Collision monitoring for a motor vehicle

1. A computer-implemented method for collision monitoring for a motor vehicle, in which a surrounding area is monitored by at least one object sensor, the method comprising:

at least one computer processor performing the following:

providing a reference state for at least one first object situated in the surrounding area, as a reference object in a first stop operation, the reference state including reference position data of the at least one first object;

in a subsequent second stop operation, determining at least one of whether the motor vehicle has traveled a predefined minimum distance between the first stop operation and the second stop operation, and whether a predefined minimum time has elapsed;

if it is determined at least one of (i) that the motor vehicle has traveled a distance that is greater than the predefined minimum distance between the first stop operation and the second stop operation, and (ii) that a time that is greater than the predefined minimum time has elapsed, updating the reference state with position data of at least one second object situated in the surrounding area, as a reference object;

if a subsequent drive-off is intended, determining actual position data of the at least one second object as an actual state; and

detecting a potential collision when the actual state and the reference state indicate a distance of more than a predefined value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, if the motor vehicle has neither traveled the predefined minimum distance nor the predefined minimum time has elapsed, the reference state determined during the first stop operation is updated with the position data of the motor vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the length of the predefined minimum distance is selected so that it corresponds at least to a length of the region in the environment of the motor vehicle that a driver of the vehicle is unable to see.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predefined minimum distance corresponds to the length of the motor vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predefined minimum distance corresponds to the sum of the length of the motor vehicle and the lengths of the surrounding area in front of and behind the motor vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surrounding area is monitored with the aid of object sensors mounted on the motor vehicle, the object sensors including at least one of ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, laser sensors, and analyzing video recordings of the surrounding area.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a warning signal is output to a driver of the vehicle when a potential collision is detected.

8. A device for collision monitoring for a motor vehicle having at least one object sensor for monitoring a surrounding area, comprising:

a collision monitoring device including a computer processor, wherein the processor is configured to perform the following:

providing a reference state for at least one first object situated in the surrounding area, as a reference object in a first stop operation, the reference state including reference position data of the at least one first object;

in a subsequent second stop operation, determining at least one of whether the motor vehicle has traveled a predefined minimum distance between the first stop operation and the second stop operation, and whether a predefined minimum time has elapsed;

if it is determined at least one of (i) that the motor vehicle has traveled a distance that is greater than the predefined minimum distance between the first and the second stop operation, and (ii) that a time that is greater than the predefined minimum time has elapsed, updating the reference state with position data of at least one second object situated in the surrounding area, as a reference object;

if a subsequent drive-off is intended, determining actual position data of the at least one second object as an actual state; and

detecting a potential collision when the actual state and the reference state indicate a distance of more than a predefined value.

9. A computer readable medium having a computer program for a control device, the computer program being executable by a processor, comprising:

a program code arrangement having program code for collision monitoring for a motor vehicle, in which a surrounding area is monitored, by performing the following:

providing a reference state for at least one first object situated in the surrounding area, as a reference object in a first stop operation, the reference state including reference position data of the at least one first object;

in a subsequent second stop operation, determining at least one of whether the motor vehicle has traveled a predefined minimum distance between the first stop operation and the second stop operation, and whether a predefined minimum time has elapsed;

if it is determined at least one of (i) that the motor vehicle has traveled a distance that is greater than the predefined minimum distance between the first stop operation and the second stop operation, and (ii) that a time that is greater than the predefined minimum time has elapsed, updating the reference state with position data of at least one second object situated in the surrounding area, as a reference object;

if a subsequent drive-off is intended, determining actual position data of the at least one second object as an actual state; and

detecting a potential collision when the actual state and the reference state indicate a distance of more than a predefined value.