CONTROL APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE

• US 20160221574A1
• Filed: 01/27/2016
• Published: 08/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: IKUTA, Tetsuya, MATSUNAGA, Yasutaka, KOMAI, Sho, HOSHIKAWA, Yuma
• Granted Patent: US 9,783,195 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 39/00 Increasing wheel adhesion wheels, wheel attachments or tyre attachments, designed for increasing traction B60B15/00, B60C; tyre constructions B60C; road surface conditioning to prevent slipperiness E01C
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1763 responsive to the coefficient of friction between the wheels and the ground surface B60T8/1764 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/02 including control of driveline clutches
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/10 Accelerator pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/804 Relative longitudinal 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: G06F 17/10 Complex mathematical operations function generation by table look-up G06F1/03; evaluation of elementary functions by calculation G06F7/544
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00

Abstract

A control apparatus for a vehicle includes a controller configured to (i) calculate, based on a distance and a relative speed between a host vehicle and a forward obstacle, a collision prediction time of a collision between the forward obstacle and the host vehicle; (ii) execute a predetermined control when the collision prediction time is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the predetermined control reducing a probability of the collision between the forward obstacle and the host vehicle, and (iii) decrease the predetermined threshold, when an accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed under a situation where the forward obstacle exists, depending on a first distance between the host vehicle and the forward obstacle at a time at which the accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed.

Claims

1. A control apparatus for a vehicle, the control apparatus comprising a controller configured to:

(i) calculate, based on a distance and a relative speed between a host vehicle and a forward obstacle, a collision prediction time of a collision between the forward obstacle and the host vehicle;

(ii) execute a predetermined control when the collision prediction time is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the predetermined control reducing a probability of the collision between the forward obstacle and the host vehicle, and

(iii) decrease the predetermined threshold, when an accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed under a situation where the forward obstacle exists, depending on a first distance between the host vehicle and the forward obstacle at a time at which the accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed.

2. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller decreases the predetermined threshold if the first distance is less than or equal to a first predetermined distance.

3. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller decreases the predetermined threshold if the first distance is within a range between a second predetermined distance, which is greater than 0, and a first predetermined distance that is greater than the second predetermined distance.

4. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller decreases the predetermined threshold if an arrival time, determined by dividing the first distance by the speed of the host vehicle at the time at which the accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed, is less than or equal to a first predetermined time.

5. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller decreases the predetermined threshold if an arrival time, determined by dividing the first distance by the speed of the host vehicle at the time at which the accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed, is within a range between a second predetermined time, which is greater than 0, and a first predetermined time, which is greater than the second predetermined time.

6. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller decreases the predetermined threshold if a first collision prediction time, determined by dividing the first distance by the relative speed between the forward obstacle and the host vehicle at the time at which the accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed, is within a range between a second predetermined collision prediction time, which is greater than a maximum value of the predetermined threshold, and a first predetermined collision prediction time.

7. The control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller increases the predetermined threshold, under a situation other than a situation where the controller decreases the predetermined threshold, such that the predetermined threshold associated with performance of the accelerator pedal releasing operation is greater than that associated with the accelerator pedal releasing operation being not performed.

8. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller detects occurrence of the accelerator pedal releasing operation upon an accelerator position transitioning from being greater than a predetermined ON threshold to being smaller than a predetermined OFF threshold that is smaller than the predetermined ON threshold.

9. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined control includes sounding of an alarm.

10. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined control includes actuating brakes of the vehicle.

11. A controller for a vehicle, the controller performing, upon there being a probability of a collision between a forward obstacle and a host vehicle, a predetermined control that reduces the probability of the collision, wherein

the controller delays a timing of executing the predetermined control such that the timing is delayed under a situation in which an accelerator pedal releasing operation is performed while a parameter is within a range compared to when the parameter is not within the range, the range having an upper limit value thereof, the parameter being

(1) a distance between the host vehicle and a current position of the forward obstacle;

(2) a first time corresponding to the distance between the host vehicle and the forward obstacle divided by a current host vehicle speed;

or

(3) a second time corresponding to the distance between the host vehicle and the forward obstacle divided by a current relative speed between the host vehicle and the forward obstacle.

12. The controller of claim 11, wherein the predetermined control includes sounding of an alarm.

13. The controller of claim 11, wherein the predetermined control includes actuating brakes of the vehicle.