KR102667973B1 - Ultrasonic Sensor Apparatus, Apparatus and Method for Controlling Ultrasonic Sensor Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is an ultrasonic sensor and an ultrasonic sensor control device and method, and more specifically, can reduce the detection period in an ultrasonic sensor used in a vehicle, and the first period at the beginning of the indirect signal reception period of one of the ultrasonic sensors is noise. By setting it as a judgment period, the period for noise measurement is shortened, thereby reducing the overall update cycle or detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor.

Description

Ultrasonic sensor device and ultrasonic sensor control device and method {Ultrasonic Sensor Apparatus, Apparatus and Method for Controlling Ultrasonic Sensor Apparatus}

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic sensor device and an ultrasonic sensor control device and method, and more specifically, to a technology capable of reducing the detection cycle in an ultrasonic sensor used in a vehicle.

Typically, ultrasonic sensors are placed in the front and/or rear of a vehicle to detect nearby obstacles.

These ultrasonic sensors are especially used in parking assist systems, front and rear collision avoidance systems, etc., and use multiple ultrasonic sensors to receive reflected signals from the ultrasonic sensors that are reflected from obstacles. A function was provided to determine the location of obstacles and inform the driver of this.

Typically, an ultrasonic sensor device for a vehicle includes a plurality of ultrasonic sensors disposed in the front or rear bumper area of the vehicle and a control unit that controls them.

Each ultrasonic sensor transmits ultrasonic waves with a certain intensity at a constant solid angle, receives received ultrasonic waves reflected from an object, and measures the distance from the ultrasonic sensor to the object based on the interval between the transmission timing and the reception timing.

At this time, the control unit of the ultrasonic sensor device controls the signal transmission and reception of a plurality of ultrasonic sensors by time division, and determines the distance and position of the object by combining the information between the reflected signal and the transmitted signal received from each ultrasonic sensor, The period during which one cycle of transmission and reception of the plurality of ultrasonic sensors provided can be expressed as an update period or a detection period.

Meanwhile, the speed (sound wave) of the ultrasonic sensor signal is fixed, and in higher-level systems that use ultrasonic sensors, such as parking assistance systems, there is a need to reduce the update cycle or detection cycle, which is a one-time detection cycle for detecting objects through ultrasonic sensors. This is increasing.

That is, in an ultrasonic sensor device equipped with the same number of ultrasonic sensors, there is an increasing need to increase the detection performance, that is, the detection resolution, of the ultrasonic sensor by reducing the update cycle or detection cycle, which is one detection cycle.

Meanwhile, in an ultrasonic sensor device, a process of determining the level of a noise signal included in the reflected signal of each ultrasonic sensor is essential to improve detection performance.

For example, in each ultrasonic sensor, a certain time period is designated as a noise determination period, the level of the signal received during that period is determined, and this is set as the noise signal level.

As such, the need to reduce the update cycle or detection cycle of ultrasonic sensor devices has recently increased, but since the noise discrimination of ultrasonic sensors is an obstacle to reducing the update cycle, there is a need to solve this problem.

Against this background, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic sensor that can reduce the update cycle, which is the detection period, of the ultrasonic sensor device by appropriately determining the noise determination section of each ultrasonic sensor in the ultrasonic sensor device.

Another object of the present invention is to set, in an ultrasonic sensor device including a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, the first first period of the opening time of the indirect cycle, which is the reception period of the indirect signal of each ultrasonic sensor, as the noise determination period. By doing so, an ultrasonic sensor is provided that can reduce the update cycle, which is the detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor device.

In order to achieve the above-described object, in one aspect, the present invention includes two or more ultrasonic sensors that emit ultrasonic waves and receive reflected signals reflected from an object, and control the ultrasonic transmission and reception of the reflected signals of the sonic sensors and receive the received ultrasonic waves. A control unit that calculates one or more information of the distance and position to the object using a reflected signal, wherein the control unit sets the first period of the indirect signal reception period of at least one of the ultrasonic sensors as a noise determination period, An ultrasonic sensor device that calculates a noise signal level in the noise determination section is provided.

At this time, the noise determination period may be a period from the start of the indirect signal reception period to before the arrival of the first indirect signal arrived from another ultrasonic sensor, and the second period following the noise determination period in the indirect signal reception period may be It can be set as a non-detection area, and the third period following the non-detection area can be set as a third period that is an object detection area.

At this time, for each ultrasonic sensor, the control unit has a direct signal reception period in which it receives a direct reflection signal in which the signal emitted by the ultrasonic sensor is reflected from an object, and an indirect reflection signal in which a signal emitted by another ultrasonic sensor is received. It can be controlled to include the indirect signal reception period.

In addition, each of two or more ultrasonic sensors may be placed in a different location near the bumper on the front or rear of the vehicle, and the ultrasonic sensor used to set the noise determination section may be an ultrasonic sensor placed in the central area among multiple ultrasonic sensors. there is.

In another aspect, the present invention is a control device for an ultrasonic sensor device including two or more ultrasonic sensors, including a transmission/reception control unit that controls ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals from each of the ultrasonic sensors, and a control unit for controlling ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals from each of the ultrasonic sensors, and a control device for controlling ultrasonic signals received from the ultrasonic sensors. An information calculation unit that calculates one or more information of the distance and position to the object using an, and an initial first period of the indirect signal reception period of at least one of the ultrasonic sensors is set as a noise determination section, and in the noise judgment section An ultrasonic sensor control device including a noise determination unit that calculates a noise signal level is provided.

In another aspect, the present invention is a method of controlling an ultrasonic sensor device including two or more ultrasonic sensors, comprising a transmission and reception control step of controlling ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals of each of the ultrasonic sensors, and an indirect control method of each of the ultrasonic sensors. A noise determination step of setting the first period of the signal reception cycle as a noise determination section and calculating a noise signal level in the noise determination section, and using the reflected signal and the noise signal level received by each of the ultrasonic sensors An ultrasonic sensor control method including an information calculation step of calculating one or more information of the distance to an object and the location is provided.

As will be explained below, according to this embodiment, the update cycle, which is the detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor device, can be reduced by appropriately setting the noise determination section of each ultrasonic sensor in the ultrasonic sensor device.

More specifically, in an ultrasonic sensor device including a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, the first period of the first opening time of the indirect cycle, which is the reception cycle of the indirect signal of each ultrasonic sensor, is set as the noise determination section, so that the ultrasonic sensor device There is an effect of improving the performance or resolution of the ultrasonic sensor by reducing the update cycle, which is the detection cycle.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of a sensor control device used in an ultrasonic sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a diagram showing a state in which an ultrasonic sensor receives direct signals and indirect signals according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 and 5 show an example of setting a noise determination section of an ultrasonic sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 shows a flowchart of an ultrasonic sensor control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 shows an example of a noise determination method of an ultrasonic sensor in contrast to this embodiment.
Figure 8 shows an example of setting a noise determination section of an ultrasonic sensor in contrast to this embodiment.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail through illustrative drawings. In describing the components of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, sequence, or order of the component is not limited by the term. When a component is described as being “connected,” “coupled,” or “connected” to another component, that component may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but there is another component between each component. It will be understood that elements may be “connected,” “combined,” or “connected.”

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The ultrasonic sensor device according to this embodiment can be mounted on a vehicle, but is not limited thereto.

However, for convenience, the following description will take the case where the ultrasonic sensor device according to this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle as an example.

The ultrasonic sensor device 100 according to this embodiment includes a plurality of ultrasonic sensors 111, 112, 114, and 116 mounted near the front or rear bumper of the vehicle, and receives/processes signals from the ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles. It is configured to include a control unit 120 that calculates location/distance information, etc.

In Figure 1, an example in which four ultrasonic sensors are arranged at regular intervals at the front and rear of the vehicle is explained, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, there are a total of 4 ultrasonic sensors disposed in front of the vehicle, including the first ultrasonic sensor 110 disposed on the far right side of the vehicle, the second ultrasonic sensor 112 disposed adjacent to the left, and the left ultrasonic sensor 112. It may include a third ultrasonic sensor 114 disposed adjacent to and a fourth ultrasonic sensor 116 disposed on the leftmost side of the vehicle.

Each ultrasonic sensor generates ultrasonic waves with a certain frequency band and waveform, transmits them to a certain detection area, and receives a reflected signal received in a certain detection angle area.

In this specification, an ultrasonic sensor refers to a sound wave transmission and reception module, and the entire sensing device that performs location/distance calculation is expressed as an ultrasonic sensor device.

In addition, in this specification, a device including an ultrasonic sensor (sound wave transmission/reception module) is expressed as an ultrasonic sensor device, and a control device such as an ECU that controls the operation of each transmission/reception module (ultrasonic sensor) and detects an object is an ultrasonic sensor control device. Express it as

Each of these ultrasonic sensors has a direct signal reception function that receives a direct signal that is received when the signal it transmits is reflected from an object, and an indirect signal that is received by a signal transmitted by another ultrasonic sensor that is received directly or by being reflected by an object. It may be equipped with a signal reception function.

Direct signals and indirect signals can be divided by timing, waveform, frequency band, etc.

For example, the timing at which each ultrasonic sensor transmits its signal may be set differently, and separately or in parallel, the waveform and frequency band of each ultrasonic sensor's transmitted signal may be set differently. Received signals can be distinguished.

In this embodiment, an example of operating in a time-sharing manner that can be operated by dividing each ultrasonic sensor into a transmission period in which a signal is transmitted and a reception period in which the transmitted ultrasonic signal is received by the ultrasonic sensor itself or another ultrasonic sensor will be described.

That is, according to this embodiment, each ultrasonic sensor has a transmission cycle for transmitting a signal, a direct signal reception cycle for receiving a direct signal transmitted by itself and reflected from an object, and an indirect signal reception cycle for receiving a signal transmitted by another ultrasonic sensor. It may have a signal reception period.

Meanwhile, the transmission and reception control unit of the control unit 120 as described above may be responsible for controlling the transmission and reception of ultrasonic signals from the plurality of ultrasonic sensors.

The control unit 120 functions to control ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals from the vehicle ultrasonic sensor and calculate one or more information of the distance and location to the object using the received reflected signals.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of a sensor control device used in an ultrasonic sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit of the ultrasonic sensor device or the ultrasonic sensor control device 120 according to this embodiment is connected to two or more ultrasonic sensors as described above, and controls ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals of each ultrasonic sensor. a transmission and reception control unit 122, an information calculation unit 120 that calculates one or more of the distance and position to an object using a reception signal received from an ultrasonic sensor, and a noise determination unit that calculates the noise level of the reception signal. (124), etc. may be included.

The received signal of an ultrasonic sensor is mainly a reflected signal where the transmitted signal is reflected from an object, but a noise signal with a certain signal level may be included in the received signal depending on the characteristics of the sensor or the surrounding environment.

In order for an ultrasonic sensor to accurately detect an object, the level of the noise signal must be analyzed in real time and the information caused by the noise signal must be excluded from the actually measured object information or the object information must be corrected.

In addition, since the noise signal included in these received signals has characteristics that change over time, such as sensor characteristics as well as the surrounding environment, it is necessary to determine the noise signal level periodically at regular intervals.

In this embodiment, the noise determination unit 124 sets the first period of the indirect signal reception period of each ultrasonic sensor as the noise determination period, and measures the level of the received signal in the noise determination period to determine the noise signal level. It can be calculated.

The setting of the noise determination section and the calculation of the noise signal according to this embodiment will be described in more detail based on FIGS. 4 and 5 below.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing a state in which an ultrasonic sensor receives direct signals and indirect signals according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the example of FIG. 3, a total of four ultrasonic sensors are spaced apart from the front or rear of the vehicle.

In this specification, Ti is the transmitted signal transmitted by the ith ultrasonic sensor, Rii is the direct received signal transmitted and reflected by itself among the received signals received by the ith ultrasonic sensor, and is the indirect received signal transmitted and received by the jth ultrasonic sensor. is expressed as Rji.

In other words, the received signal received by each ultrasonic sensor includes a direct received signal based on the signal transmitted by the ultrasonic sensor and an indirect received signal based on the transmitted signal of other ultrasonic sensors. In this study, the indirect received signal and Direct reception signals are used in the same sense as indirect signals and direct signals, respectively.

As shown in Figure 3, the transmission signal transmitted by the first ultrasonic sensor 110 is T1, and the direct reception signal transmitted by the first ultrasonic sensor 110 and reflected from the object as a reception signal is R11, which is indicated by a solid line. , the indirect reception signal transmitted by the second ultrasonic sensor 112 and reflected from the object becomes R21, which is indicated by a dotted line.

Meanwhile, each ultrasonic sensor can be driven by time division into a transmission cycle for transmitting a signal, a direct signal reception cycle for receiving a direct signal, and an indirect signal reception cycle for receiving an indirect signal based on a signal from another ultrasonic sensor.

At this time, in this embodiment, the first first period of the indirect signal reception cycle of a specific ultrasonic sensor among each ultrasonic sensor, for example, the second ultrasonic sensor 112 and the third ultrasonic sensor 114 disposed in the center in FIG. 3 is set as the noise judgment section, and the noise signal level is measured in the noise judgment section.

Meanwhile, the information calculation unit 122 of the control unit 120 in this embodiment checks the reception time of the reception signal received from each ultrasonic sensor and the transmission time of the transmission signal corresponding to each reception signal, and uses the time difference to determine the reception time of the reception signal received from each ultrasonic sensor. It can detect the distance to an object or the location of the object.

That is, according to this embodiment, since the ultrasonic sensor includes a plurality of ultrasonic sensors spaced a certain distance apart, when the distance between each ultrasonic sensor and the object is calculated, the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates of the object can also be confirmed by triangulation, etc. It becomes possible.

Meanwhile, the control unit 120 included in the ultrasonic sensor device 100 according to the present embodiment as described above, the transmission and reception control unit 122, the noise determination unit 124, and the information calculation unit 126, etc., which constitute the ultrasonic sensor, are ultrasonic sensors. It can be implemented as a module or as a part of an ECU for it.

This ultrasonic sensor module or ECU may include storage devices such as a processor and memory, and a computer program capable of performing a specific function, and may include the above-described control unit 120, a transmission/reception control unit 122 that constitutes the same, and a noise determination unit. 124 and the information calculation unit 126 may be implemented as software modules capable of performing their own unique functions.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of ultrasonic sensors may be spaced apart from each other at a certain interval at a specific location on or near the bumper at the front or rear of the vehicle.

4 and 5 show an example of setting a noise determination section of an ultrasonic sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows conditions for setting the noise determination section of the ultrasonic sensor device according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a total of four ultrasonic sensors are disposed at the front or rear of the vehicle, in order to set the noise determination section according to this embodiment, the second ultrasonic sensor 112 or the third ultrasonic sensor 114 disposed in the center is used. ) is desirable to use.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of setting a noise determination section using the second ultrasonic sensor 112.

The second ultrasonic sensor 112 has a constant indirect signal reception period (T=t0 to t3 in FIG. 5), and receives signals transmitted from the other three ultrasonic sensors during the indirect signal reception period.

For example, when the indirect signal reception cycle begins, the second ultrasonic sensor 112 moves the shortest distance from the first ultrasonic sensor 110 directly along the bumper to arrive at the first indirect signal (R12) and the third ultrasonic signal. There are various types of indirect signals, such as a second indirect signal (R32) that travels the shortest distance from the sensor 114 along the bumper and arrives, and a third indirect signal (R12') that is transmitted from the first ultrasonic sensor and arrives by reflecting from an object. Receive signals sequentially.

At this time, the second ultrasonic sensor 112 is the first indirect signal received after the indirect signal reception cycle starts (opening time), which starts from the adjacent first or third ultrasonic sensor and moves along the bumper to arrive at the first indirect signal. It becomes the indirect signal (R12) or the second indirect signal (R32).

Figure 5 is a graph showing the reception strength of the indirect signal of the second ultrasonic sensor 112 over time in this case.

In this case, as shown in Figure 5, the indirect signal reception period (T) of the second ultrasonic sensor starts at time t0, and the first indirect signal (R12) reaches the shortest distance from the first ultrasonic sensor at the time t1 has elapsed. signal is detected.

If the distance between the first ultrasonic sensor 110 and the second ultrasonic sensor 112 is the shortest, the signal of the second indirect signal (R32), which has reached the shortest distance from the third ultrasonic sensor, will be detected immediately.

Next, at time t2, the third indirect signal (R12') transmitted from the first ultrasonic sensor 110 and reflected from the object is detected.

In this case, the indirect signal that starts from the 1/3 ultrasonic sensor and is immediately received by the second ultrasonic sensor 112 without being reflected from the object is not used to obtain information about the object.

Therefore, the information used to calculate object information is not included until the time t2 after the indirect signal reception cycle of the second ultrasonic sensor begins, and this section is generally expressed as a non-detection area.

However, in this embodiment, the first period (t0 to t1) from the start of the indirect signal reception period of the second ultrasonic sensor 112 is set as the noise determination period, and the noise signal level is measured in this period.

That is, in this embodiment, the first first period of the indirect signal reception period of at least one of the ultrasonic sensors is set as the noise determination period, and the noise signal level is calculated in the noise determination period.

At this time, the first period (t0~t1), which is the length of the noise determination section, is the period from the start of the indirect signal reception cycle (t0) to the arrival time (t1) of the first indirect signal arrived from the other nearest ultrasonic sensor. It can be set to .

Additionally, in this embodiment, the second period following the noise determination section of the indirect signal reception period may be set as a non-detection area, and the third period following the non-detection area may be set as an object detection period.

The second period, which is a non-detection area, is an area including indirect signals transmitted from another ultrasonic sensor among indirect signals and arriving along the vehicle bumper surface, and is the period from t1 to t2 in FIG. 5.

That is, in FIG. 5, the period from t0 to t1 is the first period, which is the noise determination section, and during the following period, the first indirect signal (R12) transmitted from the 1/3 ultrasonic sensor and arriving along the vehicle bumper surface. and the period t1 to t2, which is the area including the third indirect signal R32, becomes the second period.

In addition, among the entire indirect signal reception period (T) of the second ultrasonic sensor 112, the third period (t2 to t3) following the second period, which is a non-detection area, is set as an object detection area for obtaining object information.

In this object detection area, an indirect signal reflected from an object is received, and the distance and location of the object are determined using the difference between the arrival time of the indirect signal and the transmission time of the transmission signal corresponding to the indirect signal. It is obtained.

At this time, the noise determination section may be determined separately for each ultrasonic sensor, or may be set as a single value that is equally applied to multiple ultrasonic sensors.

In particular, in an environment where multiple ultrasonic sensors are spaced apart from each other at regular intervals on the front or rear bumper 130 of a vehicle, when the noise determination section for multiple ultrasonic sensors must be set as one section, the noise determination section is It is preferable that the ultrasonic sensor for setting is an ultrasonic sensor placed in the central area rather than an ultrasonic sensor placed on the left and right.

For example, in the case where four ultrasonic sensors are disposed as shown in FIG. 4, the noise determination section is set using the second ultrasonic sensor 112 or the third ultrasonic sensor 114 disposed in the center area.

In the noise judgment section, no other direct/indirect signals other than noise must be included to accurately measure the noise signal level.

Therefore, in the case of an ultrasonic sensor arrangement as shown in FIG. 4, in the case of ultrasonic sensors at both left and right ends, the indirect signal that is the standard for setting the noise determination section may arrive late or the number may be small, so using the middle ultrasonic sensor Compared to other cases, the precision of setting the noise determination section may be lower.

Therefore, in this embodiment, it is desirable that the ultrasonic sensor for setting the noise determination section be an ultrasonic sensor disposed in the central area.

Unlike FIG. 4, when three ultrasonic sensors are disposed at the front or rear of the vehicle, the noise determination section or first period can be set using the central ultrasonic sensor disposed in the center.

Of course, after measuring the first indirect signal reception point within the indirect signal reception period for each collected ultrasonic sensor, the noise determination section may be set based on the earliest point in time.

Meanwhile, in this embodiment, in order to accurately calculate the first indirect signal arrival time (t1), which is the standard for the noise determination section, specific environmental conditions can be added.

For example, in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, in order for the signal transmitted from the first ultrasonic sensor 110 or the third ultrasonic sensor 114 to reach the second ultrasonic sensor 112 in the shortest distance, the surrounding When the temperature condition is changed from low temperature to room temperature, the signal transmitted from the first ultrasonic sensor 110 or the third ultrasonic sensor 114 moves along the surface of the vehicle bumper and reaches the second ultrasonic sensor 112.

As such, according to this embodiment, in the ultrasonic sensor device including two or more ultrasonic sensors, the period for noise measurement is set by setting the initial first period of the indirect signal reception period of one of the ultrasonic sensors as the noise determination period. By shortening, the overall update cycle or detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor can be reduced, and as a result, the detection performance of the ultrasonic sensor can be improved.

The effects of this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

7 and 8 show an example of a noise determination method of an ultrasonic sensor in contrast to this embodiment.

Figure 7 illustrates a case where a certain section within the direct signal reception period (T') of each ultrasonic sensor is set as a noise determination section for noise determination.

That is, in the method of FIG. 7, considering that a meaningful direct signal is not received in a certain section at the rear of the direct signal reception cycle of each ultrasonic sensor, a certain area at the rear of the direct signal reception cycle is used as the noise determination section. Set it and measure the noise signal level in that section.

In the method of Figure 7, noise is determined at the point when the direct signal, which is a reflected signal of an object, disappears, which is advantageous in that there is no need to add a separate noise determination cycle in addition to the transmission/reception cycle of each ultrasonic sensor, but each ultrasonic sensor The direct signal reception period itself becomes longer, and when multiple ultrasonic sensors are used, there is a disadvantage in that the overall update period or detection period increases.

Figure 8 illustrates a method of separately adding a noise determination period in addition to the signal transmission/reception period of each ultrasonic sensor.

For example, when the detection of the ultrasonic sensor starts, noise determination is first performed for all sensors for a certain period of time, followed by the transmission cycle and direct signal reception cycle of the first ultrasonic sensor, the transmission cycle of the third ultrasonic sensor and the second, It is controlled in the order that it performs the reception cycle of the 3rd and 4th sensors.

That is, according to FIG. 8, in addition to the signal transmission and reception period of each sensor, a noise determination period for measuring the noise signal level of all ultrasonic sensors must be added separately, so the update period or detection period of the sensor increases by the added noise determination period. there is a problem.

In contrast, using the present embodiment as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the initial first period of the indirect signal reception cycle of one of the ultrasonic sensors is set as the noise determination section without changing the length of the transmission and reception cycle of each ultrasonic sensor. , by shortening the period for noise measurement, the overall update cycle or detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor can be reduced, and as a result, the detection performance of the ultrasonic sensor can be improved.

That is, in this embodiment, it is possible to set the noise determination section without increasing the update cycle of all sensors, and therefore, the method of FIG. 7 in which the direct signal reception cycle of each ultrasonic sensor is lengthened or the method of FIG. 8 that requires the addition of a separate noise determination cycle Compared to the method, the update cycle or detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor is reduced, and as a result, the detection performance of the ultrasonic sensor can be improved.

Figure 6 shows a flowchart of an ultrasonic sensor control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The ultrasonic sensor control method according to this embodiment is a method of controlling an ultrasonic sensor device including two or more ultrasonic sensors, comprising a transmission and reception control step (S610) of controlling ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals of each ultrasonic sensor, and A noise determination step (S620) of setting the first period of the indirect signal reception cycle as a noise determination section and calculating the noise signal level in the noise judgment section, and using the reflected signal received by each ultrasonic sensor and the noise signal level. Thus, it may be configured to include an information calculation step (S630) of calculating one or more information of the distance to the object and the location.

In the transmission and reception control step (S610), for each ultrasonic sensor, a direct signal reception period in which the signal emitted by the ultrasonic sensor is received by reflecting from an object and a direct reflection signal is received, and an indirect reflection signal is received in which the signal emitted by another ultrasonic sensor is received. It may include an indirect signal reception cycle for receiving.

In the noise determination step (S620), the first period, which is the noise determination section, can be set as the period from the start of the indirect signal reception cycle (t0) to the arrival time (t1) of the first indirect signal arrived from another ultrasonic sensor, , the second period following the noise determination section can be set as a non-detection area, and the third period following the non-detection area can be set as an object detection period.

Using this embodiment as described above, the period for noise measurement is set by setting the initial first period of the indirect signal reception period of one of the ultrasonic sensors as the noise determination period without changing the length of the transmission and reception period of each ultrasonic sensor. By shortening it, the overall update cycle or detection cycle of the ultrasonic sensor can be reduced, and as a result, the detection performance of the ultrasonic sensor can be improved.

In the above, even though all the components constituting the embodiment of the present invention have been described as being combined or operated in combination, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this embodiment. That is, as long as it is within the scope of the purpose of the present invention, all of the components may be operated by selectively combining one or more of them. The above description is merely an illustrative explanation of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications and variations will be possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted in accordance with the claims below, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be construed as being included in the scope of rights of the present invention.

Claims (17)

Three or more ultrasonic sensors placed at the front or rear of the vehicle, emitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected signals reflected from objects;
A control unit that controls the transmission of ultrasonic waves and reception of reflected signals from the ultrasonic sensor and calculates one or more information of the distance and location to the object using the received reflected signals;
It includes, wherein the control unit is transmitted from another adjacent ultrasonic sensor during the indirect signal reception period of the ultrasonic sensor disposed in the central area among the ultrasonic sensors and moves to the shortest distance along the bumper of the vehicle before receiving the indirect signal. An ultrasonic sensor device characterized in that the first period up to is set as a noise determination section, and a noise signal level is calculated in the noise judgment section.
delete According to paragraph 1,
An ultrasonic sensor device characterized in that, in the indirect signal reception period, a second period following the noise determination section is set as a non-detection area, and a third period following the non-detection area is set as a third period that is an object detection area. . According to paragraph 3,
For each ultrasonic sensor, the control unit has a direct signal reception period for receiving a direct reflected signal in which the signal emitted by the ultrasonic sensor is reflected from an object, and an indirect signal reception period for receiving an indirect reflected signal in which the signal emitted by another ultrasonic sensor is received. An ultrasonic sensor device characterized in that it is controlled to include a reception cycle. delete delete delete A method of controlling an ultrasonic sensor device including three or more ultrasonic sensors disposed at the front or rear of a vehicle, comprising:
A transmission and reception control step of controlling ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals from each of the ultrasonic sensors;
Among the three or more ultrasonic sensors, during the indirect signal reception period of the ultrasonic sensor placed in the central area, the first signal before the indirect signal transmitted from another adjacent ultrasonic sensor and arriving by moving the shortest distance along the bumper of the vehicle is received. A noise determination step of setting one period as a noise determination section and calculating a noise signal level in the noise judgment section;
An information calculation step of calculating one or more of the distance and position to an object using the reflected signal and the noise signal level received by each of the ultrasonic sensors;
Ultrasonic sensor control method comprising:
delete According to clause 8,
In the noise determination step, the second period following the noise determination section of the indirect signal reception period is set as a non-detection area, and the third period following the non-detection area is set as an object detection period. Sensor control method. According to clause 10,
In the transmission/reception control step, for each ultrasonic sensor, a direct signal reception cycle is received where the signal emitted by the ultrasonic sensor is reflected from an object and received, and an indirect reflected signal is received where the signal emitted by another ultrasonic sensor is received. An ultrasonic sensor control method comprising an indirect signal reception period. delete A control device for an ultrasonic sensor device including three or more ultrasonic sensors disposed at the front or rear of a vehicle,
a transmission/reception control unit that controls ultrasonic transmission and reception of reflected signals from each of the ultrasonic sensors;
an information calculation unit that calculates one or more of the distance and position to the object using the reflected signal received from the ultrasonic sensor;
Among the three or more ultrasonic sensors, during the indirect signal reception period of the ultrasonic sensor placed in the central area, the first signal before the indirect signal transmitted from another adjacent ultrasonic sensor and arriving by moving the shortest distance along the bumper of the vehicle is received. a noise determination unit that sets one period as a noise determination section and calculates a noise signal level in the noise judgment section;
Ultrasonic sensor control device comprising a.
delete According to clause 13,
The noise determination unit sets a second period following the noise determination section of the indirect signal reception period as a non-detection area, and sets a third period following the non-detection area as an object detection period. Device. According to clause 15,
For each ultrasonic sensor, the transmitting and receiving control unit has a direct signal reception period for receiving a direct reflected signal received by reflecting the signal emitted by the ultrasonic sensor from an object, and an indirect signal receiving period for receiving an indirect reflected signal received when the signal emitted by another ultrasonic sensor is received. An ultrasonic sensor control device characterized in that it is controlled to include a signal reception period. delete

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