Patent ID: 11881104
Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. An object detection apparatus to be installed on a vehicle, the object detection apparatus comprising:
an input port which, in operation,
receives pieces of information on a plurality of objects in surroundings of the vehicle from a sensor installed on the vehicle, wherein each of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects includes at least one of direction information, distance information, or relative speed information of each of the plurality of objects with reference to the vehicle, and
receives information on a traffic environment that includes information indicating a type of a road on which the vehicle is traveling from at least one of a navigation apparatus used in the vehicle, a traffic environment recognition apparatus installed on the road on which the vehicle is traveling, or the sensor;

a controller which, in operation,
assigns a priority for each of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects based on a corresponding piece of information of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects,
determines whether the type of the road indicated in the information on the traffic environment is one road type selected from a group of road types, wherein the group of road types includes an expressway, a general road, and an intersection,
changes the priority for one or more of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects based on whether the determined type of the road is the expressway, the general road, or the intersection, and
selects at least one of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects based on the priority for each of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects; and

an output port which, in operation, outputs the selected at least one of the pieces of information on the plurality of objects to an in-vehicle apparatus that controls the vehicle.