Patent ID: 7230524

Claim:
An obstacle detection device to be mounted on a vehicle for detecting and displaying an obstacle in a vicinity of the vehicle, the device comprising: an obstacle detection section for emitting beams having a predetermined divergence angle consecutively in a plurality of different directions, and for each direction, receiving a reflected wave from an obstacle and detecting the obstacle existing within an emission angle range of the beam for the direction; a distance calculation section for calculating, for each direction, a distance representative of an interspace between the obstacle and the vehicle based on a received signal of the reflected wave; an obstacle image creation section for creating, for each direction, an obstacle image as a figure two-dimensionally developed in the emission angle range of the corresponding beam while treating, as a basis for image creation, the distance calculated by the distance calculation section for the direction, and for creating and outputting image data for displaying the obstacle image; and a display section for receiving the image data created by the obstacle image creation section and displaying an image showing a positional relationship between the obstacle and the vehicle, wherein, for each direction, the obstacle image created by the obstacle image creation section is an arc figure whose center is an emission point of the beams and whose radius is the distance calculated by the distance calculation section for the direction, and wherein, for each direction, the obstacle image creation section changes a thickness of the arc figure as the obstacle image, in accordance with the distance calculated by the distance calculation section for the direction.