Method and Apparatus for Reducing Motor Vehicle Traffic Flow Instabilities and Increasing Vehicle Throughput
First Claim
1. A vehicle having a current speed sensor, a driver input and a mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle controller system secured in the vehicle, the vehicle controller system receiving inputs from the current speed sensor and the driver input and providing an output to the mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle; and
one or more leading distance sensors, one or more leading speed sensors, one or more following distance sensors, and one or more following speed sensors, each of the sensors having an output that is provided to the vehicle controller system;
wherein the vehicle controller system provides the output to the mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle as a function of the input from the current speed sensor, of the output from the one or more leading distance sensors, of the output of the one or more leading speed sensors, of the output of the one or more following distance sensors, and of the output of the one or more following speed sensors.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for reducing traffic flow instabilities and increasing vehicle throughput by monitoring the distances and velocities of motor vehicles leading and following a center vehicle and controlling the velocities of the vehicles to maintain a steady relative distance between the center vehicle and the leading and following vehicles. Using distance and speed information derived from both leading and following vehicles reduces the loop gain of feedback needed below one (1) and diminishes traffic instabilities caused by “car following.”
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicle having a current speed sensor, a driver input and a mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle, comprising:
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a vehicle controller system secured in the vehicle, the vehicle controller system receiving inputs from the current speed sensor and the driver input and providing an output to the mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle; and one or more leading distance sensors, one or more leading speed sensors, one or more following distance sensors, and one or more following speed sensors, each of the sensors having an output that is provided to the vehicle controller system; wherein the vehicle controller system provides the output to the mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle as a function of the input from the current speed sensor, of the output from the one or more leading distance sensors, of the output of the one or more leading speed sensors, of the output of the one or more following distance sensors, and of the output of the one or more following speed sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of controlling the forward motion of a vehicle having a current speed sensor that outputs a current speed and a mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle, comprising:
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a vehicle controller system secured in the vehicle, the vehicle controller system receiving inputs from the current speed sensor and the driver input and providing an output to the mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle; and detecting a distance between a leading vehicle and the vehicle with a first detector and providing the detected distance between the leading vehicle and the vehicle on a first detector output; detecting a relative speed between the leading vehicle and the vehicle with a second detector and providing the detected relative speed between the leading vehicle and the vehicle on a second detector output; detecting a distance between a following vehicle and the vehicle on a third detector and providing the detected distance between the leading vehicle and the vehicle on a third detector output; detecting a relative speed between the following vehicle and the vehicle with a fourth detector and providing the detected relative speed between the following vehicle and the vehicle on a fourth detector output; and inputting the first detector output, the second detector output, the third detector output, the fourth detector output and the current speed to a vehicle controller and processing the detected distance between the leading vehicle and the controlled vehicle, the detected relative speed between the leading vehicle and the controlled vehicle, the detected distance between the following vehicle and the controlled vehicle, the detected relative speed between the following vehicle and the vehicle and the current speed to provide an output to the mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of controlling the forward motion of a vehicle having a sensors and a mechanism to control forward motion of the vehicle, comprising:
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inputting a current speed to a vehicle controller system secured in the vehicle; and with a forward looking sensor mounted on the vehicle, detecting information about a first vehicle in front of the vehicle and providing the information about the first vehicle to the vehicle controller; with a backward looking sensor mounted on the vehicle, detecting information about a second vehicle behind the vehicle and providing the information about the second vehicle to the vehicle controller; and the vehicle controller controlling the forward motion of the vehicle based on the current speed, the information from the first vehicle and the information from the second vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification