Object detection device and mobile object control device

Abstract

To reduce the influence of wind in a device that detects an object using ultrasonic waves.SOLUTION: An object detection device detects an object existing around a moving body moving on a road surface by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. The object detection device includes: a first acquisition section that acquires reflection intensity information indicating an intensity of a reflected wave from the object; a first generation section that generates object information indicating the existence of a predetermined detection object when the reflected wave having an intensity exceeding a threshold value is received; an estimation section that estimates a wind speed on the basis of a road surface reflection intensity that is an intensity of a reflected wave from the road surface; and a setting section that changes the threshold value according to the wind speed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an object detection device and a mobile object control device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In vehicle control systems and the like, devices are used that detect objects existing around a vehicle by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-34653 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In object detection using ultrasonic waves, the detection accuracy may be reduced due to the influence of wind blowing in the detection area.

[0005] One of the problems that the present disclosure aims to solve is to reduce the effects of wind in a device that uses ultrasonic waves to detect an object. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An object detection device as an example of the present disclosure is an object detection device that detects objects present around a moving body moving on a road surface by sending and receiving ultrasonic waves, and includes a first acquisition unit that acquires reflection intensity information indicating the intensity of a reflected wave from the object, a first generation unit that generates object information indicating the presence of a predetermined detection target when a reflected wave of an intensity exceeding a threshold is received, an estimation unit that estimates wind speed based on road surface reflection intensity, which is the intensity of the reflected wave from the road surface, and a setting unit that changes the threshold value depending on the wind speed. A detection unit that detects a change in a road surface condition based on a change in road surface reflection intensity; Equipped with. The estimation unit then discards the road surface reflection intensity corresponding to the road surface in which the detection unit has detected a change.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the threshold for detecting the detection target object can be adjusted in accordance with the wind speed estimated based on the road surface reflected wave intensity so as to reduce the influence of the wind speed. This makes it possible to reduce the influence of the wind. In addition, the possibility of confusing the variation in road surface reflection intensity caused by changes in the road surface condition with the variation in road surface reflection intensity caused by the influence of wind can be reduced, thereby improving the accuracy of wind speed estimation.

[0008] The setting unit may also increase the threshold value in response to an increase in wind speed.

[0009] This reduces the possibility of false detection occurring when the wind speed is high.

[0010] The estimation unit may estimate that the wind speed is greater as the degree of variation in multiple road surface reflection intensities acquired by multiple transmissions and receptions of ultrasonic waves increases.

[0011] This allows wind speed to be estimated with high accuracy.

[0012] The object detection device may further include a second acquisition unit that acquires speed information related to a moving speed of the moving object, and the estimation unit may further estimate the wind speed based on the moving speed.

[0013] This allows wind speed to be estimated with even greater accuracy.

[0014] Furthermore, the object detection device may further include a second generator that generates impossibility information indicating that it is impossible to detect the detection target object by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves when the wind speed exceeds an upper limit value.

[0015] This reduces the possibility that unreliable detection results will be used to control a moving object, etc.

[0018] In addition, the detection unit may determine that the road surface condition is changing when the difference between the average value of multiple road surface reflection intensities obtained at an early stage in a road surface reflection intensity group consisting of multiple road surface reflection intensities obtained by multiple consecutive transmissions and receptions of ultrasonic waves and the average value of multiple road surface reflection intensities obtained at a late stage in the road surface reflection intensity group is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0019] This enables changes in road surface conditions to be detected with high accuracy.

[0020] Moreover, a moving body control device as an example of the present disclosure includes the above-mentioned object detection device, and a control device that performs processing to control the moving body based on the object information output from the object detection device.

[0021] According to the above configuration, the moving object can be controlled based on the object information generated by the object detection device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a top view showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle control device according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the object detection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of echo information when a detection target is detected in the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of features of the wind speed table according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic of a gain that weights the wind speed according to the vehicle speed in the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of features of the threshold table according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a threshold margin according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the object detection device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The configurations of the embodiments described below and the actions and effects brought about by the configurations are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the following description.

[0024] 1 is a top view showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment. The vehicle 1 is an example of a moving body on which an object detection device according to the embodiment is mounted. The object detection device according to the embodiment is a device that detects an object present in the vicinity of the vehicle 1 based on TOF, Doppler shift information, and the like acquired by transmitting ultrasonic waves from the vehicle 1 and receiving reflected waves from the object.

[0025] The object detection device according to this embodiment has a plurality of transceivers 21A to 21H (hereinafter, abbreviated to transceivers 21 when there is no need to distinguish between the plurality of transceivers 21A to 21H). Each transceiver 21 is installed on a vehicle body 2 serving as the exterior of a vehicle 1, transmits ultrasonic waves (transmission waves) toward the outside of the vehicle body 2, and receives reflected waves from objects present outside the vehicle body 2. In the example shown in FIG. 1, four transceivers 21A to 21D are arranged at the front end of the vehicle body 2, and four transceivers 21E to 21H are arranged at the rear end. Note that the number and installation positions of the transceivers 21 are not limited to the above example.

[0026] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a vehicle control device 10 according to an embodiment. The vehicle control device 10 (an example of a mobile object control device) includes an object detection device 11 and an ECU 12. The vehicle control device 10 performs processing for controlling the vehicle 1 based on information output from the object detection device 11.

[0027] The object detection device 11 includes a plurality of transmitting / receiving units 21 and a control unit 22. Each transmitting / receiving unit 21 includes an oscillator 31 configured using a piezoelectric element or the like, an amplifier, and the like, and realizes transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves by the vibration of the oscillator 31. Specifically, each transmitting / receiving unit 21 transmits ultrasonic waves generated in response to the vibration of the oscillator 31 as a transmission wave, and detects the vibration of the oscillator 31 caused by the reflected wave of the transmission wave reflected by an object. The object includes a detection target O that the vehicle 1 should avoid contacting, and a road surface G on which the vehicle 1 runs. The vibration of the oscillator 31 is converted into an electric signal, and echo information indicating a change over time in the intensity (amplitude) of the reflected wave from the object can be obtained based on the electric signal. Based on the echo information, a TOF or the like corresponding to the distance from the transmitting / receiving unit 21 (vehicle body 2) to the object can be obtained.

[0028] The echo information may be generated based on data acquired by one transceiver 21, or may be generated based on a plurality of data acquired by each of the plurality of transceivers 21. For example, echo information about an object present in front of the vehicle body 2 may be generated based on two or more pieces of data (e.g., average values, etc.) acquired by two or more of the four transceivers 21A to 21D (see FIG. 1) arranged in front of the vehicle body 2. Similarly, echo information about an object present behind the vehicle body 2 may be generated based on two or more pieces of data acquired by two or more of the four transceivers 21E to 21H (see FIG. 1) arranged in the rear of the vehicle body 2.

[0029] 2, a configuration is illustrated in which both transmission of the transmission wave and reception of the reflected wave are performed using a single transducer 31, but the configuration of the transceiver unit 21 is not limited to this. For example, the transmission side and the reception side may be separated, such as a configuration in which a transducer for transmitting the transmission wave and a transducer for receiving the reflected wave are separately provided.

[0030] The control unit 22 includes an input / output device 41, a storage device 42, and a processor 43. The input / output device 41 is an interface device for realizing transmission and reception of information between the control unit 22 and the outside (the transmission / reception unit 21, the ECU 12, etc.). The storage device 42 includes a main storage device such as a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM), and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) and a solid state drive (SSD). The processor 43 is an integrated circuit that executes various processes for realizing the functions of the control unit 22, and includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) that operates according to a program, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed for a specific application, and the like. The processor 43 executes various arithmetic processes and control processes by reading and executing the programs stored in the storage device 42.

[0031] The ECU 12 is a unit that executes various processes for controlling the vehicle 1 based on various information acquired from the object detection device 11 and the like. The ECU 12 has an input / output device 51, a storage device 52, and a processor 53. The input / output device 51 is an interface device for realizing transmission and reception of information between the ECU 12 and external mechanisms (the object detection device 11, the drive mechanism, the braking mechanism, the steering mechanism, the transmission mechanism, the in-vehicle display, the speaker, and the like). The storage device 52 includes a main storage device such as a ROM or a RAM, and an auxiliary storage device such as a HDD or an SSD. The processor 53 is an integrated circuit that executes various processes for realizing the functions of the ECU 12, and includes, for example, a CPU, an ASIC, and the like. The processor 53 reads out a program stored in the storage device 52 and executes various arithmetic processes and control processes.

[0032] Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the object detection device 11 according to the embodiment. The object detection device 11 according to the embodiment includes a signal processing unit 101, a reflection intensity information acquisition unit 102 (first acquisition unit), an object information generation unit 103 (first generation unit), a road surface change detection unit 104 (detection unit), a vehicle speed information acquisition unit 105 (second acquisition unit), a wind speed estimation unit 106 (estimation unit), a threshold setting unit 107 (setting unit), and an inability information generation unit (second generation unit). These functional components 101 to 108 are realized by cooperation between the hardware components of the object detection device 11 as exemplified in Fig. 2 and software components such as firmware and programs.

[0033] The signal processing unit 101 processes the data acquired by the transmission / reception unit 21 to generate various information. For example, the signal processing unit 101 performs amplification, filtering, envelope processing, etc. on the electric signal corresponding to the vibration of the transducer 31 to generate echo information indicating a change over time in the intensity (amplitude) of the reflected wave transmitted by the transmission / reception unit 21 and reflected by an object. Based on the echo information, the TOF corresponding to an object present in the vicinity of the vehicle 1 can be detected, and the distance from the vehicle body 2 to the object, etc. can be calculated.

[0034] The reflection intensity information acquisition unit 102 acquires reflection intensity information indicating the intensity of the reflected wave from an object based on the echo information generated by the signal processing unit 101, etc. The reflection intensity information includes the intensity of the reflected wave from a predetermined detection object O and a road surface reflection intensity which is the intensity of the reflected wave from the road surface G. The predetermined detection object O is an object that the vehicle 1 should avoid contacting, and may be, for example, another vehicle, a structure, a pedestrian, etc. The road surface reflection intensity is the intensity of the reflected wave having a TOF corresponding to the distance from the transmitting / receiving unit 21 to the road surface G. The distance from the transmitting / receiving unit 21 to the road surface G may be a known value.

[0035] When the object information generating unit 103 receives a reflected wave with an intensity exceeding a predetermined detection threshold, it generates object information indicating the presence of the detection target O. The detection threshold is a threshold set for identifying (extracting) the reflected wave from the detection target O from the total reflected wave received by the transmitting / receiving unit 21. In other words, the detection threshold is set for excluding reflected waves from objects (such as the road surface G) other than the detection target O from the total reflected wave received by the transmitting / receiving unit 21. Usually, the higher the detection threshold, the lower the sensitivity for detecting the detection target O (the shorter the detectable distance).

[0036] The road surface change detection unit 104 detects a change in the condition of the road surface G based on a change in the road surface reflection intensity included in the reflection intensity information. The change in the condition of the road surface G may be, for example, a change in the material, moisture content, temperature, etc. Such a change causes a change in the frictional resistance of the road surface G. The road surface reflection intensity changes according to such a change in the condition of the road surface G. For example, when there is a change that reduces the frictional resistance (for example, when the material of the road surface G changes from asphalt to concrete), the road surface reflection intensity decreases. By monitoring such a change in the road surface reflection intensity, a change in the condition of the road surface G can be detected.

[0037] The road surface reflection detection unit 104 may determine that the road surface condition is changing, for example, when the difference between the average value of a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired early in the road surface reflection intensity group consisting of a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired by a plurality of consecutive transmissions and receptions of ultrasonic waves and the average value of a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired late in the road surface reflection intensity group is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired early may be, for example, 20 road surface reflection intensities acquired early in the road surface reflection intensity group consisting of 100 road surface reflection intensities. Similarly, the plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired late may be, for example, 20 road surface reflection intensities acquired late in the road surface reflection intensity group consisting of 100 road surface reflection intensities. Note that the numbers "100" and "20" are merely examples and are not limited thereto.

[0038] The vehicle speed information acquisition unit 105 acquires speed information indicating the moving speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle 1. The speed information can be acquired, for example, from the ECU 12 that performs driving control of the vehicle 1.

[0039] The wind speed estimation unit 106 estimates the wind speed based on the road surface reflection intensity included in the reflection intensity information. The wind speed estimation unit 106 may estimate that the wind speed is higher as the degree of variation in the multiple road surface reflection intensities acquired by multiple transmissions and receptions of ultrasonic waves is larger. The ultrasonic waves transmitted and received by the transmission and reception unit 21 are affected by the wind (distortion of air, which is the medium of the ultrasonic waves) blowing in the detection area (around the vehicle 1), and the effect becomes greater as the wind speed increases. Therefore, it can be determined that the wind speed is higher as the degree of variation in the road surface reflection intensity is larger. The wind speed estimation unit 106 may estimate the wind speed using a wind speed table 121 that associates the degree of variation in the road surface reflection intensity with the wind speed. The wind speed table 121 may be stored in advance in an appropriate storage device (storage device 42, 52, etc.), for example.

[0040] The wind speed estimating unit 106 may estimate the wind speed based on the vehicle speed in addition to the road surface reflection intensity. In this case, processing (for example, gain processing) may be performed so that the wind speed increases as the vehicle speed increases.

[0041] Furthermore, when a change in the state of the road surface G is detected, the wind speed estimating unit 106 may discard the road surface reflection intensity corresponding to the road surface G. This reduces the possibility of confusing the variation in road surface reflection intensity caused by the change in the state of the road surface G with the variation in road surface reflection intensity caused by the influence of wind, thereby improving the estimation accuracy of the wind speed.

[0042] The threshold setting unit 107 changes the detection threshold in accordance with the wind speed estimated by the wind speed estimation unit 106. The threshold setting unit 107 increases the detection threshold in accordance with an increase in the wind speed. This makes it possible to reduce the detection sensitivity of the detection object O when the influence of the wind is relatively large, and to suppress erroneous detection. The threshold setting unit 107 may also decrease the detection threshold in accordance with a decrease in the wind speed. This makes it possible to increase the detection sensitivity when the influence of the wind is relatively small. The threshold estimation unit 107 may set the detection threshold using a threshold table 122 that associates the wind speed with the detection threshold. The threshold table 122 may be stored in advance in, for example, an appropriate storage device (storage device 42, 52, etc.).

[0043] When the wind speed estimated by the wind speed estimation unit 106 exceeds a predetermined upper limit, the inability information generation unit 108 generates inability information indicating that it is impossible to detect the detection target object O by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. This makes it possible to stop using the detection result of the object detection device 11 when the effect of wind is large and sufficient detection accuracy cannot be obtained, thereby reducing the possibility that an unreliable detection result will be used for vehicle control, etc.

[0044] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of echo information when detecting a detection target O in the embodiment. Fig. 4 illustrates an envelope L11 as echo information indicating a change over time in the intensity of ultrasonic waves transmitted and received by the transmitting and receiving unit 21. In the graph shown in Fig. 4, the horizontal axis corresponds to time (TOF), and the vertical axis corresponds to the intensity of ultrasonic waves transmitted and received by the transmitting and receiving unit 21.

[0045] The envelope L11 shows the change over time in the strength indicating the magnitude of vibration of the oscillator 31. From this envelope L11, it can be seen that the oscillator 31 is driven to vibrate for a period of time Ta from timing t0, and the transmission of the transmission wave is completed at timing t1, and then the vibration of the oscillator 31 due to inertia continues while attenuating for a period of time Tb until timing t2. Therefore, in the graph shown in Fig. 4, the period of time Tb corresponds to the so-called reverberation time.

[0046] The envelope L11 reaches a peak at a time t4 when the vibration of the vibrator 31 is equal to or greater than the detection threshold value Th1, which is a time Tp after the time t0 when the transmission of the transmission wave is started. The detection threshold value Th1 is a value set to distinguish whether the vibration of the vibrator 31 is caused by the reception of a reflected wave from the detection object O (another vehicle, a structure, a pedestrian, etc.) or the reception of a reflected wave from an object other than the detection object O (for example, the road surface G, etc.). Here, the detection threshold value Th1 is shown as a constant value, but the detection threshold value Th1 according to this embodiment is a variable value that changes depending on the situation (wind speed, etc.). Vibration having a peak equal to or greater than the detection threshold value Th1 can be considered to be caused by the reception of a reflected wave from the detection object O.

[0047] The envelope curve L11 in this example shows that the vibration of the transducer 31 attenuates after timing t4. Therefore, timing t4 corresponds to the timing at which reception of the reflected wave from the detection object O is completed, in other words, the timing at which the transmission wave finally transmitted at timing t1 returns as a reflected wave.

[0048] In addition, in the envelope L11, timing t3 as the start point of the peak at timing t4 corresponds to the timing at which reception of the reflected wave from the detection object O begins, in other words, the timing at which the transmission wave first transmitted at timing t0 returns as a reflected wave. Therefore, the time ΔT between timing t3 and timing t4 is equal to the time Ta as the transmission time of the transmission wave.

[0049] From the above, in order to use TOF to find the distance from the source of ultrasonic transmission / reception to the detection target O, it is necessary to find the time Tf between the timing t0 when the transmission of the transmitted wave begins and the timing t3 when the reflected wave begins to be received. This time Tf can be found by subtracting the time ΔT, which is equal to the time Ta as the transmission time of the transmitted wave, from the time Tp, which is the difference between the timing t0 and the timing t4 when the intensity of the reflected wave reaches a peak by exceeding the detection threshold Th1.

[0050] The timing t0 when the transmission of the transmission wave begins can be easily identified as the timing when the object detection device 11 starts operating, and the time Ta as the transmission time of the transmission wave is determined in advance by settings, etc. Therefore, by identifying the timing t4 when the intensity of the reflected wave reaches a peak and becomes equal to or greater than the detection threshold Th1, the distance from the transmission / reception source to the detection object O can be obtained. The object information generation unit 103 generates object information regarding the detection object O by, for example, the method described above.

[0051] The following describes an example of a method for estimating the wind speed by the wind speed estimating unit 106. The wind speed estimating unit 106 according to this embodiment estimates the wind speed using a wind speed table 121 that indicates the correspondence between the degree of variation in road surface reflection intensity and the vehicle speed.

[0052] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the characteristics of the wind speed table 121 according to the embodiment. Fig. 5 illustrates a graph showing the correspondence relationship between the degree of variation in a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves multiple times and the wind speed. The degree of variation may be, for example, a standard deviation. As shown in Fig. 5, the wind speed table 121 according to the present embodiment estimates a larger wind speed as the degree of variation in the road surface reflection intensity increases.

[0053] As described above, the wind speed estimation unit 106 according to this embodiment estimates the wind speed taking the vehicle speed into consideration. Basically, the wind speed is estimated to be higher as the vehicle speed increases. The method of reflecting the vehicle speed in the wind speed is not particularly limited, but one example is a method of setting a gain that weights the wind speed estimated as described above according to the vehicle speed.

[0054] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a gain characteristic that weights the wind speed according to the vehicle speed in the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, the gain is set to increase with an increase in the vehicle speed. By using such a gain, the wind speed is estimated to be larger as the vehicle speed increases even with the same degree of variation. Such a gain may be included in the wind speed table 121 in advance, or may be calculated for each timing of estimating the wind speed.

[0055] The threshold setting unit 107 according to the present embodiment sets the detection threshold Th1 using a threshold table 122 that associates the wind speed estimated as described above with the detection threshold Th1.

[0056] 7 is a diagram showing an example of the characteristics of the threshold table 122 according to the embodiment. The threshold table 122 illustrated here shows the relationship between the wind speed and the threshold margin.

[0057] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the threshold margin M according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 illustrates a reference detection threshold Ths and a detection threshold Th1 set according to the wind speed. The reference detection threshold Ths is a detection threshold set in advance, and may be a detection threshold when the wind speed is 0, for example. The reference detection threshold Ths illustrated here changes according to the distance (TOF) from the transceiver 21 to the object, but the form of the reference detection threshold Ths is not limited to this. The threshold margin M is a value indicating the difference between the reference detection threshold Ths and the final detection threshold Th1, in other words, the amount of change (increase) of the final detection threshold Th1 from the reference detection threshold Ths. As shown in FIG. 7, the threshold table 122 according to the present embodiment sets the threshold margin M to be larger as the wind speed increases.

[0058] 9 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the object detection device 11 according to the embodiment. When the transmitting / receiving unit 21 transmits and receives ultrasonic waves N times (S101), the reflection intensity information acquisition unit 102 acquires the road surface reflection intensities for the N times, and the acquired road surface reflection intensities are stored in the storage device (S102). N is preferably a value that allows the degree of variation (e.g., standard deviation) of multiple road surface reflection intensities to be calculated with sufficient accuracy, and may be a value of around 100, for example.

[0059] Thereafter, the road surface change detection unit 104 judges whether or not the difference between the average value of the road surface reflection intensity for S times acquired in the early stage among the N times of road surface reflection intensity and the average value of the road surface reflection intensity for S times acquired in the final stage among the N times of road surface reflection intensity is equal to or less than a threshold value (S103). Here, the relationship N>S is established, and specifically, for example, N=100, S=20, etc. may be satisfied. If the difference between the initial intensity average value and the final intensity average value is not equal to or less than the threshold value (S103: No), the road surface change detection unit 104 judges that the state of the road surface G has changed, the wind speed estimation unit 106 discards the accumulated road surface reflection intensity for N times (S104), and step S101 is executed again. On the other hand, if the difference between the initial intensity average value and the final intensity average value is equal to or less than the threshold value (S103: Yes), the vehicle speed information acquisition unit 105 acquires the vehicle speed (the moving speed of the vehicle 1) and accumulates it in the storage device (S105).

[0060] The wind speed estimation unit 106 calculates the degree of variation of the road surface reflection intensity accumulated for N times (S106), and estimates the wind speed using the wind speed table 121 and the like based on the calculated degree of variation and the accumulated vehicle speed (S107). The impossibility information generation unit 108 determines whether the wind speed estimated by the wind speed estimation unit 106 is equal to or lower than an upper limit (S108). If the wind speed is equal to or lower than the upper limit (S108: Yes), the threshold setting unit 107 sets a threshold (threshold margin) based on the estimated wind speed (S109), and after discarding the data accumulated in the storage device (S111), this routine ends. On the other hand, if the wind speed is not equal to or lower than the upper limit (S108: No), the impossibility information generation unit 108 generates impossibility information indicating that it is impossible to detect the detection target O by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and outputs the information to the ECU 12 and the like (S110). Thereafter, the data stored in the storage device is discarded (S111), and then this routine ends.

[0061] According to the above embodiment, it is possible to reduce the influence of wind in a device that detects an object using ultrasonic waves.

[0062] The programs for causing a computer (such as the processor 43 of the control unit 22 and the processor 53 of the ECU 12) to execute processes for implementing the various functions in the above-described embodiments can be provided by recording the programs in an installable or executable format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Recordable), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), etc. The programs may also be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0063] Although the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the above-mentioned embodiment and its modified examples are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The above-mentioned novel embodiment and modified examples can be implemented in various forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The above-mentioned embodiment and modified examples are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0064] 1...vehicle, 2...vehicle body, 10...vehicle control device (mobile body control device), 11...object detection device, 12...ECU (control device), 21, 21A to 21H...transmitter / receiver, 22...control unit, 31...transducer, 41...input / output device, 42...storage device, 43...processor, 51...input / output device, 52...storage device, 53...processor, 101...signal processing unit, 102...reflection intensity information acquisition unit (first acquisition unit), 103...object information generation unit (first generation unit), 104...road surface change detection unit (detection unit), 105...vehicle speed information acquisition unit (second acquisition unit), 106...wind speed estimation unit (estimation unit), 107...threshold setting unit (setting unit), 108...disability information generation unit (second generation unit), 121...wind speed table, 122...threshold table, G...road surface, O...detection object, Th1...detection threshold, Ths...reference detection threshold

Claims

1. An object detection device that detects an object present around a moving body moving on a road surface by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, A first acquisition unit that acquires reflection intensity information indicating an intensity of a reflected wave from an object; a first generating unit that generates object information indicating the presence of a predetermined detection target when the reflected wave having an intensity exceeding a threshold is received; an estimation unit that estimates a wind speed based on a road surface reflection intensity, which is the intensity of the reflected wave from the road surface; A setting unit that changes the threshold value according to the wind speed; A detection unit that detects a change in the state of the road surface based on a change in the road surface reflection intensity; Equipped with The estimation unit discards the road surface reflection intensity corresponding to the road surface in which a change has been detected by the detection unit. Object detection device.

2. The setting unit increases the threshold value in response to an increase in the wind speed. The object detection device according to claim 1 .

3. The estimation unit estimates that the wind speed is higher as the degree of variation in the multiple road surface reflection intensities acquired by multiple transmissions and receptions of ultrasonic waves increases. The object detection device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A second acquisition unit that acquires speed information related to a moving speed of the moving object; Further comprising: The estimation unit further estimates the wind speed based on the moving speed. The object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. a second generation unit that generates, when the wind speed exceeds an upper limit value, impossibility information indicating that it is impossible to detect the detection target by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; The object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

6. The detection unit determines that the condition of the road surface has changed when a difference between an average value of a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired at an early stage among a road surface reflection intensity group consisting of a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired by a plurality of consecutive transmissions and receptions of ultrasonic waves and an average value of a plurality of road surface reflection intensities acquired at a late stage among the road surface reflection intensity group is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The object detection device according to claim 1 .

7. An object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, a control device that performs processing to control the moving object based on the object information output from the object detection device; A mobile object control device comprising:

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