Driving control device for a vehicle

• US 7,447,573 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2004
• Issued: 11/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Subaru Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fuji Jukogyo KK (Subaru Corp.)
• Inventors: Hiwatashi, Yutaka, Takazawa, Atsuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US11/004,066
• Publication Number:
  US 20050125115A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,429 Days
• Field of Search: 701/23, 701/25, 701/207, 701/209, 701216-217, 701/300, 340/988, 340/989, 340/991, 340/995.25, 340/996, 342/357.01, 342/357.03, 342/357.08, 342/357.09, 342/357.13
• US Class Current: 701/25
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

A base station is installed in a driver'"'"'s house or the like where the precise position has been measured beforehand, includes a GPS antenna, a GPS receiver, and a wireless communication device, and functions to transmit various data to a vehicle serving as a moving station in a predetermined range. The vehicle has a GPS antenna, a GPS receiver, and a wireless communication device. When establishing communication between the base station and the moving station, if the current vehicle position generally matches any driving route created and stored in the storage unit earlier, automatic driving control is performed with the matching driving route serving as a target driving route. Conversely, if the current position of the vehicle matches no position on the driving routes created in the past even generally, the storage unit continuously stores the current driving route including the current position, as a new route to the destination.

Claims

1. A driving control device for a vehicle comprising:

a base station which has been set to a position that has been measured beforehand, for transmitting correction information to each point within a predetermined area based upon an information received from satellites orbiting the Earth;

a moving station included in said vehicle for calculating a position of the vehicle based upon an information received from said base station and the information received from said satellites;

driving-route storage means for storing a driving route along which said vehicle has moved; and

control means wherein at a time of establishment of communication between said base station and said moving station, if determination is made that the a current position of said vehicle calculated by said moving station has been judged as generally matching with any driving route which has been stored previously in said driving-route storage means, said control means sets a target driving route to said driving route stored previously, and performs automatic driving control of said vehicle such that said vehicle reaches a destination according to said target driving route thus set, and on the other hand, if determination is made that the current position of said vehicle calculated by said moving station has been judged as different from any driving routes which have been stored previously in said driving-route storage means, said control means continuously stores the driving route including the current position, along which said vehicle is moving, in said driving-route storage means.

2. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said base station and said moving station includes said driving-route storage means.

3. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle ahead of said vehicle along the driving route, wherein if said obstacle detecting means detects the obstacle, said automatic driving control is canceled.

4. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

5. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 2, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

6. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 2, further comprising obstacle detecting means for detecting the obstacle ahead of said vehicle along the driving route, wherein if said obstacle detecting means detects the obstacle, said automatic driving control is canceled.

7. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 6, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

8. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 3, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

9. A driving control device for a vehicle comprising:

a base station which has been set to a position that has been measured beforehand, for transmitting correction information to each point within a predetermined area based upon an information received from satellites orbiting the Earth;

a moving station included in said vehicle for calculating a position of the vehicle based upon an information received from said base station and the information received from said satellites;

driving-route storage means for storing a driving route along which said vehicle has moved; and

control means wherein at a time of establishment of communication between said base station and said moving station, if determination is made that a current position of said vehicle calculated by said moving station has been judged as generally matching with any driving route which has been stored previously in said driving-route storage means, said control means sets a target driving route to said driving route stored previously, and performs automatic driving control of said vehicle such that said vehicle reaches a destination according to said target driving route thus set.

10. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 9, wherein at least one of said base station and said moving station includes said driving-route storage means.

11. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 9, further comprising obstacle detecting means for detecting the obstacle ahead of said vehicle along the driving route, wherein if said obstacle detecting means detects the obstacle, said automatic driving control is canceled.

12. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 9, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

13. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 10, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

14. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 10, further comprising obstacle detecting means for detecting the obstacle ahead of said vehicle along the driving route, wherein if that said obstacle detecting means detects the obstacle, said automatic driving control is canceled.

15. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 11, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.

16. The driving control device for the vehicle according to claim 14, wherein information transmitted from said base station includes other information as well as said correction information.