Denso Corporation

Kenichiro Horikawa

Hideyuki Ide

Kenichi Ohue

Masakazu Takeichi

Hiroshi Yagyu

Masahisa Makino

An obstacle detecting apparatus includes sensors and a processing unit. Each of the sensors are rendered operational by predetermined parameters. The processing unit transmits the parameters to the sensors and includes a vehicle state detector, a condition determiner, a communication controller, and a parameter setting processor. The vehicle state detector detects a running state of the vehicle. The condition determiner determines that the running state of the vehicle is one of an operating condition indicating that the sensors should be operated and a forbidding condition indicating that the operation of the sensors should be forbidden. The communication controller performs communication with the sensors. The parameter setting processor transmits the parameters to the sensors and receives a response indicating completion of the process. The parameter setting processor repeats the process upon either a parameter of one sensor not being set, or communication being terminated while the forbidding condition is identified.

Obstacle detecting apparatus with error detection and recovery

Each of plural detection units performs a signal transmission-reception operation responding to at least one of a plurality of kinds of operation timing signals repeated at a predetermined periodicity. The number of continuous reception times of the reflection signal is counted and used to determine obstacle detection when the number of counts is larger than or equal to a predetermined value. The transmission-reception operations are controlled by an operation timing signal having a periodicity shorter than the predetermined periodicity.

Obstacle detection device

An obstacle detecting apparatus includes sensors and a control device. The sensors detect an obstacle and are connected to the control device through a bus. The control device includes communication error determination and detection means. The communication error determination means determines an occurrence of a communication error if communication with the sensors is impossible for a preset error determination time period. The communication error detection means detects the communication error. The communication error determination means sets in advance, as the error determination time period, a preset first error determination time period in the case of the first communication with the sensors and a preset second error determination time period in the case of communication with the sensors after the first communication with the sensors is normally performed. The first error determination time period and the second error determination time period are set so as to be different.

Obstacle detecting apparatus

When either a front-side sensor or a rear-side sensor of a subject vehicle detects an obstacle entering a certain distance range of multiple distance ranges within a detection zone close to the subject vehicle, a micro-computer causes a warning unit to warn with a buzzer in a primary warning pattern that is prepared for each distance range. In contrast, when both detect obstacles, the warning unit is caused to warn in the following patterns. In a first case that at least one of two sensors detects an obstacle entering a shortest distance range, the warning unit warns in a different warning pattern differentiated from the primary warning pattern. In a second case except the first case, the warning unit warns in the primary warning pattern corresponding to the distance range that is entered by the obstacle that is closer to the vehicle, of the obstacles detected by the two sensors.

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Inasa-gun, Japan

Kenichiro Horikawa