DRIVE ASSIST DEVICE, AND DRIVE ASSIST METHOD

• US 20160082955A1
• Filed: 04/25/2013
• Published: 03/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: NGUYEN VAN, Quy Hung, KISHI, Hiroshi, YOSHIZAWA, Shintaro, KIKUCHI, Hirokazu
• Granted Patent: US 9,809,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/022 Collision avoidance systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/12 for automatic initiation; for initiation not subject to will of driver or passenger limiting speed of vehicles other than rail vehicles B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/04 including control of propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/10 Accelerator pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/16 Ratio selector position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/803 Relative lateral speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

According to an embodiment, there is provided a drive assist device including an index calculation unit configured to calculate an index relating to a relative relationship between a vehicle and a target object and a drive assist determination unit configured to determine whether to execute a drive assist control of the vehicle based on the index and as the vehicle width direction component of the relative speed between the vehicle and the target object decreases, the index calculation unit calculates the index with increasing a degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component, or as the vehicle width direction component of the relative distance between the vehicle and the target object increases, the index calculation unit calculates the index with increasing the degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component.

Claims

1. A drive assist device comprising:

an index calculation unit configured to calculate an index relating to a relative relationship between a vehicle and a target object; and

a drive assist determination unit configured to determine whether to execute a drive assist control of the vehicle based on the index,

wherein, as a vehicle width direction component of a relative speed between the vehicle and the target object decreases, the index calculation unit calculates the index with increasing a degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object, or

as a vehicle width direction component of a relative distance between the vehicle and the target object increases, the index calculation unit calculates the index with increasing the degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object.

2. The drive assist device according to claim 1,

wherein, as a lateral sensed approach decreases, which is expressed by a ratio of the vehicle width direction component of the relative speed and the vehicle width direction component of the relative distance, the index calculation unit calculates the index with increasing the degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object.

3. The drive assist device according to claim 2,

wherein, in a case where the lateral sensed approach is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the index calculation unit calculates the index by using the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component and the relative relationship relating to the vehicle travelling direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object, and

in a case where the lateral sensed approach is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the index calculation unit calculates the index using the relative relationship relating to the vehicle travelling direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object.

4. The drive assist device according to claim 2,

wherein, in a case where the lateral sensed approach is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the index calculation unit calculates a value resulting from dividing a term including a sum of the vehicle travelling direction component of the relative speed and the vehicle width direction component of the relative speed by a sum of the vehicle travelling direction component of the relative distance and the vehicle width direction component of the relative distance as the index, and

in a case where the lateral sensed approach is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the index calculation unit calculates a value resulting from dividing a term including the vehicle travelling direction component of the relative speed by a term including the vehicle travelling direction component of the relative distance as the index.

5. The drive assist device according to claim 2,

wherein, in a case where the lateral sensed approach is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the index calculation unit calculates the index using below-described Equation (1),

T_—

PRE={(V+B·

A_x)+K1·

V_d}/{L+K2·

D} 

 

(1), and

wherein, in a case where the lateral sensed approach is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the index calculation unit calculates the index using below-described Equation (2),

T_—

PRE=(V+B·

A_x)/L 

 

(2)

(In Equations (1) and (2), T_PRE is the index, V is the vehicle travelling direction component of the relative speed, V_d is the vehicle width direction component of the relative speed, A_x is a deceleration of the vehicle, L is the vehicle travelling direction component of the relative distance, D is the vehicle width direction component of the relative distance, B is a predetermined coefficient, and K1 and K2 are arbitrary coefficients.)

6. The drive assist device according to claim 1,

wherein, in a case where the target object approaches the vehicle, the drive assist determination unit determines whether to execute the drive assist control based on the index.

7. The drive assist device according to claim 1,

wherein the drive assist determination unit includes:

an operation timing determination unit configured to determine, based on the index, a first recommended operation timing that indicates a timing at which a first driving operation which changes the behavior of the vehicle is performed; and

an estimation unit configured to estimate, at the timing earlier than the first recommended operation timing, whether a driver of the vehicle performs the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing, and

wherein, in a case where it is estimated by the estimation unit that the driver of the vehicle does not perform the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing, the drive assist determination unit determines to execute the drive assist control.

8. The drive assist device according to claim 7,

wherein the estimation unit estimates whether the driver of the vehicle performs the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing based on the execution timing of the second driving operation which is performed by the driver at the timing earlier than the first driving operation.

9. The drive assist device according to claim 8,

wherein, based on the index, the operation timing determination unit determines a second recommended operation timing that indicates a timing at which the second driving operation is performed, and

wherein, in a case where the driver does not perform the second driving operation at the second recommended operation timing, the estimation unit estimates that the driver of the vehicle does not perform the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing.

10. The drive assist device according to claim 7,

wherein the first driving operation is a braking operation by the driver.

11. The drive assist device according to claim 7,

wherein the first driving operation is a brake-on operation by the driver.

12. The drive assist device according to claim 8,

wherein the second driving operation is an operation of an accelerator or a shift operation by the driver.

13. The drive assist device according to claim 8,

wherein the second driving operation is an accelerator-off operation or a shift-up operation by the driver.

14. The drive assist device according to claim 7,

wherein the estimation unit estimates whether the driver of the vehicle performs the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing based on the travel state of the vehicle at the timing earlier than the first recommended operation timing.

15. The drive assist device according to claim 14,

wherein, in a case where a deceleration quantity of the vehicle at the timing earlier than the first recommended operation timing is smaller than a predetermined deceleration quantity, the estimation unit estimates that the driver does not perform the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing.

16. The drive assist device according to claim 14,

wherein, in a case where an engine speed of the vehicle at the timing earlier than the first recommended operation timing is less than a predetermined engine speed, the estimation unit estimates that the driver does not perform the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing.

20. A drive assist method by the drive assist device according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

an index calculation step of causing the index calculation unit to calculate an index relating to a relative relationship between a vehicle and a target object; and

a drive assist determination step of causing the drive assist determination unit to determine whether to execute a drive assist control of the vehicle based on the index,

wherein, in the index calculation step,

as the vehicle width direction component of the relative speed between the vehicle and the target object decreases, the index calculation unit calculates the index with increasing a degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object, or

as the vehicle width direction component of the relative distance between the vehicle and the target object increases, the index calculation unit calculates the index with with increasing the degree of influence of the relative relationship relating to the vehicle width direction component among the relative relationships between the vehicle and the target object.

17. A drive assist device comprising:

an operation timing determination unit configured to determine a first recommended operation timing that indicates a timing at which a first driving operation to change a behavior of a vehicle is performed based on an index relating to a relative relationship between the vehicle and a target object;

an estimation unit configured to estimate, at the timing earlier than the first recommended operation timing, whether a driver of the vehicle performs the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing; and

a drive assist determination unit configured to determine to execute the drive assist of the vehicle in a case where it is estimated by the estimation unit that the driver does not perform the first drive operation at the first recommended operation timing,

wherein, the operation timing determination unit determines the first recommended operation timing such that the timing becomes early as a vehicle width direction component of the relative speed between the vehicle and the target object decreases or the vehicle width direction component of the relative distance between the vehicle and the target object increases.

18. The drive assist device according to claim 17,

wherein the estimation unit estimates whether the driver of the vehicle performs the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing based on the execution timing of the second driving operation which is performed by the driver at the timing earlier than the first driving operation.

19. The drive assist device according to claim 18,

wherein, the operation timing determination unit determines the second recommended operation timing that indicates a timing at which the second driving operation is performed, based on the travel state of the vehicle, and

wherein, the estimation unit estimates that the driver of the vehicle does not perform the first driving operation at the first recommended operation timing, in a case where the driver does not perform the second driving operation at the second recommended operation timing.