DRIVING-ASSISTANCE DEVICE AND DRIVING-ASSISTANCE METHOD

• US 20150329046A1
• Filed: 11/21/2012
• Published: 11/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: IGARASHI, Shinji
• Granted Patent: US 10,421,398 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/254 in combination with electromagnetic radiation sources for illuminating objects

Abstract

A driving-assistance device 100 makes it a condition for implementing driving assistance for collision avoidance that a normal travel area AR is set in the vicinity of a host vehicle, and that an unavoidable obstacle D is present within the normal travel area AR. Particularly, in the driving-assistance device 100, a degree of width W of the normal travel area AR is set in accordance with a rule based on a type or the like of the obstacle D. For this reason, a timing at which a collision with the obstacle D cannot be avoided within the normal travel area AR (timing at which a condition for implementing driving assistance for collision avoidance is established) becomes variable in accordance with the type or the like of the obstacle D. Thus, it is possible to implement the driving assistance for collision avoidance more appropriate to a driver'"'"'s intuition.

Claims

1. A driving-assistance device in which, when a three-dimensional object is present on a course of a host vehicle, driving assistance for avoiding a collision between the host vehicle and the three-dimensional object is implemented on a condition that an unavoidable three-dimensional object is present in a predetermined range including the course, the driving-assistance device comprising:

a setting unit configured to set the predetermined range in the vicinity of the host vehicle,

wherein the setting unit sets a degree of width of the predetermined range in accordance with a predetermined rule which is set in advance on the basis of at least one of a moving state and a type of the three-dimensional object, and

wherein the setting unit sets the degree of width to become smaller as an absolute movement velocity of the three-dimensional object becomes higher.

2. The driving-assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the degree of width to become smaller as a speed of approach between the host vehicle and the three-dimensional object becomes higher.

4. The driving-assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the degree of width to be relatively smaller in a case where the three-dimensional object is a moving object than in a case where the three-dimensional object is a stationary object.

5. The driving-assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the degree of width to be relatively smaller in a case where the three-dimensional object is a vehicle than in a case where the three-dimensional object is a person or a two-wheeled vehicle.

6. The driving-assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the degree of width to be relatively smaller in a case where the three-dimensional object is an oncoming vehicle than in a case where the three-dimensional object is not an oncoming vehicle.

7. The driving-assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets a travel range of the host vehicle which is specified by a plurality of travel routes along which the host vehicle is capable of traveling when a current momentum of the host vehicle is increased or decreased by an amount of variation in momentum, as the predetermined range, and changes the degree of width by changing the amount of variation in momentum.

8. The driving-assistance device according to claim 7, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine that an unavoidable three-dimensional object is present in the travel range when an avoidance line which is a travel route of the host vehicle for which there is capability of avoiding a collision with the three-dimensional object is not present within the travel range.

9. The driving-assistance device according to claim 8, further comprising an assistance unit configured to implement the driving assistance when a length of a travel route having a longest distance among travel routes of the host vehicle included in the travel range is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, in a case where the determination unit determines that the unavoidable three-dimensional object is present in the travel range.

3. (canceled)

10. A driving-assistance method in which, when a three-dimensional object is present on a course of a host vehicle, driving assistance for avoiding a collision between the host vehicle and the three-dimensional object is implemented on a condition that an unavoidable three-dimensional object is present in a predetermined range including the course, the driving-assistance method comprising:

a setting step of setting the predetermined range in the vicinity of the host vehicle,

wherein in the setting step, a degree of width of the predetermined range is set in accordance with a rule which is set in advance on the basis of at least one of a moving state and a type of the three-dimensional object, and

wherein in the setting step, the degree of width is set to become smaller as an absolute movement velocity of the three-dimensional object becomes higher.