Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek Tno

Leonardus Johannes Hubertus Maria Kester

Albert Gezinus Huizing

Jeroen Ploeg

Ellen Van Nunen

Arne Theil

A method of determining a safe distance (d) between a first vehicle () and a second vehicle () moving ahead of the first vehicle, each vehicle having a state which comprises at least one of a position (s, s), a speed and an acceleration of the respective vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: &#x2014;collecting sensor data relating to the state of the vehicles (), &#x2014;determining, using the sensor data and a time-dependent description of the state of the second vehicle (), a state of the second vehicle () as a result of a maximum deceleration of said second vehicle, &#x2014;determining, using a time-dependent model of the behavior of the first vehicle () and said state of the second vehicle (), a state of the first vehicle () as a result of said maximum deceleration of said second vehicle (), and &#x2014;determining, using said state of the second vehicle () and said state of the first vehicle (), the safe distance (d). Said state of the second vehicle () and said state of the first vehicle () involve uncertainties introduced by the sensor data, thus increasing the safety margin of the method.

Vehicle spacing control

A detection system () having an optical sensor (), a radar device () and a signal processor () communicatively connected with the optical sensor and the radar device. The signal processor comprises: a first detector (-) for detecting a first object on the basis of a first signal coming from the optical sensor and determining at least one first property of the first object; a second detector (-) for detecting a second object on the basis of a second signal coming from the radar device and determining at least one second property of that second object, and a signaling unit () for producing a signal if the at least one first property and the at least one second property satisfy a predetermined condition. Further, a method for detecting objects, comprising: generating () a sensor signal with an optical sensor; detecting () a first object on the basis of the sensor signal; generating () a radar signal; detecting () a second object on the basis of the radar signal; producing () a detection signal if both on the basis of the sensor signal and on the basis of the radar signal the same object is detected. Also, a computer program with program code for performing one or more steps of such a method.

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's-Gravenhage, Netherlands

Leonardus Johannes Hubertus Maria Kester