Denso Corporation

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Denso Corpora Tion

Taketo Harada

Mitsuyasu Matsuura

Takuya Nomura

Keisuke Ueda

Yu Koyama

Hirohiko Yanagawa

Muneaki Matsumoto

Tetsuya Aoyama

Yu Maeda

Takeo Tsuzuki

Yohei Suzuki

Motonari Ohbayashi

Norifumi Matsukawa

Yoshihisa Sato

Hironobu Ishijima

Masakazu Takeichi

Yasuhiro Kawashima

Keiko Akiyama

Kenji Fukabori

Taiki Yoshida

Dai Kondo

Yosuke Miyamoto

Kunikazu Nakayama

Kenzo Kano

An object detection device includes a signal generation unit, a drive unit, an object determination unit, and a drive control unit. The signal generation unit generates at least one pulse signal that includes an identification code for identifying the ultrasonic wave. The drive unit drives the wave transceiver unit using a current or a voltage according to the at least one pulse signal. The object determination unit compares a code included in the received ultrasonic wave with the identification code and determines whether the received ultrasonic wave is a wave resulting from reflection of the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the wave transceiver unit, and determines whether an object is present in a predetermined detection range based on the amplitude of the received ultrasonic wave. The drive control unit reduces the current or the voltage used by the drive unit when a predetermined amplitude rise time has elapsed.

Object detection device

An ultrasonic sensor (), that transmits probe waves which are ultrasonic waves and acquires detection waves including reflected waves which have been reflected from surrounding objects, includes a transmitter/receiver () that transmits the probe waves and acquires the detection waves, a detection wave processing section () that executes processing for passing a predetermined frequency band which includes the frequency of the probe waves, an amplitude measurement section () which measures the amplitude of the detection waves, and a judgement section () which judges whether there is adherence of foreign matter on the transmitter/receiver, based on a relationship between a time axis and values of the amplitude of the detection waves during a reverberation interval following the termination of transmitting the probe waves.

Ultrasonic sensor

A vehicle-mounted assembly is designed to have a vehicle-mounted device attached to a plate-like vehicle body member with a through hole. The vehicle-mounted device includes a cylindrical member fit in a through-hole and a fastener which secures the cylindrical member to the vehicle body member. The cylindrical member includes a cylindrical main body extending along a center axis line, protrusions protruding from the main body in a direction crossing the center axis line. The fastener is held between the protrusions and the vehicle body member. The through-hole is equipped with a vehicle body joint which engages a device joint made of recessed and raised portions of the cylindrical member. The vehicle body joint is arranged at a given location on an inner circumference of the through-hole around a center of the through-hole.

Vehicle-mounted assembly

A sensor attachment is used in securing an ultrasonic sensor to a plate-like vehicle body member. The ultrasonic sensor is equipped with a cylindrical ultrasonic microphone extending in an axial direction perpendicular to a center axis line. The sensor attachment includes a cylinder which is fit in a through-hole in the vehicle body member and surrounds the ultrasonic microphone in a vehicle-mounted state where the ultrasonic sensor is mounted in the vehicle body member. The cylinder includes a through-hole facing portion which faces an inner surface of the through- hole in proximity thereto in a radial direction perpendicular to the center axis line in the vehicle- mounted state. The through-hole facing portion is designed to have a contact surface-decreasing structure which minimizes an area of contact with the inner surface of the through-hole.

Ultrasonic sensor and sensor attachment

A vibration absorber includes a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion, being provided to be supported between an ultrasonic microphone and a sensor mounting device. The small diameter portion is formed such that an outer diameter thereof is smaller than that of the large diameter portion, and is provided adjacent to the large diameter portion in a circumferential direction. A pair of large diameter portions are disposed to face each other across a center axis line. A pair of small diameter portions are disposed to face each other across the center axis line. The vibration absorber is configured such that a direction where the pair of large diameter portions positioned across the center axis line are arranged and a direction where the pair of small diameter portions positioned across the center axis line are arranged, cross each other at a right angle.

Ultrasonic sensor and vibration absorber

A protective cover protects a connector coupling portion which is an electrical connection between an on-vehicle sensor to be mounted on a vehicle body component and a wiring. This protective cover includes a protection portion and a fixing portion. The protection portion covers the connector coupling portion at which a sensor-side connector which is provided on the on-vehicle sensor side and which extends in an extending direction is coupled to a wiring-side connector which is provided on the wiring side and which is to be coupled to the sensor-side connector while moving relatively with respect to the sensor-side connector in a coupling direction opposite to the extending direction. The fixing portion is integrally provided with the protection portion so as to be fixed on the on-vehicle sensor side.

Protective cover and on-vehicle device

A retainer member is equipped with a microphone facing portion, a drain path, and a stamped wall portion. The microphone facing portion is formed in a cylindrical shape matching an ultrasonic microphone is disposed outside the ultrasonic microphone in a radial direction extending radially from a longitudinal center line. The microphone facing portion extends from a body retaining portion toward a base side in an axial direction. The drain path extends through the microphone facing portion in the radial direction and is capable of discharging water from an inner space in the microphone facing portion. The stamped wall portion is formed in the microphone facing portion and faces the drain path through the longitudinal center line.

Retainer member

An image processing unit identifies the shape of an obstacle that is identified from an area that appears in a peripheral image based on an image captured by a camera. The shape of the obstacle includes at least a tilt of a section of the obstacle in a road-surface direction. The section of the obstacle faces a vehicle. The image processing unit generates a superimposed image in which a mark image that is generated as a pattern that indicates the identified obstacle is superimposed onto a position that corresponds to the obstacle in the peripheral image. At this time, the image processing unit variably changes properties of the mark image based on the tilt of the obstacle identified by an obstacle identifying unit. The image processing unit then displays the generated superimposed image on display apparatus.

Display control apparatus

An object detection device includes: a wave receiver that receives a reflected wave generated by reflection, by an object, of a transmission wave incident on the object; a determination section that determines whether, in a change over time in an amplitude of the reflected wave received by the wave receiver, an amplitude of a falling portion is greater than a predetermined criterion, the amplitude of the falling portion being decreased after the amplitude has reached a maximum value; and a processing section that, on the basis of a determination by the determination section that the amplitude of the falling portion is greater than the predetermined criterion, performs a process in which the object is treated as an object to be avoided.

An ultrasonic sensor includes a sensor body, a cushion member, a retainer unit, and a drainage path. The sensor body includes an ultrasonic microphone and a microphone support unit which allows a protruding part of the ultrasonic microphone located at a distal end in an axial direction to protrude and supports the protruding part. The cushion member covers the protruding part. The retainer unit allows exposure of a portion of the cushion member that is located at the distal end in the axial direction, and a portion of the cushion member that is located at a proximal end in the axial direction is sandwiched between the retainer unit and an outer peripheral surface of the protruding part. The drainage path penetrates the retainer unit in a radial direction to allow water to be discharged out of the retainer unit from a gap between the retainer unit and the cushion member.

Ultrasonic sensor and retainer

An object detection device comprises a transmission sound pressure adjustment unit adjusting a sound pressure of the search wave so that the sound pressure of the search wave or a reflected wave based on the search wave is within a predetermined transmission target range. The transmission unit transmits, as the search wave, a first search wave with a first frequency changing with time at a first rate and a second search wave with a second frequency changing with time at a second rate that is different from the first rate. The transmission sound pressure adjustment unit is configured to adjust the sound pressure of each of the first and second search waves so that the sound pressure of the corresponding one of the first and second search waves or the reflected wave based on the corresponding one of the first and second search waves is within the transmission target range.

An ultrasonic sensor is provided with a sensor body, a cushion member, a retainer part and a waterproof seal. The sensor body has an ultrasonic microphone and a microphone support part. The cushion member covers a protrusion part of the ultrasonic microphone. The retainer part sandwiches a sandwiched part on a proximal end side between the retainer part and an outer peripheral surface of the ultrasonic microphone, while exposing an exposed part on a tip end side in the axial direction of the cushion member. The waterproof seal blocks a gap between a vehicle body component and the exposed part of the cushion member in an on-board state.

In an object detection device to be installed to a vehicle and detect an object outside the vehicle, a position calculator sets multiple candidate points representing a candidate position of the object, based on positions of feature points extracted from a first image captured at a first time. The multiple candidate points are set to be denser within a detection range set based on a distance to the object detected by the ultrasonic sensor than outside the detection range. The position calculator estimates positions of the multiple candidate points at a second time which is after the first time, based on the positions of the multiple candidate points and movement information of the vehicle, and calculates the position of the object by comparing the estimated positions of the multiple candidate points at the second time and the positions of the feature points extracted from a second image captured at the second time.

An object detector includes: an acquiring unit that acquires an oscillation signal corresponding to an oscillation of a microphone, the microphone transmitting a transmission wave, which is an ultrasonic wave, on a basis of a driving signal, and being caused to oscillate by a reflected wave generated as a result of the transmission wave being reflected from an object; a fall identifying unit that identifies a fall time point of a first drop from a value more than a threshold to the threshold or less after termination of the driving signal; a rise estimating unit that estimates a rise-in-reverberation time point of the reflected wave, the rise-in-reverberation time point being before the fall time point and after a time point of start of the driving signal; and a distance determining unit that determines a distance to the object on a basis of the rise-in-reverberation time point.

Ultrasonic object detection device

An object detection device which determines an amplitude Aof an ultrasonic wave received by a receiving unit, detects a frequency fof the ultrasonic wave, sweeps a frequency fof a pulse signal after a predetermined time has elapsed from start of generation of the pulse signal, and determines that the received ultrasonic wave is a reflected wave of the probe wave when the frequency fafter the amplitude Abecomes a predetermined reference value or more from start of transmission of the probe wave makes the same change as the frequency f. When an ultrasonic wave received by a receiver is determined to be a reflected wave of the probe wave, the object detection unit calculates a distance to an object based on a time from transmission of the probe wave to reception of the ultrasonic wave.

Growing community of inventors

Nisshin, Japan

Taketo Harada