Cruise control apparatus

• US 9,399,397 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2013
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Mizutani, Akiyoshi, Matsuoka, Keiji, Shimizu, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatib, Rami
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ziaeianmehdizadeh, Navid
• Application Number:
  US13/761,548
• Publication Number:
  US 20130211689A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,265 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/00 Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator fittings acting on two or more sub-units B60W30/14; speedometers G01P; systems or devices for controlling speed in general G05D13/00 ; in traffic anti-collision system for road vehicles G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle

Abstract

The cruise control apparatus includes a headway control means for making a first determination as to whether or not at least one recognized front vehicle running ahead of an own vehicle is a preceding vehicle present in an own-vehicle lane in which the own vehicle is running, performing a headway control to cause the own vehicle to run following the preceding vehicle when the first determination is affirmative, and a vehicle type recognizing means for recognizing a type of the recognized front vehicle. The headway control means is configured to change a way to perform the headway control depending on the type (vehicle size, for example) of the recognized front vehicle.

Claims

1. A cruise control apparatus comprising:

a headway control unit that determines whether or not at least one recognized front vehicle running ahead of an own vehicle is a preceding vehicle present in an own-vehicle lane in which the own vehicle is running by transmitting and receiving a frequency-modulated radar wave, and if the recognized front vehicle is determined to be the preceding vehicle, performs a headway control to cause the own vehicle to run following the preceding vehicle; and

a vehicle type recognizing unit that recognizes a vehicle type of the recognized front vehicle including whether the vehicle type is a first type or a second type, the first type has a first rear width that is greater than a second rear width of the second type;

wherein

the headway control unit changes a way to perform the headway control based on the vehicle type of the recognized front vehicle,

the headway control unit calculates an own-lane probability that the recognized front vehicle is present in the own-vehicle lane based on a position of the recognized front vehicle, performs a filtering operation on the own-lane probability to generate a filtered own-lane probability, the filtered own-lane probability has a temporal variation which is reduced compared to a temporal variation of the own-lane probability calculated, the headway control unit determining whether or not the recognized front vehicle is the preceding vehicle using the filtered own-lane probability,

the vehicle type recognizing unit determines whether or not the recognized front vehicle is of the first type or the second type based on whether the vehicle has a shape corresponding to one of a plurality of model patterns stored in a memory unit in advance,

when the vehicle type is the first type, the filtered own-lane probability is;

a previously filtered own-lane probability added to a difference between the previously filtered own-lane probability and the calculated own-lane probability, the sum of which is multiplied by a first temporal variation to lower by a first degree of responsiveness the determination of whether or not the recognized front vehicle is the preceding vehicle, and

when the vehicle type is the second type, the filtered own-lane probability is;

the previously filtered own-lane probability added to the difference between the previously filtered own-lane probability and the calculated own-lane probability, the sum of which is multiplied by a second temporal variation that is less than the first temporal variation to lower by a second degree of responsiveness the determination of whether or not the recognized front vehicle is the preceding vehicle, the second degree of responsiveness is less than the first degree of responsiveness.

2. A cruise control apparatus comprising:

a headway control unit that determines whether or not at least one recognized front vehicle running ahead of an own vehicle is a preceding vehicle present in an own-vehicle lane in which the own vehicle is running by transmitting and receiving a frequency-modulated radar wave, and if the recognized front vehicle is determined to be the preceding vehicle, performs a headway control to cause the own vehicle to run following the preceding vehicle; and

a vehicle type recognizing unit that recognizes a vehicle type of the recognized front vehicle including whether the vehicle type is a first type or a second type, the first type has a first rear width that is greater than a second rear width of the second type;

wherein

the headway control unit changes a way to perform the headway control based on the vehicle type of the recognized front vehicle,

the headway control unit performs a filtering operation on a detected front vehicle lateral position as a lateral position of the recognized front vehicle along a width direction of the own vehicle to generate a filtered front vehicle lateral position, the filtered front vehicle lateral position has a temporal variation which is smaller than a temporal variation of the detected front vehicle lateral position, the headway control unit determining whether or not the recognized front vehicle is the preceding vehicle using the filtered front vehicle lateral position,

the vehicle type recognizing unit determines whether or not the recognized front vehicle is of the first type or the second type based on whether the vehicle has a shape corresponding to one of a plurality of model patterns stored in a memory unit in advance,

when the vehicle type is the first type, the filtered front vehicle lateral position is;

a previously filtered front vehicle lateral position added to a difference between the previously filtered front vehicle lateral position and the calculated front vehicle lateral position, the sum of which is multiplied by a first temporal variation to lower by a first degree of responsiveness the determination of whether or not the recognized front vehicle is the preceding vehicle, and

when the vehicle type is the second type, the filtered front vehicle lateral position is;

the previously filtered front vehicle lateral position added to the difference between the previously filtered front vehicle lateral position and the calculated front vehicle lateral position, the sum of which is multiplied by a second temporal variation that is less than the first temporal variation to lower by a second degree of responsiveness.