Driving assistance apparatus for vehicle

• US 10,071,736 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2016
• Issued: 09/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakadori, Minoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Peche, Jorge O
• Application Number:
  US15/215,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20170021832A1
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/10 Accelerator pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/215 Selection or confirmation of options
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/803 Relative lateral speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/0605 Throttle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/0666 Engine torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/106 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/30 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18 Propelling the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/182 Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 11/105 characterised by the function converting demand to actuation, e.g. a map indicating relations between an accelerator pedal position and throttle valve opening or target engine torque
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/501 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/606 Driving style, e.g. sporty or economic driving
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2250/18 Control of the engine output torque
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 : peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/10 : for acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/12 : for deceleration F02D41/0005, F02D41/107 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/2422 : Selective use of one or more tables

Abstract

A driving assistance apparatus for a vehicle includes: a switch selecting a drive mode that specifies an output characteristic of a drive source relative to an accelerator operation amount; and a controller configured to calculate a target acceleration, based on the drive mode, for causing a host vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle such that a vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is maintained at a distance within a predetermined range, and control a driving force of the drive source such that the host vehicle accelerates at the target acceleration.

Claims

1. A driving assistance apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

a switch selecting a first drive mode that specifies a first output characteristic of a drive source relative to an accelerator operation amount and a second drive mode that specifies a second output characteristic of the drive source relative to the accelerator operation amount, the second output characteristic of the drive source being higher than the first output characteristic for a same accelerator operation amount; and

a controller configured to

calculate a target acceleration for each of the first and second drive modes, for causing a host vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle to maintain a vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle at a distance within a predetermined range, the target acceleration for the second drive mode being higher than the target acceleration for the first drive mode,

calculate an upper limit acceleration target for each of the first and second drive modes, the upper limit acceleration target for the second drive mode being higher than the upper limit acceleration target for the first drive mode, and

control a driving force of the drive source to accelerate the host vehicle at a selected target acceleration, within a corresponding upper limit target acceleration,

wherein the upper limit acceleration target corresponding to each of the drive modes is higher when the host vehicle follows the preceding vehicle than when there is no preceding vehicle.

2. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to

obtain a delivery destination which is a territory in which the host vehicle is sold, and

calculate the selected target acceleration based on the selected drive mode and the delivery destination.

3. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to

store a plurality of following acceleration characteristics in a larger number than a number of drive modes that is selected by the switch,

select one of the following acceleration characteristic from the plurality of following acceleration characteristics based on a combination of the selected drive mode and the delivery destination, and

calculate the selected target acceleration in accordance with the selected following acceleration characteristic.

4. A driving assistance control method, comprising:

selecting between a first drive mode that specifies a first output characteristic of a drive source relative to an accelerator operation amount and a second drive mode that specifies a second output characteristic of the drive source relative to the accelerator operation amount, the second output characteristic of the drive source being higher than the first output characteristic for a same accelerator operation amount;

calculating a target acceleration for each of the first and second drive modes, for causing a host vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle to maintain a vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle at a distance within a predetermined range, the target acceleration for the second drive mode being higher than the target acceleration for the first drive mode;

calculating an upper limit acceleration target for each of the first and second drive modes, the upper limit acceleration target for the second drive mode being higher than the upper limit acceleration target for the first drive mode; and

controlling a driving force of the drive source to accelerate the host vehicle at a selected target acceleration, within a corresponding upper limit acceleration target,

wherein the upper limit acceleration target corresponding to each of the drive modes is higher when the host vehicle follows the preceding vehicle than when there is no preceding vehicle.