Method for monitoring a surrounding area of a motor vehicle, sensor control unit, driver assistance system and motor vehicle
The invention relates to a method for monitoring a surrounding area ( 6 ) of a motor vehicle ( 1 ), wherein measurement points of surfaces of objects ( 7 ) in the surrounding area ( 6 ) detected by at least two sensor devices ( 4, 5 ) of the motor vehicle ( 1 ) are received, and wherein first measurement points of a first surface area ( 13 ) detected by a first sensor device ( 4 ) are received and second measurement points of a second surface area ( 14 ) with no overlap with the first surface area ( 13 ) detected by a second sensor device ( 5 ) are received, the first and second measurement points are used to determine a relative position of the surface areas ( 13, 14 ) with respect to each other, it is determined whether the surface areas ( 13, 14 ) are to be assigned to a single object ( 7 ) based on the relative position and, if so, the surface areas ( 13, 14 ) are combined into a total surface area ( 12 ) of the object ( 7 ). The invention also concerns a sensor control unit ( 9 ), a driver assistance system ( 2 ) and a motor vehicle ( 1 ).
1. A method for monitoring a surrounding area of a motor vehicle, comprising:
receiving measurement points of surface areas of objects in the surrounding area that are detected by at least two sensor devices of the motor vehicle, wherein first measurement points of a first surface area detected by a first sensor device are received, and second measurement points of a second surface area that is free of overlaps with the first surface area that are detected by a second sensor device are received;
determining a relative position of the first and second surface areas with respect to each other;
based on the relative position, determining whether the first and second surface areas are to be assigned to a single object and, when the first and second surface areas are assigned to the single object, the surface areas are combined to form a total surface area of the object; and
performing a driver assistance function based on the combined total surface area of the object.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a distance of two directly adjacent first and second measurement points is determined as the relative position of the first and second surface areas with respect to each other and based on the distance it is determined whether the surface areas are to be assigned to a single object.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein a first contour line is determined based on the first measurement points, a second contour line is determined based on the second measurement point, and depending on the distance of the two adjacent first and second measurement points, which correspond to mutually facing end points of the contour lines, the first contour line and the second contour line are combined into a total contour line representing the total surface area.
4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the first and second surface areas are assigned to a single object and are combined into the total surface area when the distance falls below a predetermined threshold value.
5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the first and second surface areas are assigned to a single object and are combined into the total surface area when values of the distance in at least two measurements of the sensor devices differ by no more than a predetermined limit value.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the assignment of the surface areas is carried out by at least one decentralized sensor control unit of the motor vehicle, and at least one item of object information determined by the at least one decentralized sensor control unit based on the assignment is transmitted to the central control unit of the motor vehicle.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein based on the surface areas at least one exclusion zone in the surrounding area that is not navigable by the motor vehicle is determined.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the case in which in addition third measurement points of a third surface area located in an overlap area of the detection areas of the sensor devices are received, confidence values for the sensor devices are determined based on the third measurement points.
9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein in the case in which the third measurement points are detected by the at least two sensor devices, the sensor devices are assigned a first confidence value, and in the case in which the third measurement points are only detected by one of the sensor devices, the respective other sensor device is assigned a lower second confidence value than the first confidence value.
10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein depending on the confidence values, weighting factors for the measurement points of the sensor devices are determined for the weighting of the measurement points when detecting objects.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the measurement points are detected in received sensor data of at least one lidar sensor and/or at least one camera and/or at least one radar sensor and/or at least one ultrasonic sensor of the sensor devices.
12. A sensor control unit for a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle for performing a method according to claim 1 .
13. A driver assistance system for a motor vehicle with at least two sensor devices for detecting measurement points of surface areas of objects in a surrounding area of the motor vehicle and with at least one sensor control unit according to claim 12 .
14. A motor vehicle with a driver assistance system according to claim 13 .