阅读说明：本技术 车载雷达系统 (Vehicle-mounted radar system ) 是由 黑田昌芳 坂田昂亮 于 2019-07-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种能够与状况相应地改善物体检测性能的车载雷达系统。车载雷达系统包括对车辆(1)周围照射激光并接收车辆(1)周围的物体所反射的光的激光雷达(2A～2D)；和控制激光雷达(2A～2D)并基于激光雷达(2A～2D)的受光结果来识别物体的控制装置(3)。控制装置(3)基于物体的识别结果,判断激光雷达(2A～2D)中的任一个激光雷达的激光是否被物体遮挡而产生了未检测区域。在例如激光雷达(2B)的激光被其他车辆(10)遮挡而产生了未检测区域(11)的情况下,扩大与激光雷达(2B)相邻的激光雷达(2A)的检测范围,使得能够检测未检测区域(11)的至少一部分。(The invention provides a vehicle-mounted radar system capable of improving object detection performance according to conditions. The vehicle-mounted radar system includes laser radars (2A to 2D) that irradiate a laser around the vehicle (1) and receive light reflected by an object around the vehicle (1); and a control device (3) that controls the laser radars (2A-2D) and recognizes the object based on the light reception results of the laser radars (2A-2D). The control device (3) determines whether or not the laser light of any of the laser radars (2A-2D) is blocked by an object and an undetected region is generated based on the recognition result of the object. For example, when a laser beam of a laser radar (2B) is blocked by another vehicle (10) and an undetected area (11) is generated, the detection range of a laser radar (2A) adjacent to the laser radar (2B) is enlarged so that at least a part of the undetected area (11) can be detected.)

1. A vehicle-mounted radar system, comprising:

a plurality of laser radars that irradiate a laser around a vehicle and receive light reflected by an object around the vehicle; and

a control device that controls the plurality of laser radars and recognizes the object based on a result of light reception by the plurality of laser radars,

the control device is used for controlling the operation of the motor,

determining whether or not an undetected region is generated by the laser light of any of the plurality of laser radars being blocked by the object based on the recognition result of the object,

in the case where the laser light of one of the plurality of laser radars is blocked by the object and an undetected area is generated, the detection range of the other laser radars adjacent to the one laser radar is enlarged so that at least a part of the undetected area can be detected.

2. The vehicle radar system of claim 1, wherein:

the control device is used for controlling the operation of the motor,

determining whether any of the plurality of laser radars has failed based on the light reception results of the plurality of laser radars,

when one of the plurality of laser radars malfunctions, the detection range of the other laser radars adjacent to the one laser radar is expanded to compensate for the detection range of the one laser radar.

3. A vehicle-mounted radar system, comprising:

a plurality of laser radars that can adjust an irradiation direction of laser light to scan the surroundings of a vehicle and receive light reflected by an object around the vehicle;

a control device that controls the plurality of laser radars and recognizes the object based on a result of light reception by the plurality of laser radars; and

a vehicle speed detector that detects a speed of the vehicle,

the control device is used for controlling the operation of the motor,

controlling the plurality of laser radars in a first scanning mode in which scanning timings of the plurality of laser radars are the same when the speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detector is less than a predetermined speed set in advance,

and a control unit configured to control the plurality of laser radars in a second scanning mode in which scanning timings of the plurality of laser radars are different from each other and an irradiation direction of one of adjacent laser radars is the same as an irradiation direction of the other laser radar with a delay of a half period of the entire scanning by the plurality of laser radars, when the speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detector is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a vehicle-mounted radar system having a plurality of laser radars and a control device.

Background

Patent document 1 discloses an in-vehicle radar system having a plurality of laser radars (Light Detection and Ranging) and a control device. The plurality of laser radars irradiate the surroundings of the vehicle with laser light and receive light reflected by an object around the vehicle. The control device acquires at least one of a distance and an angle to the object from the light reception results of the plurality of laser radars.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: international publication No. 2017/060977

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In patent document 1, the detection range and the detection timing of each of the plurality of laser radars are fixed. However, if the detection range or detection timing of the laser radar is changed according to the situation, the object detection performance can be improved. Specifically, for example, there is a possibility that the laser light of one laser radar is blocked by an object to generate an undetected area. In such a case, if the detection range of another laser radar adjacent to one laser radar is enlarged, at least a part of the undetected region can be detected.

The invention aims to provide a vehicle-mounted radar system capable of improving object detection performance according to conditions.

Means for solving the problems

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is representatively a vehicle-mounted radar system including: a plurality of laser radars that irradiate a laser around a vehicle and receive light reflected by an object around the vehicle; and a control device that controls the plurality of laser radars and recognizes the object based on a result of light reception by the plurality of laser radars, wherein the control device determines whether or not a laser beam of any one of the plurality of laser radars is blocked by the object and generates an undetected region based on a result of recognition by the object, and when a laser beam of one of the plurality of laser radars is blocked by the object and generates an undetected region, expands a detection range of another laser radar adjacent to the one laser radar so that at least a part of the undetected region can be detected.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, the object detection performance can be improved according to the situation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle-mounted radar system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a vehicle showing the arrangement and detection range of a laser radar according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a vehicle showing a specific example of an undetected region in the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a vehicle showing a specific example of an enlarged detection range of the laser radar according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a vehicle showing a specific example of an enlarged detection range of a laser radar according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle-mounted radar system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the vehicle for explaining the first scanning mode according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a vehicle for explaining a second scanning pattern according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a plan view of a vehicle showing the arrangement and detection range of a laser radar according to a first modification of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a plan view of a vehicle showing the arrangement and detection range of a laser radar according to a second modification of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a side view of a vehicle showing the arrangement and detection range of a laser radar according to a third modification of the present invention.

Detailed Description

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle-mounted radar system according to the present embodiment. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a vehicle showing the arrangement and detection range of the laser radar in the present embodiment. The sector in fig. 2 shows the irradiation direction of the laser beam as the detection range of each laser radar, and the irradiation distance of the laser beam is shown shorter than the actual irradiation distance (the same applies to the sectors in other figures).

The vehicle-mounted radar system according to the present embodiment is mounted on the vehicle 1, and includes, for example, 4 laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D and a control device 3. The laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D are disposed at the front left corner, the front right corner, the rear right corner, and the rear left corner of the vehicle 1, respectively, as shown in fig. 2, for example, and detect the entire periphery (all directions) of the vehicle 1.

Each laser radar includes, for example, an irradiation unit that irradiates laser light and a rotation mechanism that rotates the irradiation unit, and scans the periphery of the vehicle 1 by controlling the rotation angle of the irradiation unit and whether or not to irradiate laser light, and adjusting the irradiation direction of laser light (in the present embodiment, the horizontal angle of laser light). In this specification, the horizontal angle of the laser light is defined to increase clockwise with the forward direction of the vehicle 1 being 0 °. Each laser radar receives light reflected by an object around the vehicle 1, and transmits the result of the light reception (specifically, the direction and distance of the reflection point with reference to the position of the laser radar) to the control device 3.

The control device 3 is configured by a computer or the like, and has a radar control information storage unit 4, a radar control unit 5, a data processing unit 6, a data storage unit 7, and an object recognition processing unit 8 as functional configurations.

The radar control information storage unit 4 of the control device 3 stores in advance initial setting values of detection ranges of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D (adjustment ranges of the horizontal angle of the laser light in the present embodiment) as control information of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D. For example, as shown in fig. 2, the initial setting value of the detection range of the laser radar 2A is 255 ° to 15 °, the initial setting value of the detection range of the laser radar 2B is 345 ° to 105 °, the initial setting value of the detection range of the laser radar 2C is 75 ° to 195 °, and the initial setting value of the detection range of the laser radar 2D is 165 ° to 285 °. The radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 normally controls the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D based on the initial setting values of the detection ranges of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D stored in the radar control information storage unit 4.

The data processing unit 6 of the control device 3 calculates the positions of the plurality of reflection points in the three-dimensional coordinate system with reference to the center position of the vehicle 1 based on the data from the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D (specifically, the directions and distances of the plurality of reflection points with reference to the position of any one of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D). Thereby, point cloud data including position information of a plurality of reflection points is generated and stored in the data storage unit 7.

The object recognition processing unit 8 of the control device 3 recognizes the object around the vehicle 1 based on the point group data stored in the data storage unit 7. More specifically, the object recognition processing unit 8 extracts a portion representing the feature of the object, such as a region where a plurality of reflection points are concentrated and a linear portion, and recognizes what the object is, taking into consideration the size of the portion. The object recognition processing unit 8 transmits the recognition result of the object to another control device (specifically, for example, a control device that performs a process of fusing the image of the camera and the recognition result of the object).

Here, as a main feature of the present embodiment, the object recognition processing unit 8 of the control device 3 determines whether or not the laser light of any of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D is blocked by an object and a non-detection region is generated based on the recognition result of the object. When a non-detection region is generated due to the laser light of one of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D being blocked by an object, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 enlarges the detection range of the other laser radar adjacent to the one laser radar so as to be able to detect at least a part of the non-detection region.

Next, the processing contents of the control device 3 according to the present embodiment will be described. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device in the present embodiment.

First, in steps S101 and S102, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 reads the initial setting values of the detection ranges of the laser radars 2A to 2D stored in the radar control information storage unit 4, and drives the radars 2A to 2D based on them. Then, the process proceeds to steps S103 and S104, and the data processing unit 6 of the control device 3 receives the data from the laser radars 2A to 2D, generates point cloud data based on the data, and stores the point cloud data in the data storage unit 7. Until 1 cycle of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D is completed, the determination of step S105 is no, and the processing of steps S102 to S104 is repeated. If 1 cycle of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D is completed, the determination in step S105 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the object recognition processing unit 8 of the control device 3 recognizes an object around the vehicle 1 based on the point group data stored in the data storage unit 7. Then, the process proceeds to step S107, and the object recognition processing unit 8 of the control device 3 determines whether or not the laser beam of any of the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D is blocked by an object and an undetected region is generated based on the recognition result of the object. For example, when no undetected area is generated, the determination in step S107 is no, and the process proceeds to step S101. On the other hand, for example, as shown in fig. 4, when the laser beam of the laser radar 2B is blocked by another vehicle 10 (object) and an undetected area 11 is generated, the determination of step S107 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S108.

In step S108, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 selects another laser radar adjacent to the one laser radar in accordance with the position of the undetected area where the laser beam of the one laser radar is blocked by the object, and enlarges the detection range of the selected laser radar so that at least a part of the undetected area can be detected. Specifically, for example, as shown in fig. 5, if an undetected region 11, which is generated when the laser beam of the laser radar 2B is blocked by another vehicle 10, is generated so as to be biased toward the laser radar 2A, the laser radar 2A is selected, and the detection range of the laser radar 2A is expanded to a range of 255 ° to 30 ° so that at least a part of the undetected region 11 can be detected. The amount of expansion of the detection range may be calculated based on the position of the object or the undetected region, or may be a value set in advance.

Then, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 stores the change setting value of the detection range of the laser radar in the radar control information storage unit 4. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S102, and the radar control unit 5 drives the radars 2A to 2D based on the change set value or the initial set value of the detection ranges of the laser radars 2A to 2D stored in the radar control information storage unit 4.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the laser beam of one laser radar is blocked by an object and an undetected area is generated, the detection range of another laser radar adjacent to the one laser radar is enlarged, whereby at least a part of the undetected area can be detected. Specifically, for example, as shown in fig. 5, by extending the detection range of the laser radar 2A, the object 12 existing in the undetected region 11 can be detected. Thus, the object detection performance can be improved. Further, since the detection range of the laser radar is not enlarged when no undetected region is generated, the processing load of the control device 3 can be reduced.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 6 and 7. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device in the present embodiment. Steps S101 to S107 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore, the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

Until 1 cycle of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D is completed, the determination of step S105 is no, and the processing of steps S102 to S104 is repeated. If 1 cycle of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D is completed, the determination in step S105 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S109.

In step S109, the data processing unit 6 of the control device 3 determines whether or not a failure has occurred in any of the laser radars 2A to 2D based on the data from the laser radars 2A to 2D. Specifically, when the data from all the laser radars 2A to 2D can be received and is a valid value, the data processing unit 6 determines that no failure has occurred in all the laser radars 2A to 2D. Accordingly, the determination in step S109 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S106.

On the other hand, for example, when data from one of the laser radars 2A to 2D is not receivable or is not a valid value, the data processing unit 6 of the control device 3 determines that a failure (specifically, a failure, dirt adhesion, or the like) has occurred in the one laser radar. Accordingly, the determination in step S109 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S110. In step S110, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 enlarges the detection range of another laser radar adjacent to the one laser radar in order to compensate for the detection range of the laser radar in which the failure has occurred.

Specifically, for example, when a failure occurs in the laser radar 2A, the detection range of the laser radar 2B is expanded to a range of 295 ° to 105 °, and the detection range of the laser radar 2D is expanded to a range of 165 ° to 335 °. For example, when a failure occurs in the laser radar 2B, as shown in fig. 7, the detection range of the laser radar 2A is expanded to a range of 255 ° to 65 °, and the detection range of the laser radar 2C is expanded to a range of 25 ° to 195 °. For example, when a failure occurs in laser radar 2C, the detection range of laser radar 2B is expanded to the range of 345 ° to 155 °, and the detection range of laser radar 2D is expanded to the range of 115 ° to 285 °. For example, when a failure occurs in the laser radar 2D, the detection range of the laser radar 2C is expanded to a range of 75 ° to 245 °, and the detection range of the laser radar 2A is expanded to a range of 205 ° to 15 °.

Then, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3 stores the change setting value of the detection range of the laser radar in the radar control information storage unit 4. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S102, and the radar control unit 5 drives the radars 2A to 2D based on the change set value or the initial set value of the detection ranges of the laser radars 2A to 2D stored in the radar control information storage unit 4.

The data processing unit 6 of the control device 3 may invalidate the data from the laser radar having failed, or may process the data as data having lower accuracy than the data from another laser radar.

The present embodiment as described above can also provide the same effects as those of the first embodiment. In addition, in the present embodiment, when a failure occurs in one of the laser radars, the detection range of the one laser radar can be compensated by enlarging the detection range of the other laser radar adjacent to the one laser radar. Thus, the object detection performance can be improved. Further, since the detection range of the laser radar is not enlarged without generating an undetected area or a failure, the processing load of the control device 3 can be reduced.

A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 8 to 11. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle-mounted radar system according to the present embodiment.

The vehicle-mounted radar system according to the present embodiment is mounted on the vehicle 1, and includes, for example, 4 laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, a control device 3A, and a vehicle speed detector 9.

The vehicle speed detector 9 detects the speed of the vehicle 1 (vehicle speed) and outputs the detection result to the control device 3A. The radar control unit 5 of the control device 3A changes the scanning pattern of the laser radars 2A to 2D in accordance with the speed of the vehicle 1 detected by the own vehicle speed detector 9.

Next, the processing contents of the control device 3A of the present embodiment will be described. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device in the present embodiment.

In steps S111 and S112, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3A inputs the speed of the vehicle 1 detected by the own vehicle speed detector 9, and determines whether or not the speed is less than a predetermined speed set in advance. If the speed of the vehicle 1 is less than the predetermined speed, the determination of step S112 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S113, and the radar control unit 5 sets the first scanning mode and stores the setting information in the radar control information storage unit 4. On the other hand, when the speed of the vehicle 1 is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed, the determination of step S112 is no, and the process proceeds to step S114, and the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3A sets the second scanning mode and stores the setting information in the radar control information storage unit 4.

Then, until 1 cycle of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D is completed, the determination in step S105 is no, and the processing in steps S102 to S104 is repeated. Specifically, the radar control unit 5 of the control device 3A drives the laser radars 2A to 2D in the first scan pattern or the second scan pattern stored in the radar control information storage unit 4. The data processing unit 6 of the control device 3 receives data from the laser radars 2A to 2D, generates point cloud data based on the data, and stores the point cloud data in the data storage unit 7.

If 1 cycle of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D is completed, the determination in step S105 is yes, and the process proceeds to step S106. In step S106, the object recognition processing unit 8 of the control device 3 recognizes an object around the vehicle 1 based on the point group data stored in the data storage unit 7.

Next, the first and second scanning modes will be described.

The first scanning mode is a scanning mode in which the scanning timings of the laser radars 2A to 2D are the same. In the present embodiment, the rotation directions and the rotation speeds of the rotation mechanisms of the laser radars 2A to 2D are the same, and the rotation phases are different by 90 °. Specifically, as shown by the solid arrow in fig. 10 (a), at the start of the scanning of 1 cycle, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A is 255 °, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B is 345 °, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2C is 75 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2D is 165 °. As shown by the solid arrow in fig. 10 (B), at the end of the scanning of 1 cycle, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A is 15 °, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B is 105 °, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2C is 195 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2D is 285 °. In the first scanning mode, the scanning time of 1 cycle can be shortened. Thus, the detection interval of the objects existing around the vehicle 1 can be shortened.

The second scanning mode is a scanning mode in which the scanning timings of the laser radars 2A to 2D are different from each other, and the irradiation direction of one of the adjacent laser radars is delayed by a half period of the entire scanning by the laser radars 2A to 2D and becomes the same as the irradiation direction of the other laser radar. In the present embodiment, the rotation directions and the rotation speeds of the rotation mechanisms of the laser radars 2A to 2D are the same, and the rotation phases are different by 180 ° from each other. Specifically, as shown by the solid arrow in fig. 11 (a), at the start of the scanning of 1 cycle, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A is 255 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B is 75 °. In the first phase of the 1-cycle scanning, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A is 285 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B is 105 °. In the second phase of the scanning of 1 cycle, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A is 345 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2D is 165 °. As shown by the solid-line arrow in fig. 11 (b), in the third stage of the scanning of 1 cycle, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A is 15 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2D is 195 °. In the fourth stage of the 1-cycle scanning, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2C is 75 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2D is 255 °. In the fifth stage of the scanning of 1 cycle, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2C is 105 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2D is 285 °. In the sixth phase of the 1-cycle scanning, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B is 345 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2C is 165 °. In the seventh stage of the 1-cycle scanning, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B is 15 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2C is 195 °. With the end of the 1-cycle scanning, the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2A returns to 255 °, and the irradiation direction of the laser radar 2B returns to 75 °.

In the second scanning mode, the scanning time of 1 cycle is longer than that in the first scanning mode, but the intervals at which the laser radars 2A and 2B detect the object on the front side of the vehicle 1 can be averaged. Similarly, the intervals at which the laser radars 2C and 2D detect the object on the rear side of the vehicle 1 can be averaged. Similarly, the intervals at which the laser radars 2A and 2D detect the object on the left side of the vehicle 1 can be averaged. Similarly, the intervals at which the laser radars 2B and 2C detect the object on the right side of the vehicle 1 can be averaged.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the laser radars 2A to 2D are controlled in the first scanning mode when the vehicle 1 is stopped or running at a low speed, the detection interval of the object around the vehicle 1 can be shortened. Further, since the laser radars 2A to 2D are controlled in the second scanning mode when the vehicle 1 is traveling at a high speed, the detection intervals of the objects around the vehicle 1 can be averaged. This can improve the accuracy of predicting the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the object. Thus, the object detection performance can be improved in accordance with the vehicle speed.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where each laser radar has an irradiation unit that irradiates laser light and a rotation mechanism that rotates the irradiation unit, and scans the periphery of the vehicle 1 by controlling the rotation angle of the irradiation unit and adjusting the irradiation direction of the laser light by whether or not the laser light is irradiated has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. Each laser radar may have an irradiation mirror for changing the irradiation direction of the laser beam and a rotation mechanism for rotating the irradiation mirror, and the irradiation direction of the laser beam may be adjusted to scan the periphery of the vehicle 1 by controlling the rotation angle of the irradiation mirror and whether or not the laser beam is irradiated.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where the laser radars 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D are respectively disposed at the front left corner, the front right corner, the rear right corner, and the rear left corner of the vehicle 1 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as in the first modification shown in fig. 12, the laser radars 2E, 2F, 2G, and 2H may be arranged at the front, right, rear, and left portions of the vehicle 1, respectively. For example, the initial value of the detection range of the laser radar 2E is 330 ° to 60 °, the initial value of the detection range of the laser radar 2F is 30 ° to 150 °, the initial setting value of the detection range of the laser radar 2G is 120 ° to 240 °, and the initial value of the detection range of the laser radar 2H is 210 ° to 330 °. The present invention can also be applied to such a modification.

In the first to third embodiments and the first modification, the case where the vehicle-mounted radar system includes 4 laser radars for detecting the entire periphery of the vehicle 1 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in a second modification example shown in fig. 13, the in-vehicle radar system may include 8 laser radars 2A to 2H. Although not shown, for example, the vehicle may have only a plurality of laser radars for detecting an object existing on the front side of the vehicle 1 or a plurality of laser radars for detecting an object existing on the rear side of the vehicle 1. The present invention can also be applied to these modifications.

In the first and second embodiments and the first and second modifications, the case where a plurality of laser radars are arranged to be dispersed in the horizontal direction has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. That is, for example, as in the third modification shown in fig. 13, the plurality of laser radars 2I, 2J, 2K, 2L, and 2M may be arranged so as to be dispersed in the vertical direction. Then, in a manner similar to the first embodiment, when the laser beam of one of the plurality of laser radars 2I, 2J, 2K, 2L, and 2M is blocked by an object and an undetected area is generated, the control device 3 may enlarge the detection range of the other laser radars adjacent to the one laser radar so as to be able to detect at least a part of the undetected area. In addition, in a manner similar to the second embodiment, when a failure occurs in one of the plurality of laser radars 2I, 2J, 2K, 2L, and 2M, the control device 3 may expand the detection range of the other laser radars adjacent to the one laser radar in order to compensate the detection range of the one laser radar.

Description of the reference numerals

1 vehicle

2A-2M laser radar

3, 3A control device

9 speed detector of vehicle

10 other vehicles (objects)

11 undetected area

12 object.