Method for preventing collisions involving motor vehicles

• US 20040153217A1
• Filed: 03/31/2004
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Wagner, Jochen, Moritz, Rainer, Mattes, Bernhard, Doden, Berend-Wilhelm
• Granted Patent: US 7,102,495 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0008 including means for detecting potential obstacles in vehicle path
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/12 Pre-actuation of braking systems without significant braking effect; Optimizing brake performance by reduction of play between brake pads and brake disc
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle

Abstract

A collision prevention method for motor vehicles (10) in which obstacles in front of the vehicle are detected by an on-board positioning system (16), a collision probability (P) is calculated from the position data (D) and one or more stepped responses to prevent the collision are triggered as a function of the collision probability (P), wherein at least one of the responses is a preparatory measure accelerating the implementation of a command (B), which may be output later, to decelerate the vehicle, without itself having any significant decelerating effect on the vehicle.

Claims

1. A collision prevention method for motor vehicles (10) in which obstacles in front of the vehicle are detected by an on-board positioning system (16), a collision probability (P) is calculated from the position data (D) and one or more stepped responses to prevent the collision are triggered as a function of the collision probability (P),

wherein at least one of the responses is a preparatory measure accelerating the implementation of a command (B), which may be output later, to decelerate the vehicle, without itself having any significant decelerating effect on the vehicle.

2. The method as recited in claim 1,

wherein one of the preparatory measures is the output of a command (F) for priming the brake system (24, 26) of the vehicle.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 or 2,

wherein when there is little or no probability of a collision the system switches between intervention in the drive system (20, 22) and intervention in the brake system (24, 26) of the vehicle as part of a cruise control function having a hysteresis characteristic, and one of the preparatory measures when there is an increasing collision probability is to reduce the hysteresis interval.

4. The method as recited in one of the preceding claims for motor vehicles (10) having an automatic transmission,

wherein one of the preparatory measures is a transmission intervention to downshift the gear.