# US 11,027,728 B2 · Vehicle control device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,027,728 B2 - Document ID: US11027728B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/337,622 - Filed: 2017-09-01 - Published: 2020-01-30 - Granted: 2021-06-08 - Earliest claimed: 2016-09-30 - Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Hiroshi Oguro; Daichi Kato - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11027728B2 ## CPC - B60W 30/0956: {the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters} - G08G 1/166: {for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes} - B60R 21/00: Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks (safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles B60R22/00; seats constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats, B60N2/42; energy-absorbing arrangements for hand wheels for steering vehicles B62D1/11; energy-absorbing arrangements for vehicle steering columns B62D1/19) - B60W 30/09: Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering - B60W 60/0016: {of the vehicle or its occupants} - B60W 60/0017: {of other traffic participants} - G05D 1/0248: {in combination with a laser (lasers per se H01S)} - G06T 7/73: using feature-based methods - G06V 20/58: Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads - G08G 1/16: Anti-collision systems (road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08) - B60W 10/04: including control of propulsion units - B60W 10/18: including control of braking systems - B60W 10/20: including control of steering systems - B60W 2554/00: Input parameters relating to objects - B60W 2554/4049: Relationship among other objects, e.g. converging dynamic objects - G06T 2207/30261: Obstacle - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract An integrated object formation unit of a vehicle control device forms integrated objects, which are integral objects, the boundaries of the integrated objects being determined from the positional relationship between two or ore objects in a prescribed distance range. An interference prediction unit of the vehicle control device predicts the probability of the integrated objects, instead of each of the objects, coming into contact with, or near, a vehicle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle control apparatus comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors: recognize one or more objects based on a detection result obtained by an outside sensor configured to detect an outside state of a vehicle; predict a possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle; and form as an integrated item, a unified object, a boundary of which is determined from positional relationship between two or more objects that are present within a predetermined distance range among the one or more objects recognized, in predicting the possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle, the one or more processors predict the possibility that the unified object formed contacts or approaches the vehicle, instead of respective objects that make up the unified object, and in forming the unified object, the one or more processors extract representative objects from the two or more objects making up the unified object at predetermined angle intervals with respect to an angular direction centered at a position of the vehicle, and determine at least two vertices to form a polygon from positions of the representative objects. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors set the predetermined distance range in accordance with a geometry of the vehicle and form the unified object. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors define a plurality of circle regions having a same radius and centered at positions of the respective objects, and form the unified object by unifying together two or more objects that have an overlapping portion of the circle regions. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors form the unified object that encompasses all of the two or more objects present in the predetermined distance range and has a polygon shape. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors set the predetermined angle intervals in accordance with a detection performance of the outside sensor and determine at least two vertices to form the polygon. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors determine points that are respectively on circles centered at the positions of the representative objects and that are closest to the position of the vehicle as vertices of the polygon. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors determine as a vertex of the polygon, a point that is on the circle centered at the position of each of the representative objects corresponding to an extreme end in the angular direction and that is at a position representing either a largest angle or a smallest angle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when a plurality of vertices of the polygon are present on the circle centered at the position of the representative object corresponding to the extreme end in the angular direction, in forming the unified object, the one or more processors determine one or more interpolation points obtained by interpolating between neighboring vertices in an arc shape as vertices of the polygon. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in predicting the possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle, the one or more processors predict the possibility of contact with or approach to the vehicle from a positional relationship between the vehicle and a portion of the boundary of the unified object, the portion facing the vehicle. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors further control a behavior of the vehicle in accordance with a prediction result obtained in predicting the possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle. ### Claim 11 A vehicle control apparatus comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors: recognize one or more objects based on a detection result obtained by an outside sensor configured to detect an outside state of a vehicle; predict a possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle; and form as an integrated item, a unified object, a boundary of which is determined from positional relationship between two or more objects that are present within a predetermined distance range among the one or more objects recognized, in predicting the possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle, the one or more processors predict the possibility that the unified object formed contacts or approaches the vehicle, instead of the respective objects that make up the unified object, in forming the unified object, the one or more processors form the unified object that encompasses all of the two or more objects present in the predetermined distance range and has a polygon shape, and in forming the unified object, the one or more processors extract an object located relatively close to the vehicle from the two or more objects making up the unified object as a representative object and determine at least one vertex to form the polygon from a position of the representative object. ### Claim 12 A vehicle control apparatus comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors: recognize one or more objects based on a detection result obtained by an outside sensor configured to detect an outside state of a vehicle; predict a possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle; and form as an integrated item, a unified object, a boundary of which is determined from positional relationship between two or more objects that are present within a predetermined distance range among the one or more objects recognized, in predicting the possibility that the one or more objects recognized contact or approach the vehicle, the one or more processors predict the possibility that the unified object formed contacts or approaches the vehicle, instead of the respective objects that make up the unified object, in forming the unified object, the one or more processors form the unified object that encompasses all of the two or more objects present in the predetermined distance range and has a polygon shape, and in forming the unified object, the one or more processors determine at least one point that is on a far side relative to the positions of all objects that make up the unified object as a vertex of the polygon. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 12, wherein in forming the unified object, the one or more processors determine as a vertex of the polygon, a point that is on a straight line connecting between the position of a representative object corresponding to a extreme end in an angular direction and the position of the vehicle and that is located on the far side at a predetermined length from the position of the representative object. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein when a point that is located on the far side at a predetermined length from the position of the representative object lies on a lane on which the vehicle is to travel, in forming the unified object, the one or more processors determine another point that does not lie on the lane as a vertex of the polygon by decreasing the predetermined length.