Patent ID: 8095313

Claim:
An active collision detection apparatus mounted in a vehicle comprising: a receiver that receives a received signal that is indicative of the presence of at least one remote object; a processor that is configured to analyze said received signal to determine azimuth values θ t at time t for said at least one remote object, wherein said azimuth value θ is an angle between a direction of travel of said vehicle and a line-of-sight to said at least one remote object, and to compute azimuth value velocities θV t and azimuth value accelerations θA t based on said azimuth values θ t ; said processor being further configured to analyze said received signal to determine initial range values R t at time t for said at least one remote object, wherein said range value R is a distance between said at least one remote object and said vehicle and to compute range value velocities RV t and range value accelerations RA t based on said range values R t ; wherein said processor is configured to determine a risk assessment P of collision of said vehicle with said at least one remote object according to a predetermined algorithm P t =tan h(risk_factor*(range_risk+azimuth_risk)), where risk factor=(γ*RV t /R t ) where γ is a scaling factor chosen according to the amount of said remote objects present around said vehicle, range_risk=tan h(0.5+RA t /RV t ) when RV t >0.0 else=0.0, and azimuth_risk=tan h(0.5+θA t /θV t ) when θV t >0.0; else=1.0; and, wherein said determined value of P indicates a degree of collision risk.