Vehicle detection system and method for detecting a target vehicle in a detection area located behind a subject vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12570322-B2
Application number	US-202318483667-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 10, 2023
Priority date	Oct 19, 2022
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

A vehicle detection system configured to judge whether a target vehicle, which has been detected to approach the subject vehicle from behind in a driving lane being used by the subject vehicle and being covered by the detection area is an alert object, to output a result of judgement to a warning which warns a driver of the subject vehicle that a target vehicle ( 60 ) is present in the driving lane behind the subject vehicle based on the judging the target vehicle to be an alert object, and to determine, on the basis of a change of a lateral overlap of the target vehicle in the detection area, an overlap change rate which is defined as a ratio of the change of the overlap to a specified time.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A vehicle detection system ( 10 ) for detecting a target vehicle ( 60 ) in a detection area (DA) located behind a subject vehicle ( 50 ), the vehicle detection system ( 10 ) comprising:
judging means ( 20 ) configured to judge whether a target vehicle ( 60 ) which has been detected to approach the subject vehicle ( 50 ) from behind in a driving lane (DL) being used by the subject vehicle ( 50 ) and being covered by the detection area (DA) is an alert object, to output a result of judgement to warning means ( 30 ) which warns a driver of the subject vehicle ( 50 ) that the target vehicle ( 60 ) is present in the driving lane (DL) behind the subject vehicle ( 50 ) based on the judging means ( 20 ) judging the target vehicle ( 60 ) to be an alert object, and to determine, on the basis of a change of a lateral overlap of the target vehicle ( 60 ) in the detection area (DA), an overlap change rate which is defined as a ratio of the change of the overlap to a specified time, wherein the judging means ( 20 ) is configured to judge the target vehicle ( 60 ) to be an alert object or to not be an alert object on the basis of the determined overlap change rate.

2 . The vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 ,
wherein the judging means ( 20 ) is configured to determine the overlap change rate during lane change of the target vehicle ( 60 ) from the driving lane (DL) to an adjacent lane (AL).

3 . The vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 ,
wherein the judging means ( 20 ) is configured to judge the target vehicle ( 60 ) to not be an alert object if the lateral overlap of the target vehicle ( 60 ) continuously decreases.

4 . The vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the overlap change rate is defined as the difference between an actual lateral overlap and a previous lateral overlap, divided by a cycle time of a cycle.

5 . The vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein
an overlap change rate warning threshold is defined to be in the range of −0.2 m/s to −0.5 m/s, and the target vehicle ( 60 ) is judged to not be an alert object if the overlap change rate exceeds this overlap change rate warning threshold.

6 . The vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the judging means ( 20 ) is configured to output a result of judgement to the warning means ( 30 ) which result of judgement indicates to the warning means ( 30 ) to suppress a warning even if a target vehicle ( 60 ) has been detected, based on the judging means ( 20 ) judging the target vehicle ( 60 ) to not be an alert object.

7 . A driver assistance system ( 1 ) for a subject vehicle ( 50 ), comprising:
detecting means ( 40 ) for detecting the target vehicle ( 60 ) in a detection area (DA) located behind the subject vehicle ( 50 ), the vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , and warning means ( 30 ) for warning a driver of the subject vehicle ( 50 ) that the target vehicle ( 60 ) is present in the detection area (DA) or driving lane (DL) only if the judging means ( 20 ) of the vehicle detection system ( 10 ) judged the target vehicle ( 60 ) to be an alert object.

8 . The driver assistance system according to claim 7 ,
wherein the detecting means ( 40 ) comprises radar sensors for detecting the target vehicle ( 60 ) in the detection area (DA).

9 . The driver assistance system according to claim 8 ,
wherein the detecting means comprises radar sensors for Rear Approaching Target Notification (RTAN) and for Long-range Rear Approaching Target Notification (L-RTAN) and wherein the judgement of the judging means is based on at least one of the L-RTAN radar detection and the RTAN radar detection.

10 . A vehicle comprising a driver assistance system according to claim 7 .

11 . The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.

12 . A computer-implemented method for detecting a target vehicle ( 60 ) in a detection area (DA) located behind a subject vehicle ( 50 ), particularly for controlling a vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises the following steps:
judging whether a target vehicle ( 60 ) which has been detected to approach the subject vehicle ( 50 ) from behind in a driving lane (DL) being used by the subject vehicle ( 50 ) and being covered by the detection area (DA), is an alert object, outputting a result of judgement to warning means ( 30 ) which warns a driver of the subject vehicle ( 50 ) that the target vehicle ( 60 ) is present in the detection area (DA) or driving lane (DL) behind the subject vehicle ( 50 ) based on the judging means ( 20 ) judging the target vehicle ( 60 ) to be an alert object, determining, on the basis of a change of a lateral overlap of the target vehicle ( 60 ) in the detection area (DA), an overlap change rate which is defined as a ratio of the change of the overlap to a specific time, and judging the target vehicle ( 60 ) to be an alert object or to not be an alert object on the basis of the determined overlap change rate.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein
the overlap change rate is defined as the difference between an actual lateral overlap and a previous lateral overlap divided by a cycle time of a cycle for the determination of the overlap change rate, an overlap change rate warning threshold is defined to be in the range of −0.2 m/s to −0.5 m/s, and the target vehicle ( 60 ) is judged to not be an alert object if the overlap change rate exceeds this overlap change rate warning threshold.

14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of claim 12 .

15 . The vehicle detection system ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the overlap change rate warning threshold is defined to be −0.35 m/s.

16 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the overlap change rate warning threshold is −0.35 m/s.

Assignees

• Aumovio Autonomous Mobility Germany Gmbh
• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hashimoto Yuki
• Kohara Takahiro
• Mochizuki Tomohiko
• NOHARA Takayoshi
• Takahashi Masahiro

Classifications

• G01S13/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• B60W50/14

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title

• B60W2420/408

  Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar · CPC title

• B60W2554/80

  Spatial relation or speed relative to objects · CPC title

• G01S2013/93272

  in the back of the vehicles · CPC title