JP7322908B2 - Optical detection device and method for determining optical axis deviation in optical detection device - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to technology for determining optical axis deviation in an optical detection device.

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a technique for detecting optical axis deviation in a distance measuring device that detects an object or distance existing in front by scanning laser light (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-248056 A

However, the conventional technology requires the presence of a preceding vehicle as a reference object in the external world in order to detect optical axis deviation. Further, when the optical axis deviation is detected due to a decrease in the intensity of the output signal output from the distance measuring device, it takes time until the optical axis deviation is detected.

Therefore, there is a demand for early determination of optical axis misalignment in the optical detection device by itself.

The present disclosure can be implemented as the following aspects.

A first aspect provides an optical detection device. An optical detection device according to a first aspect includes a light-emitting section including a plurality of light-emitting elements, and a light-receiving element array formed of a plurality of light-receiving pixels that receive reflected light corresponding to the light emitted from the light-emitting section. The light-receiving unit and the light-emitting unit corresponding to the position of occurrence of light intensity unevenness caused by overlap of the light emitted from the plurality of light-emitting elements or non-overlapping of the light emitted from the plurality of light-emitting elements. An optical axis is detected by using a storage unit for storing a reference light receiving area in a light receiving element array, and a shift between the reference light receiving area and a detection light receiving area of the light intensity unevenness included in the reflected light of the irradiation light in the light receiving element array. and a determination unit that determines the deviation.

According to the optical detection device according to the first aspect, the optical detection device alone can quickly determine the optical axis deviation in the optical detection device.

A second aspect provides an optical axis deviation determination method in an optical detection device. A method for determining an optical axis deviation in an optical detection device according to a second aspect includes a light receiving element array formed of a plurality of light receiving pixels that receive reflected light according to irradiation light from a light emitting section having a plurality of light emitting elements. The provided light-receiving unit detects light intensity unevenness caused by overlap of the irradiation light of the plurality of light-emitting elements or non-overlapping of the irradiation light of the plurality of light-emitting elements, which is included in the reflected light of the irradiation light on the light-receiving element array. A detection light-receiving area is obtained, a reference light-receiving area is obtained in the light-receiving element array prepared in advance corresponding to a position of occurrence of light intensity spots contained in the irradiation light, and the reference light-receiving area and the detection light-receiving area are obtained. The optical axis deviation is determined by using the deviation from .

According to the optical axis deviation determination method in the optical detection device according to the second aspect, the optical detection device alone can quickly determine the optical axis deviation in the optical detection device. The present disclosure can also be implemented as an optical axis deviation determination program for an optical detection device or a computer-readable recording medium for recording the program.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a vehicle equipped with an optical detection device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an optical detection device used in the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a light receiving element array used in the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between light emitting elements, light receiving pixels, and light emission intensity in a conventional example; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between light emitting elements, light receiving pixels, and light emission intensity in a conventional example; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between light emitting elements, light receiving pixels, and light emission intensity in the optical detection device according to the first embodiment; 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the optical detection device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of optical axis deviation determination processing executed by the optical detection device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between light emitting elements, light receiving pixels, and light emission intensity in the optical detection device according to the second embodiment; FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of rotational optical axis deviation in the optical detection device according to the second embodiment; 10 is a flow chart showing the processing flow of optical axis deviation determination processing executed by the optical detection device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of changing light-receiving pixels in the optical detection device according to the second embodiment;

An optical detection device according to the present disclosure and an optical axis deviation determination method in the optical detection device will be described below based on several embodiments.

First embodiment:
As shown in FIG. 1, an optical detection device 10 for a vehicle according to the first embodiment is used by being mounted on a vehicle 50, for example. The optical detection device 10 includes a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) 200 and a control device 100 that controls the operation of the lidar 200 . Note that the optical detection device 10 is also called a distance measuring device, and can use the lidar 200 to detect the position and characteristics of the target as well as the distance to the target. Further, the optical detection device 10 may be used as a detection unit of a moving object other than the vehicle 50, such as a drone or a robot, or a stationary monitoring device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical detection device 10 controls the light-emitting operation and the light-receiving operation of the lidar 200, which is a light measurement unit that emits detection light by light emission and receives the incident detection reflected light. and a control device 100 . Rider 200 and control device 100 may be housed in a physically integrated housing, or may be housed in separate housings. The lidar 200 includes a light receiving section 20, a light emitting section 30, an electric motor 40, a rotation angle sensor 41 and a scanning mirror . When the scanning direction is the horizontal direction HD, the lidar 200 has a predetermined scanning angle range SR in the horizontal direction HD. By executing detection light irradiation by the light emitting unit 30 and detection reflection light reception by the light receiving unit 20, detection reflection points are acquired over the entire scanning angle range SR, and distance measurement is realized. The unit scanning angle SC defines the resolution of the lidar 200 in the horizontal direction HD or the resolution of the distance measurement result obtained by the lidar 200. and higher resolution. Acquisition of detection points in units of unit scanning angles SC in the lidar 200, that is, light emission and light reception processing, is performed when scanning the scanning angle range SR in one direction, or when scanning the scanning angle range SR in both directions. is executed when The scanning angle range SR can be divided into a plurality of rows in the vertical direction VD according to the configuration of the light receiving elements in the light receiving section 20 and the light receiving processing procedure. In the example of FIG. 2, it is divided into four lines L1 to L4. The optical detection device 10 may have the vertical direction VD as scanning direction, in which case it has a predetermined scanning angle range SR in the vertical direction VD. Note that the terms horizontal and vertical refer to the orientation of the optical detection device 10 in the arranged state, and the vertical direction refers to the vertical direction. The same applies to vertical direction VD and horizontal direction HD below.

The light-receiving unit 20 includes a light-receiving control unit 21, a light-receiving element array 22, and a light-receiving lens (not shown). is executed, and light reception processing is executed for outputting background light image data in response to ambient light that is incident without being reflected from the light emitting unit 30 . The ambient light includes ambient light of the surrounding atmosphere caused by sunlight or illumination light, which is not detected light from the light emitting unit 30, and reflected light and scattered light from surrounding objects irradiated with sunlight or illumination light. . As shown in FIG. 3, the light receiving element array 22 is a flat optical sensor in which a plurality of light receiving elements 220 are arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions, that is, in the directions corresponding to the horizontal direction HD and the vertical direction VD of the scanning angle range SR. , and for example, SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode) and other photodiodes constitute each light receiving element. Note that the term "light-receiving pixel 230" may be used as the minimum unit of light-receiving processing, that is, a light-receiving unit corresponding to a detection point. It means either one of the light-receiving pixels 232 and 233 configured by light-receiving elements. In this embodiment, the light-receiving pixel 230 having one light-receiving element in the vertical direction VD, for example, the light-receiving pixel 231 of 1×1 in length×width or the light-receiving pixel 232 of 1×2 in length×width is provided in the light-receiving element array 22 . is used. In the light-receiving element array 22, the number of light-receiving pixels, that is, the number of light-receiving elements constituting a light-receiving unit decreases, the light-receiving unit, that is, the number of detection points increases. In this embodiment, the light-receiving element array 22 corresponds to four rows L1, L2, L3, and L4 in the scanning angle range SR from the top in the vertical direction VD, each of which is composed of a plurality of light-receiving pixels 230. It comprises rows RL1, RL2, RL3, RL4. That is, in the present embodiment, among the plurality of light receiving elements 220 included in the light receiving element array 22, groups of the plurality of light receiving pixels 230 corresponding to the light receiving pixel rows RL1, RL2, RL3, and RL4 are used for light receiving processing.

The light-receiving control unit 21 controls the light-receiving pixels 230 corresponding to the light-receiving pixel rows RL1 to RL4 in units of the unit scanning angle SC, that is, in units of columns corresponding to the unit scanning angle SC, according to the light emission of the detection light by the light-emitting unit 30. is used to perform light receiving processing for outputting an incident light intensity signal corresponding to the amount or intensity of the incident light. Specifically, the light receiving control unit 21 uses all the light receiving pixels 230 to generate a current generated by the light receiving elements constituting the light receiving pixels 230 according to the amount of incident light, or a current converted from the current, for each unit scanning angle SC. The voltage obtained is taken out and output to the control device 100 as an incident light intensity signal. Alternatively, when light emission corresponding to each row of the scanning angle range SR is performed in the light emitting unit 30, the light receiving pixels 230 corresponding to the light emitting row are selected and output to the control device 100 as incident light intensity signals. The incident light intensity signal may be output to the control device 100 for each unit scan SC, and when the scanning over the scanning angle range SR is completed, the incident light intensity signal corresponding to the scanning angle range SR is output to the control device 100. may be output for It is also possible to say that an incident light intensity signal corresponding to the total number of photons received by the light receiving elements forming each light receiving pixel 230 is output to the control device 100 . In general, in a SPAD, the amount of incident light obtained by one light receiving element 220 is small. The S/N is improved by adding by the unit. A distance measurement function unit that performs distance measurement of a detection point by TOF (Time Of Flight) or the like may be integrally provided as a circuit of the light reception control unit 21, and is executed in the control device 100 as described later. It may be provided as a program that

The light emitting unit 30 includes a light emission control unit 31, a light emitting element 32, and a collimator lens, and emits detection light once or discretely multiple times for each unit scanning angle SC. The light emitting element 32 is, for example, one or more infrared laser diodes, and emits infrared laser light as detection light. The light emitting section 30 may have a single light emitting element in the vertical direction, or may have a plurality of light emitting elements. When a plurality of light emitting elements are provided, the light emitting element that emits light can be switched by the light emission control section 31 according to the scanning timing. The light emission control unit 31 drives the light emitting elements with a drive signal having a pulse drive waveform in response to a light emission control signal input from the control device 100 for each unit scanning angle and instructing the light emitting elements to emit light, thereby generating infrared laser light. Execute light emission. The infrared laser light emitted from the light emitting unit 30 is reflected by the scanning mirror 42 and emitted toward the outside of the lidar 200, that is, the range where detection of the target object is desired.

4 to 6, the relationship between the light emitted from the light emitting unit, the reflected light corresponding to the emitted light, and the light receiving position of the reflected light on the light receiving element array will be described. 4 and 5 show a conventional example, and FIG. 6 shows an example of this embodiment. In addition, since there is no difference between the conventional example and the example of the present embodiment with respect to the light emitting portion, the reference numerals in the present embodiment will be used for explanation. The light-emitting section 30 has a plurality of light-emitting elements 32 in the vertical direction VD. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, four light-emitting elements 32 are arranged. In FIG. 6, light-receiving pixels 230 used for light-receiving processing are extracted from the light-receiving element array 22 shown in FIG. Irradiation light emitted from each light emitting element 32 is combined by a collimator lens PL and emitted toward the outside of the optical detection device 10 . The luminescence intensity of the combined irradiation light takes the following aspects. When the irradiation regions of two adjacent light emitting elements 32 overlap, the emission intensity in the overlapping region LP is higher than the emission intensity in other non-overlapping irradiation regions. On the other hand, when the irradiation regions of the two adjacent light emitting elements 32 do not overlap, that is, when the non-irradiation region Sp is formed, the emission intensity in the non-irradiation region Sp is lower than the emission intensity in the irradiation region. These high and low intensities, that is, the existence of the overlapping area LP and the non-irradiated area Sp form light intensity spots. The light-receiving element array 60 in the conventional example includes, for example, four light-receiving pixels 61 according to the arrangement direction of the light-emitting elements 32, and each light-receiving pixel 61 is arranged so as not to overlap the overlapping area LP or the non-illuminated area Sp. That is, they are arranged with a gap 62 so as to exclude the overlapping region LP or the non-irradiated region Sp. Conventionally, with this configuration, it has been attempted to suppress the variation in the light-receiving signal caused by the unevenness of the light intensity, and the decrease in the ranging accuracy caused by the variation in the light-receiving signal.

On the other hand, in the example of the present embodiment, the light receiving element array 22 is arranged without gaps according to the arrangement direction of the light emitting elements 32. A plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 are provided to receive light. More specifically, the light-receiving element array 22 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of light-receiving pixels in each light-receiving position corresponding to each overlapping area LP included in the irradiation area of the light-emitting element 32, that is, in the light-receiving areas LA1, LA2, and LA3. 230 is arranged. The light-receiving positions corresponding to the overlap region LP, that is, the light-receiving regions LA1 to LA3 are provided with a plurality of light-receiving pixels 230. For example, the plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 provided in one of the adjacent light-receiving pixel arrays provide light-receiving pixels 230 in each of the light-receiving regions LA1 to LA3. may be formed, or each of the light receiving areas LA1 to LA3 may be formed by one or more light receiving pixels 230 included in both of the adjacent light receiving pixel rows RL1, RL2, RL2, RL3, and RL3, RL4. In the example of FIG. 6, each light-receiving pixel 230 has one light-receiving element 220 in the vertical direction corresponding to the arrangement direction of the light-emitting elements 32. The dimension is the height of one light receiving pixel 220 . On the other hand, as long as a plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 are arranged in the light-receiving areas LA1, LA2, and LA3, light-receiving pixels 230 having two or more light-receiving elements 220 are provided in the vertical direction corresponding to the arrangement direction of the light-emitting elements 32. can be In other words, the light-receiving pixels 230 may be set to a dimension that allows the plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 to receive the overlapping region LP that causes uneven light intensity contained in the reflected light. The dimension of the light receiving pixel 230, that is, the length in the vertical direction VD is, for example, several tens of micrometers. On the other hand, the same length of the conventional light-receiving element is, for example, several 100 μm, which is one order of magnitude longer. Note that the non-irradiation area Sp can also be associated with a plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 in the same manner.

The electric motor 40 includes an electric motor driver (not shown). A rotation angle sensor 41 for detecting the rotation angle of the electric motor 40 is arranged on the electric motor 40 . The electric motor driver receives a rotation angle signal input from the rotation angle sensor 41 and receives a rotation angle instruction signal output by the control device 100 to change the voltage applied to the electric motor 40 to control the rotation angle of the electric motor 40 . The electric motor 40 is, for example, an ultrasonic motor, a brushless motor, or a brush motor, and has a well-known mechanism for reciprocating within the scanning angle range SR. A scanning mirror 42 is attached to the tip of the output shaft of the electric motor 40 . The scanning mirror 42 is a reflector for scanning the detection light emitted from the light emitting element 32 in the horizontal direction HD, that is, a mirror body. is realized. One reciprocating scan by the scanning mirror 42 is called one frame, which is the detection unit of the lidar 200 . Further, the emission of the detection light by the light emitting unit 30 is performed in correspondence with the displacement of the scanning mirror 42 in the forward direction or the displacement in the reciprocating direction. That is, object detection by lidar 200 can only be performed in one or both directions in scan angle range SR. The scanning mirror 42 achieves scanning of detection light and reception of reflected light in a scanning angle range of 120 degrees and 180 degrees, for example. Scanning in the vertical direction VD may be performed instead of the horizontal direction HD. Also, in addition to the horizontal direction HD, scanning in the vertical direction VD, that is, the scanning position in the vertical direction VD may be changed. To achieve scanning in the horizontal direction HD and the vertical direction VD, the scanning mirror 42 may be a polygonal mirror, for example, a polygon mirror, or a single-sided mirror with a mechanism that is swung in the vertical direction VD. It may comprise a mirror or another single-sided mirror which is swung in the vertical direction VD. The scanning mirror 42 may be rotationally driven by the electric motor 40 to perform rotational scanning. In this case, the light emitting unit 30 and the light receiving unit 20 perform light emission/light reception processing corresponding to the scanning angle range SR. I wish I could. Furthermore, for example, when a scanning angle range SR of about 60 degrees is realized, the scanning mirror 42 is not provided, and a light-receiving element array having a width corresponding to the scanning angle range SR is provided to sequentially select rows and columns. Detection of an object, that is, distance measurement processing may be performed by this.

The detection light emitted from the light emitting section 30 is reflected by the scanning mirror 42 and scanned over the horizontal scanning angle range SR in units of the unit scanning angle SC. The detection light reflected by the target is reflected by the scanning mirror 42 to the light receiving section 20 and is incident on the light receiving section 20 for each unit scanning angle SC. The light receiving unit 20 performs light receiving processing for each column according to the light emission timing of the light emitting unit 30 . The unit scanning angle SC at which light receiving processing is performed is sequentially incremented, and as a result, scanning for light receiving processing over the desired scanning angle range SR becomes possible. The light emitting section 30 and the light receiving section 20 may be rotated together with the scanning mirror 42 by the electric motor 40 , or may be separate from the scanning mirror 42 and not rotated by the electric motor 40 . Furthermore, without the scanning mirror 42, a plurality of light-receiving pixels or light-receiving element arrays 22 arranged in an array corresponding to the scanning angle range SR are provided, and the laser light is sequentially directly irradiated to the outside and received. A configuration may be provided in which the pixels are sequentially switched to directly receive the reflected light.

As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101 as an arithmetic unit, a memory 102 as a storage unit, an input/output interface 103 as an input/output unit, and a clock generator (not shown). . The CPU 101, memory 102, input/output interface 103 and clock generator are connected via an internal bus 104 so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally. The memory 102 includes a memory, such as a ROM, as a storage unit that non-volatilely and read-only stores an optical axis deviation determination program Pr1 for executing the optical axis deviation determination process, and a memory, such as a RAM, that can be read and written by the CPU 101. contains. The non-volatile and read-only areas of the memory 102 include a reference light receiving area storage area 102a for storing a reference light receiving area RP which is used as a reference when judging the optical axis deviation, and an optical axis deviation prediction timing storage area for storing the prediction time of the optical axis deviation. 102b. Note that the non-volatile read-only area may be rewritable when updating the program or updating the reference value. The CPU 101, that is, the control device 100 functions as a determination unit by loading the optical axis deviation determination program Pr1 stored in the memory 102 into a readable/writable memory and executing the program. Note that the CPU 101 may be a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs executing each program, or a multitasking or multithreading type CPU capable of simultaneously executing a plurality of programs. Also good.

The input/output interface 103 is connected to the light receiving control section 21 forming the light receiving section 20, the light emission control section 31 forming the light emitting section 30, the electric motor 40, and the rotation angle sensor 41 via respective control signal lines. A light emission control signal is transmitted to the light emission control unit 31, a light reception control signal for instructing light reception processing for object detection is transmitted to the light reception control unit 21, and the detected reflected light intensity is transmitted from the light reception control unit 21. An incident light intensity signal indicative of is received. A rotation angle instruction signal is transmitted to the electric motor 40 and a rotation angle signal is received from the rotation angle sensor 41 .

Optical axis deviation determination processing executed by the optical detection device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described. The processing routine shown in FIG. 8 can be executed each time the optical detection device 10 has been in operation for a predetermined period of time, such as 10 days, 30 days, or 2 months. Further, when the optical detection device 10 is mounted on the vehicle 50 and used, each time the control system of the vehicle is started, or the start switch is turned on, or the accumulated running time of the vehicle 50 is detected in advance. It may be executed each time a predetermined time elapses, or each time the accumulated travel distance of the vehicle 50 exceeds a predetermined distance. Furthermore, it may be executed after the vehicle 50 has been inspected and repaired. The processing flow shown in FIG. 8 is executed by the CPU 101 executing the optical axis deviation determination program Pr1.

The CPU 101 acquires the detected reflected light from the light receiving section 20 via the input/output interface 103 (step S100). The detection reflected light is incident light that is incident on the light receiving unit 20 after the irradiation light as the detection light emitted by the light emitting unit 30 is reflected by the object. The reflected light received by the light-receiving unit 20, more specifically, the light-receiving element array 22 includes light corresponding to the overlap region LP or the non-irradiation region Sp included in the irradiation light of the light-emitting unit 30 shown in FIG. Contains intensity spots. The incident light intensity output from the light receiving pixels 230 that receive reflected light corresponding to the overlapping region LP is output from the light receiving pixels 230 that receive reflected light corresponding to normal regions other than the overlapping region LP and the non-illuminated region Sp. higher than the incident light intensity. On the other hand, the incident light intensity output from the light receiving pixels 230 that receive the reflected light corresponding to the non-irradiation area Sp is lower than the incident light intensity output from the light receiving pixels 230 that receive the reflected light corresponding to the normal area. Therefore, whether or not the light-receiving pixel 230 receives the light intensity unevenness can be determined using the incident light intensity. For example, the light-receiving pixels 230 whose difference from the incident light intensity output from the light-receiving pixels 230 that receive the reflected light corresponding to the normal area are larger than the predetermined determination difference are the light-receiving pixels 230 that receive the uneven light intensity. can be determined to be The positions of the light receiving pixels 230 that receive the light intensity spots can be easily identified by assigning position numbers to the light receiving pixels 230 in advance. Note that the determination difference is the statistical value of the incident light intensity of the reflected light corresponding to the normal region obtained by using the optical detection device 10, for example, the average value or the median value, and the incident light intensity corresponding to the light intensity unevenness. may be successively updated, ie learned, using statistics of, for example, mean and median values. In this case, it is possible to use a determination difference that reflects the influence of the environment in which the optical detection device 10 is actually used, and it is possible to improve the determination accuracy of the light-receiving pixels 230 that receive light intensity spots.

The CPU 101 acquires a reference light receiving area prepared in advance from the reference light receiving area storage area 102a of the memory 102 (step S102). The reference light-receiving region is a light-receiving position in the light-receiving element array 22 corresponding to the position where the light intensity unevenness included in the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 30 occurs. It is the position of the light-receiving pixel 230 that receives the reflected light corresponding to the overlapping area LP or the non-irradiation area Sp when mounted. The positions of the light-receiving pixels 230 that receive the reflected light corresponding to the overlapping region LP or the non-irradiated region Sp are obtained in advance at the timing when the optical detection device 10 is installed, and are stored in the reference light-receiving region storage region 102a as position numbers. Stored. In addition, in the first embodiment, the reference light receiving area is also called a reference light receiving position.

The CPU 101 determines whether the position of the light intensity spots obtained from the light receiving unit 20, that is, the detected light receiving area of the overlapping area LP or the non-irradiated area Sp, that is, the actual light receiving position matches the reference light receiving position obtained from the memory 102. It is determined whether or not to do so (step S104). Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the position number of the light receiving pixel 230 corresponding to the actual light receiving position matches the position number of the reference light receiving position. When the CPU 101 determines that the actual light-receiving position and the reference light-receiving position match (step S104: Yes), the CPU 101 determines that the optical axis has not shifted, and terminates this processing routine. This is because, when the actual light receiving position and the reference light receiving position match, no optical axis deviation has occurred in the optical detection device 10 . In addition, since the light intensity spots can be detected by a plurality of light receiving pixels 230, for example, among the actual light receiving positions, even if a small position number or an intermediate position number is compared with the position number of the corresponding reference light receiving position. Better, all the position numbers of the actual light receiving positions may be compared with the position numbers of all the reference light receiving positions.

When determining that the actual light receiving position and the reference light receiving position do not match (step S104: No), the CPU 101 acquires the positional deviation amount Dp (step S106). The positional deviation amount Dp is, for example, the difference between the position number RN of the actual light receiving position and the position number SN of the reference light receiving position. Alternatively, the physical distance from one end of the light receiving element array 22 to the center of each light receiving pixel 230 or the reference point is associated in advance, and the difference between the distance of the actual light receiving position and the distance of the reference light receiving position is obtained. Also good. The CPU 101 determines whether or not the positional deviation amount Dp<the allowable deviation amount Dra (step S108), and if it determines that the positional deviation amount Dp<the allowable deviation amount Dra (step S108: Yes), the optical axis deviation is The timing of occurrence is predicted (step S112), and this processing routine ends. The permissible deviation amount Dra is a value smaller than the non-permissible deviation amount Drc used for determining that the optical axis deviation has occurred. This is the amount of deviation that is set to be obtained. The prediction of the timing of occurrence of the optical axis deviation is performed by calculating the positional deviation amount of the actual light receiving position per time or the number of executions of this processing routine using the position information of the actual light receiving position at the time of execution of this processing routine, This is achieved by calculating a positional deviation amount that will occur with the passage of time as a predicted positional deviation amount, and calculating the time when the predicted positional deviation amount exceeds the allowable deviation amount Dra. The calculated predicted occurrence time of the optical axis shift is stored in the optical axis shift predicted time storage area 102 b of the memory 102 . In addition to the storage in the optical axis deviation prediction time storage area 102b, notification processing for the user of the optical detection device 10 at a timing corresponding to the optical axis deviation prediction time, for example, one month or two weeks later. may be performed. When the optical detection device 10 is mounted on the vehicle 50 , an information prompting inspection may be issued via an information display device provided on the vehicle 50 . Furthermore, the predicted timing of the optical axis displacement stored in the optical axis displacement predicted timing storage area 102b is used as diagnosis information for the optical detection device 10, and is checked by the mechanic at the timing of the periodic inspection and maintenance. It may be used for Furthermore, using the usage status of the vehicle 50, specifically, the monthly mileage and the weekly mileage, the mileage until the optical axis misalignment may occur may be reported.

When the CPU 101 determines that the amount of misalignment Dp is not less than the amount of misalignment Dra, that is, the amount of misalignment Dp is equal to or greater than the amount of misalignment Dra (step S108: No), the amount of misalignment Dp<non-permissible amount of misalignment Drc. It is determined whether or not (step S110). When the CPU 101 determines that the positional deviation amount Dp<non-permissible deviation amount Drc (step S110: Yes), the process proceeds to step S112. In this case, since an unacceptable optical axis deviation has not yet occurred, preventive processing is executed. When the CPU 101 determines that the positional deviation amount Dp is not less than the unacceptable deviation amount Drc, that is, the positional deviation amount Dp is equal to or greater than the unacceptable deviation amount Drc (step S110: No), the CPU 101 determines that the optical axis deviation has occurred. It is notified (step S114), and this processing routine ends. If the positional deviation amount Dp is greater than or equal to the unacceptable deviation amount Drc, an unacceptable optical axis deviation has occurred in the optical detection device 10 . The unacceptable displacement amount Drc corresponds to the displacement amount of the actual light receiving position corresponding to the unacceptable optical axis displacement. This is the deviation amount corresponding to the optical axis deviation that can be lower than the accuracy. The predetermined accuracy is, for example, an error rate assumed in advance, such as ±5%. The user of the optical detection device 10 is notified of the misalignment of the optical axis. A notification prompting an inspection can be performed. The unacceptable deviation amount Drc is a first determination value, and the allowable deviation amount Dra is a second determination value smaller than the first determination value.

According to the optical detection device 10 according to the first embodiment described above, the actual light receiving position of the light intensity spots detected by the light receiving unit 20 including the light receiving element array 22 formed by the plurality of light receiving pixels 230 and the , and the reference light-receiving position in the light-receiving element array 22 corresponding to the position where the light intensity spots in the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 30 occur. A single diagnosis can be made at an early stage. Moreover, it is possible to improve the determination accuracy of the optical axis deviation. Specifically, by using a plurality of light-receiving pixels 230, the detection accuracy of the actual light-receiving position of the light intensity spot of each light-receiving pixel 230 is improved, and the accuracy of determining the deviation amount from the reference light-receiving position is improved. As a result, it becomes possible to detect an optical axis deviation before an unacceptable optical axis deviation, which could not be detected in the conventional art, occurs. can be done. In contrast, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, conventional optical detectors have light-receiving pixels 61 arranged so as not to receive uneven light intensity, or have light-receiving pixels 61 with large dimensions. Therefore, the light receiving position of the light intensity unevenness cannot be specified. Therefore, the signal intensity of the detection signal output from the light-receiving unit is observed over a long period of time, and only when a decrease in signal intensity is observed is the optical axis misalignment determined. , when the optical axis misalignment is determined, the optical axis misalignment has occurred so large that the accuracy of distance measurement is greatly reduced.

Further, the plurality of light receiving pixels 230 are arranged without gaps in the arrangement direction of the light emitting elements 32 so that the light intensity spots included in the reflected light are received by the plurality of light receiving pixels 230, or each of the plurality of light receiving pixels 230 is arranged. The light-receiving pixels 230 are dimensioned such that the light intensity spots contained in the reflected light are received by the plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 . Therefore, it becomes possible to determine the position of the light intensity unevenness with higher accuracy, and it is possible to improve the determination accuracy of the amount of optical axis deviation.

In the above embodiment, the reference light receiving position set when the optical detection device 10 is mounted on the vehicle 50 is used. The incident light intensity corresponding to the reflected light and the incident light intensity corresponding to the light intensity unevenness obtained during running are statistically processed, for example, using the average value or median value to generate the reference light receiving position, that is, the optical axis deviation The light-receiving position of the light intensity spots in the light-receiving element array 22 in the case where it is not performed may be updated, that is, learned. In this case, it is possible to set the reference light receiving position that reflects the actual running state of the vehicle 50 and the installation environment of the optical detection device 10. For example, the reference light receiving position that reflects the vibration of the vehicle 50 accompanying running By setting , it is possible to determine the optical axis deviation by excluding or reducing the disturbance caused by the behavior of the vehicle 50 .

Second embodiment:
An optical detection device in a vehicle according to the second embodiment will be described. The optical detection device for a vehicle according to the second embodiment has a horizontal optical axis offset, a rotational optical axis offset, and a relative relationship between the lens and the light receiving element array 22 in addition to the vertical optical axis offset. It is different from the optical detection device 10 according to the first embodiment in that it detects a typical optical axis deviation. On the other hand, the configuration of the optical detection device according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the optical detection device 10 according to the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals are given and the description is omitted. The optical axis deviation determination program Pr1 is executed by the CPU 101 to implement the processing flow shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, the term "light receiving area" includes not only the position of the light receiving area but also the size and area of the light receiving area. Therefore, in the reference light receiving area storage area 102a of the memory 102, in addition to the reference light receiving position, the reference light receiving area of the light receiving area corresponding to the light intensity spot is stored as the reference light receiving area information.

FIG. 6, which is used to explain the optical axis shift in the vertical direction VD, clearly shows the configuration of each light receiving pixel 230 in the vertical direction VD, and does not show the detailed configuration of each light receiving pixel 230 in the horizontal direction. omitted. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the optical axis deviation in the horizontal direction HD, the optical axis deviation in the rotational direction, and the relative optical axis deviation between the lens and the light receiving element array 22 are also determined. Therefore, the light-receiving pixels 230 are arranged without gaps in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the light-emitting elements 32 . In FIG. 9, the configuration of each light receiving pixel 230 in the horizontal direction is also explicitly shown, that is, each light receiving pixel 230 shown in FIG. 6 is configured to have a plurality of light receiving pixels 230 in the horizontal direction. specifically described. In the example of FIG. 9, the light-receiving pixel 230 having one light-receiving element in the vertical direction VD and the horizontal direction HD, that is, the light-receiving element array 22 having 1×1 light-receiving pixels 231 is used. As described in the first embodiment, the light-receiving pixels 230 used for the light-receiving process are some of the plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 in the light-receiving element array 22 including the plurality of light-receiving elements 220, In FIG. 9, light receiving processing is performed by the light receiving pixels 230 forming four light receiving blocks RB1, RB2, RB3, and RB4. 9 schematically shows the light receiving element array 22, and the light receiving element array 22 may include, for example, 596 vertical×42 horizontal light receiving elements, or other combination of rows×columns. Further, the light-receiving element array 22 may be configured to detect optical axis misalignment in the vertical, horizontal, and rotational directions, that is, to include a plurality of light-receiving pixels 230 in the vertical direction VD and the horizontal direction HD. may have any number of light receiving elements such as 2×2, 1×2, 2×1.

In the present embodiment, for ease of explanation, light-receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 having a substantially circular shape will be used as the light-receiving areas for light intensity spots. The substantially rectangular shape includes an ellipse, and the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 may have substantially rectangular shapes including trapezoids, parallelograms, polygons, and other shapes. In the case of a substantially circular shape, the position of the center of the circle, and in the case of a substantially rectangular shape, the position of the center of gravity can be regarded as the center of the light receiving area, that is, the position of the corresponding light receiving pixel 230 . In the example of FIG. 9, the position of each light receiving pixel 230 in the light receiving element array 22 can be represented by XY coordinates when the vertical direction VD is the Y direction and the horizontal direction HD is the X direction. The light-receiving pixels 230 that receive the light intensity spots, or the light-receiving positions of the light-receiving pixels 230, that is, the method of determining the light-receiving regions have already been described in the first embodiment.

The light receiving element array 22 on the left side indicated by symbol A in FIG. 10 schematically shows a light receiving state when there is no optical axis deviation in any of the vertical, horizontal, rotation axis, and optical axis directions, and is indicated by symbol B. The light-receiving element array 22 on the right side schematically shows a light-receiving state when the optical axis of the rotation axis is misaligned and blurring occurs. Note that the blur is an optical axis shift in the optical axis direction of the optical detection device 10, and is an optical system related to the focus in a direction parallel to the optical axis, mainly a lens such as the collimator lens PL and the light receiving element array 22. 10, it appears in the light receiving areas LA11 and LA21. The blur appears on the light-receiving element array 22 as a change in the size of the light-receiving region, that is, the area. If the relative distance is reduced and becomes smaller than the reference light-receiving area due to the configuration of the optical detection device 10, the relative distance between the collimator lens PL and the light-receiving element array 22 is increased. An increase or decrease in the relative distance between the collimator lens PL and the light receiving element array 22 with respect to the reference distance is caused by at least one of positional deviation of the collimator lens PL and positional deviation of the light receiving element array 22 in the direction parallel to the optical axis.

In B of FIG. 10, the light receiving area LA11 and the light receiving area LA21 are shifted in the horizontal direction (X direction) with respect to the reference position (reference straight line BVL) shown in A, and the area is increased. The positions of the light receiving areas LA11 and LA21 shown in FIG. 10B can be obtained as coordinate positions with the upper left side of the light receiving element array 22 as the origin position (x, y)=(0, 0). That is, the barycenter position obtained using the coordinate positions of the corresponding plurality of light receiving pixels 230 or the coordinate value corresponding to the center position can be obtained as the coordinate position indicating the position of each of the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31. . The type of positional deviation and the amount of positional deviation (degree of positional deviation) of each of the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 are calculated by calculating a detection straight line RVL passing through the center of each of the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 shown in B of FIG. It can be obtained by calculating a straight line passing through the centers of the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 serving as a reference shown in A of FIG. The linear expression representing the reference straight line BVL is predetermined, and the linear expression representing the detection straight line RVL may be determined using the coordinate positions of the light receiving areas LA11 and LA31. may be calculated by a well-known linear approximation method such as the least squares method using the three points. In the example of B in FIG. 10, the light receiving area LA21 is shifted in the horizontal direction, and the detection straight line RVL is rotated by the rotation angle θ with respect to the reference straight line BVL. The amount of axis deviation of the detection straight line RVL in the horizontal direction HD and the vertical direction VD with respect to the reference straight line BVL can be calculated using the coordinate values of the midpoint of the reference straight line BVL and the midpoint of the detection straight line RVL. The rotation angle θ formed by the BVL can be calculated by various well-known methods, such as a method using the inner product of two vectors.

Furthermore, the area of the light receiving area LA11 is larger than the area of the light receiving area LA21, and the relative distance between the collimator lens PL and the light receiving element array 22 increases upward in FIG. There is an optical axis shift in the direction of the optical axis where the With regard to blurring, for example, the degree of blurring may be determined from a predetermined relationship between the area size of the light receiving region and the relative distance between the collimator lens PL and the light receiving area. The degree of blurring may be determined from the relationship between the area of the region and the inclination of the detection straight line RVL with respect to the surface of the light receiving element array 22 . The size, that is, the area of each light receiving area LA11, LA21, LA31 is obtained by multiplying the number of light receiving pixels 230 constituting each light receiving area LA11, LA21, LA31 by the area of one predetermined light receiving pixel 230. Alternatively, the area of a circle approximately calculated with the diameter being the maximum distance obtained from the coordinate positions of the light receiving pixels 230 constituting each of the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31, or the maximum distance of two orthogonal sides being approximately the two sides. can be obtained as the area of a rectangle calculated as In this embodiment, an exact value of the area is not required, and it is sufficient to compare it with a reference area determined by the same calculation method.

Optical axis deviation determination processing executed by the optical detection device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described. The processing routine shown in FIG. 11 can be executed each time the optical detection device 10 has been in operation for a predetermined period of time, such as 10 days, 30 days, or 2 months. Further, when the optical detection device 10 is mounted on the vehicle 50 and used, each time the control system of the vehicle is started, or the start switch is turned on, or the accumulated running time of the vehicle 50 is detected in advance. It may be executed each time a predetermined time elapses, or each time the accumulated travel distance of the vehicle 50 exceeds a predetermined distance. Furthermore, it may be executed after the vehicle 50 has been inspected and repaired. The processing flow shown in FIG. 11 is executed by the CPU 101 executing the optical axis deviation determination program Pr1. Processing steps similar to those described in the first embodiment are given the same step numbers and will be described only briefly.

The CPU 101 acquires the detected reflected light from the light receiving section 20 via the input/output interface 103 (step S100). The reflected light received by the light receiving unit 20, more specifically, the light receiving element array 22 includes the overlapping region LP included in the irradiation light of the light emitting unit 30 shown in FIG. 9 or the non-irradiated region Sp shown in FIG. light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 corresponding to . Whether or not the light-receiving pixels 230 receive light in the light-receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 can be determined using the incident light intensity as described in the first embodiment. The CPU 101 acquires a reference light receiving position and a reference light receiving area, which are reference light receiving area information prepared in advance, from the reference light receiving area storage area 102a of the memory 102 (step S101). The reference light-receiving position is a light-receiving position in the light-receiving element array 22 corresponding to the positions where the light-receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 included in the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 30 are generated. , the position of the light-receiving pixel 230 that receives the reflected light corresponding to the light intensity unevenness when mounted on the vehicle 50, more specifically, the coordinate position corresponding to the center or the center of gravity of the light-receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31. is. The reference light-receiving area is the area of the light-receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 in the light-receiving element array 22 corresponding to the positions of occurrence of light intensity spots contained in the irradiation light of the light-emitting unit 30. It is the size of the light receiving area determined by the number of light receiving pixels 230 corresponding to the light receiving areas LA11, LA21, and LA31 when the system, mainly the lens, and the light receiving element array 22 are arranged in the correct posture. . The reference light-receiving position and the reference light-receiving area are obtained in advance at the timing when the optical detection device 10 is installed, and stored as the coordinate position (x, y) and the area value in the reference light-receiving position storage area 102a.

The CPU 101 acquires the deviation amount Dps between the detected light receiving area acquired from the light receiving unit 20 and the reference light receiving area acquired from the memory 102 (step S103). The shift amount Dps is an index representing the shift amount of the optical axis, and includes at least both the position shift amount and the size/area shift amount in the present embodiment. The positional deviation amount can be obtained, for example, as the difference between the coordinate position corresponding to the center or the center of gravity of the detection light receiving area and the coordinate position of the reference light receiving position. As described above, the amount of positional deviation in the horizontal direction HD and the vertical direction VD is obtained as the difference between the coordinate values in the X and Y directions of the midpoints of the detection straight line RVL and the reference straight line BVL, respectively. is obtained from the inner or outer angle between the detection straight line RVL and the reference straight line BVL. Furthermore, the optical axis deviation in this embodiment includes the relative positional deviation between the collimator lens PL and the light receiving element array 22 in the optical axis direction as described above. This relative positional deviation occurs due to variation in the relative distance between the collimator lens PL and the light receiving element array 22, and appears as a deviation, that is, a change in the size of the detection light receiving area. Therefore, the difference between the size of the area of the reference light receiving region and the size of the area of the detection light receiving region is calculated as an index representing the amount of deviation. Note that each deviation amount in the present embodiment is not limited to the difference, and may be the ratio of the actual received light value to the reference value.

The CPU 101 determines whether or not the deviation amount Dps is within the same allowable range (step S105). Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps is smaller than the predetermined same reference deviation amount Drb, that is, |Dps|<Drb. The same reference deviation amount Drb corresponds to a position deviation amount that can be determined to be the same or approximately the same in the first embodiment. When determining that the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps is smaller than the same reference deviation amount Drb (step S105: Yes), the CPU 101 determines that the optical axis deviation has not occurred, and terminates this processing routine. When the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps between the detection light receiving area and the reference light receiving area is smaller than the same reference deviation amount Drb, it is assumed that the optical axis deviation has not occurred in the optical detection device 10. This is because

When the CPU 101 determines that the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps is not smaller than the same reference deviation amount Drb, that is, |Dps|≧Drb (step S105: No), the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps is equal to the first reference deviation amount. It is determined whether it is smaller than Dr1, that is, whether |Dps|<Dr1 (step S107). When the CPU 101 determines that the deviation amount Dps<the first reference deviation amount Dr1 (step S107: Yes), it predicts the time when the optical axis deviation occurs (step S112), and ends this processing routine. The first reference deviation amount Dr1 is larger than the same reference deviation amount Drb and smaller than the second reference deviation amount Dr2 used for determining that optical axis deviation has occurred. This is the amount of misalignment set assuming that misalignment of the optical axis can occur within 6 months based on the data.

When the CPU 101 determines that the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps is not smaller than the first reference deviation amount Dr1, that is, |Dps| It is determined whether or not it is smaller than the deviation amount Dr2, that is, whether or not |Dps|<Dr2 (step S109). When the CPU 101 determines that the deviation amount Dps<the second reference deviation amount Dr2 (step S109: Yes), the process proceeds to step S112. In this case, since an unacceptable optical axis deviation has not yet occurred, preventive processing is executed. When the CPU 101 determines that the absolute value of the deviation amount Dps is not smaller than the second reference deviation amount Dr2, that is, |Dps| S114), this processing routine ends. If the positional deviation amount Dp is greater than or equal to the unacceptable deviation amount Drc, an unacceptable optical axis deviation has occurred in the optical detection device 10 . The second reference deviation amount Dr2 corresponds to the positional deviation amount of the detection light-receiving area corresponding to the unacceptable optical axis deviation. This is the deviation amount corresponding to the optical axis deviation that can be lower than the accuracy specified. The predetermined accuracy is, for example, an error rate assumed in advance, such as ±5%. The user of the optical detection device 10 is notified of the misalignment of the optical axis. A notification prompting an inspection can be performed. The second reference deviation amount Dr1 is the first determination value, and the first reference deviation amount Dr1 is the second determination value.

According to the optical detection device 10 according to the second embodiment described above, in addition to the various advantages obtained by the optical detection device 10 according to the first embodiment, horizontal and vertical optical axis misalignment is reduced. Since the optical axis deviation in the direction of rotation about the optical axis and the optical axis deviation in the orthogonal axis direction perpendicular to the optical axis are determined, it is possible to further improve the determination accuracy of the optical axis deviation. By further improving the determination accuracy of the optical axis deviation, it is possible to increase the yield of the optical detection device 10, improve the analysis accuracy of the optical axis deviation over time, and furthermore, optical detection Prediction of when the device 10 needs to be serviced can be improved. The orthogonal axis orthogonal to the optical axis is a virtual orthogonal axis orthogonal to the optical axis in the optical system related to the focus, mainly the lens or the light receiving element array 22, and the optical axis deviation in the orthogonal axis direction produces a blur associated with changes in the relative distance between the lens and the photodetector array 22 . The various modes of optical axis deviation described in the second embodiment may be detected in any combination, or may be detected in all combinations.

Although the above description is limited to notification of optical axis misalignment and prediction of occurrence of optical axis misalignment, the optical detection device 10 changes the light-receiving pixels 230 used for light receiving processing in accordance with the state of the detected optical axis misalignment. It may have a possible configuration. That is, since the amount of optical axis deviation can be detected in more detail, it is possible to appropriately change the light-receiving pixels used for the light-receiving process. The configuration that can be changed includes a mode in which a person changes the settings of the light receiving pixels 230 that perform light receiving processing in the optical detection device 10, and a mode in which the optical detection device 10 itself shifts the optical axis, that is, horizontal, vertical, and optical axis shift. It includes a mode of changing the setting of the light receiving pixel 230 according to the optical axis shift around the axis. A specific change of the light receiving area will be described with reference to FIG. 12 . In FIG. 12, the reference light-receiving region ORP, that is, the light-receiving region ORP used before the occurrence of the optical axis shift is indicated by a dashed line. In each of the above embodiments, the light receiving region ORP is configured by the four light receiving blocks RB1, RB2, RB3, and RB4. If there is no optical axis deviation around the optical axis, optical axis deviation occurs in the horizontal direction HD and vertical direction VD, and light intensity spots appear in the area CH1 indicated by the dashed line, the received light corresponding to the area CH1 Pixels 230 are used for light reception processing. In this case, the light-receiving blocks RB1, RB2, RB3, and RB4 are selected so as to have the same vertical and horizontal arrangement form as when forming the light-receiving region ORP. When the optical axis shifts in the rotational direction about the optical axis and the light intensity unevenness appears in the area CH2 indicated by the dashed line, the light-receiving pixels 230 corresponding to the area CH2 are used for light-receiving processing. In this case, since the area CH2 is an oblique area with respect to the vertical direction VD and the horizontal direction HD, the light-receiving blocks RB1, RB2, RB3, and RB4 are selected so as to form a stepped shape that matches or approximates the area CH2. and a light receiving area corresponding to the area CH2 is set. In this way, when the light receiving region ORP is formed by a plurality of light receiving blocks, the light receiving region can be formed according to the optical axis shift even when there is horizontal, vertical, or optical axis shift around the optical axis. It is possible to change it, and it is possible to suppress or prevent deterioration of detection accuracy in the optical detection device 10 . As a result, the detection accuracy of the optical detection device 10 can be maintained for a longer period than before. The relative distance between the lens and the light-receiving element array 22, which is detected by the blurring, that is, the optical axis deviation due to the change in the relative position requires hardware correction. modified by However, if at least one of the lens and the light receiving element array 22 is provided with an actuator, the relative distance between the lens and the light receiving element array 22 may be corrected by operating the actuator.

Other embodiments:
(1) In each of the above-described embodiments, both the calculation of the predicted timing of occurrence of the optical axis deviation and the determination and notification of the optical axis deviation are executed, but only one of them may be executed. When only the calculation of the predicted timing of occurrence of optical axis misalignment is performed, it is possible to take countermeasures before the optical axis misalignment occurs by executing notification according to the calculated predicted timing. Even if only the determination and notification of the optical axis deviation are performed, the optical detection device 10 alone can determine the optical axis deviation at an early stage. When both the calculation of the predicted timing of optical axis misalignment and the determination and notification of the optical axis misalignment are executed, even if no countermeasures are taken in accordance with the calculated predicted timing, A shift can be determined early and notified.

(2) In each of the above embodiments, the CPU 101 executes the optical axis deviation determination program Pr1 to implement the optical detection device 10 that executes the optical axis deviation determination process. It may be implemented in hardware by circuits or discrete circuits. That is, the control unit and its technique in each of the above embodiments are performed by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions embodied by a computer program. may be implemented. Alternatively, the controls and techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented by a dedicated computer provided by configuring the processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the controllers and techniques described in this disclosure comprise a combination of a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions and a processor configured by one or more hardware logic circuits. may be implemented by one or more dedicated computers configured as The computer program may also be stored as computer-executable instructions on a computer-readable non-transitional tangible recording medium.

Although the present disclosure has been described above based on the embodiments and modifications, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, and do not limit the present disclosure. This disclosure may be modified and modified without departing from its spirit and scope of the claims, and this disclosure includes equivalents thereof. For example, the technical features in the embodiments and modifications corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the Summary of the Invention are used to solve some or all of the above problems, or In order to achieve some or all of the effects, it is possible to appropriately replace or combine them. Also, if the technical features are not described as essential in this specification, they can be deleted as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Optical detection apparatus, 20... Light-receiving part, 22... Light-receiving element array, 230... Light-receiving pixel, 30... Light-emitting part, 32... Light-emitting element, 40... Electric motor, 100... Control apparatus, 101... CPU, 102... Memory, 103... Input/output interface, 104... Bus, 50... Vehicle, Pr1... Optical axis deviation determination program.

Claims (10)

An optical detection device (10), comprising:
a light emitting part (30) comprising a plurality of light emitting elements (32);
a light receiving section (20) comprising a light receiving element array (22) formed of a plurality of light receiving pixels (230) that receive reflected light corresponding to the light emitted from the light emitting section;
In the light-receiving element array corresponding to a position where light intensity unevenness occurs due to overlap of the irradiation light of the plurality of light emitting elements or non-overlapping of the irradiation light of the plurality of light emitting elements included in the irradiation light of the light emitting unit a storage unit (102) for storing a reference light receiving area;
a determination unit (100) for determining an optical axis deviation by using a deviation between the reference light receiving area and a detection light receiving area of the light intensity spots included in the reflected light of the irradiation light in the light receiving element array. formula detection device. The optical detection device of claim 1, wherein
The optical detection device, wherein the plurality of light receiving pixels are arranged without gaps in the arrangement direction of the plurality of light emitting elements so that the light intensity spots included in the reflected light are received by the plurality of light receiving pixels. The optical detection device according to claim 1 or 2,
The plurality of light-receiving pixels are arranged without gaps in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the plurality of light-emitting elements so that the plurality of light-receiving pixels receive light intensity spots included in the reflected light. . The optical detection device of claim 1, wherein
The optical detection device, wherein each light receiving pixel of the plurality of light receiving pixels is dimensioned such that the light intensity spots contained in the reflected light are received by the plurality of light receiving pixels. In the optical detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The determination unit determines the detection light-receiving area using a difference between the light intensity of the light intensity spots and the light intensity of the reflected light. An optical detection device according to claim 5, wherein
The determination unit is an optical detection device that learns the difference using the light intensity of the light intensity spots and the light intensity of the reflected light. An optical detection device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
The judging unit judges optical axis displacement and executes an optical axis displacement notification process when an amount of displacement between the reference light receiving area and the detection light receiving area is larger than a predetermined first judgment value. , an optical detection device. An optical detection device according to claim 7, wherein
The judging unit determines that optical axis misalignment occurs when a displacement amount between the reference light receiving area and the detection light receiving area is smaller than the first judgment value and larger than a predetermined second judgment value. An optical detection device that calculates the predicted time. The optical detection device of claim 1, wherein
The judging unit is configured to determine if the deviation amount between the reference light receiving area and the detection light receiving area is smaller than a first judgment value that is a judgment value for optical axis deviation and is larger than a predetermined second judgment value. , an optical detection device for calculating a predicted time at which an optical axis deviation will occur. A method for determining an optical axis deviation in an optical detection device (10), comprising:
A light-receiving section (20) comprising a light-receiving element array (22) formed by a plurality of light-receiving pixels (230) for receiving reflected light according to irradiation light from a light-emitting section (30) having a plurality of light-emitting elements (32). a detection light-receiving area of light intensity unevenness caused by overlap of the irradiation light of the plurality of light emitting elements or non-overlapping of the irradiation light of the plurality of light emitting elements included in the reflected light of the irradiation light in the light receiving element array and get
Acquiring a reference light-receiving region in the light-receiving element array prepared in advance corresponding to the position where the light intensity spots included in the irradiation light occur,
A method for determining optical axis deviation in an optical detection device, wherein the deviation between the reference light receiving area and the detection light receiving area is used to determine the optical axis deviation.

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