The present invention relates to a method of providing parameter values pertaining to the relative kinematic behavior of an object, in particular a first vehicle, and a target object, in particular a second vehicle, a conclusion being reached on the basis of these parameter values as to whether the object and the target object will presumably collide. This method includes the following steps:
a) providing a sensor system on the object, the sensor system being provided for transmitting and receiving signals in order to detect measured values ri, vr,i for target object distance r and/or for relative radial velocity vr of the target object,
b) determining measured values ri, vr,i and
c) analyzing measured values ri, vr,i thus determined and providing the parameter values.
The present invention also relates to a device for outputting parameter values pertaining to the relative kinematic behavior of an object, in particular a first vehicle, and a target object, in particular a second vehicle, so that on the basis of these parameter values, a conclusion is reached as to whether the object and the target object will presumably collide. This device includes a sensor system arranged on the object, the sensor system being provided to transmit and receive signals, to determine measured values ri, vr,i for target object distance r and/or relative radial velocity vr of the target object, and an arrangement for analyzing measured values ri, vr,i determined by the sensor system and outputting the parameter values.
In the field of automotive engineering, for example, methods of providing and/or devices for outputting parameter values which pertain to and/or describe the relative kinematic behavior of a first vehicle and a second vehicle and/or any obstacle may be necessary to reach a conclusion regarding a collision or to detect a dead angle with the help of these parameter values. To this end, sensors such as optical sensors, capacitive sensors, ultrasonic sensors or radar sensors are used to measure distance r between the vehicles, and/or relative radial velocity vr of the second vehicle within a range to be monitored.
It is believed to be known that by differentiation of the radial velocity, the radial component of relative radial acceleration ar of the second vehicle may be determined from these measured values. In addition, it is also believed to be known that the radial velocity may be determined, for example, by analyzing the Doppler frequency or by differentiation of the distance. According to other systems, the normal components of the distance, of the velocity, and of the acceleration perpendicular to the front area of the vehicle may be calculated by triangulation from the measured values of several spatially distributed sensors.
For triangulation, it may be necessary to include multiple transmitting and/or receiving units and/or sensors distributed spatially, and this entails high hardware costs. Another problem that may occur with other systems is that even when using multiple sensors, under some circumstances, only one sensor will receive a signal suitable for analysis. In this case, triangulation may not be performed, so that an imminent collision may not be detected.
Due to the fact that step c) of the exemplary method according to the present invention is implementable on the basis of signals received by only one receiver, i.e., no triangulation is performed, the hardware cost may be reduced and reliable predictions may be made even if only one sensor receives a signal suitable for use for a corresponding analysis.
The same thing is also true of the exemplary device according to the present invention in which the arrangement performs the analysis on the basis of the signals received by only one receiver assigned to the sensor system.