Patent ID: 8648744

Claim:
An object detection apparatus provided in a moving body comprising: an electromagnetic wave radiating-receiving section that radiates an electromagnetic wave and receives a reflection wave of the radiated electromagnetic wave; a reflection point identifying section that identifies, based on data regarding the reflection wave received by the electromagnetic wave radiating-receiving section, one or more reflection points on a detection target object at which the radiated electromagnetic wave was reflected; and a representative point setting section that sets a representative point representing a position of the detection target object from the one or more reflection points identified by the reflection point identifying section, the object detection apparatus outputting data regarding the set representative point, wherein the representative point setting section is configured to update the set representative point based on changes in the identified one or more reflection points by the reflection point identifying section, the representative point setting section is configured to update the set representative point by performing a correction on the set representative point, the correction prohibiting or minimizing a change in a position of the set representative point on the detection target object occurring as a result of a change in a relative position between the detection target object and the moving body, and the representative point setting section performs the correction on the set representative point in accordance with the change in the relative position between the detection target object and the moving body, wherein the correction performed by the representative point setting section is performed by changing the set representative point from a first one of the one or more reflection points to a second one of the one or more reflection points in accordance with a change in a relative position between the detection target object and the moving body.