Method and apparatus for recognizing shape of road

An apparatus for recognizing a road shape, comprising:

• radar means for applying a transmission wave to a predetermined angular range in a width-wise direction of a vehicle, and detecting a position of an object on the basis of a reflected wave which results from reflection of the transmission wave;
• and
• recognizing means for recognizing a shape of a road extending ahead of the vehicle on the basis of a result of detection by the radar means;
• wherein the recognizing means comprises:
• 1) object recognizing means for detecting a position of the object and a relative speed of the object on the basis of the result of detection by the radar means, and for determining whether the object is moving or stationary on the basis of the detected relative speed of the object and a speed of the vehicle;
• 2) position calculating and memorizing means for, regarding at least one of right-hand and left-hand sides of the vehicle, calculating and memorizing a vehicle width-wise direction position where a stationary object effective for road shape recognition passes through the related side of the vehicle on the basic of a result of function by the object recognizing means;
• 3) correspondence determining means for determining whether or not an object currently handle by the object recognizing means corresponds to the vehicle width-wise direction position memorized by the position calculating and memorizing means;
• and
• 4) road edge recognizing means for, in cases where the correspondence determining means determines that the object currently handled by the object recognizing means corresponds to the vehicle width-wise direction position, recognizing a line connecting the vehicle width-wise wise direction position and the detected position of the object currently handled by the object recognizing means as a road edge.

An apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

• first means for periodically detecting stationary objects in an area extending ahead of the vehicle;
• second means for calculating positions of the stationary objects detected by the first means relative to the vehicle;
• third means for calculating speeds of the stationary objects detected by the first means relative to the vehicle;
• fourth means for, from the positions calculated by the second means and the speeds calculated by the third means, predicting positions on a transverse axis with respect to the vehicle through which the stationary objects detected by the first means will pass as viewed from the vehicle;
• fifth means for selecting positions from among the positions predicted by the fourth means;
• sixth means for calculating an average position among the positions selected by the fifth means;
• seventh means for selecting at least one stationary object from among the stationary objects detected by the first means;
• and
• eighth means for recognizing a line connecting the average position calculated by the sixth means and the position of the stationary object selected by the seventh means as a road edge.