (see Figure 4(B)), and in the second determination performed by the determination unit 3B, it is determined that target TG5 (see Figure 4(A)) was located within the second area AR2 (see Figure 4(A)) but was detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11.
[0024] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the processor 153 of the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment. The process shown in Figure 3 is executed, for example, while Vehicle 1 is moving (more specifically, while moving forward).
[0025] In the example shown in Figure 3, in step S10, the acquisition unit 3A acquires information (time-series data) from the millimeter-wave radar 11 regarding targets located in front of the vehicle 1 that were detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11. In step S11, the determination unit 3B performs a determination (first determination) to determine whether or not the target is located within the first area AR1 (see Figure 4(B)) based on the target information acquired in step S10 (specifically, the current data from the time-series data). If the result is YES, the process proceeds to step S12; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S12, the determination unit 3B performs a second determination (second determination) based on the target information acquired in step S10 (specifically, time-series data including current data and data from a point in time prior to the current time) to determine whether the target determined to be in the first area AR1 in step S11 was detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 when it was in the second area AR2 (see Figure 4(A)). If the result is YES, the process proceeds to step S14; if NO, the process proceeds to step S13.
[0026] In step S13, the output unit 3C discards the information related to the target. In step S14, the output unit 3C outputs information about the target to the vehicle control device 16.
[0027] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the process shown in Figure 3. Specifically, Figure 4(A) shows an example of the positional relationship between vehicle 1, targets TG1-TG6, first area AR1, and second area AR2 at a past point in time, while Figure 4(B) shows an example of the positional relationship between vehicle 1, targets TG1-TG6, first area AR1, and second area AR2 at the present time. In the example shown in Figure 4, in step S10 of Figure 3, the acquisition unit 3A acquires information from the millimeter-wave radar 11 regarding targets TG1 to TG6 located in front of the vehicle 1 as detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11. For example, it acquires time-series data of targets TG1 to TG6 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 from a past point in time shown in Figure 4(A) to the present time shown in Figure 4(B). In step S11 of Figure 3, the determination unit 3B determines, based on the data of targets TG1 to TG6 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 at the present time shown in Figure 4(B) from the time-series data acquired in step S10, that targets TG1 to TG5 are located within the first area AR1, and that target TG6 (another vehicle) is not located within the first area AR1. In the example shown in Figure 4, at the present time shown in Figure 4(B), there is no risk of collision between vehicle 1 and target TG6 (another vehicle), and therefore there is no risk of unnecessary control of the steering actuator 16A or braking actuator 16B to avoid a collision between vehicle 1 and target TG6. For this reason, in step S14 of Figure 3, the information regarding target TG6 is output to the vehicle control device 16 without being discarded.
[0028] Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 4, in step S12 of Figure 3, the determination unit 3B determines, based on the time-series data of targets TG1 to TG6 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 from the past time shown in Figure 4(A) to the present time shown in Figure 4(B), that target TG5 (a large rock), which is determined to be in the first area AR1 at the present time shown in Figure 4(B), was also detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 at the past time shown in Figure 4(A) when it was in the second area AR2. In the example shown in Figure 4, at the point shown in Figure 4(B), there is a risk of collision between vehicle 1 and target TG5 (large rock). Therefore, control of the steering actuator 16A and / or braking actuator 16B is necessary to avoid a collision between vehicle 1 and target TG5. Accordingly, in step S14 of Figure 3, information regarding target TG5 is output to the vehicle control device 16 without being discarded. The vehicle control device 16 performs control to activate the steering actuator 16A and / or braking actuator 16B based on the information about the target TG5 output from the output unit 3C in order to avoid a collision between the vehicle 1 and the target TG5.
[0029] On the other hand, in the example shown in Figure 4, in step S12 of Figure 3, the determination unit 3B determines, based on the time-series data of targets TG1 to TG6 detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 from the past time shown in Figure 4(A) to the present time shown in Figure 4(B), that targets TG1 to TG4 (small bumps on the unpaved road surface, small stones, etc.) which are determined to be in the first area AR1 at the present time shown in Figure 4(B), were not detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 at the past time shown in Figure 4(A) when they were in the second area AR2. In other words, the determination unit 3B determines that targets TG1 to TG4, which are currently in the first area AR1, are small bumps on the unpaved road surface, small stones, etc., and that there is no need to avoid a collision between vehicle 1 and targets TG1 to TG4. In other words, in the example shown in Figure 4, control of the steering actuator 16A and / or braking actuator 16B to avoid a collision between vehicle 1 and targets TG1 to TG4 is not necessary. Therefore, information regarding targets TG1 to TG4 is discarded in step S13 of Figure 3 and is not output to the vehicle control device 16. As a result, unnecessary control that would activate the steering actuator 16A and / or braking actuator 16B to avoid a collision between vehicle 1 and targets TG1-TG4 is not performed by the vehicle control device 16.
[0030] In other words, as shown in Figure 4(B), when vehicle 1 is traveling on an unpaved road (moving forward), the millimeter-wave radar 11 receives reflected waves from small irregularities, small stones, etc. (targets TG1-TG4) on the road surface near vehicle 1 (i.e., within the first area AR1), and targets TG1-TG4 are detected. As shown in Figure 4(B), it is necessary to distinguish and recognize large rocks (target TG5) in the vicinity of Vehicle 1 (within the first area AR1) that need to be avoided in collision with Vehicle 1, and small bumps and small stones on the road surface (targets TG1-TG4) that do not need to be avoided in collision with Vehicle 1. Therefore, in the example shown in Figure 4, tracking information is used, along with the characteristic that small bumps on the road surface, small stones, etc. (objects TG1 to TG4) are detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 when they are located in the first area AR1 at a distance of less than a predetermined value from the moving vehicle 1, but are not detected by the millimeter-wave radar 11 when they are located in the second area AR2 at a distance greater than a predetermined value from the moving vehicle 1. As a result, it is possible to distinguish and recognize large rocks (target TG5) in the vicinity of Vehicle 1 (within the first area AR1) that need to be avoided in collision with Vehicle 1, and small bumps and stones on the road surface (targets TG1-TG4) that do not need to be avoided in collision with Vehicle 1.
[0031] <Second Embodiment> The obstacle recognition device 15 of the second embodiment is configured in the same manner as the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment described above, except for the points that will be described later.
[0032] As described above, the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment is provided on the vehicle 1. On the other hand, the obstacle recognition device 15 of the second embodiment may be located outside the vehicle 1, for example, as part of a control unit that controls the movement of the vehicle 1.
[0033] <Third Embodiment> The vehicle 1 to which the obstacle recognition device 15 of the third embodiment is applied is configured in the same way as the vehicle 1 to which the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment is applied, except for the points described later.
[0034] As described above, in a vehicle 1 (autonomous vehicle) to which the obstacle recognition device 15 of the first embodiment is applied, the vehicle control device 16 performs control to activate the steering actuator 16A and / or braking actuator 16B based on the information about the target TG5 output from the output unit 3C in order to avoid a collision between the vehicle 1 and the target TG5. On the other hand, in a vehicle 1 to which the obstacle recognition device 15 of the third embodiment is applied, the vehicle control device 16 causes the HMI 12 to output a warning indicating that an operation is required to avoid a collision between the vehicle 1 and the target TG5, based on the information about the target TG5 output from the output unit 3C.
[0035] As described above, embodiments of the obstacle recognition device, obstacle recognition method, and program of this disclosure have been explained with reference to the drawings. However, the obstacle recognition device, obstacle recognition method, and program of this disclosure are not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. The configurations of each example of the embodiments described above may be combined as appropriate. In each example of the embodiments described above, the processing performed by the obstacle recognition device 15 was described as software processing performed by executing a program. However, the processing performed by the obstacle recognition device 15 may be hardware processing. Alternatively, the processing performed by the obstacle recognition device 15 may be a combination of software and hardware processing. Furthermore, the program stored in the memory 152 of the obstacle recognition device 15 (the program that realizes the functions of the processor 153 of the obstacle recognition device 15) may be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium such as a semiconductor memory, magnetic recording medium, or optical recording medium and provided and distributed. [Explanation of Symbols]
[0036] 1...Vehicle, 11...Millimeter-wave radar, 12...HMI, 13...Vehicle status sensor, 14...Position information acquisition device, 15...Obstacle recognition device, 151...Communication interface, 152...Memory, 153...Processor, 3A...Acquisition unit, 3B...Determination unit, 3C...Output unit, 16...Vehicle control device, 16A...Steering actuator, 16B...Brake actuator, 16C...Drive actuator, AR1...First area, AR2...Second area, TG1~TG6...Target
Claims
1. An acquisition unit that acquires information about an object located in front of the vehicle detected by a millimeter-wave radar mounted on the vehicle, A determination unit performs, based on information about the target acquired by the acquisition unit, a first determination which determines whether the target is located in a first area which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is less than a predetermined value, and a second determination which determines whether the target, which was determined to be located in the first area in the first determination, was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was located in a second area which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. An obstacle recognition device comprising: an output unit that discards information about the target if, in the first determination, it is determined that the target is located within the first area, and in the second determination, it is determined that the target was located within the second area but was not detected by the millimeter-wave radar; and an output unit that outputs information about the target if, in the first determination, it is determined that the target is located within the first area, and in the second determination, it is determined that the target was located within the second area but was detected by the millimeter-wave radar.
2. The obstacle recognition device according to claim 1, wherein the information relating to the target includes target location information and tracking information.
3. The obstacle recognition device according to claim 1, wherein the determination area information, which is information defining the first area in which the target corresponding to the information discarded by the output unit may exist, is adjusted according to the operating environment of the vehicle.
4. An obstacle recognition device acquires information regarding an object located in front of the vehicle, which is detected by a millimeter-wave radar mounted on the vehicle, in an acquisition step. The obstacle recognition device performs a determination step in which it performs a first determination, which is a determination of whether or not the object exists in a first area, which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is less than a predetermined value, based on the information about the object acquired in the acquisition step, and a second determination, which is a determination of whether or not the object, which was determined to exist in the first area in the first determination, was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was located in a second area, which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. An obstacle recognition method comprising: an output step in which the obstacle recognition device discards information about the object if, in the first determination, it is determined that the object is located within the first area, and in the second determination, it is determined that the object was located within the second area but was not detected by the millimeter-wave radar; and outputs information about the object if, in the first determination, it is determined that the object is located within the first area, and in the second determination, it is determined that the object was located within the second area but was detected by the millimeter-wave radar.
5. In the processor, An acquisition step of acquiring information about an object located in front of the vehicle detected by a millimeter-wave radar mounted on the vehicle, A determination step is performed to determine whether the target is located in a first area, which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is less than a predetermined value, based on the information about the target acquired in the acquisition step, and whether the target was detected by the millimeter-wave radar when it was located in a second area, which is an area where the distance from the moving vehicle is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, if the target was located in the first area as determined in the first determination. A program for executing an output step which involves discarding information about the target if, in the first determination, it is determined that the target is located within the first area, and in the second determination, it is determined that the target was located within the second area but was not detected by the millimeter-wave radar, and outputting information about the target if, in the first determination, it is determined that the target is located within the first area, and in the second determination, it is determined that the target was located within the second area but was detected by the millimeter-wave radar.