Anticipatory cruise control

• US 8,996,273 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2012
• Issued: 03/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Lee, Jin-Woo, Prabhuswamy, Shilpa
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Application Number:
  US13/600,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067226A1
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 705/58, 705/65, 705/93, 705/96, 705/409, 705/412, 705/431
• US Class Current: 701/96
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/30 Road curve radius
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/60 Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• 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: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled

Abstract

An anticipatory cruise control configured to automatically adjust travel speed responsively to upcoming changes in road conditions in a safe and comfortable manner.

Claims

1. A method of anticipatory cruise control (ACC) comprising:

providing a speed-command-generator associated with a vehicle in travel;

retrieving speed data of an upcoming road segment from a data base of map data;

calculating a potential transition speed from a current travel speed to a future travel speed associated with the upcoming road segment based on the speed data and current position; and

modifying the potential transition speed by a user-selected offset value, and

supplying the potential transition speed modified with the offset value as a transition speed to the ACC.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the speed data of an upcoming road segment includes a speed limit of the upcoming road segment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the speed data of an upcoming road segment includes curve data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the speed-command-generator is further configured to calculate the future travel speed from the curve data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transition speed generates less than about 0.15 g-force during speed changes.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing dead-reckoning responsively to a loss of GPS service or loss of the map data associated with the upcoming road segment.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising issuing a warning signal responsively to a loss of GPS service or the map data associated with the upcoming road segment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the cruise speed is implemented as a signal compatible with most ACC units.

9. An anticipatory cruise control (ACC) comprising:

a speed-command-generator associated with a vehicle configured to;

retrieve speed data of an upcoming road segment from a data base of map data,

calculate a potential transition speed from a current travel speed to a future travel speed associated with the upcoming road segment based on the speed data and a current position; and

modify the potential transition speed by a user-selected offset value, and

supply the potential transition speed modified with the offset value as a transition speed to the ACC.

10. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 9 wherein the speed data includes a speed limit of the upcoming road segment.

11. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 9 wherein the speed data includes a curve data of the upcoming road segment.

12. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 11 wherein the speed-command-generator is further configured to calculate the future travel speed from the curve data.

13. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 9, wherein cruise speed generates less than about 0.15 g-force during speed changes.

14. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to employing dead-reckoning responsively to a loss of GPS service or loss of the map data associated with the upcoming road segment.

15. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 14, further comprising an output device configured to issue a warning responsively to a loss of GPS signal or inadequate map data.

16. The anticipatory cruise control of claim 9, wherein the cruise speed is implemented as signal compatible with most ACC units.