Object recognition device, object recognition method and self-driving system

An object recognition method, comprising:

• a first step of detecting an object in surroundings of a host vehicle using a plurality of sensors, and receiving input of respective detection data constituting position information of the object from the plurality of sensors;
• a second step of creating and outputting observation data of each sensor, in accordance with the detection data from the plurality of sensors;
• a third step of, based on an association reference value, working out association data denoting a correspondence between the observation data output in the second step and object data of a previous process cycle, and outputting the observation data and the association data;
• and
• a fourth step of, based on the association data output in the third step, updating a state vector included in the object data of the previous process cycle and pertaining to the position information of the object, updating, for each sensor, the object data by including, in the object data, an elapsed time that has passed since the observation data corresponded to the object data most recently, a number of times that the observation data is detected for each sensor, and latest association data that is the observation data having corresponded to the object data most recently, from among the observation data, and outputting the updated object data,
• wherein, in the third step, the association reference value is worked out using the latest association data of the same sensor as that of the observation data of a current process cycle, and
• wherein, in the fourth step, the object data is deleted based on determining that the number of times that there has been detected no object that corresponds to the object data in the current process cycle is greater than or equal to a predetermine threshold value.

A self-driving system that detects an object in surroundings of a host vehicle using a plurality of sensors, and receives input of respective detection data constituting position information of the object from the sensors, the self-driving system comprising at least one processor comprising:

• a data reception unit that creates and outputs observation data of each sensor, in accordance with the detection data from the plurality of sensors;
• an association processing unit which, based on an association reference value, works out association data denoting a correspondence between the observation data input from the data reception unit and object data of a previous process cycle, and outputs the observation data and the association data;
• an updating processing unit which, based on the association data input from the association processing unit, updates a state vector included in the object data of the previous process cycle and pertaining to the position information of the object, updates, for each sensor, the object data by including, in the object data, an elapsed time that has passed since the observation data corresponded to the object data most recently, a number of times that the observation data is detected for each sensor, and latest association data that is the observation data having corresponded to the object data most recently, from among the observation data, and outputs the updated object data;
• and
• a vehicle control unit that controls the host vehicle based on the updated object data input from the updating processing unit,
• wherein the association processing unit works out the association reference value using the latest association data of the same sensor as that of the observation data of a current process cycle, and
• wherein the updating processing unit deletes the object data based on determining that the number of times that there has been detected no object that corresponds to the object data in the current process cycle is greater than or equal to a predetermine threshold value.