COLLISION AVOIDANCE APPARATUS

• US 20190329745A1
• Filed: 07/11/2019
• Published: 10/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: ITO, Yosuke, KAMIYA, Kei, OGURI, Takaharu, BABA, Takahiro
• Granted Patent: US 11,891,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/00 Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles B60R22/00; seats constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats, B60N2/42; energy-absorbing arrangements for hand wheels for steering vehicles B62D1/11; energy-absorbing arrangements for vehicle steering columns B62D1/19
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/30 Environment conditions or position therewithin
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2250/00 Monitoring, detecting, estimating vehicle conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2250/04 Vehicle reference speed; Vehicle body speed
• 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: B60T 8/58 responsive to speed and another condition or to plural speed conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4042 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/806 Relative heading
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18159 Traversing an intersection
• 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

A collision avoidance apparatus includes a travelling state calculation section, a target detection section, a target state calculation section, a lateral moving object determination section, a collision determination section, and a collision avoidance control section. The collision avoidance control section calculates, based on (i) a passing-through period of the lateral moving object in which the lateral moving object passes through an own vehicle course that is a moving course of the own vehicle and (ii) a reaching time of the own vehicle that is a period remaining before the own vehicle reaching a lateral moving object course that is a moving course of the lateral moving object, an operation timing of the brakes for the lateral moving object passing through the own vehicle course before the own vehicle reaches the lateral moving object course, and operates the brakes at the calculated operation timing of the brakes.

Claims

1. A collision avoidance apparatus comprising:

a traveling state calculation section that calculates a traveling state which includes a moving direction and a moving velocity of an own vehicle;

a target detection section that detects a target ahead of the own vehicle;

a target state calculation section that calculates a state of the target detected by the target detection section which includes a moving direction of the target, a size of the target, a moving velocity of the target, and a position of the target relative to a position of the own vehicle;

a lateral moving object determination section that determines whether the target is a lateral moving object moving in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the own vehicle;

a collision determination section that determines whether the own vehicle will collide with the lateral moving object if the lateral moving object determination section has determined that the target is the lateral moving object; and

a collision avoidance control section that automatically controls brakes of the own vehicle such that a velocity of the own vehicle is to be a predetermined deceleration in set if the collision determination section has determined that the own vehicle will collide with the lateral moving object,

wherein the collision avoidance control section calculates, based on (i) a passing-through period of the lateral moving object in which the lateral moving object passes through an own vehicle course that is a moving course of the own vehicle and (ii) a reaching period of the own vehicle that is a period remaining the own vehicle reaching a lateral moving object course that is a moving course of the lateral moving object, that an operation timing of the brakes for the lateral moving object passing through the own vehicle course before the own vehicle reaches the lateral moving object course, and operates the brakes at the calculated operation timing of the brakes.

2. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collision avoidance control section calculates the operation timing of the brakes such that the passing-through period of the lateral moving object is the same as the reaching period of the own vehicle.

3. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

the collision avoidance control section is configured to;

calculate an own vehicle stop period that is a period from when the collision avoidance control section operates brakes to when the own vehicle stops, if the brakes are operated at the time when the collision determination section determines that the own vehicle will collide with the lateral moving object; and

if the collision avoidance control section has determined an operation period of the brakes is longer than the own vehicle stop period, operates the brakes at a stop time regardless of whether the operation timing of the brakes arrives, the operation period of the brakes being a period from when the brakes at the operation timing of the brakes to when operation of the brakes is terminated, the stop time being a time at which the own vehicle is capable of stopping in a front of the lateral moving course.

4. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collision determination section determines that the own vehicle will collide with the lateral moving object if all of following conditions are not satisfied,

a first condition being that a passing-through period of the own vehicle is less than or equal to a reaching period of the lateral moving object, and

a second condition being that the passing-through period of the lateral moving object is less than or equal to the reaching period of the own vehicle,

the passing-through period of the own vehicle being a period in which the own vehicle passes through the lateral moving object course, the reaching period of the lateral moving object being a period remaining before the lateral moving object reaching the own vehicle course.

5. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the collision avoidance control section has determined a calculation disabled state in which the target state calculation section cannot calculate the state of the target, the collision avoidance control section operates the brakes from when the collision avoidance control section determines the calculation disabled state regardless of whether the operation timing of the brakes has arrived.

6. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

if the target state calculation section cannot calculate a target length along the moving direction of the target, the target state calculation section estimates the target length along the moving direction of the target based on reflected waves acquired from a millimeter-wave sensor mounted on the own vehicle and calculates the state of the target.

7. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

in reflection intensity of the reflected waves, a second value of the reflection intensity is less than a first value of the reflection intensity, and

the target length estimated by the target state calculation section when the reflection intensity is the second value is less than the target length estimated by the target state calculation section when the reflection intensity is the first value.

8. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 6, wherein:

the collision avoidance control section is configured to;

set a first deceleration as the predetermined deceleration if the target state calculation section has estimated the target length; and

set a second deceleration as the predetermined deceleration if the target state calculation section has calculated the target length after the target state calculation section has estimated the target length and the calculated target length is longer than the estimated target length, the second deceleration being greater than the first deceleration.

9. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collision avoidance control section calculates jerk of a period between a time when the brakes are operated and when the speed of the own vehicle is to be the predetermined deceleration, and calculates the operation timing of the brakes such that the operation period of the brakes is longer than an operation period of the brakes when no jerk is calculated.

10. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collision avoidance control section changes the predetermined deceleration in accordance with types of the target.

11. The collision avoidance apparatus according to claim 10, wherein:

the types of target include a vehicle, a bicycle and a pedestrian; and

among the vehicle, the bicycle and the pedestrian, the collision avoidance control section sets to a greatest value as the predetermined deceleration if the target is the vehicle, and sets to a lowest value as the predetermined deceleration if the target is the pedestrian.