Vehicle control system

• US 5,978,724 A
• Filed: 11/14/1997
• Issued: 11/02/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1996
• 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: Sekine, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US08/970,473
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/70, 701/200, 701/207, 701/208, 701/210, 701/212, 701/214, 340/988, 340/990
• US Class Current: 701/70
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0058 responsive to externally generated signalling
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0066 responsive to vehicle path curvature
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/24 Curve radius
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/36 Global Positioning System [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/172 Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters B60T8/17551 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1755 Brake regulation specially adapted to control the stability of the vehicle, e.g. taking into account yaw rate or transverse acceleration in a curve road vehicle drive control systems for control of driving stability otherwise than by controlling a particular sub-unit B60W30/02
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network

Abstract

A vehicle control system enables the passableness of a vehicle through an upcoming section of road to be properly decided, by compensating the influences which are exerted upon the passableness decision by the detection errors of the actual position of the vehicle. Assuming that a deceleration is performed by the vehicle driver at a predetermined reference deceleration β from a vehicle speed V₀ at an actual position P₀, the system calculates passable vehicle speeds of a plurality of tentative positions N_k which are set on a road ahead of the actual position P₀. On the basis of the passable vehicle speeds corresponding to the individual tentative positions N_k, a passable zone Z₁, a warning zone Z₂ and an automatic deceleration zone Z₃ are set by the system so that a warning to the driver is performed, if any of nodes N_k+1, - - - , and so on ahead of the tentative position N_k is present in the warning zone Z₂, and the automatic deceleration of the vehicle is performed if any of the nodes are present in the automatic deceleration zone Z₃. In order that the decision error of the passableness, as accompanying the detection error of the actual position P₀, may be compensated, the reference deceleration β is corrected in accordance with the magnitude of the vehicle speed V₀ or the radius of curvature of the road.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system comprising:

map data outputting means for outputting map data as a set of a plurality of road data forming a road;

actual position detecting means for detecting an actual position of a subject vehicle on a map;

vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed;

tentative position setting means for setting a tentative position on the road ahead of the actual position;

reference deceleration setting means for setting a reference deceleration to decelerate the vehicle from the actual position thereof;

estimated passage speed calculating means for calculating an estimated passage speed at the tentative position on the basis of a distance from the actual position to the tentative position and the reference deceleration;

reference deceleration correcting means for correcting the reference deceleration;

turnable radius calculating means for calculating turnable radii at the tentative position on the basis of the estimated passage speed;

zone setting means for setting passableness deciding zones with reference to the tentative position on the basis of the turnable radii;

passableness deciding means for deciding a passableness of the vehicle through an upcoming section of road by overlapping the road data ahead of the tentative position and the passableness deciding zones; and

vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle when it is decided that the vehicle cannot safely pass through the upcoming section of road.

2. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said reference deceleration correcting means corrects the reference deceleration on the basis of the vehicle speed detected.

3. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said reference deceleration correcting means corrects the reference deceleration on the basis of the road data of the road ahead of the tentative position.

4. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said vehicle control means executes at least one of a warning to the driver and an automatic deceleration of the vehicle.

5. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein said reference decelerating correcting means corrects said reference deceleration so as to reduce at least one of an error in the detected position of the vehicle and an error of the passableness between large and small curvatures of the road.

18. A vehicle control system according to claim 4, wherein said reference decelerating correcting means corrects said reference deceleration so as to reduce at least one of an error in the detected position of the vehicle and an error of the passableness between large and small curvatures of the road.

6. A vehicle control system comprising:

map data outputting means for outputting map data as a set of a plurality of road data forming a road;

actual position detecting means for detecting an actual position of a subject vehicle on a map;

vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed;

tentative position setting means for setting a tentative position on the road ahead of the actual position;

reference deceleration setting means for setting a reference deceleration to decelerate the vehicle from the actual position thereof;

estimated passage speed calculating means for calculating an estimated passage speed at the tentative position on the basis of a distance from the actual position to the tentative position and the reference deceleration;

reference deceleration correcting means for correcting the reference deceleration;

turnable radius calculating means for calculating turnable radii at the tentative position on the basis of the estimated passage speed;

curvature radius calculating means for calculating a radius of curvature of the road at the tentative position on the basis of the map data;

passableness deciding means for deciding a passableness of the vehicle through an upcoming section of road by comparing the radius of curvature and the turnable radii; and

vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle when it is decided that the vehicle cannot safely pass through the upcoming section of road.

7. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said reference deceleration correcting means corrects the reference deceleration on the basis of the radius of curvature of the road, as calculated by the curvature radius calculating means.

8. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said reference deceleration correcting means corrects the reference deceleration based on at least one of the vehicle speed detected, the road data of the road ahead of tentative position, and the radius of curvature of the road as calculated by the curvature radius calculating means.

9. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said vehicle control means executes at least one of a warning to the driver and an automatic deceleration of the vehicle.

10. A vehicle control system according to claim 6, wherein said reference decelerating correcting means corrects said reference deceleration so as to reduce at least one of an error in the detected position of the vehicle and an error of the passableness between large and small curvatures of the road.

11. A vehicle control system comprising:

map data outputting means for outputting map data as a set of a plurality of road data forming a road;

actual position detecting means for detecting an actual position of a subject vehicle on a map;

vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed;

tentative position setting means for setting a tentative position on the road ahead of the actual position;

reference deceleration setting means for setting a reference deceleration to decelerate the vehicle from the actual position thereof;

estimated passage speed calculating means for calculating an estimated passage speed at the tentative position on the basis of a distance from the actual position to the tentative position and the reference deceleration;

reference deceleration correcting means for correcting the reference deceleration;

proper passage speed calculating means for calculating proper passage speeds at the tentative position on the basis of the map data;

passableness deciding means for deciding a passableness of the vehicle through an upcoming section of road by comparing the proper passage speeds and the estimated passage speed; and

vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle when it is decided that the vehicle cannot safely pass through the upcoming section of road.

12. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said reference deceleration correcting means corrects the reference deceleration based on at least one of the vehicle speed detected and the road data of the road ahead of the tentative position.

13. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said vehicle control means executes at least one of a warning to the driver and an automatic deceleration of the vehicle.

14. A vehicle control system according to claim 11, wherein said reference decelerating correcting means corrects said reference deceleration so as to reduce at least one of an error in the detected position of the vehicle and an error of the passableness between large and small curvatures of the road.

15. A vehicle control system comprising:

map data outputting means for outputting map data as a set of a plurality of road data forming a road;

actual position detecting means for detecting an actual position of a subject vehicle on a map;

vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed;

tentative position setting means for setting a tentative position on the road ahead of the actual position;

reference deceleration calculating means for calculating a reference deceleration on the basis of a road surface state;

reference deceleration correcting means for correcting the reference deceleration;

proper passage speed calculating means for calculating proper passage speeds at the tentative position on the basis of the map data;

proper passage deceleration setting means for setting proper passage decelerations necessary for safely passing the tentative position at the proper passage speeds on a basis of the distance from the actual position to the tentative position, the vehicle speed and the proper passage speeds;

passableness deciding means for deciding a passableness of the vehicle through an upcoming section of road by comparing the proper passage decelerations and the reference deceleration; and

vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle when it is decided that the vehicle cannot safely pass through the upcoming section of road.

16. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 15, wherein said reference deceleration correcting means corrects the reference deceleration based on at least one of the vehicle speed detected and the road data of the road ahead of the tentative position.

17. A vehicle control system as set forth in claim 15, wherein said vehicle control means executes at least one of a warning to the driver and an automatic deceleration of the vehicle.