Vehicular active drive assist system

• US 6,411,901 B1
• Filed: 09/20/2000
• Issued: 06/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Subaru Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fuji Heavy Industries Limited (Subaru Corp.)
• Inventors: Hiwatashi, Yutaka, Hanawa, Keiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US09/665,104
• Time in Patent Office: 643 Days
• Field of Search: 701/96, 701/300, 701/301, 342/455, 340/435, 340/436, 340/901, 340/903, 348/118, 348/119, 348/142, 348/148, 348/149
• US Class Current: 701/301
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/52 for indicating emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/08 Lane monitoring; Lane Keeping Systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/082 using alarm actuation
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/029 Steering assistants using warnings or proposing actions to the driver without influencing the steering system

Abstract

An easy-to-use vehicular active drive assist system is provided, which can continue to give a warning against the presence of a possibility of deviation of own vehicle from a traffic lane to such an extent that a driver would not find the warning noisy or annoying. A control unit makes a judgment on the possibility of deviation from a traffic lane based on the location of lane marker lines detected from a pair of camera images and the location of own vehicle, and generates a warning if the own vehicle is supposed to deviate from to the left or right of the traffic lane. This warning is produced at preset time intervals. When the direction of potential lane deviation has changed (from right to left or from left to right), a lane deviation warning of the current side of lane deviation is started immediately.

Claims

1. A vehicular active drive assist system, for a vehicle comprising:

a lane deviation judgment unit which judges the possibility of deviation of said vehicle from a traffic lane on a roadway ahead;

a warning generating unit which generates a warning to alert the possibility of deviation;

a warning control unit which activates the warning generating unit when said vehicle is judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane; and

a deviation waning counter unit which counts a preset time interval after the warning generating unit has been activated,

said warning control unit activating the warning generating unit at the preset time interval as long as the judgment persists after said vehicle has been judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane.

4. The vehicular active drive assist system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the deviation warning counter unit includes a rightward deviation warning counter for counting the preset time interval for rightward deviation warning, and a leftward deviation warning counter for counting the preset time interval for leftward deviation warning.

5. The vehicular active drive assist system as recited in claim 4, wherein

when one of the deviation warning counter unit is set for counting the preset time interval, the other one of the deviation warning counter unit is set clear.

2. A vehicular active drive assist system for a vehicle, comprising:

a lane deviation judgment unit which judges the possibility of deviation of said vehicle from a traffic lane on a roadway ahead, and

a warning control unit which activates a warning generating unit when the said vehicle is judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane,

said warning control unit activating the warning generating unit at preset time interval as long as the judgment persists after said vehicle has been judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane,

wherein the lane deviation judgment unit distinctively judges the possibility of deviation to the left and right directions of the traffic lane, and if said vehicle is judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane in one of left and right directions after once having been judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane in the opposite direction, the warning control unit immediately activating the warning generating unit regardless of the time interval counted for the opposite direction.

3. A vehicular active drive assist system for a vehicle, comprising:

a lane deviation judgment unit which judges the possibility of deviation of said vehicle from a traffic lane on a roadway ahead; and

a warning control unit which activates a warning generating unit when said vehicle is judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane,

said warning control unit activating the warning generating unit at preset time interval as long as the judgment persists after said vehicle has been judged to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane,

wherein the lane deviation judgment unit distinctively judges the possibility of deviation to the left and right directions of the traffic lane, and if said vehicle is judged to have no possibility of deviation from the traffic lane after once having been judged to have the possibility of deviation in one of left and right directions, and is judged again to have the possibility of deviation from the traffic lane in the same direction, the warning control unit immediately activating the warning generating unit regardless of the time interval initially counted for that direction.