Object recognition apparatus, and object recognition processing method

An object recognition apparatus comprising:

• a ranging sensor configured to measure at least distances to reflection points based on reflected waves of applied irradiation waves;
• a camera configured to generate image data on an imaging range;
• and
• one or more processors configured to perform an object recognition process based on measurement data of the ranging sensor and the image data of the camera, wherein
• the one or more processors are configured to, as the object recognition process,
• identify a target cluster that is estimated to be a group of the reflection points based on a detection target existing in a target distance range, among the measurement data, the target distance range being equal to or greater than a minimum distance that allows for object recognition by the object recognition process based on the image data,
• set a determination region comprising the target cluster, and
• recognize an object based on the image data for the determination region, and,
• in the object recognition process, the one or more processors are configured to
• further identify, as a super-resolution target cluster among the measurement data, the target cluster that is estimated to be a group of the reflection points based on a detection target existing in a region, of the target distance range, in which the ranging sensor has a spatial resolution equal to or higher than a spatial resolution of the camera, and
• perform super-resolution processing on the image data acquired in time series and thereafter recognize the object based on the image data, for the determination region comprising the super-resolution target cluster.

An object recognition processing method comprising, as an object recognition process:

• identifying, among measurement data of a ranging sensor configured to measure at least distances to reflection points based on reflected waves of applied irradiation waves, a target cluster that is estimated to be a group of the reflection points based on a detection target existing in a target distance range, the target distance range being equal to or greater than a minimum distance that allows for object recognition by the object recognition process based on image data of a camera configured to generate the image data on an imaging range;
• setting a determination region comprising the target cluster;
• and
• recognizing an object based on the image data for the determination region, wherein
• the object recognition process comprises
• extracting clusters that are groups of the reflection points comprised in the measurement data,
• identifying, from the extracted clusters, the target cluster and a short-distance cluster that is estimated to be a group of the reflection points based on a detection target existing in a distance range of less than the minimum distance that allows for the object recognition,
• recognizing the object based on the image data for the determination region comprising the target cluster, and
• recognizing the object based on the group of the reflection points comprised in the short-distance cluster.

An object recognition processing method comprising, as an object recognition process:

• identifying, among measurement data of a ranging sensor configured to measure at least distances to reflection points based on reflected waves of applied irradiation waves, a target cluster that is estimated to be a group of the reflection points based on a detection target existing in a target distance range, the target distance range being equal to or greater than a minimum distance that allows for object recognition by the object recognition process based on image data of a camera configured to generate the image data on an imaging range;
• setting a determination region comprising the target cluster;
• and
• recognizing an object based on the image data for the determination region, wherein
• the object recognition process comprises
• further identifying, as a super-resolution target cluster among the measurement data, the target cluster that is estimated to be a group of the reflection points based on a detection target existing in a region, of the target distance range, in which the ranging sensor has a spatial resolution equal to or higher than a spatial resolution of the camera, and
• performing super-resolution processing on the image data acquired in time series and thereafter recognizing the object based on the image data, for the determination region comprising the super-resolution target cluster.