AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING SYSTEM FOR MAINTAINING SAFELY THE RUNNING RANGE IN THE CAR AND METHOD THEREOF

• US 20090062987A1
• Filed: 04/21/2006
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hak Sun Kim, Mun S.U. Jeon
• Original Assignee: Hak Sun Kim, Mun S.U. Jeon
• Inventors: Kim, Hak Sun, Jeon, Mun Su
• Application Number:
  US12/281,897
• Publication Number:
  US 20090062987A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/41
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle

Abstract

Disclosed is an automatic control system and method for keeping a car at a safe distance in traffic from an obstacle or other car. The inventive automatic control system comprises: a sensing device 100 for sensing a car or an obstacle in front of the system-installed car in the traveling direction; an electronic control unit (ECU) 200 connected to the sensing device 100 and receiving electric signals transmitted from the sensing device 100 as a result of sensing a car or an obstacle so as to render a control command according to a preset program; an accelerator unit 310 for automatically controlling the deceleration of the system-installed car on the basis of the electric signal from the ECU 200; a first guide stop unit 315 which operates independently of the accelerator unit 310 and controls the vertical movement of an accelerator pedal 400; a brake unit 330 for automatically controlling the braking of the system-installed car on the basis of the electric signal from the ECU 200; and a second guide stop unit 350 which operates independently of the brake unit 330 and controls the operation of a brake pedal 400′.

Claims

1. An automatic control system for automatically keeping a car at a safe distance in traffic from any other car or an obstacle, comprising:

a sensing device 100 for sensing a car or an obstacle in front of the sensing device-equipped car in the traveling direction;

an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 200 which is connected with the sensing device 100 and receives electric sensing signals which are transmitted from the sensing device 100, so as to render a control command according to a preset program; and

a deceleration/braking control unit 300, wherein the deceleration/braking control unit 300 comprises;

an accelerator unit 310 for automatically controlling the deceleration of the car on the basis of an electric signal from the ECU 200;

a first guide stop unit 315 for controlling the upward and downward movement of the accelerate pedal 400, the first guide stop unit 300 being operated independently of the accelerator unit 310;

a brake unit 330 for automatically controlling the braking of the car on the basis of an electric signal from the ECU 200; and

a second guide stop unit 350 for controlling the movement of a brake pedal 400′

.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ECU 200 comprises a steering wheel rotation signal transmission unit 140 and a wiper signal transmission unit 150, which are electrically connected to the sensing device 100.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing device comprises:

an external sensing unit, which includes a long-distance optical sensor 112, a short-distance optical sensor 114, and a weather change sensor 115, which perform sensing in terms of a long-distance signal, a short-distance signal, a weather change signal, a travel signal, and an accelerator pedal signal, respectively, which are inputted in the input terminal of the sensing device 100; and

a traveling sensing device 130 which includes a travel velocity signal switch 132 for sensing the travel velocity of the system-installed car itself, and an accelerator pedal switch 134 which performs sensing prior to the positional variation of the accelerator pedal 400 sensed by the travel velocity signal switch 132.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ECU 200 comprises a solenoid 360 connected to the accelerator unit 310 so as to control the quick movement of the accelerator pedal 400.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first guide stop unit 315 comprises:

a guide stop plate 40 which is positioned at a distance from the accelerator pedal and moves vertically according to an electric signal from the solenoid 360 connected to the accelerator unit 310;

a support shaft for movably supporting the guide stop plate 40;

a link 34 which is hinged to the guide stop plate 40 and reciprocates left and right with reference to the support shaft 36;

a piston rod 32 connected to the link 34;

a pneumatic cylinder 30, within which the piston rod 32 reciprocates left and right, the pneumatic cylinder 30 having an air inlet port 28, through which air pressure is supplied from an air compressor 26, and an air discharge port 28′

for discharging air pressure; and

a base 20 for anchoring the support shaft 36 and the pneumatic cylinder 30 when the guide stop plate 40 maintains its vertical movement according to the air pressure supplied from the air compressor 26 or discharged from the pneumatic cylinder.

6. A system as claimed in claim 5, wherein when an operation signal is rendered from the ECU 200 according to a system-installed car-to-obstacle distance signal and a travel velocity signal, the guide stop plate 40 supplies a braking force in relation to the vertical movement of the accelerator pedal 400, which is linked with the guide stop plate 40.

7. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second guide stop unit 350 comprises:

an air compressor 26′

which is installed on the brake pedal 400′ and

operated according to an electric signal of a solenoid 360′

connected to the brake unit 330;

a pneumatic cylinder 50 which has an air inlet port 29, through which air pressure is supplied from the air compressor 26′

, an air discharge port for discharging the air pressure, and a piston rod 52 which is reciprocated by the air pressure; and

a first link 54 and a second link 56 which are hinged between the brake pedal 400′ and

the pneumatic cylinder 50.

8. An automatic control system of keeping a car at a safe distance in traffic from another car or an obstacle:

a sensing device 100 for sensing a situation in front of the system-installed car in the traveling direction;

an ECU 200 connected to the sensing device 100 and receiving electric signals transmitted from the sensing device 100 as a result of sensing a car or an obstacle so as to render a control command according to a preset program;

a deceleration/braking control unit 300 having an accelerator unit 310 for automatically controlling the deceleration of the system-installed car on the basis of the electric signal from the ECU 200, a first guide stop unit 315 which operates independently of the accelerator unit 310 and controls the vertical movement of an accelerator pedal 400, a brake unit 330 for automatically controlling the braking of the system-installed car on the basis of the electric signal from the ECU 200, and a second guide stop unit 350 which operates independently of the brake unit 330 and controls the operation of a brake pedal 400′

;

a steering wheel rotation signal transmission unit 140 connected to the ECU 200 for supplying a signal indicating an angular rotating range of the steering wheel to the deceleration/braking control unit 300; and

a wiper signal transmission unit 150 connected to the ECU 200, so as to cause the accelerator unit 310 to be moved up and down according to a process of operating a wiper, which is programmed in the ECU 20.

9. A control method for keeping a car at a safe distance in traffic from any other car or an obstacle, comprising steps of:

initializing all sensing signals in a sensing device 100 when a main power source of the car is switched on and the accelerating operation is initiated by an accelerator pedal 400 (S20);

determining whether a deceleration/braking control unit 300 is switched on, the deceleration/braking control unit being connected with the sensing device 100 and an ECU 200 (S30);

projecting long-distance/short-distance optical signals to an obstacle in front of the car so as to sense the obstacle from an external sensor 110 of the sensing device 100 when the deceleration/braking control unit 300 is switched on (S40);

calculating an actual distance between the car and the obstacle which is sensed in the sensing step (S40), the calculation being performed by the a calculation unit 220 of the ECU 200 (S50);

determining whether the actual distance between the car and the obstacle calculated in the calculation step (S50) is larger than a reference distance value, which is referred to by a lookup table, with reference to the lookup table, which is previously stored in a ROM 260 (S60);

operating a guide stop plate 40, so that the guide stop plate 40 moves so as to automatically move the accelerator pedal 400 to its original position, when the actual distance between the car and the obstacle calculated in the distance determination step (S60) is smaller than the reference distance value of the lookup table, the operation of the guide stop plate 40 being caused by a first guide stop unit 315 according to a signal transmitted to the first guide stop unit 315 from a traveling sensing device 130 through the ECU 200 (S70); and

operating a brake unit 330 so as to operate a second guide stop unit 350, thereby operating the brake pedal 400′

(S80).

10. A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of operating the accelerator pedal (S70) comprises steps of:

causing the solenoid 360 to be opened if the car approaches near to the obstacle, so that the accelerator unit 310 receives operation signals produced by the long-distance/short-distance sensing by the ECU 200 prior to the braking signal of the brake unit 330 (S402);

operating a pneumatic cylinder 30, wherein if the accelerator unit 310 receives the operation signals (S402), the pneumatic cylinder 30 is driven by making the air inlet port 28 and air discharge port 28′

of the pneumatic cylinder 30 opened and closed, respectively, according to the operation signals applied to the input and output terminals of the solenoid 360 through a signal line (S404);

thereafter, moving a piston rod 32 within the pneumatic cylinder 30 and a link 34 connected to the piston rod 32 (S406);

moving upward the guide stop plate 40 connected to the link (S408); and

braking the upward and downward movement of the accelerator pedal 400, wherein the guide stop plate 40 supplies braking force to the accelerator pedal 400 which is linked with the guide stop plate 40, thereby braking the upward and downward movement of the accelerator pedal 400 (S410).

11. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of operating the brake pedal 400′

(S80) comprises steps of;

operating the pneumatic cylinder 50, wherein the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 50 is caused as the ECU 200 renders a command to the second guide stop unit 350 so as to operate the pneumatic cylinder 50 (S502); and

controlling the upward and downward movement of the brake pedal 400′

, wherein the control of the upward and downward movement of the brake pedal is performed as the piston rod 52 of the pneumatic cylinder 50 is operated, thereby operating a first link 54 and a second link 56, which are hinged between the brake pedal 400′ and

the piston rod 52 of the pneumatic cylinder 50.