PLATOON TRAVEL SYSTEM

• US 20140316671A1
• Filed: 04/10/2014
• Published: 10/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: OKAMOTO, Kazuya
• Granted Patent: US 9,799,224 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/96
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/22 Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles

Abstract

A platoon travel system organizes a platoon having plural platoon vehicles traveling in two vehicle groups, in which a preset inter-vehicle distance is reserved between each of the platoon vehicles. When a new vehicle joins in the platoon, the platoon travel system adjusts the inter-vehicle distance by decelerating, among all platoon vehicles, deceleration target vehicles that are the platoon vehicles behind a join position in the platoon, which are included in a latter one of the two vehicle groups.

Claims

1. A platoon travel system for organizing plural vehicles into platoon vehicles and performing a platoon travel of the platoon vehicles at a preset travel speed and a preset inter-vehicle distance from each other, the system comprising:

a platoon organization unit (i) organizing a platoon by acquiring, from each of the plural vehicles, projection area information indicative of a projection area of each vehicle and (ii) positioning, from a top of the platoon, vehicles in a larger projection area vehicle first manner; and

an inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusting an inter-vehicle distance between the platoon vehicles at a vehicle joining time or at a vehicle departure time, the vehicle joining time defined as when a joining vehicle joins in the platoon in which the inter-vehicle distance is adjusted to the preset inter-vehicle distance by decelerating decel-target vehicles in the platoon which are traveling behind a join position that is reserved for the joining vehicle, and the vehicle departure time defined as when a departing vehicle departs from the platoon in which the inter-vehicle distance is adjusted to the preset inter-vehicle distance by decelerating decel-target vehicles in the platoon which are traveling ahead of the departing vehicle.

2. The platoon travel system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first acquisition unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, acquiring the inter-vehicle distance to a front vehicle, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts the inter-vehicle distance acquired by the first acquisition unit to the preset inter-vehicle distance.

3. The platoon travel system of claim 2, further comprising:

a first transmission unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, transmitting the inter-vehicle distance acquired by the first acquisition unit to a just-ahead vehicle that is immediately ahead of a self-vehicle; and

a departure detection unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, detecting the departing vehicle in the platoon, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, by decelerating a decel-target vehicle which is the just-ahead vehicle that is detected by the departure detection unit as traveling immediately ahead of the departing vehicle, a transmitted inter-vehicle distance between the just-ahead vehicle of the departing vehicle and a just-behind vehicle that is immediately behind the departing vehicle which has been transmitted by the first transmission unit, to the preset inter-vehicle distance.

4. The platoon travel system of claim 2, wherein

a first transmission unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, transmitting the inter-vehicle distance acquired by the first acquisition unit to a just-ahead vehicle that is immediately ahead of a self-vehicle;

and

a departure detection unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, detecting the departing vehicle in the platoon, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, by decelerating the decel-target vehicles in the platoon which are traveling ahead of the departing vehicle a transmitted inter-vehicle distance between each of the platoon vehicles which has been transmitted by the first transmission unit, to the preset inter-vehicle distance.

5. The platoon travel system of claim 4, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, when the inter-vehicle distance between the just-ahead vehicle of the departing vehicle and the just-behind vehicle of the departing vehicle becomes the preset inter-vehicle distance, the inter-vehicle distance between each of the platoon vehicles to the preset inter-vehicle distance by returning a travel speed of each of the decel-target vehicles to the preset travel speed.

6. The platoon travel system of claim 2, further comprising:

a join-in detection unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, detecting a join position in the platoon,

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, by decelerating the decel-target vehicles which are all vehicles in the platoon behind the join position detected by the join-in detection unit, the inter-vehicle distance between each of the platoon vehicles to the preset inter-vehicle distance while adjusting an inter-vehicle distance between a just-ahead vehicle immediately ahead of the join position and a just-behind vehicle that is immediately behind the join position to a join-in allow distance.

7. The platoon travel system of claim 3, further comprising:

a second acquisition unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, acquiring the inter-vehicle distance to a behind vehicle, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts the inter-vehicle distance acquired by the second acquisition unit to the preset inter-vehicle distance.

8. The platoon travel system of claim 7, further comprising:

a second transmission unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, transmitting the inter-vehicle distance acquired by the second acquisition unit to a just-behind vehicle that is immediately behind a self-vehicle; and

a join-in detection unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, detecting the join position in the platoon, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, by decelerating the decel-target vehicle which is a just-behind position vehicle that is detected by the join-in detection unit as traveling immediately behind the join position, a transmitted inter-vehicle distance between a just-ahead in position vehicle and a just-behind join position vehicle to a join-in allow distance that allows the join-in of the joining vehicle.

9. The platoon travel system of claim 8, further comprising:

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, by decelerating the decel-target vehicles which are all vehicles in the platoon behind the join position, the transmitted inter-vehicle distance between each of the platoon vehicles, which has been transmitted by the second transmission unit, to the preset inter-vehicle distance while adjusting the transmitted inter-vehicle distance between the just-ahead join position vehicle and the just-behind join position vehicle to the join-in allow distance.

10. The platoon travel system of claim 9, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, when the inter-vehicle distance between the just-ahead join position vehicle and the just-behind join position vehicle becomes the join-in allow distance, the inter-vehicle distance between each of the platoon vehicles to the preset inter-vehicle distance by returning a travel speed of each of the decel-target vehicles to the preset travel speed.

11. The platoon travel system of claim 7 further comprising:

a departure detection unit, in each of the platoon vehicles, detecting the departing vehicle in the platoon, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit adjusts, by decelerating the decel-target vehicles which are all platoon vehicles ahead of the departing vehicle that is detected by the departure detection unit, the inter-vehicle distance between each of the platoon vehicles to the preset distance while adjusting the inter-vehicle distance which has been increased by the departure of the departing vehicle back to the preset inter-vehicle distance.

12. The platoon travel system of claim 1, wherein

the inter-vehicle distance adjustment unit includes

a creation unit creating deceleration plan information for decelerating the decel-target vehicles,

a share unit sharing the deceleration plan information among the decel-target vehicles, and

a deceleration unit decelerating the decel-target vehicles according to the deceleration plan information while synchronizing the decel-target vehicles with each other.

13. The platoon travel system of claim 12, wherein

the deceleration plan information includes

(i) decel start time information indicative of a speed reduction start time when deceleration of a vehicle speed starts,

(ii) return start time information indicative of a return start time when returning of the vehicle speed to a pre-deceleration speed starts, and

(iii) return end time information indicative of a return end time when returning of the vehicle speed to the pre-deceleration speed ends.