To positively identify whether an object detected by a vehicle-mounted radar is an obstacle such as a preceding vehicle or a road-side structure.
A detection signal from a laser radar 10 is supplied to an ECU (electronic control device) 12 for controlling distance between vehicles, detects the relative position to the object, and is outputted to a navigation ECU 16. The navigation ECU 16 detects the current position of a vehicle based on the signal of a GPS 14, a gyro sensor 18, and a vehicle speed sensor 20 and calculates the absolute position of the object. A map database 22 stores the position data of a road-side structure, and the navigation ECU 16 judges whether the road-side structure exists or not at the calculated absolute position of the object. When a corresponding road side structure exists, a constant-speed drive command is issued to an engine(E/G) ECU 24. On the other hand, when no corresponding road-side structure exists, the object is judged to be an obstacle such as a preceding vehicle and a deceleration command is issued.
SHIGA TSUNEO
AZUMA SHIGETOSHI
