Vehicle driving support apparatus

• US 20060149455A1
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Subaru Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fuji Jukogyo KK (Subaru Corp.)
• Inventors: Sawada, Shinji
• Granted Patent: US 8,010,274 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/96
• 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 2720/106 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle

Abstract

In automatic following control in a travel control unit of a driving support apparatus, a prerequisite inter-vehicle distance to a front vehicle is set, a time to reaching this requisite inter-vehicle distance is set as a control target time, an estimated position of the front vehicle after the control target time elapses is computed, an acceleration from a present vehicle speed that will bring to a preset target inter-vehicle distance the inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle at an own vehicle speed as of when the control target time elapses is computed as a target acceleration on the basis of the present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle and the estimated position of the front vehicle after the control target time elapses, and automatic braking control and automatic acceleration control are carried out to follow the front vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicle driving support apparatus, comprising:

own vehicle travel information detecting means for detecting travel information of an own vehicle;

front vehicle information detecting means for recognizing a vehicle in front of the own vehicle and detecting information of the front vehicle;

control target time setting means for setting a prerequisite inter-vehicle distance to be secured before the front vehicle and setting a time to reaching the requisite inter-vehicle distance as a control target time;

front vehicle estimated position computing means for computing an estimated position of the front vehicle as of when the control target time elapses;

target acceleration computing means for, on the basis of the present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle and the estimated position of the front vehicle as of when the control target time elapses, computing a target acceleration as an acceleration from the present own vehicle speed for a preset target inter-vehicle distance corresponding with the inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle at the own vehicle speed as of when the control target time elapses; and

acceleration/deceleration control means for performing acceleration/deceleration control on the basis of the target acceleration.

2. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control target time is computed from a present own vehicle speed, a present own vehicle acceleration, a present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle, and the requisite inter-vehicle distance.

3. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the present own vehicle acceleration is zero, the control target time is made the time to reaching the requisite inter-vehicle distance at the present own vehicle speed.

4. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is deemed that at the present own vehicle acceleration the requisite inter-vehicle distance cannot be reached, the control target time is made the time needed to stop at the requisite inter-vehicle distance.

5. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least when the present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle is greater than the preset target inter-vehicle distance, the control target time is corrected in a direction such that it becomes smaller the larger is the present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle.

6. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the absolute value of the speed of the own vehicle relative to the front vehicle is smaller than a preset threshold value, the control target time is corrected in a direction such that it becomes larger than its normal computed value.

7. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the absolute value of the difference between the present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle and the preset target inter-vehicle distance is smaller than a preset threshold value, the control target time is corrected in such a direction that it becomes larger than its normal computed value.

8. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein of correcting the control target time in such a direction that it becomes larger than its normal computed value when the absolute value of the speed relative to the front vehicle is smaller than a preset threshold value and correcting the control target time in such a direction that it becomes larger than its normal computed value when the absolute value of the difference between the present inter-vehicle distance to the front vehicle and the preset target inter-vehicle distance is smaller than a preset threshold value, only the correction having the smaller correction amount is executed.

9. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an estimated time to contact that is a time to the own vehicle making contact with the front vehicle is pre-computed from present front vehicle information and own vehicle travel information, and the amount of the correction of the control target time is varied in correspondence with this estimated time to contact.

10. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an estimated time to contact that is a time to the own vehicle making contact with the front vehicle is pre-computed from present front vehicle information and own vehicle travel information, and the control target time is limited to being not greater than this estimated time to contact.

11. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a condition is satisfied such that there is deemed to have been a cutting-in of another front vehicle of the own vehicle, an estimated time to contact that is a time to the own vehicle making contact with the front vehicle is pre-computed from present front vehicle information and own vehicle travel information, and the control target time is corrected in correspondence with this estimated time to contact.