Patent ID: 7973911
Filing Date: 2011-07-05
Classification: G01S

Abstract:
1. An object measuring device mounted in a vehicle, comprising: a first emission section that emits, at a predetermined first spread angle, an electromagnetic wave to a predetermined region; a reception section that receives, by receiving elements arranged in a grid pattern, a reflected wave of the electromagnetic wave; a distance detection section that detects, for each of the receiving elements, a relative distance between each receiving element and a reflection point of the reflected wave, based on a reception time period from emission of the electromagnetic wave to reception of the reflected wave; a calculation section that calculates position information which indicates a position of the reflection point by using as a reference a position of mounting in the vehicle, based on at least the relative distance and an angle at which the reception section is mounted in the vehicle; a reference plane calculation section that calculates, as a reference plane, a plane parallel to a bottom surface of the vehicle, based on an orientation of the vehicle; an identification section that identifies, based on the position information, adjacent reflection points, wherein a difference in height from the reference plane between the adjacent reflection points is equal to or larger than a predetermined first threshold; and a second emission section that emits, at a second spread angle which is smaller than the first spread angle, the electromagnetic wave to the reflection points, when the identification section identifies the reflection points.