VEHICLE TRAVELING CONTROLLER

• US 20100217476A1
• Filed: 10/14/2008
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Aso, Kazuaki, Harada, Masahiro, Kindo, Toshiki
• Granted Patent: US 9,352,779 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0818 Inactivity or incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/00 Input parameters relating to occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/60 Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/18 Braking system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/20 Steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18172 Preventing, or responsive to skidding of wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A vehicle traveling controller performs emergency evacuation traveling in the case of an emergency. The vehicle traveling controller determines whether a vehicle traveling in accordance with a normal traveling rule is not dangerous and becomes proper traveling or not based on environmental information around the vehicle, when it is determined that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule becomes proper traveling, executes normal traveling control for instructing the vehicle to travel in accordance with the normal traveling rule, and when the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule does not become proper traveling, executes emergency evacuation traveling control for instructing the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling not in accordance with the normal traveling rule. Therefore, emergency evacuation traveling with high safety can be performed, compared with vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule, so safety of vehicle traveling can be improved.

Claims

1. A vehicle traveling controller comprising:

a normal traveling control unit which instructs a vehicle to travel in accordance with a normal traveling rule;

a traveling propriety determination unit which determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule becomes proper traveling or not on the basis of environmental information around the vehicle; and

an emergency evacuation traveling control unit which, when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule does not become proper traveling, selects a proper emergency evacuation route in accordance with the environmental information around the vehicle, and instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling, which is not in accordance with the normal traveling rule.

2. The vehicle traveling controller according to claim 1,

wherein the traveling propriety determination unit determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule exceeds the degree of danger set in advance or not on the basis of the environmental information, and

when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule exceeds the degree of danger set in advance, the emergency evacuation traveling control unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule does not become proper traveling, and instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling which is not in accordance with the normal traveling rule.

3. The vehicle traveling controller according to claim 1,

wherein the normal traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to travel in accordance with a plurality of normal traveling rules,

the traveling propriety determination unit determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules becomes proper traveling or not on the basis of the environmental information around the vehicle, and

when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules does not become proper traveling, the emergency evacuation traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling, which is not in accordance with the normal traveling rules, on the basis of priority set for the plurality of normal traveling rules.

4. The vehicle traveling controller according to claim 1,

wherein the normal traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to travel in accordance with a plurality of normal traveling rules,

the traveling propriety determination unit determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules becomes proper traveling or not on the basis of the environmental information around the vehicle, and

when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules does not become proper traveling, the emergency evacuation traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling which is not in accordance with traveling rules having low priority from among the plurality of normal traveling rules.

5. The vehicle traveling controller according to claim 2,

wherein the normal traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to travel in accordance with a plurality of normal traveling rules,

the traveling propriety determination unit determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules becomes proper traveling or not on the basis of the environmental information around the vehicle, and

when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules does not become proper traveling, the emergency evacuation traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling, which is not in accordance with the normal traveling rules, on the basis of priority set for the plurality of normal traveling rules.

6. The vehicle traveling controller according to claim 2,

wherein the normal traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to travel in accordance with a plurality of normal traveling rules,

the traveling propriety determination unit determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules becomes proper traveling or not on the basis of the environmental information around the vehicle, and

when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with all of the plurality of normal traveling rules does not become proper traveling, the emergency evacuation traveling control unit instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling which is not in accordance with traveling rules having low priority from among the plurality of normal traveling rules.

7. A vehicle traveling controller comprising:

a normal traveling control unit which instructs a vehicle to travel in accordance with a normal traveling rule;

a traveling propriety determination unit which determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule becomes proper traveling or not on the basis of environmental information around the vehicle; and

an emergency evacuation traveling control unit which, when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule does not become proper traveling, changes a traveling rule to be observed at a place where the vehicle is currently traveling, and instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling which is not in accordance with the normal traveling rule.

8. The vehicle traveling controller according to claim 7,

wherein the traveling propriety determination unit determines whether the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule exceeds the degree of danger set in advance or not on the basis of the environmental information, and

when the traveling propriety determination unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule exceeds the degree of danger set in advance, the emergency evacuation traveling control unit determines that the vehicle traveling in accordance with the normal traveling rule does not become proper traveling, and instructs the vehicle to perform emergency evacuation traveling which is not in accordance with the normal traveling rule.