Object detecting apparatus
AssigneeDenso Corporation
InventorsToshiyuki Gotou, Toshiyuki Konishi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An object detecting apparatus may include a laser sensor and a contamination detection unit. The laser sensor emits a laser beam through an optical window to scan in a plane by changing an emission direction of the laser beam, and receives a reflected beam through the optical window from an object positioned in the plane. The contamination detection unit detects contamination of the optical window by positioning the emission direction of the laser beam in a downward direction towards a pavement surface. The contamination detection unit determines whether or not the optical window is contaminated based on whether the reflected laser beam from the pavement surface is received.
Claims6
An object detecting apparatus for detecting an object around a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a laser sensor for emitting a laser beam through an optical window to scan in a plane by changing an emission direction of the laser beam, the laser sensor receiving a reflected laser beam through the optical window from an object positioned in the plane;
- and
- a contamination detection unit for detecting contamination of the optical window, wherein
- the contamination detection unit controls the emission direction of the laser beam in a downward direction towards a pavement surface to determine whether the optical window is contaminated based on whether the reflected laser beam from the pavement surface is received.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.