System for controlling a vehicle relative to a judged shape of a travel road

• US 5,661,650 A
• Filed: 02/22/1995
• Issued: 08/26/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Tamura, Kazuya, Sekine, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): ZANELLI, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US08/394,648
• Time in Patent Office: 916 Days
• Field of Search: 364/424.02, 364/424.05, 364/426.01, 364/426.04, 364/449, 364/424.027, 364/424.033, 364/424.051, 364/426.041, 364/449.1, 340/988, 340/995, 340/438, 340/441, 342/357, 342/457, 180/167, 180/168, 180/169
• US Class Current: 701/82
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/28 non-mechanical , e.g. following a line or other known markers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

A vehicle position is determined and four reference coordinate points N₁, N₂, N₃ and N₄ are extracted at predetermined distances on a road output from a CD-ROM or an IC card, and an angle θ of turning of the vehicle from the coordinate point N₂ to the coordinate point N₃ is calculated according to an expression, θ=(θ₁ +θ₂) from an angle θ₁ formed by a vector V₁₂ between the points N₁, N₂ and a vector V₂₃ between the points N₂, N₃ and an angle θ₂ formed by the vector V₂₃ between the points N₂, N₃ and a vector V₃₄ between the points N₃, N₄. A steering angle permitting the vehicle to safely pass through a curve is calculated based on the turning angle θ and a vehicle speed V₀, and a passable vehicle speed permitting the vehicle to safely pass through the curve is calculated based on a radius R=a/θ of curvature of the curve. Thus, the servicing of a conventional infrastructure requiring increased equipment and maintenance costs is not required, and it is possible to carry out a vehicle control based on a minimum amount of data storable in a CD-ROM or an IC card.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system comprising:

a map information outputting means for outputting map information comprised of a plurality of coordinate points constituting a road;

a subject vehicle position indicating means for indicating a position of a subject vehicle on the road;

a reference coordinate point extracting means for extracting at least three separate reference coordinate points on the road ahead of the position of the subject vehicle;

a road shape judging means for judging a shape of the road based on the extracted reference coordinate points; and

a vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle based on the judged shape of the road.

2. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, further including a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed of the subject vehicle, and wherein a distance between the reference coordinate points extracted by said reference coordinate point extracting means are adjusted based on the vehicle speed detected by said vehicle speed detecting means.

3. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle control means includes a steering-angle control means for controlling at least one of a steering angle and a steering torque based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

4. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle control means includes a vehicle speed control means comprising at least one of a brake device and an auto-cruising device for controlling the vehicle speed based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

5. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle control means includes at least one of a display means and a sound means for giving an alarm to a driver based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

6. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, further including means for setting a virtual position of the subject vehicle on a road ahead of the position of the subject vehicle by a predetermined distance, and said reference coordinate points are extracted based on said virtual position of the subject vehicle.

7. A vehicle control system according to claim 6, wherein said virtual position of the subject vehicle is set and said reference coordinate points are extracted based on a preread distance relating to vehicle speed.

8. A vehicle control system according to claim 6, wherein the reference coordinate points are disposed forwardly of the virtual position of the vehicle.

9. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein distances between adjacent ones of said reference coordinate points are substantially equal.

10. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, further including vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a speed of a subject vehicle, said reference coordinate point extracting means extracts said reference coordinate points based on a detected vehicle speed, and said reference coordinate points extracting means adjusts said reference coordinate points to correlate with the map information output by said map information outputting means.

11. A vehicle control system comprising:

a map information outputting means for outputting map information comprised of a plurality of coordinate points constituting a road;

a subject vehicle position indicating means for indicating a position of a subject vehicle on the road;

a reference coordinate point extracting means for extracting at least four separate reference coordinate points on the road ahead of the position of the subject vehicle;

an angle calculating means for calculating an angle formed by lines connecting the reference coordinate points;

a road shape judging means for judging the shape of the road based on an arrangement of the reference coordinate points determined based on the calculated angle; and

a vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle based on the judged shape of the road.

12. A vehicle control system according to claim 11, wherein said vehicle control means includes a steering-angle control means for controlling at least one of a steering angle and a steering torque based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

13. A vehicle control system according to claim 11, wherein said vehicle control means includes a vehicle speed control means comprising at least one of a brake device and an auto-cruising device for controlling the vehicle speed based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

14. A vehicle control system according to claim 11, wherein said vehicle control means includes at least one of a display means and a sound means for giving an alarm to a driver based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

15. A vehicle control system according to claim 11, further including means for setting a virtual position of the subject vehicle on a road ahead of the position of the subject vehicle by a predetermined distance, and said reference coordinate points are extracted based on said virtual position of the subject vehicle.

16. A vehicle control system comprising:

a map information outputting means for outputting map information comprised of a plurality of coordinate points constituting a road;

a subject vehicle position indicating means for indicating a position of a subject vehicle on the road;

a reference coordinate point extracting means for extracting at least three separate, adjacent reference coordinate points on a road ahead of the position of the subject vehicle;

an angle calculating means for calculating an angle formed by lines connecting the reference coordinate points;

a distance calculating means for calculating distances between the reference coordinate points;

a road shape judging means for judging a shape of the road based on an arrangement of the reference coordinate points determined based on said calculated angle and said calculated distances; and

a vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle based on the judged shape of the road.

17. A vehicle control system according to claim 16, wherein said vehicle control means includes a steering-angle control means for controlling at least one of a steering angle and a steering torque based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

18. A vehicle control system according to claim 16, wherein said vehicle control means includes a vehicle speed control means comprising at least one of a brake device and an auto-cruising device and controls the vehicle speed based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

19. A vehicle control system according to claim 16, wherein said vehicle control means includes at least one of a display means and a sound means for giving an alarm to a driver based on the shape of the road judged by said road shape judging means.

20. A vehicle control system according to claim 16, further including means for setting a virtual position of the subject vehicle on a road ahead of the position of the subject vehicle by a predetermined distance, and said reference coordinate points are extracted based on said virtual position of the subject vehicle.