Onboard device and control method

• US 9,183,178 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2010
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Astemo Ltd. (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kato, Seiya, Mitoma, Hiroto
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US13/882,385
• Publication Number:
  US 20130282236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,835 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

Another detection device reduces the time needed for travel motion information about another vehicle obtained by an accurate detector device, and to continues supplement for the other vehicle in the event that detection is lost. All onboard controller is connected to a communication device as a first detector device for outputting the travel motion information about another vehicle, and a sensor as a second detector device. When the difference between first travel motion information from the first detection device and second travel motion information from the second detection device is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, and the period of continuous detection of the second travel motion information from the second detection device is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the controller determines the first travel motion information and the second travel motion information to be travel motion information for the same vehicle.

Claims

1. An onboard device comprising a controller, and when driving status information of a pertinent vehicle that is acquired from a pertinent vehicle detector device of a plurality of vehicle detector devices is prevented from continuing to be acquired from the pertinent vehicle detector device of the plurality of vehicle detector devices after the driving status information of another vehicle acquired from other vehicle detector devices of the plurality of vehicle detector devices mounted on a host vehicle and configured to detect a different vehicle than the host vehicle has been determined to be the driving status information of the same pertinent vehicle acquired from the pertinent vehicle detector device, the controller is configured to:

generate the driving status information of the pertinent vehicle by using current driving status information acquired from the other vehicle detector devices and a difference between the driving status information acquired by the pertinent vehicle detector device and the driving status information acquired by the other vehicle detector devices when the driving status information of the other vehicle acquired from the other vehicle detector devices is determined to be the driving status information of the same pertinent vehicle; and

output the generated driving status information of the other vehicle,

wherein a plurality of the vehicle detector devices configured to detect a different vehicle than the host vehicle include a first vehicle detector device that detects driving status information of the other vehicle according to position and vehicle speed vector information transmitted from the other vehicle by wireless communication and a second vehicle detector device that detects driving status information of the other vehicle by using a sensor, and

when the driving status information of a certain other vehicle using the sensor becomes unavailable after determining, regarding a certain other vehicle, that the driving status information of a certain other vehicle using wireless communication and the driving status information of a certain other vehicle using the sensor indicate the same vehicle, the controller is further configured to output, as positional information on the pertinent vehicle, such positional information as is generated by adding a differential value of positional information of the detected information on the pertinent vehicle acquired from wireless communication to the positional information on the pertinent vehicle obtained when the sameness of the vehicle is determined.

2. An onboard device comprising a controller that determines whether items of driving status information of another vehicle acquired from a plurality of different vehicle detector devices mounted on a host vehicle to detect another vehicle indicate the same vehicle, corrects the driving status information of the other vehicle detected in the past and acquired from the plurality of different vehicle detector devices to driving status information at the time of making the determination, determines whether the two detected vehicles on the basis of whether differences in position and vehicle speed vector contained in the corrected driving status information of the other vehicle are within a range of predetermined threshold values, and outputs driving status information of the other vehicle whose sameness has been determined.

3. The onboard device according to claim 2, comprising, as the vehicle detector devices to acquire driving status information of the other vehicle, a vehicle detector device that detects driving status information of another vehicle according to position and vehicle speed vector information transmitted from the other vehicle by wireless communication and a vehicle detector device that detects driving status information of the other vehicle by using a sensor,

wherein the controller, by using the difference between the time of making the determination regarding each set of the driving status information and the time of acquisition of the driving status information and position and vehicle speed vector information indicated by the driving status information, calculates the position and vehicle speed vector information at the time of making the determination.

4. A control method for a controller provided for an onboard device of a host vehicle,

wherein the onboard device is provided with a controller that determines whether driving status information of another vehicle acquired from a plurality of different vehicle detector devices mounted on the host vehicle to detect the other vehicle covers the same vehicle,

the controller corrects the driving status information of the other vehicle detected in the past and acquired from the plurality of different vehicle detector devices to driving status information at the time of making the determination;

the controller determines whether the same vehicle is covered based on whether differences in position and vehicle speed vector contained in the corrected driving status information of the other vehicle are within a range of predetermined threshold values, and

the controller outputs the driving status information of the other vehicle when the driving status information of the other vehicle is determined to cover the same vehicle.

5. An onboard device comprising:

first and second detector devices that output driving status information of another vehicle;

and a controller that determines, when the difference between first driving status information from the first detector device and second driving status information from the second detector device is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value and a detection duration of the second driving status information from the second detector device is equal to or longer than a threshold value, which is prescribed as the period of time taken for identification, that both the first driving status information and the second driving status information are driving status information of the other vehicle, and makes the second driving status information available for use even for a shorter period than the detection duration prescribed for detection of the other vehicle by the second detector device alone.

6. The onboard device according to claim 5, comprising a controller that assigns, after both the first driving status information and the second driving status information are determined to be the driving status information of the other vehicle and when the second driving status information of the other vehicle fails to be outputted from the second detector device, the first driving status information as the driving status information of the other vehicle.

7. The onboard device according to claim 6, wherein the controller, after assigning the first driving status information as the driving status information of the other vehicle with the second driving status information of the other vehicle failing to be outputted from the second detector device, determines that both the first driving status information and the second driving status information are the driving status information of the other vehicle when the difference between the first driving status information from the first detector device and the second driving status information from the second detector device is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.

8. The onboard device according to claim 7, further comprising a third detector device that outputs driving status information of the host vehicle.

9. The onboard device according to claim 8, wherein:

the first detector device is a communication device that receives the first driving status information, which is first absolute driving status information of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle;

the second detector device is a sensor that detects the other vehicle and outputs the second driving status information, which is second relative driving status information of the other vehicle with respect to the host vehicle;

the third detector device is a GPS receiver that outputs third absolute driving status information of the host vehicle; and

the controller acquires first relative driving status information of the other vehicle from the third absolute driving status information and the first driving status information of the host vehicle, and figures out the difference between the first driving status information and the second driving status information as the difference between the first relative driving status information and the second relative driving status information.

10. A control method for a controller connected to first and second detector devices that output driving status information of another vehicle, comprising the steps of:

inputting first driving status information from the first detector device;

inputting second driving status information from the second detector device; and

,

when the difference between the first driving status information from the first detector device and the second driving status information from the second detector device is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value and a detection duration of the second driving status information from the second detector device is equal to or longer than a threshold value, which is prescribed as the period of time taken for identification, determining that both the first driving status information and the second driving status information are driving status information of the other vehicle, and making the second driving status information available for use even for a shorter period than the detection duration prescribed for detection of the other vehicle by the second detector device alone.

11. The control method according to claim 10, wherein after both the first driving status information and the second driving status information are determined to be the driving status information of the other vehicle, when the second driving status information of the other vehicle fails to be outputted from the second detector device, the first driving status information is assigned as the driving status information of the other vehicle.

12. The control method according to claim 11, wherein the controller, after assigning the first driving status information as the driving status information of the other vehicle with the second driving status information of the other vehicle failing to be outputted from the second detector device, determines both the first driving status information and the second driving status information are the driving status information of the other vehicle when the difference between the first driving status information from the first detector device and the second driving status information newly outputted from the second detector device is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.

13. The control method according to claim 12, wherein the first detector device is a communication device that receives the first driving status information, which is first absolute driving status information of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle;

the second detector device is a sensor that detects the other vehicle and outputs the second driving status information, which is second relative driving status information of the other vehicle with respect to the host vehicle; and

the controller is further connected to a GPS receiver that outputs third absolute driving status information of the host vehicle, acquires first relative driving status information of the other vehicle from the third absolute driving status information and the first driving status information of the host vehicle, and figures out the difference between the first driving status information and the second driving status information as the difference between the first relative driving status information and the second relative driving status information.