Driving operation assisting system, method and vehicle incorporating the system

• US 20060131093A1
• Filed: 11/23/2005
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Egami, Masahiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,831,314 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/272
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/026 varying hardness or support of upholstery, e.g. for tuning seat comfort when driving curved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/986 Side-rests B60N2/2872, B60N2/885 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/99 adjustable
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2002/981 Warning systems, e.g. the seat or seat parts vibrates to warn the passenger when facing a danger
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/02 related to ambient conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/16 Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal

Abstract

A driving assisting for calculating risk potential by considering a response delay by the driver and transmitting information related to the risk potential to the operator in a haptic manner. A controller is provided to estimate the response delay based on an operation performed by the operator. Based on the estimated response delay, the controller calculates a future position at which the risk potential is to be calculated. The longer the response delay, the remoter the future position is. The shorter the response delay, the nearer the future position is. The calculated risk potential at the future position may be transmitted to the operator via a pressing force from one of right and left side portions of a driver'"'"'s seat occupied by the operator.

Claims

1. A system for assisting an operator in operating an own vehicle, the system comprising:

a detector configured to detect a driving environment around the own vehicle;

a response delay estimating device configured to estimate a response delay by the operator; and

a risk potential calculating device configured to calculate risk potential associated with the own vehicle at a future position based on the detected driving environment and the estimated response delay, wherein the future position is set to vary with the estimated response delay.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising an information transmitting device configured to transmit the calculated risk potential to the operator via a haptic input.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the information transmitting device applies a pressing force based on the calculated risk potential from one of right and left regions of a driver'"'"'s seat.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein:

responsive to the calculated risk potential indicating a risk to deviate to the right at the future position, the information transmitting device sets a swing angle of a right portion of a seat occupied by the operation based on the calculated risk potential, and sets a wing angle of a left portion of the seat to zero; and

responsive to the calculated risk potential indicating a risk to deviate to the left at the future position, the information transmitting device sets the swing angle of the left portion of the seat based on the calculated risk potential, and sets the wing angle of the right portion of the seat to zero.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the future position is a position of the own vehicle after a period of lead time, wherein the period of the lead time is et to increase with the estimated response delay.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the risk potential is adjusted based on the estimated response delay.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an operation detecting device configured to detect an operation performed by the operator;

wherein the response delay estimating device estimates the response delay based on the detected operation.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein:

responsive to the detected operation exceeding a predetermined threshold, the estimated response delay is increased by a predetermined increment; and

responsive to the detected operation not exceeding the predetermined threshold, the estimated response delay is decreased by a predetermined decrement.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein:

a standard deviation of the detected operation is calculated; and

the estimated response delay is estimated based on the calculated standard deviation of the detected operation.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the estimated response delay increases as the standard deviation increases; and

the estimated response delay decreases as the standard deviation decreases.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a road shape detecting device configured to detect the shape of a road;

wherein the response delay estimating device estimates the response delay based on the detected shape of the road.

12. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the risk potential calculating device calculates the risk potential based on an in-lane lateral position within a lane and an azimuth angle of the own vehicle relative to the lane at the future position that is determined based on the detected response delay such that the longer the detected response delay, the remoter the future position.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the risk potential is the sum of a first weighted value of the in-lane lateral position and a second weighted value of the azimuth angle of the own vehicle, which are individually weighted in response to the detected response delay.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein:

a standard deviation of an in-lane lateral position of the own vehicle within a lane in calculated; and

the response delay is estimated based on the standard deviation of the in-lane lateral position of the own vehicle within a lane.

15. A vehicle comprising a system of claim 1.

16. A method for assisting an operator in operating an own vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting a driving environment around the own vehicle;

estimating a response delay by the operator; and

calculating risk potential associated with the own vehicle at a future position after a period of lead time, based on the detected driving environment and the estimated response delay, wherein the period of lead time is set to increase with the estimated response delay.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of transmitting the calculated risk potential to the operator via a haptic input.

18. A system for assisting an operator in operating an own vehicle, the system comprising:

detecting means for detecting a driving environment around the own vehicle;

response delay estimating means for estimating a response delay by the operator; and

risk potential calculating means for calculating risk potential associated with the own vehicle at a future position after a period of lead time based on the detected driving environment and the estimated response delay, wherein the period of lead time is set to increase with the estimated response delay.

19. The system of claim 18 further comprising information transmitting means for transmitting the calculated risk potential to the operator via a haptic input.