Device for controlling traveling of vehicle

• US 9,139,173 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advics Company Limited (Aisin Corp.), Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Advics Company Limited (Aisin Corp.), Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Yasui, Yoshiyuki, Suzuki, Motoshi, Koto, Hideaki, Kodama, Hiroyuki, Tanaka, Manabu, Noro, Kazutaka, Miyajima, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stroud, James E
• Application Number:
  US13/120,750
• Publication Number:
  US 20110178689A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,183 Days
• Field of Search: 701/37, 701/38, 701/41, 701/70, 701/71, 701/72, 701/74, 701/78, 701/79, 701/82, 701/83, 701/84, 701/85, 701/91, 701/25, 701/93, 701/409, 303/140, 303/146, 180/197, 280/707, 340/988
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0066 responsive to vehicle path curvature
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0075 responsive to vehicle steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0083 responsive to centrifugal force acting on vehicle due to the path it is following
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/16 Curve braking control, e.g. turn control within ABS control algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/12 for automatic initiation; for initiation not subject to will of driver or passenger limiting speed of vehicles other than rail vehicles B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1755 Brake regulation specially adapted to control the stability of the vehicle, e.g. taking into account yaw rate or transverse acceleration in a curve road vehicle drive control systems for control of driving stability otherwise than by controlling a particular sub-unit B60W30/02
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/125 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/14 Yaw
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/30 Road curve radius
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/02 Control of vehicle driving stability
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/045 Improving turning performance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/14 Adaptive cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18145 Cornering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/072 Curvature of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/076 Slope angle of the road
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments

Abstract

After a vehicle has entered a curve, a deviation (Sch) between a target turning state quantity Td and an actual turning state quantity Ta is computed. In a stage in which Sch does not reach a predetermined value after the vehicle has entered the curve, the possibility of the vehicle traveling in the curve is judged to be low, and the reliability of the curve information Rc, Pc is judged to be low. In this case, a determination for prohibiting execution of control (So=0) is made. In a stage after Sch has reached the predetermined value, the possibility of the vehicle traveling in the curve is judged to be high, and the reliability of the curve information Rc, Pc is judged to be high. In this case, a determination for permitting execution of the control (So=1) is made. Deceleration control is started and executed only when a control start condition is satisfied, and the determination for permission is made. Accordingly, even when the control start condition is satisfied, the deceleration control is not started, if the prohibition determination is made. Thus, the reliability of the curve information based on map information on the vehicle is evaluated reliably, and the deceleration control within the curve can be prevented from being unnecessarily executed on the basis of curve information whose reliability is low.

Claims

1. A traveling control apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

vehicle position acquisition means for acquiring a position of the vehicle;

curve information acquisition means for acquiring information of a curve of a road on which the vehicle is traveling, the information of the curve being acquired from map information;

vehicle speed acquisition means for acquiring a speed of the vehicle; and

deceleration control means for executing deceleration control which decreases the speed of the vehicle when the vehicle passes through the curve, on the basis of the position of the vehicle, the curve information, and the speed of the vehicle, the traveling control apparatus being characterized by comprising;

actual turning state quantity acquisition means for acquiring an actual turning state quantity which represents an actual turning state of the vehicle;

first execution judgment means for determining, on the basis of the actual turning state quantity, whether execution of the deceleration control is to be permitted or prohibited and for outputting, as a result of the determination, an output which is brought into an enabled state in which execution of the deceleration control is enabled or a disabled state in which execution of the deceleration control is disabled,

wherein the deceleration control means executes the deceleration control when the determination result of the first execution judgment means is in the enabled state, and does not execute the deceleration control when the determination result of the first execution judgment means is in the disabled state;

wherein the first execution judgment means comprises heading angle computation means for computing a heading angle of the vehicle, the heading angle being an angle of a traveling direction of the vehicle at the position of the vehicle, in relation to a direction of the straight section before an entrance of the curve, by integrating an actual yaw rate of the vehicle, detected by a yaw rate sensor, from the curve entrance, and by resetting the computed heading angle to zero when an absolute value of a steering wheel angle or of a front wheel steering angle is equal to or less than a predetermined value;

wherein the first execution judgment means sets the determination result to the disabled state when the heading angle is smaller than a first predetermined value, and changes the determination result from the disable state to the enabled state when the heading angle becomes equal to or greater than the first predetermined value; and

wherein the first execution judgment means performs the determination while the vehicle is travelling in an approaching transition curve section of the curve, and, when the determination result of the first execution judgment means is set to the enabled state, the deceleration control means starts the deceleration control while the vehicle is travelling within the approaching transition curve section.

2. The traveling control apparatus for the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the first execution judgment means comprises:

actual turning index computation means for computing, on the basis of the actual turning state quantity, an actual turning index representing the degree of actual turning of the vehicle; and

calculative turning index computation means for calculating a calculative turning index corresponding to the actual turning index on the basis of the position of the vehicle and the curve information,

wherein the first execution judgment means changes the determination result from the disabled state to the enabled state when the heading angle is equal to or greater than the first determined value, and when a state in which a difference between the actual turning index and the calculative turning index is equal to or less than a second predetermined value continues over a predetermined range.

3. The traveling control apparatus for the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the first execution judgment means sets the first predetermined value such that the higher the speed of the vehicle, the smaller the first predetermined value.