Vehicle Control Apparatus and Vehicle Control Method

• US 20080221767A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Hara, Kouichi, Ikeda, Yukihiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,818,668 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/70
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/10 including control of change-speed gearings
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/10 Path keeping cruise control for automatically following a preceding vehicle B60W30/165
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/168 Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space

Abstract

A vehicle control apparatus that performs driving assist control on an entrance ramp or an exit ramp connected to a main road having a different safe cruising speed limit than the entrance ramp or the exit ramp. The control apparatus includes a broken line detecting device that detects a broken line marked on the road and divides the main road and the entrance ramp or the exit ramp and a controller that determines a control zone of the driving assist control based on the broken line detection results from the broken line detecting device. For example, the vehicle control apparatus detects the broken line that divides a main road and an exit ramp using the broken line detecting device and starts driving assist control using the controller when it is detected that an accelerator pedal has been released.

Claims

1-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A vehicle control apparatus which performs driving assist control on an entrance ramp or an exit ramp connected to a main road having a different safe cruising speed limit than the entrance ramp or the exit ramp, comprising:

a broken line detecting device that detects a broken line which is marked on the road and divides the main road and the entrance ramp or the exit ramp; and

that comprises a back camera which is mounted to a rear portion of a vehicle body and which captures an image of a road surface; and

a controller which determines a control zone of the driving assist control based on a broken line detection result from the broken line detecting device.

18. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller starts the driving assist control when the broken line detecting device detects the broken line that divides the main road and the exit ramp.

19. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller executes the driving assist control when the broken line detecting device detects the broken line that divides the main road and the exit ramp and an accelerator pedal is released.

20. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller ends the driving assist control when the broken line detecting device detects the broken line that divides the main road and the entrance ramp.

21. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising:

a host vehicle position detecting device that detects the position of a host vehicle; and

a storage device that stores map data including position information of a merging point of the entrance ramp,

wherein the controller ends the driving assist control when it can be determined, based on the map data and the host vehicle position detected by the host vehicle position detecting device, that the host vehicle has passed through the merging point, even if the broken line is not detected by the broken line detecting device.

22. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller determines a starting point or an ending point of the control zone based on the position of the broken line detected by the broken line detecting device.

23. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller sets, as the control zone, a zone extending from the position of the broken line detected by the broken line detecting device to a branching position of a peripheral road and a service road.

24. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller sets, as the control zone, a zone extending from the position of the broken line detected by the broken line detecting device to a position of a gate which divides an ordinary road and a toll road.

25. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller sets, as the control zone, a zone extending from the position of the broken line detected by the broken line detecting device to a midpoint of a service road.

26. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the controller halts or ends execution of the driving assist control when an acceleration or deceleration operation is detected within the control zone.

27. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the broken line detecting device detects the broken line over which the vehicle crosses.

28. A vehicle control method for performing driving assist control on an entrance ramp or an exit ramp connected to a main road having a different safe cruising speed limit than the entrance ramp or the exit ramp, comprising:

detecting a broken line that is marked on the road and that divides the main road and the entrance ramp or the exist ramp; and

determining a control zone of the driving assist control based on a broken line detection result,

wherein the detecting a broken line comprises capturing an image of a road surface using a back camera which is mounted to a rear portion of a vehicle body.