Method for detecting icing at an angle-resolving radar sensor in a driver assistance system for motor vehicles

A driver assistance system for motor vehicles, comprising:

• an angle-resolving radar sensor;
• and
• an evaluation system connected downstream of the radar sensor, the evaluation system configured for detecting icing at an angle-resolving radar sensor in the driver assistance system in which signals of a plurality of antenna elements each having a specific angle characteristic are compared with corresponding angle characteristics, and an azimuth angle of a located object is determined based on an angle fit quality which indicates how well the signals of the antenna elements correspond to angle characteristics for a given azimuth angle, the evaluation system configured to form an indicator for icing which is a monotonically falling function of angle fit qualities of located objects, an object having a low signal-to-noise ratio being included in the indicator at most with a reduced weighting.

A storage medium storing a computer code for driver assistance systems for motor vehicles having an angle-resolving radar sensor, the program code, when executed by a driver assistance system, causing the system to perform a method for detecting icing at an angle-resolving radar sensor in the driver assistance system, in which signals of a plurality of antenna elements each having a specific angle characteristic are compared with corresponding angle characteristics, and an azimuth angle of a located object is determined based on an angle fit quality which indicates how well the signals of the antenna elements correspond to angle characteristics for a given azimuth angle, the method comprising:

• forming an indicator for icing which is a monotonically falling function of angle fit qualities of located objects, an object having a low signal-to-noise ratio being included in the indicator at most with a reduced weighting.