Patent ID: 7283212

Claim:
A vehicular radar device which detects an object within a detection area on the basis of detection data having a reception intensity exceeding a predefined threshold, the detection data being contained in reflected-wave data on waves irradiated into the detection area outward of a vehicle provided with the vehicular radar device, comprising control processing means capable of varying a direction or/and a range of the detection area in a vertical direction, the control processing means being operative to set, during a normal time, the direction or/and the range of the detection area in the vertical direction to a normal state in which the object is correctly detected, and perform a detection operation in the normal state, and being operative to perform, during a road-surface decision time for making a decision as to a road surface, a detection operation in a down state in which the direction or/and the range of the detection area is shifted comparatively downwardly in the vertical direction so that the road surface is correctly detected, and determine that, from among detection data obtained during the down state, detection data which varies in reception delay time compared to a detection operation in an immediately previous normal state is detection data relative to the road surface.