Driving assist apparatus and method for vehicle

• US 20050021203A1
• Filed: 06/21/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Arata, Matsui, Akira, Satonaka, Hisashi, Kataoka, Hiroaki, Sugiyama, Toru, Kubota, Yuichi, Endo, Tomohiko, Iwazaki, Katsuhiko, Ninomiya, Yoshiki, Iwakiri, Hideyuki, Kawakami, Seiji
• Granted Patent: US 7,487,020 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/10 Automatic or semi-automatic parking aid systems
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0285 Parking performed automatically

Abstract

A driving assist apparatus for a vehicle that guides the vehicle to a target position is provided. On the basis of the present direction of the vehicle and the direction of the vehicle at the target position, a basic path that changes the vehicle direction so as to coincide with the target direction of the vehicle at the target position is computed. A path from the present position to the target position is computed by adding a straight-line path to the basic path under a predetermined condition.

Claims

1. A driving assist apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

a detecting portion that detects an initial deflection angle at an initial position of the vehicle, the deflection angle being an angle formed between a direction of the vehicle at a target position and a direction of the vehicle at a present direction of the vehicle;

a setting portion that sets a basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the initial deflection angle to a state of the deflection angle of 0 by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with a running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of a steering angle and a turning curvature; and

a computing portion that computes a target path that extends from the initial position to the target position by using the basic path as a basis and adding a straight-line path to at least one of a site forward of the basic path and a site rearward of the basic path under a predetermined condition.

2. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the basic path includes a path in which the vehicle is driven by increasing the steering angle of the vehicle to a predetermined steering angle, a path in which the vehicle is driven by maintaining the predetermined steering angle, and a path in which the vehicle is driven by decreasing the steering angle to 0.

3. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an automatic steering portion that automatically steers so as to drive the vehicle along the set target path.

4. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computing portion computes a target path if the steering angle at the initial position is substantially 0.

5. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computing portion computes a target path by similarity-enlarging the basic path.

6. A driving assist apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

a detecting portion that detects an initial deflection angle at an initial position of the vehicle, the deflection angle being an angle formed between a direction of the vehicle at a target position and a direction of the vehicle at a present direction of the vehicle;

a first setting portion that sets a first basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the initial deflection angle to a predetermined deflection angle by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with a running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of a steering angle and a turning curvature;

a second setting portion that sets a second basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the predetermined deflection angle to a state of the deflection angle of 0 by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with the running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of the steering angle and the turning curvature; and

a computing portion that computes a target path that extends from the initial position to the target position by using the first basic path and the second basic path as a basis and adding a straight-line path to at least one of a site forward of the first basic path, a site between the first basic path and the second basic path, and a site rearward of the second basic path under a predetermined condition.

7. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first and second basic paths include a path in which the vehicle is driven by increasing the steering angle of the vehicle to a predetermined steering angle, a path in which the vehicle is driven by maintaining the predetermined steering angle, and a path in which the vehicle is driven by decreasing the steering angle to 0.

8. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an automatic steering portion that automatically steers so as to drive the vehicle along the set target path.

9. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the computing portion computes a target path if the steering angle at the initial position is substantially 0.

10. The driving assist apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the computing portion computes a target path by similarity-enlarging at least one of the first basic path and the second basic path.

11. A driving assist is performed for a vehicle comprising the steps of:

detecting an initial deflection angle at an initial position of the vehicle, the deflection angle being an angle formed between a direction of the vehicle at a target position and a direction of the vehicle at a present direction of the vehicle;

setting a basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the initial deflection angle to a state of the deflection angle of 0 by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with a running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of a steering angle and a turning curvature; and

computing a target path that extends from the initial position to the target position by using the basic path as a basis and adding a straight-line path to at least one of a site forward of the basic path and a site rearward of the basic path under a predetermined condition.

12. The driving assist method according to claim 11, wherein the basic path includes a path in which the vehicle is driven by increasing the steering angle of the vehicle to a predetermined steering angle, a path in which the vehicle is driven by maintaining the predetermined steering angle, and a path in which the vehicle is driven by decreasing the steering angle to 0.

13. The driving assist method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of automatically steering so as to drive the vehicle along the set target path.

14. The driving assist method according to claim 11, wherein the target path is computed if the steering angle at the initial position is substantially 0.

15. The driving assist method according to claim 11, wherein the target path is computed by similarity-enlarging the basic path.

16. A driving assist method for a vehicle comprising the steps of:

detecting an initial deflection angle at an initial position of the vehicle, the deflection angle being an angle formed between a direction of the vehicle at a target position and a direction of the vehicle at a present direction of the vehicle;

setting a first basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the initial deflection angle to a predetermined deflection angle by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with a running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of a steering angle and a turning curvature;

setting a second basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the predetermined deflection angle to a state of the deflection angle of 0 by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with the running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of the steering angle and the turning curvature; and

computing a target path that extends from the initial position to the target position by using the first basic path and the second basic path as a basis and adding a straight-line path to at least one of a site forward of the first basic path, a site between the first basic path and the second basic path, and a site rearward of the second basic path under a predetermined condition.

17. The driving assist method according to claim 16, wherein the first and second basic path includes a path in which the vehicle is driven by increasing the steering angle of the vehicle to a predetermined steering angle, a path in which the vehicle is driven by maintaining the predetermined steering angle, and a path in which the vehicle is driven by decreasing the steering angle to 0.

18. The driving assist method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of automatically steering so as to drive the vehicle along the set target path.

19. The driving assist method according to claim 16, wherein the target path is computed if the steering angle at the initial position is substantially 0.

20. The driving assist method according to claim 16, wherein the target path is computed by similarity-enlarging at least one of the first basic path and the second basic path.

21. A driving assist apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

detecting means for detecting an initial deflection angle at an initial position of the vehicle, the deflection angle being an angle formed between a direction of the vehicle at a target position and a direction of the vehicle at a present direction of the vehicle;

setting means for setting a basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the initial deflection angle to a state of the deflection angle of 0 by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with a running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of a steering angle and a turning curvature; and

computing means for computing a target path that extends from the initial position to the target position by using the basic path as a basis and adding a straight-line path to at least one of a site forward of the basic path and a site rearward of the basic path under a predetermined condition.

22. A driving assist apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

detecting means for detecting an initial deflection angle at an initial position of the vehicle, the deflection angle being an angle formed between a direction of the vehicle at a target position and a direction of the vehicle at a present direction of the vehicle;

first setting means for setting a first basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the initial deflection angle to a predetermined deflection angle by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with a running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of a steering angle and a turning curvature;

second setting means for setting a second basic path along which the deflection angle is changed from the predetermined deflection angle to a state of the deflection angle of 0 by steering under a predetermined condition in accordance with the running distance, as a change in the running distance with respect to one of the steering angle and the turning curvature; and

computing means for computing a target path that extends from the initial position to the target position by using the first basic path and the second basic path as a basis and adding a straight-line path to at least one of a site forward of the first basic path, a site between the first basic path and the second basic path, and a site rearward of the second basic path under a predetermined condition.