DRIVING ASSISTANCE APPARATUS

• US 20150307095A1
• Filed: 04/20/2015
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: ASO, Kazuaki
• Granted Patent: US 9,550,494 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0956 the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/10 Path keeping cruise control for automatically following a preceding vehicle B60W30/165
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping

Abstract

An apparatus for assisting in the driving of a vehicle determines, for a first vehicle, a first traveling track based on road infrastructure and a second traveling track based on the traveling track of a second vehicle that precedes the first vehicle. The apparatus stores information about the first traveling track and the second traveling track such that the deviation corresponds to the respective traveling positions of the vehicles. If a base for formation of a target track that the first vehicle is caused follow is switched between the first traveling track and the second traveling track when the apparatus forms this target track, the apparatus forms the target track based on the deviation information to decrease deviation between the first traveling track and the second traveling track.

Claims

1. An apparatus configured to assist in driving of a vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to follow a target track, the apparatus comprising:

a first traveling track determining section that determines a first traveling track along which a first vehicle is able to travel based on road infrastructure;

a second traveling track determining section that determines a second traveling track along which the first vehicle is able to travel based on the traveling track of a second vehicle that precedes the first vehicle;

a deviation information storage section that stores deviation information about deviation between the first traveling track and the second traveling track such that the deviation information corresponds to traveling positions of the vehicles; and

a target track formation section that forms, based on either the first traveling track or the second traveling track, a target track that the first vehicle is caused to follow,

wherein, when a base for formation of the target track is switched between the first traveling track and the second traveling track, the target track formation section forms the target track based on the deviation information to decrease the deviation between the first traveling track and the second traveling track.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the road infrastructure is a lane division line marked on a road surface.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the deviation information includes a separation distance between the first traveling track and the second traveling track, and

the target track formation section forms, based on the separation distance, the target track to decrease the deviation between the first traveling track and the second traveling track.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when forming a target track at a target vehicle traveling position, if no deviation information corresponding to the target vehicle traveling position is stored, the target track formation section forms, based on deviation information stored to correspond to a vehicle traveling position previous to the target vehicle traveling position, the target track based on the second traveling track.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first traveling track is switched to the second traveling track when the first traveling track can no longer be determined.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, on condition that the deviation information is recorded, the target track formation section switches the base for the formation of the target track from the first traveling track to the second traveling track.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the first traveling track comes to be detectable during the formation of the target track based on the second traveling track, the target track formation section switches the base for the formation of the target track from the second traveling track to the first traveling track.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

in response to the detection of the first traveling track, the deviation information storage section resumes storage of deviation information, and

the target track formation section forms a target track based on the second traveling track and deviation information stored by the resumption of storage of the deviation information, and switches the base for the formation of the target track from the second traveling track to the first traveling track in response to a decrease in deviation between the target track and the first traveling track.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the second vehicle is one of a plurality of preceding vehicles ahead of the first vehicle, and

when the respective traveling tracks of the preceding vehicles are acquired, the target track formation section forms the target track by averaging the traveling tracks for each corresponding traveling position.

10. A method for assisting in driving of a vehicle in order to cause the vehicle to follow a target track, comprising:

determining a first traveling track along which a first vehicle is able to travel based on road infrastructure;

determining a second traveling track along which the first vehicle is able to travel based on the traveling track of a second vehicle that precedes the first vehicle;

storing deviation information about deviation between the first traveling track and the second traveling track such that the deviation information corresponds to traveling positions of the vehicles; and

forming, based on either the first traveling track or the second traveling track, a target track that the first vehicle is caused to follow,

wherein, when a base for formation of the target track is switched between the first traveling track and the second traveling track, the target track is formed based on the deviation information to decrease the deviation between the first traveling track and the second traveling track.