Travel safety system for vehicle

• US 6,269,307 B1
• Filed: 08/05/1999
• Issued: 07/31/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Sugimoto, Yoichi, Kodaka, Kenji, Shinmura, Tomoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Marc-Coleman, Marthe Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/368,673
• Time in Patent Office: 726 Days
• Field of Search: 701/300, 701/301, 701/302, 342/70, 342/118, 342/61, 342/72, 342/175, 340/435, 340/436, 340/438
• US Class Current: 701/301
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/08 Lane monitoring; Lane Keeping Systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/087 using active steering actuation
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/16 Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9318 Controlling the steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles

Abstract

A lateral deviation δd which is a lateral distance between an intrinsic appropriate course R for a vehicle Ai and a contact position P at which the vehicle Ai will come into contact with an on-coming vehicle Ao, is calculated based on a relative angle θ, a relative distance L and a relative speed Vs which are detected by a radar device, and based on a vehicle speed Vi of the vehicle Ai detected by vehicle speed sensors. When the lateral deviation δd is in a range of δdn<δd<δdx, it is determined that there is the possibility that the vehicle Ai will collide frontally with the on-coming vehicle Ao. The lateral deviation δd can be calculated based on the relative angle θ, the relative distance L and the relative speed Vs provided in one cycle of transmission and reception of beam by the radar device. Therefore, the possibility of collision can be determined immediately at a time point when the on-coming vehicle Ao is recognized, without continuous detection of the correlation between the vehicle Ai and the on-coming vehicle Ao by the radar device.

Claims

1. A travel safety system for a vehicle, comprising:

an object detecting means for detecting an object existing in the direction of movement of the vehicle;

a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle;

a correlation calculating means for recognizing an on-coming vehicle based upon detection by the object detecting means and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, and for calculating a correlation including a relative position, a relative distance and a relative speed between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle;

an appropriate course determining means for determining an appropriate course for the vehicle based upon the relative position, the relative distance and a preset appropriate lateral distance, for permitting the vehicle to pass the on-coming vehicle;

a contact time point estimating means for estimating a contact time point when the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle, based upon the relative distance and the relative speed;

a contact position estimating means for estimating a contact position at which the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle at the contact time point, based upon the relative position, the relative distance, the relative speed and the vehicle speed of the vehicle; and

a contact determining means for comparing the contact position with the appropriate course and for determining the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle, wherein the contact determining means calculates a lateral deviation between the appropriate course determined by the appropriate course determining means and the contact position estimated by the contact position estimating means, and compares the lateral deviation with a contact determining reference value for determining the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle.

2. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 1, further including a vehicle yaw rate detecting means for detecting the yaw rate of the vehicle, wherein the lateral deviation is corrected based upon the yaw rate detected by the vehicle yaw rate detecting means.

3. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 1, further including an on-coming vehicle yaw rate calculating means for calculating the yaw rate of the on-coming vehicle, wherein the lateral deviation is corrected based upon the yaw rate calculated by the on-coming vehicle yaw rate calculating means.

4. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the on-coming vehicle yaw rate calculating means calculates the yaw rate of the on-coming vehicle from the locus of movement for the on-coming vehicle and the vehicle speed of the on-coming vehicle detected based upon a variation in the correlation.

5. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle includes a steering device and wherein the contact determining means permits automatic steering of said steering device upon determining a possibility of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle.

6. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 5, wherein a steering angle of the steering device upon automatic steering is set in accordance with the lateral deviation.

7. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 5, wherein a steering angle of the steering device upon automatic steering is set in accordance with the lateral deviation, the lateral acceleration of the vehicle and the steering responsiveness.

8. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claims 6 or 7, wherein the maximum value of the steering angle of the steering device is limited in accordance with the width of a road.

9. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 5 or 6, wherein the steering device returns the vehicle to the original travel locus after avoiding the on-coming vehicle.

10. A travel safety system for a vehicle, comprising:

an object detecting means for detecting an object existing in the direction of movement of a vehicle;

a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle;

a vehicle yaw rate detecting means for detecting the yaw rate of the vehicle;

a correlation calculating means for recognizing an on-coming vehicle based upon the detection by the object detecting means and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, and for calculating a relative position, a relative speed and a relative distance between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle;

a turning movement determining means for determining that the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle are being turned;

a vehicle turning-locus calculating means for calculating a locus of turning movement for the vehicle, based upon the vehicle speed and the yaw rate of the vehicle;

an on-coming vehicle turning-locus calculating means for calculating a locus of turning movement for the on-coming vehicle, based upon (i) a preset appropriate lateral distance for permitting the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle to pass each other appropriately during turning movement thereof, (ii) the relative position, and (iii) the relative distance;

a danger degree calculating means for comparing the locus of turning movement for the vehicle with the locus of turning movement for the on-coming vehicle and for calculating a degree of danger of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle based upon the comparison; and

a contact avoiding means for allowing the vehicle to perform a contact avoiding motion in accordance with the calculated degree of danger wherein the contact of the vehicle with the on-coming vehicle is avoided.

11. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the turning movement determining means determines that the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle are being turned, based upon the relative speed, the relative distance and the yaw rate.

12. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the contact avoiding motion provided by the contact avoiding means is decreased, when it is determined by the turning movement determining means that the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle are being turned, as compared with when it is determined that the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle are not being turned.

13. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein when it is determined that the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle are not being turned, contact avoiding motion is automatically provided by the steering device, and wherein when it is determined that the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle are being turned, contact avoiding motion is provided by regulating the steering maintaining force of the steering device.

14. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 10 to 12, including a vehicle appropriate turning locus calculating means for calculating an appropriate locus of turning movement for permitting the vehicle which is being turned to pass the on-coming vehicle by the appropriate lateral distance, and wherein the danger degree calculating means calculates a degree of danger of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle by comparing the locus of turning movement for the vehicle with the appropriate locus of turning movement for the on-coming vehicle.

15. A travel safety system for a vehicle, comprising:

an object detecting means for detecting an object existing in the direction of movement of a vehicle;

a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle;

a correlation calculating means for recognizing an on-coming vehicle, based upon the detection by the object detecting means and the vehicle speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, and for calculating a correlation comprising a relative position, a relative distance and a relative speed between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle;

an appropriate course determining means for determining an appropriate course for the vehicle for allowing the vehicle to pass the on-coming vehicle, based upon the relative position, the relative distance and a preset appropriate lateral distance;

a contact position estimating means for estimating a contact position at which the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle at a contact time point, based upon the relative position, the relative distance, the relative speed and the vehicle speed of the vehicle;

a contact-possibility determining means for comparing the contact position with the appropriate course to determine the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle;

a steering control means for automatically steering the steering device of the vehicle to avoid the contact, when it is determined that there is a possibility of contact by the contact-possibility determining means;

a reference steering amount determining means for determining a reference steering amount based upon the variation in vehicle behavior of the vehicle generated by the steering operation;

a required lateral movement amount calculating means for calculating the required lateral movement amount for avoiding the contact based upon the lateral deviation between the appropriate course and the contact position; and

a steering amount outputting means, for comparing of the reference lateral movement amount determined by the reference steering amount determining means with the required lateral movement amount calculated by the required lateral movement amount calculating means and for outputting a target steering amount to the steering control means.

16. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 15, wherein the steering amount outputting means corrects the reference steering amount in the decreasing direction, when the required lateral movement amount is smaller than the reference lateral movement amount.

17. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 15, wherein the steering amount outputting means delays the timing of starting the steering operation based upon the reference steering amount, when the required lateral movement amount is smaller than the reference lateral movement amount.

18. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the steering amount outputting means selectively corrects the reference steering amount in the decreasing direction, or delays the timing of starting the steering operation based upon the reference steering amount, when the required lateral movement amount is smaller than the reference lateral movement amount.

19. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the steering amount outputting means decreases the reference steering amount, when the relative speed between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle is low.

20. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the steering amount outputting means decreases the reference steering amount, when the vehicle speed of the vehicle is low.

21. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the steering amount outputting means delays the timing of starting the steering based upon the reference steering amount, when the relative speed between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle is high.

22. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the steering amount outputting means delays the timing of starting the steering based upon the reference steering amount, when the vehicle speed of the vehicle is high.

23. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the steering amount outputting means delays the timing of starting the steering based upon the reference steering amount, when the relative distance between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle is large.

24. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 18, wherein the steering amount outputting means decreases the reference steering amount, when the relative distance between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle is small.

25. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein the reference steering amount determining means determines, as a reference steering amount, the smaller of (i) the steering amount determined based upon the variation in vehicle behavior of the vehicle generated by the steering operation provided by the steering control means, and (ii) the steering amount previously determined based upon the vehicle speed of the vehicle.

26. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 15, 18, 20, 21, 22 and 23 wherein the steering control means increases the steering speed, such that the lateral movement amount provided by the reference steering amount determined by the reference steering amount determining means, is maintained when the timing of starting the steering by the steering amount outputting means is delayed.

27. A travel safety system for a vehicle including a steering device, comprising:

an object detecting means for detecting an object existing in the direction of movement of the vehicle;

a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle;

a correlation calculating means for recognizing an on-coming vehicle based upon the detection by the object detecting means and the vehicle speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, and for calculating a correlation comprising a relative position, a relative distance and a relative speed between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle;

a contact-possibility determining means for determining the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle, based upon the correlation calculated by the correlation calculating means;

a steering control means for automatically steering the steering device in order to avoid contact, when the contact-possibility determining means determines that there is the possibility of contact;

a vehicle behavior detecting means for detecting the magnitude of the vehicle behavior of the vehicle;

a vehicle behavior margin amount determining means for determining a margin amount of vehicle behavior which can be generated by the spontaneous steering operation provided by a driver;

a vehicle behavior estimating means for estimating the magnitude of the vehicle behavior of the vehicle, when the steering device is steered by the steering control means;

a vehicle motion state calculating means for calculating the motion state of the vehicle when the steering device is steered by the steering control means, based upon outputs from the vehicle behavior detecting means, the vehicle behavior margin amount determining means and the vehicle behavior estimating means; and

a steering amount correcting means for correcting the steering amount provided to the steering device by the steering control means, when the vehicle motion state calculated by the vehicle motion state calculating means exceeds a predetermined range.

28. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 27, further including:

an appropriate course determining means for determining an appropriate course for the vehicle for allowing the vehicle to pass the on-coming vehicle appropriately, based upon the correlation calculated by the correlation calculating means and the previously determined appropriate lateral distance;

a contact position estimating means for estimating a contact presuming position in which the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle, based upon the correlation and the vehicle speed of the vehicle; and

wherein the contact-possibility determining means compares the contact presuming position with the appropriate course and determines the possibility of contact between the vehicle and the on-coming vehicle.

29. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the predetermined range is an acceptable steering amount determined in accordance with the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and wherein when the steering amount calculated by the vehicle motion state calculating means exceeds the maximum value of the acceptable steering amount, the steering amount correcting means corrects the steering amount to the maximum value.

30. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the predetermined range is an acceptable lateral acceleration determined in accordance with the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and wherein when the lateral acceleration calculated by the vehicle motion state calculating means exceeds the maximum value of the acceptable lateral acceleration, the steering amount correcting means decreases the steering amount.

31. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 30, wherein the acceptable lateral acceleration is determined based upon a value of lateral acceleration when the rate of increase in the steering amount is suddenly increased with respect to an increase in lateral acceleration in a vehicle turning characteristic.

32. A travel safety system for a vehicle according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the predetermined range is an acceptable lateral acceleration determined in accordance with the driving wheel torque of the vehicle, and wherein when the lateral acceleration calculated by the vehicle motion state calculating means exceeds the maximum value of the acceptable lateral acceleration, and the steering amount correcting means decreases the steering amount.