Movement direction estimation system, movement direction estimation device, movement direction estimation method, and movement direction estimation program

Abstract

To provide a movement direction estimation system and the like which can estimate the movement direction of a detection object by utilizing detection information from three or more radar devices.SOLUTION: A movement direction estimation system includes a processor and estimates the movement direction of a detection object on the basis of the detection result by a plurality of radar devices that can detect the reflection wave from the detection object to the irradiation of the radar wave. The processor is configured to acquire from the three or more radar devices speed information about the speed vector of the detection object in the irradiation direction of the radar for the detection object. The processor is configured to assume for each speed vector the normal line of the speed vector passing through an ending point of the speed vector. The processor is configured to specify the movement direction by estimating the ending point position in the movement direction vector of the detection object on the basis of each normal line.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technique for estimating a moving direction of an object detected by a radar device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for estimating the moving direction of a reflection point based on detection results from two radar devices. In this technique, the moving direction of a reflection point is estimated from the change over time in each detection result. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2021-32640 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, Patent Document 1 does not assume estimation of the moving direction based on detection information from three or more radar devices. When there are three or more pieces of detection information, it may be difficult to uniquely calculate the moving direction due to errors, etc.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a movement direction estimation system capable of estimating the movement direction of a detection target by utilizing detection information from three or more radar devices. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a movement direction estimation device capable of estimating the movement direction of a detection target by utilizing detection information from three or more radar devices. Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a movement direction estimation method capable of estimating the movement direction of a detection target by utilizing detection information from three or more radar devices. Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a movement direction estimation program capable of estimating the movement direction of a detection target by utilizing detection information from three or more radar devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The technical means of the present disclosure for solving the problems will be described below. Note that the claims and the reference characters in parentheses in this section indicate the corresponding relationship with the specific means described in the embodiments described later in detail, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0007] A first aspect of the present disclosure is a movement direction estimation system having a processor (102) and estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on a detection result by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the system comprising: The processor Obtaining velocity information related to a velocity vector of a detection target in a radar wave irradiation direction from three or more radar devices; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal; Configured to run 、 Identifying the movement direction includes estimating, as an end point position, a position where a sum of distances to each normal line is minimum; The processor The method is further configured to set a weight for each distance. . A second aspect of the present disclosure is a movement direction estimation system having a processor (102) and estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on a detection result by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the system comprising: The processor Obtaining velocity information related to a velocity vector of a detection target in a radar wave irradiation direction from three or more radar devices; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal; configured to run The determining of the moving direction includes determining, as an end point position, a position where a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each normal line is minimum; The processor The method is further configured to set a weight for each distance.

[0008] The present disclosure three The aspect of the present invention is a movement direction estimation device having a processor (102) and estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on a detection result by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the movement direction estimation device comprising: The processor Obtaining velocity information related to a velocity vector of a detection target in a radar wave irradiation direction from three or more radar devices; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal; Configured to run 、 Identifying the movement direction includes estimating, as an end point position, a position where a sum of distances to each normal line is minimum; The processor The method is further configured to set a weight for each distance. . A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a movement direction estimation device that includes a processor (102) and estimates a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results from a plurality of radar devices (10) that are capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the movement direction estimation device comprising: The processor Obtaining velocity information related to a velocity vector of a detection target in a radar wave irradiation direction from three or more radar devices; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal; configured to run The determining of the moving direction includes determining, as an end point position, a position where a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each normal line is minimum; The processor The method is further configured to set a weight for each distance.

[0009] The present disclosure Five The aspect is a movement direction estimation method executed by a processor (102) to estimate a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the method comprising: Obtaining velocity information related to a velocity vector of a detection target in a radar wave irradiation direction from three or more radar devices; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal; Including fruit, Identifying the movement direction includes estimating, as an end point position, a position where a sum of distances to each normal line is minimum; Further comprising setting a weight for each distance. . A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides a movement direction estimation method executed by a processor (102) to estimate a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results from a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the method comprising: Obtaining velocity information related to a velocity vector of a detection target in a radar wave irradiation direction from three or more radar devices; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal; Including, The determining of the moving direction includes determining, as an end point position, a position where a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each normal line is minimum; The method further includes setting a weight for each distance.

[0010] The present disclosure seven The present invention relates to a movement direction estimation program that is stored in a storage medium (101) and includes instructions to be executed by a processor (102) for estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results from a plurality of radar devices (10) that can detect reflected waves from the detection target in response to irradiation of radar waves, the program comprising: The command is, acquiring, from three or more radar devices, velocity information relating to a velocity vector of a detection target in an irradiation direction of a radar wave; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal line; Including fruit, Identifying the movement direction includes estimating, as an end point position, a position where the sum of the distances to each normal line is the smallest; The command is, and further comprising: setting a weight for each distance. . An eighth aspect of the present disclosure provides a movement direction estimation program that is stored in a storage medium (101) and includes instructions to be executed by a processor (102) for estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results from a plurality of radar devices (10) that are capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the program comprising: The command is, acquiring, from three or more radar devices, velocity information relating to a velocity vector of a detection target in an irradiation direction of a radar wave; For each velocity vector, assume a normal to the velocity vector that passes through the end point of the velocity vector; Identifying a moving direction by estimating an end point position of a moving direction vector of the detection target based on each normal line; Including, The determining of the moving direction includes determining, as an end point position, a position where a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each normal line is minimum; The command is, The method further includes setting a weight for each distance.

[0011] These first and second eightAccording to the embodiment, the moving direction of the detection target is specified by estimating the end position of the moving direction vector based on the normal based on the speed information of three or more radar devices. Therefore, the moving direction can be estimated based on the speed information related to the speed vector as the detection information from three or more radar devices. As a result, it may be possible to estimate the moving direction of the detection target by utilizing the detection information from three or more radar devices. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of mounting a radar device on a host vehicle to which the first embodiment is applied. [Diagram 3] 1 is a graph showing an example of a modulation pattern. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a method for estimating a moving direction. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart showing a movement direction estimation method according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of weight setting in FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, multiple embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, by assigning the same reference numerals to corresponding components in each embodiment, duplicated descriptions may be omitted. In addition, when only a part of the configuration is described in each embodiment, the configuration of the other embodiment described above can be applied to the other parts of the configuration. Furthermore, in addition to the combination of configurations explicitly stated in the description of each embodiment, configurations of multiple embodiments can be partially combined together even if not explicitly stated, as long as there is no particular problem with the combination.

[0014] Hereinafter, several embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] First embodiment A moving direction estimation system 100 according to a first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 estimates the moving direction of a detection target based on detection information from a radar device 10 mounted on a host vehicle A shown in Fig. 2. From a viewpoint centered on the host vehicle A, the host vehicle A can also be said to be an ego-vehicle. From a viewpoint centered on the host vehicle A, the target vehicle can also be said to be an other road user.

[0016] The host vehicle A is provided with an autonomous driving mode, the level of which is determined according to the degree of manual intervention by the occupant in the driving task. The autonomous driving mode may be realized by autonomous driving control, such as conditional driving automation, high driving automation, or full driving automation, in which the system performs all driving tasks when activated. The autonomous driving mode may be realized by advanced driving assistance control, such as driving assistance or partial driving automation, in which the occupant performs some or all driving tasks. The autonomous driving mode may be realized by either one of the autonomous driving control and the advanced driving assistance control, or by a combination of them, or by switching between them.

[0017] The host vehicle A is equipped with an on-board radar system 1 shown in Fig. 1. The on-board radar system 1 includes a plurality of radar devices 10. The on-board radar system 1 includes at least three radar devices 10 whose detection ranges at least partially overlap.

[0018] In the example shown in Fig. 2, the detection ranges of the three radar devices 10 attached to the front of the host vehicle A partially overlap. Also, in the example shown in Fig. 2, the detection ranges of the three radar devices 10 attached to the rear of the host vehicle A partially overlap. As a result, an overlapping range R is formed in front of and behind the host vehicle A, respectively, which allows the movement direction of the three radar devices 10 to be estimated. Note that the radar devices 10 may be attached to the side or roof of the host vehicle A. The overlapping range R may be formed in an area other than that shown in Fig. 2, such as to the side of the host vehicle A.

[0019] The host vehicle A may be equipped with an external sensor other than the radar device 10. The external sensor is at least one of a camera, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging / Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), a sonar, and the like.

[0020] The radar device 10 emits radar waves as transmission waves, receives the transmission waves reflected by an object as reception waves, and detects the distance to a detection target, which is the object that reflected the transmission waves, the relative speed with respect to the detection target, and the direction of the detection target as detection information. The radar device 10 includes a transmission unit 11, a reception unit 12, and a detection unit 13.

[0021] The transmitting unit 11 includes a transmission control unit and a transmitting antenna. The transmission control unit generates an electromagnetic wave signal in the millimeter wave band, which is a radar wave to be transmitted from the transmitting antenna. The transmission control unit generates an electromagnetic wave signal to be transmitted in a specified transmission time period, frequency channel (frequency band), chirp period, and CDM code. The transmission control unit distributes the electromagnetic wave signal at a specified ratio between a transmission signal supplied to the transmitting antenna and a local signal supplied to a signal mixing unit described later.

[0022] The receiving unit 12 includes a receiving antenna and a signal mixing unit. The receiving antenna receives an electromagnetic wave signal reflected by an object. The receiving antenna generates a receiving signal corresponding to the received electromagnetic wave signal. The signal mixing unit generates a beat signal by mixing the receiving signal from the receiving antenna with a local signal. The beat signal generated by the signal mixing unit is filtered by a low-pass filter to pass only the beat signal corresponding to the frequency difference between the receiving signal and the local signal. The beat signal is input to the target detection unit 13.

[0023] The target detection unit 13 detects the distance to the detection target and the relative speed of the detection target by analyzing the beat signal input from the receiving unit 12 when the radar wave is transmitted and the received wave is received, using FFT processing or the like. For example, in the case of the FCM type radar device 10, a beat signal is generated from the transmitted signal (more specifically, the local signal) and the received signal, and the beat signal is subjected to two FFT processes to detect the distance to the detection target and the relative speed of the detection target.

[0024] More specifically, the beat signal is subjected to FFT processing for each chirp. This results in a frequency spectrum for each chirp that shows a peak at the frequency position corresponding to the distance to the detection target. The distance to the detection target can be found by detecting in which frequency bin (also called distance bin) the peak frequency is located.

[0025] When the relative speed with respect to the detection target is not zero, the frequency spectrum corresponding to each chirp shows a peak at the same distance bin, but the phases are different between the chirps. This phase difference between the chirps is caused by the change in distance between the radar device 10 and the detection target. Using this, the FCM method detects the relative speed with respect to the detection target in the irradiation direction of the beam.

[0026] Specifically, as the second FFT process, FFT process is performed on a waveform in which the phases at the distance bins obtained in the first FFT process for multiple chirps are arranged in time series. This results in a spectrum showing a peak at a position corresponding to the relative speed with respect to the detection target. The relative speed with respect to the detection target is detected by detecting in which frequency bin (also called a speed bin) the peak frequency of this spectrum is located. The direction of the detection target can be detected based on the irradiation direction of the beam. The target detection unit 13 outputs the detected detection target information to a driving control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls the driving of the host vehicle A, etc.

[0027] The moving direction estimation system 100 is connected to the vehicle-mounted radar system 1 via at least one of a LAN (Local Area Network) line, a wire harness, an internal bus, and a wireless communication line, for example. The moving direction estimation system 100 is configured to include at least one dedicated computer.

[0028] The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be a radar control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that comprehensively controls the multiple radar devices 10. The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be a control ECU mounted on a specific radar device 10 among the multiple radar devices 10. The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be a driving control ECU that controls the driving of the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be a navigation ECU that navigates the driving route of the host vehicle A.

[0029] The dedicated computer constituting the movement direction estimation system 100 may be a locator ECU that estimates the self-state quantity of the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the movement direction estimation system 100 may be an actuator ECU that controls a traveling actuator of the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the movement direction estimation system 100 may be an HCU (Human Machine Interface (HMI) Control Unit) that controls information presentation in the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the movement direction estimation system 100 may be a computer other than the host vehicle A that constitutes an external center or a mobile terminal capable of communicating via a V2X type communication system 20, for example.

[0030] The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be an integrated ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that integrates the driving control of the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be a judgment ECU that judges a driving task in the driving control of the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be a monitoring ECU that monitors the driving control of the host vehicle A. The dedicated computer constituting the moving direction estimation system 100 may be an evaluation ECU that evaluates the driving control of the host vehicle A.

[0031] The dedicated computer constituting the movement direction estimation system 100 has at least one memory 101 and one processor 102. The memory 101 is at least one type of non-transitory tangible storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic medium, an optical medium, etc., that non-temporarily stores computer-readable programs and data, etc. The processor 102 includes at least one type of core, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC)-CPU, a data flow processor (DFP), and a graph streaming processor (GSP).

[0032] In the moving direction estimation system 100, the processor 102 executes a plurality of instructions included in a moving direction estimation program stored in the memory 101 in order to estimate the moving direction of the detection target. In this way, the moving direction estimation system 100 constructs a plurality of functional blocks for estimating the moving direction of the detection target. The plurality of functional blocks constructed in the moving direction estimation system 100 include a frequency setting block 110, an information integration block 120, a normal calculation block 130, a weight setting block 140, and a direction estimation block 150, as shown in FIG. 3.

[0033] The flow of the movement direction estimation method (hereinafter referred to as the movement direction estimation flow) in which the movement direction estimation system 100 estimates the movement direction of the detection target by cooperation of these blocks 110, 120, 130, 140, and 150 will be described below with reference to Figures 5 and 6. This processing flow is repeatedly executed while the host vehicle A is running. Note that each "S" in this processing flow means a plurality of steps executed by a plurality of commands included in the movement direction estimation program.

[0034] First, in S10 of Fig. 5, the frequency setting block 110 sets a chirp modulation pattern for the radar wave transmitted by each radar device 10. Specifically, the frequency setting block 110 sets a wideband period and a narrowband period for each radar device 10. The wideband period is set to a frequency band wider than the narrowband period. In addition, the wideband period is set to a period shorter than the narrowband period.

[0035] The frequency setting block 110 sets each period so that when a specific radar device 10 among the multiple radar devices 10 is in a wideband period, the other radar devices 10 are in a narrowband period (see FIG. 3). That is, the frequency setting block 110 sets the period so as to avoid temporal overlap of the wideband periods of the radar devices 10. Each radar device 10 irradiates and detects radar waves according to the modulation pattern set as above.

[0036] In each radar device 10, the distance is calculated based on the reflected wave detected in the wideband period, and the speed is calculated based on the reflected wave detected in the narrowband period. Alternatively, in calculating the distance, the reflected wave data in the wideband period may be weighted more heavily than the reflected wave data in the narrowband period, and in calculating the speed, the reflected wave data in the narrowband period may be weighted more heavily than the reflected wave data in the wideband period.

[0037] In the next step S20, the information integration block 120 acquires detection information of the reflected wave in response to the radar wave irradiation in the set modulation pattern. The detection information includes at least speed information related to the speed vector of the reflection point (detection target) in the irradiation direction of the radar wave. For example, the detection information includes at least the relative speed in the irradiation direction, and further includes the distance to the reflection point, the direction of the reflection point, the signal strength of the reflected wave, and the peak sharpness of the spectrum according to the direction.

[0038] Then, in S30, the information integration block 120 matches the detection information from each radar device 10. The information integration block 120 matches the point groups of reflection points based on the positions and reflection intensities of the reflection points in each detection information, and identifies reflection points from the same detection target.

[0039] Furthermore, in S40, the normal calculation block 130 assumes a normal passing through the end point for the velocity vector in the irradiation direction of each beam included in each detection information of an arbitrary reflection point. For example, the velocity vector is determined by the magnitude of the relative velocity and the irradiation direction. For example, when detection information is obtained from three radar devices, the three normals L1, L2, and L3 can be expressed by the following formulas (1), (2), and (3). Note that a1, a2, a3, b1, b2, b3, c1, c2, and c3 in each formula are arbitrary coefficients.

number

number

number

[0040] In the next step S50, the weight setting block 140 sets a weight for each piece of detection information. For example, the weight setting block 140 sets the weight based on the detection signal strength, speed, and peak sharpness.

[0041] 6, weight setting block 140 calculates a weight according to the detected signal strength. For example, weight setting block 140 sets a weight according to the degree of deviation of the detected signal strength from an expected signal strength based on the type of detection target. Specifically, weight setting block 140 may set a smaller weight when the detected signal strength is outside the signal strength range expected for the type of detection target than when the detected signal strength is within the range.

[0042] When the detection signal strength is outside the range, the weight setting block 140 may set a smaller weight as the detection signal strength deviates from the range. The type of the detection target may be identified based on detection information by other external sensors. Alternatively, the type of the detection target may be identified based on past detection information of the radar device 10 in a chronological order. When the type of the detection target cannot be identified, the weight setting block 140 may simply set a smaller weight as the detection signal strength is smaller.

[0043] In the next step S52, the weight setting block 140 calculates a weight according to the speed of the beam in the irradiation direction. Specifically, the weight setting block 140 sets a smaller weight as the speed is smaller.

[0044] Furthermore, in S53, the weight setting block 140 calculates a weight according to the peak sharpness of the azimuth spectrum according to the detected azimuth. Specifically, the weight setting block 140 sets a larger weight as the peak is sharper. In other words, the weight setting block 140 sets a larger weight as the reliability of the azimuth information of the detection target based on the detection information is higher.

[0045] Returning to Fig. 5, in S60, the direction estimation block 150 calculates the position of the end point Pe of the movement direction vector of the detection target, thereby identifying the movement direction vector from the start point Ps set as the position of the reflection point to the end point Pe. Specifically, the direction estimation block 150 determines the point at which the total sum D of the distances from the three normal lines L1, L2, and L3 is the smallest as the end point Pe. The direction estimation block 150 identifies the movement direction vector by searching for the point at which the total sum D of the distances is the smallest, as shown in Fig. 4.

[0046] Specifically, the point where the sum D expressed by the following formula (4) is the smallest is calculated as the end point Pe. The weight of each piece of detection information set by the weight setting block 140 is expressed by w i That is, the weight calculated by the weight setting block 140 is set for the distance from the normal line corresponding to each piece of detection information. i is the distance from the normal Li to the temporary end point Pe, and X t and Y t are the coordinates of the end point Pe. The direction estimation block 150 may calculate the point at which the sum D is the smallest by, for example, a maximum likelihood estimation method, and determine this point as the end point Pe.

number

[0047] According to the first embodiment described above, the movement direction of the detection target is identified by estimating the end position of the movement direction vector based on the normal line based on the speed information of three or more radar devices 10. Therefore, the movement direction can be estimated based on the speed information related to the speed vector as the detection information from three or more radar devices 10. As a result, it may be possible to estimate the movement direction of the detection target by utilizing the detection information from three or more radar devices 10.

[0048] Second Embodiment In the second embodiment according to a modification of the first embodiment, the direction estimation block 150 calculates the center of gravity of a polygon formed by a plurality of normal lines as the end point of the moving direction vector. In other words, the direction estimation block 150 calculates the point at which the sum of squares of the distances to each vertex of the polygon is the smallest as the end point Pe of the moving direction vector. When detection information is acquired from three radar devices 10 as in FIG. 4, the direction estimation block 150 calculates the center of gravity of a triangle formed by each normal line as the end point Pe.

[0049] In the second embodiment, the weight setting block 140 may set a weight for the distance to each vertex. For example, the weight setting block 140 may set a smaller weight as the angle at the vertex becomes smaller. Alternatively, the weight setting block 140 may set a weight based on a combination of detection signal strengths detected in the radar device 10 corresponding to two normals forming the vertex.

[0050] For example, the weight setting block 140 sets a smaller weight as the deviation of each detection signal strength increases. Alternatively, the weight setting block 140 may set a weight based on the magnitude of the difference of each detection signal strength corresponding to a vertex from the average value of the detection signal strengths in all radar devices 10. Alternatively, the weight setting block 140 may set a weight based on the magnitude of each detection signal strength corresponding to a vertex.

[0051] The weight setting block 140 may also set weights based on a combination of velocities detected in the radar device 10 to which the two normals forming a vertex respectively correspond. Similarly, the weight setting block 140 may set weights based on a combination of peak sharpness.

[0052] (Other embodiments) Although several embodiments have been described above, the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited to those embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments and combinations within the scope not departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

[0053] In a modified example, the movement direction estimation system 100 may determine the movement direction vector based on detection information from four or more radar devices 10. In this case, the movement direction estimation system 100 may select detection information to be used in determining the movement direction vector. In other words, the movement direction estimation system 100 may exclude detection information not used in determining the movement direction vector from the detection information from all radar devices 10 whose detection ranges overlap, and determine the movement direction vector based on the remaining three or more pieces of detection information.

[0054] In a modified example, the direction estimation block 150 may select, as the end point Pe, one of the point with the smallest sum of the distances from each normal line and the center of gravity of the polygon defined by the normal lines.

[0055] In a modified example, the dedicated computer constituting the movement direction estimation system 100 may have at least one of a digital circuit and an analog circuit as a processor. Here, the digital circuit is at least one of ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), SOC (System on a Chip), PGA (Programmable Gate Array), CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), etc. Furthermore, such a digital circuit may have a memory that stores a program.

[0056] In addition to the above-described embodiments and modifications, the movement direction estimation system 100 according to the above-described embodiments and modifications may be implemented as a movement direction estimation device that is a processing device (e.g., a processing ECU) mounted on the host vehicle A. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments and modifications may be implemented as a semiconductor device (e.g., a semiconductor chip) having at least one each of the processor 102 and the memory 101 of the movement direction estimation system 100. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 10: radar device, 100: movement direction estimation system, 101: memory (storage medium), 102: processor

Claims

1. A movement direction estimation system having a processor (102), which estimates a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, comprising: The processor, acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; configured to run The step of identifying the moving direction includes estimating, as the end position, a position where a sum of distances to the normal lines is minimum; The processor, The movement direction estimation system further configured to set a weight for each said distance.

2. A movement direction estimation system having a processor (102), which estimates a movement direction of a detection target based on a detection result by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, The processor, acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; configured to run specifying the moving direction includes specifying, as the end point position, a position at which a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each of the normal lines is minimum; The processor, The movement direction estimation system further configured to set a weight for each said distance.

3. A movement direction estimation system as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein setting the weights includes setting the weights based on at least one of the detection signal strength for each radar device, the speed in the irradiation direction, and the peak sharpness of the azimuth spectrum.

4. The method further includes setting a modulation pattern of the radar wave for each of the plurality of radar devices; 4. The movement direction estimation system according to claim 1, wherein setting the modulation pattern includes setting the modulation pattern including a wideband period in which a frequency band is wider than a narrowband period, and the narrowband period in which a frequency band is longer than the wideband period.

5. The movement direction estimation system according to claim 4 , wherein setting the modulation pattern includes performing setting to avoid temporal overlap of the wideband periods in each of the radar devices.

6. A movement direction estimation device having a processor (102), which estimates a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, comprising: The processor, acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; configured to run The step of identifying the moving direction includes estimating, as the end position, a position where a sum of distances to the normal lines is minimum; The processor, The movement direction estimation device configured to further perform setting a weight for each said distance.

7. A movement direction estimation device having a processor (102), which estimates a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, comprising: The processor, acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; configured to run specifying the moving direction includes specifying, as the end point position, a position at which a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each of the normal lines is minimum; The processor, The movement direction estimation device configured to further perform setting a weight for each said distance.

8. A movement direction estimation method executed by a processor (102) for estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the method comprising: acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; Including, The step of identifying the moving direction includes estimating, as the end position, a position where a sum of distances to the normal lines is minimum; The method of estimating direction of travel further comprises setting a weight for each of the distances.

9. A movement direction estimation method executed by a processor (102) to estimate a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the method comprising: acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; Including, specifying the moving direction includes specifying, as the end point position, a position at which a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each of the normal lines is minimum; The method of estimating direction of travel further comprises setting a weight for each of the distances.

10. A movement direction estimation program is stored in a storage medium (101) for estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the program including instructions to be executed by a processor (102), The instruction: acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; Including, specifying the movement direction includes estimating, as the end point position, a position at which a sum of distances to each of the normal lines is minimum; The instruction: The movement direction estimating program further includes setting a weight for each of the distances.

11. A movement direction estimation program stored in a storage medium (101) for estimating a movement direction of a detection target based on detection results by a plurality of radar devices (10) capable of detecting a reflected wave from the detection target in response to irradiation of a radar wave, the program including instructions to be executed by a processor (102), The instruction: acquiring velocity information on a velocity vector of the detection target in an irradiation direction of the radar wave from three or more of the radar devices; Assuming, for each velocity vector, a normal to the velocity vector that passes through an end point of the velocity vector; Identifying the movement direction by estimating an end point position of a movement direction vector of the detection object based on each of the normal lines; Including, specifying the moving direction includes specifying, as the end point position, a position at which a sum of squares of distances from vertices of a polygon formed by each of the normal lines is minimum; The instruction: The movement direction estimation program further includes setting a weight for each of the distances.

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