Vehicle speed control apparatus and method using an image

• US 9,358,978 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2014
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Yoo, Byung Yong, Oh, Young Chul
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nolan, Peter D
• Application Number:
  US14/464,160
• Publication Number:
  US 20150329114A1
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/0008 including means for detecting potential obstacles in vehicle path
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0026 Lookup tables or parameter maps
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/15 Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/30 Road curve radius
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/40 Dynamic objects, e.g. animals, windblown objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/10 Longitudinal speed
• 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 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/105 Speed

Abstract

A vehicle speed control apparatus is provided. In particular, a storage configured to store a table (hereinafter, referred to an area table) recording an area corresponding to a speed of a vehicle and a condition of a road; an imaging device configured to take a front image of the vehicle; an image processor configured to calculate an area of a shape made by a driving lane of the vehicle and a preceding vehicle in the driving lane from the front image of the vehicle taken by the imaging device; a road information collector configured to collect condition information of the road; and a controller configured to set a speed corresponding to the condition information collected by the road information collector and the area calculated by the image processor as a driving speed of the vehicle, based on the area table.

Claims

1. A vehicle speed control apparatus comprising:

a storage device configured to store a table recording an area corresponding to a speed of a vehicle and a condition of a road;

an imaging device configured to take an image of an area in front of the vehicle;

an image processor configured to calculate an area of a shape made by a driving lane of the vehicle and a preceding vehicle in the driving lane from the image of an area in front of the vehicle taken by the imaging device;

a road information collector configured to collect condition information regarding the road; and

a controller configured to set a speed corresponding to the condition information collected by the road information collector and the area calculated by the image processor as a driving speed of the vehicle, based on the table.

2. A vehicle speed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls a deceleration device to decrease the speed of the vehicle when the area calculated by the image processor is less than a relevant area in the table.

3. A vehicle speed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller maintains a distance from the preceding vehicle driving within a same lane by periodically performing the driving speed set procedure of the vehicle.

4. A vehicle speed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processor calculates an area of a trapezoid in which a left lane line of the driving lane becomes a left side, a right lane line becomes a right side, a tangent line meeting the preceding vehicle and the driving lane becomes an upper side, and a bottom of the image of the area in front of the vehicle becomes a lower side.

5. A vehicle speed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processor comprises a lane recognizer configured to recognize a left/right lane line of the driving lane which the vehicle is driving in;

a vehicle recognizer configured to recognize the preceding vehicle within the driving lane recognized by the lane recognizer; and

an area calculator configured to calculate an area of a trapezoid consisting of the left/right lane lines of the driving lane recognized by the lane recognizer and the preceding vehicle recognized by the vehicle recognizer.

6. A vehicle speed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the road information collector collects gradient and curvature information of the driving road by communicating with a navigation system mounted within the vehicle.

7. A vehicle speed control method comprising steps of:

storing a table recording an area corresponding to a speed of a vehicle and a condition of a road by a storage device;

imaging an image of an area in front of the vehicle by an imaging device;

calculating an area of a shape made by a driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling and a preceding vehicle in the driving lane from the image of the area in front of the vehicle taken by the imaging device, by an image processor;

collecting condition information of the road by a road information collector; and

setting a speed corresponding to the collected condition information of the road and the calculated area as a driving speed of the vehicle, based on the table by a controller.

8. A vehicle speed control method according to claim 7, wherein the step of setting a speed comprising steps of:

comparing the calculated area and a relevant area in the table;

decreasing the speed of the vehicle when the calculated area is less than the relevant area, as the result of the comparing;

increasing the speed within SCC (Smart Cruise Control) set speed when the calculated area is greater than the relevant area, as the result of the comparing; and

maintaining current speed when the calculated area is equal to the relevant area, as the result of the comparing.

9. A vehicle speed control method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises constantly maintaining a distance from the preceding vehicle driving within the same driving lane by periodically performing the driving speed set procedure of the vehicle.

10. A vehicle speed control method according to claim 7, wherein calculating the area of the shape includes calculating an area of a trapezoid in which a left lane line of the driving lane becomes a left side, a right lane line becomes a right side, a tangent line meeting the preceding vehicle and the driving lane becomes an upper side, and a bottom of the image of the area in front of the vehicle becomes a lower side.

11. A vehicle speed control method according to claim 7, wherein collecting condition information of the road includes collecting a gradient and a curvature of the driving lane by communicating with a navigation system mounted on the vehicle.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions executed by a processor or controller, the computer readable medium comprising:

program instructions that store a table recording an area corresponding to a speed of a vehicle and a condition of a road;

program instructions that control an imaging device to take an image of an area in front of the vehicle;

program instructions that calculate an area of a shape made by a driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling and a preceding vehicle in the driving lane from the image of the area in front of the vehicle taken by the imaging device;

program instructions that collect condition information of the road; and

program instructions that set a speed corresponding to the collected condition information of the road and the calculated area as a driving speed of the vehicle, based on the table.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the program instructions that set the speed include:

program instructions that compare the calculated area and a relevant area in the table;

program instructions that decrease the speed of the vehicle when the calculated area is less than the relevant area, as the result of the comparing;

program instructions that increase the speed within SCC (Smart Cruise Control) set speed when the calculated area is greater than the relevant area, as the result of the comparing; and

program instructions that maintain current speed when the calculated area is equal to the relevant area, as the result of the comparing.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12 further comprising program instructions that constantly maintaining a distance from the preceding vehicle driving within the same driving lane by periodically performing the driving speed set procedure of the vehicle.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the program instructions that calculate the area of the shape includes program instructions that calculate an area of a trapezoid in which a left lane line of the driving lane becomes a left side, a right lane line becomes a right side, a tangent line meeting the preceding vehicle and the driving lane becomes an upper side, and a bottom of the image of the area in front of the vehicle becomes a lower side.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the program instructions that collect condition information of the road includes program instructions that collect a gradient and a curvature of the driving lane by communicating with a navigation system mounted on the vehicle.