Collision detector and warning apparatus which defines an enter-determination area and an exist-determination area

摘要

A collision detector accurately detects a situation where a subject vehicle is likely to come into contact with an external object. The collision detector defines a subject area including an enter-determination area and an exist-determination area. The enter-determination area is defined to determine that the external object entering therein is likely to come into contact with the subject vehicle. The exist-determination area is defined to determine that the external object existing therein is likely to come into contact with the subject vehicle. The detector determines whether the external object comes into the enter-determination area or the external object exists in the exist-determination area. The detector outputs that the subject vehicle is likely to come into contact with the external object when the external object comes into the enter-determination area or when the external object exists in the exist-determination area.

主权项

1. A collision detector detecting a situation where a subject vehicle is likely to come into contact with an external object, the collision detector comprising:
a subject area defining portion which defines a subject area including an enter-determination area and an exist-determination area, the enter-determination area being defined to determine that the external object entering therein is likely to come into contact with the subject vehicle, the exist-determination area being defined to determine that the external object existing therein is likely to come into contact with the subject vehicle; an information obtaining portion which obtains an information about a movement vector of the external object; a first determining portion which determines whether the external object moves into the enter-determination area based on the information about the movement vector; a second determining portion which determines whether the external object exists in the exist-determination area; an output portion which executes a collision avoidance control in order to avoid a situation where the subject vehicle is likely to come into contact with the external object when the external object comes into the enter-determination area or when the external object exists in the exist-determination area; a speed determining portion which determines, based on the obtained information about the movement vector, whether the external object is a high-speed moving object of which moving speed is not less than a reference speed or a low-speed moving object of which moving speed is less than the reference speed, wherein the first determining portion determines whether the high-speed moving object moves into the enter-determination area, and a second determining portion determines whether the low-speed moving object exists in the exist-determination area.