VEHICLE AND STEERING CONTROL DEVICE FOR VEHICLE

• US 20100228437A1
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Published: 09/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ikeda, Tetsuo, Unoura, Kiyozumi, Hanzawa, Daisuke, Aoki, Tomoyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,340,866 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/41
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/28 non-mechanical , e.g. following a line or other known markers
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence

Abstract

A steering control device for a vehicle has a steering assistance means (7) which performs steering assistance processing for driving an actuator (6) so that a vehicle (1) travels along a lane recognized by a lane recognition means (5) from an image acquired by an image acquisition means (4); a side displacement amount calculation means (8) which calculates a displacement amount in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle (1) and the center of the recognized lane; a complexity calculation means (10) which calculates the complexity of the acquired image; and a steering assistance inhibition means (11) which inhibits, according to the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated based on the lane recognized from the acquired image at a given time point and the complexity of the acquired image, steering assistance processing based on the lane by the steering assistance means (7). This prevents inappropriate steering control based on an incorrectly recognized lane when performing the steering control of the vehicle so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized from the road image.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

an imaging means;

an image acquisition means which acquires an image of a road via the imaging means;

a lane recognition means which detects a lane mark on the road from the image acquired by the image acquisition means and recognizes a lane along which the vehicle travels from the detected lane mark;

an actuator which drives a steering mechanism capable of steering a steering wheel of the vehicle;

a steering assistance means which performs steering assistance processing for driving the actuator so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a side displacement amount calculation means which calculates a displacement amount in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means; and

a steering assistance inhibition means which inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at a given time point by the steering assistance means according to the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the steering assistance inhibition means inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at a given time point is greater than a first given value by the steering assistance means in the case where the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane.

13. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the side displacement amount calculation means calculates the displacement amount in the lane width direction by dividing a distance in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means by a lane width of the recognized lane.

3. A vehicle comprising:

an imaging means;

an image acquisition means which acquires an image of a road via the imaging means;

lane recognition means which detects a lane mark on the road from the image acquired by the image acquisition means and recognizes a lane along which the vehicle travels from the detected lane mark;

an actuator which drives a steering mechanism capable of steering a steering wheel of the vehicle;

a steering assistance means which performs steering assistance processing for driving the actuator so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a complexity calculation means which calculates the complexity of the image acquired by the image acquisition means; and

a steering assistance inhibition means which inhibits the steering assistance processing by the steering assistance means based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means according to the complexity of the acquired image at a given time point calculated by the complexity calculation means.

4. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the steering assistance inhibition means inhibits the steering assistance processing by the steering assistance means based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means in the case where the complexity of the acquired image at the given time point calculated by the complexity calculation means is greater than a second given value.

7. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by using at least one of a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image and a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

9. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by multiplying a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image by a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

11. The vehicle according to claim 3, further comprising a range specifying means which specifies a detection range of the lane mark in the image acquired by the image acquisition means,

wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity for the detection range specified by the range specifying means in the image acquired by the image acquisition means.

5. A vehicle comprising:

an imaging means;

an image acquisition means which acquires an image of a road via the imaging means;

a lane recognition means which detects a lane mark on the road from the image acquired by the image acquisition means and recognizes a lane along which the vehicle travels from the detected lane mark;

an actuator which drives a steering mechanism capable of steering a steering wheel of the vehicle;

a steering assistance means which performs steering assistance processing for driving the actuator so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a side displacement amount calculation means which calculates a displacement amount in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a complexity calculation means which calculates the complexity of the image acquired by the image acquisition means; and

a steering assistance inhibition means which inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane by the steering assistance means according to the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at a given time point and according to the complexity of the acquired image calculated by the complexity calculation means.

6. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the steering assistance inhibition means inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane by the steering assistance means in the case where the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at the given time point is greater than a first given value and the complexity of the acquired image calculated by the complexity calculation means is greater than a second given value.

8. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by using at least one of a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image and a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

10. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by multiplying a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image by a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

12. The vehicle according to claim 5, further comprising a range specifying means which specifies a detection range of the lane mark in the image acquired by the image acquisition means,

wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity for the detection range specified by the range specifying means in the image acquired by the image acquisition means.

14. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the side displacement amount calculation means calculates the displacement amount in the lane width direction by dividing a distance in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means by a lane width of the recognized lane.

15. A steering control device for a vehicle, comprising:

an image acquisition means which acquires an image of a road via an imaging means mounted on the vehicle;

a lane recognition means which detects a lane mark on the road from the image acquired by the image acquisition means and recognizes a lane along which the vehicle travels from the detected lane mark;

an actuator which drives a steering mechanism capable of steering a steering wheel of the vehicle;

a steering assistance means which performs steering assistance processing for driving the actuator so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a side displacement amount calculation means which calculates a displacement amount in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means; and

a steering assistance inhibition means which inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at a given time point by the steering assistance means according to the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane.

16. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 15, wherein the steering assistance inhibition means inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at a given time point by the steering assistance means in the case where the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane is greater than a first given value.

27. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 15, wherein the side displacement amount calculation means calculates the displacement amount in the lane width direction by dividing a distance in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means by a lane width of the recognized lane.

17. A steering control device for a vehicle comprising:

an image acquisition means which acquires an image of a road via an imaging means mounted on the vehicle;

a lane recognition means which detects a lane mark on the road from the image acquired by the image acquisition means and recognizes a lane along which the vehicle travels from the detected lane mark;

an actuator which drives a steering mechanism capable of steering a steering wheel of the vehicle;

a steering assistance means which performs steering assistance processing for driving the actuator so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a complexity calculation means which calculates the complexity of the image acquired by the image acquisition means; and

a steering assistance inhibition means which inhibits the steering assistance processing by the steering assistance means based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means according to the complexity of the acquired image at a given time point calculated by the complexity calculation means.

18. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the steering assistance inhibition means inhibits the steering assistance processing by the steering assistance means based on the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means in the case where the complexity of the acquired image at the given time point calculated by the complexity calculation means is greater than a second given value.

21. The speed and direction command for the vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by using at least one of a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image and a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

23. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by multiplying a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image by a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

25. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 17, further comprising a range specifying means which specifies a detection range of the lane mark in the image acquired by the image acquisition means,

wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity for the detection range specified by the range specifying means in the image acquired by the image acquisition means.

19. A steering control device for a vehicle comprising:

an image acquisition means which acquires an image of a road via an imaging means mounted on the vehicle;

a lane recognition means which detects a lane mark on the road from the image acquired by the image acquisition means and recognizes a lane along which the vehicle travels from the detected lane mark;

an actuator which drives a steering mechanism capable of steering a steering wheel of the vehicle;

a steering assistance means which performs steering assistance processing for driving the actuator so that the vehicle travels along the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a side displacement amount calculation means which calculates a displacement amount in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means;

a complexity calculation means which calculates the complexity of the image acquired by the image acquisition means; and

a steering assistance inhibition means which inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane by the steering assistance means according to the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at a given time point and according to the complexity of the acquired image calculated by the complexity calculation means.

20. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 19, wherein the steering assistance inhibition means inhibits the steering assistance processing based on the lane by the steering assistance means in the case where the displacement amount in the lane width direction calculated by the side displacement amount calculation means on the basis of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means from the acquired image from the image acquisition means at the given time point is greater than a first given value and the complexity of the acquired image calculated by the complexity calculation means is greater than a second given value.

22. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 19, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by using at least one of a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image and a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

24. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 19, wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity by multiplying a value indicating the density of edge points obtained by performing an edge extraction process for the image by a value indicating the number of edge points constituting a straight line among the edge points.

26. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 19, further comprising a range specifying means which specifies a detection range of the lane mark in the image acquired by the image acquisition means,

wherein the complexity calculation means calculates the complexity for the detection range specified by the range specifying means in the image acquired by the image acquisition means.

28. The steering control device for the vehicle according to claim 19, wherein the side displacement amount calculation means calculates the displacement amount in the lane width direction by dividing a distance in the lane width direction between the position of the vehicle and the center of the lane recognized by the lane recognition means by a lane width of the recognized lane.