Vehicle driving assist system

• US 20070032914A1
• Filed: 07/25/2006
• Published: 02/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Kondoh, Takayuki, Matsushita, Yasuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,904,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 26/021 with means for providing feel, e.g. by changing pedal force characteristics
• 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 vehicle driving assist system is configured to provide a driver with advanced notification regarding changes in the operating states of the controls when several controls are being executed. The vehicle driving assist system has a controller configured to execute an accelerator pedal actuation reaction force control based on a risk potential that indicates a degree of convergence between the host vehicle and a preceding obstacle and an automatic braking control based on the possibility of contact between the host vehicle and the preceding obstacle. When the automatic braking control will change from a low operating state to a high operating state while an actuation reaction force is being generated in the accelerator pedal in accordance with the risk potential, a pulsed supplemental reaction force is generated in the accelerator pedal and an alarm sound is generated.

Claims

1. A vehicle driving assist system comprising:

a traveling situation detecting section configured to output a traveling situation detection result based on at least a following distance between a host vehicle and a preceding obstacle and a host vehicle speed of the host vehicle;

a risk potential calculating section configured to calculate a risk potential indicative of a degree of convergence between the host vehicle and the preceding obstacle based on the traveling situation detection result of the traveling situation detecting section;

an actuation reaction force control section configured to control an actuation reaction force exerted by an accelerator pedal of the host vehicle based on the risk potential calculated by the risk potential calculating section;

a vehicle behavior control section configured to control a behavior of the host vehicle; and

a behavior control operating state notifying section configured to notify a driver in advance of a future operating state of the host vehicle behavior control section while the actuation reaction force control section is executing control of the actuation reaction force exerted by the accelerator pedal.

2. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to produce an urging stimulus that urges the driver to perform a recommended driving operation in accordance with the future operating state of the host vehicle behavior control section.

3. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the host vehicle behavior control section includes a deceleration force control section configured to generate a deceleration force against the host vehicle based on the risk potential.

4. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 1, further comprising

a collision potential determining section configured to determine a possibility that the host vehicle will contact the preceding obstacle based on the traveling situation detection result of the traveling situation detecting section, and

the host vehicle behavior control section being further configured to execute braking control to avoid contact or reduce an impact of contact when the collision potential determining section has determined that the possibility of contact is high.

5. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 1, further comprising

a lateral position calculating section configured to calculate a lateral position of the host vehicle relative to a host vehicle traveling lane in which the host vehicle is traveling;

and

a lane departure determining section configured to determine a possibility that the host vehicle will depart from the host vehicle traveling lane based on the lateral position calculated by the lateral position calculating section,

the host vehicle behavior control section being further configured to execute lane departure preventing control to prevent the host vehicle from departing from the host vehicle traveling lane when the lane departure determining section has determined that the possibility that the host vehicle will depart from the host vehicle traveling lane is high.

6. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 3, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver that the future operating state of the deceleration force control section is going to change when a deceleration generated by the deceleration force control section is predicted to exceed or fall below a prescribed deceleration after a prescribed amount of time has elapsed.

7. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 3, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by causing the accelerator pedal to exert a pulsed supplemental reaction force.

8. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 3, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by causing at least one of the accelerator pedal, a steering wheel and a seat to vibrate.

9. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 4, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by moving the accelerator pedal to a release state and maintaining the accelerator pedal in the release state such that the driver cannot depress the accelerator pedal.

10. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 2, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to urge the driver to perform the recommended driving operation by increasing the actuation reaction force exerted by the accelerator pedal for a prescribed period of time as the urging stimulus.

11. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 5, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by causing the accelerator pedal to exert a pulsed supplemental reaction force.

12. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 5, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by causing at least one of the accelerator pedal, a steering wheel and a seat to vibrate.

13. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 6, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by causing the accelerator pedal to exert a pulsed supplemental reaction force.

14. The vehicle driving assist system as recited in claim 6, wherein

the behavior control operating state notifying section is further configured to notify the driver by causing at least one of the accelerator pedal, a steering wheel and a seat to vibrate.

15. A vehicle equipped with the vehicle driving assist system according to claim 1.

16. A vehicle driving assist system comprising:

traveling situation detecting means for outputting a traveling situation detection result based on at least a following distance between a host vehicle and a preceding obstacle and a host vehicle speed of the host vehicle;

risk potential calculating means for calculating a risk potential indicative of a degree of convergence between the host vehicle and the preceding obstacle based on the traveling situation detection result;

actuation reaction force control means for controlling an actuation reaction force exerted by an accelerator pedal of the host vehicle based on the risk potential that was calculated;

vehicle behavior control means for controlling a behavior of the host vehicle; and

behavior control operating state notifying means for notifying a driver in advance of a future operating state of the host vehicle behavior control means while the actuation reaction force control means is executing control of the actuation reaction force exerted by the accelerator pedal.

17. A vehicle driving assistance method comprising:

determining a risk potential indicative a degree of convergence between a host vehicle and a preceding obstacle based on at least a following distance between the host vehicle and the preceding obstacle and a host vehicle speed of the host vehicle;

controlling an actuation reaction force exerted by an accelerator pedal of the host vehicle based on the risk potential; and

notifying a driver in advance of a future operating state of a vehicle behavior control section configured to control a behavior of the host vehicle while control of the actuation reaction force is being executed in accordance with the risk potential.