JP3914105B2 - Vehicle travel control device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a vehicle for controlling the vehicle speed of a host vehicle so as to follow the preceding vehicle so that the actual inter-vehicle distance detected by the actual inter-vehicle distance detection means matches the target inter-vehicle distance set by the target inter-vehicle distance setting means. The present invention relates to a traveling control apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 10-320691 and 11-328584 disclose a vehicle travel control device for smoothly joining vehicles from a branch line to a group of vehicles traveling on a main road.
[0003]
JP-A-10-320691 discloses a vehicle-to-vehicle communication between a vehicle traveling on a branch line and another vehicle traveling on a main line to exchange data on the vehicle position and vehicle speed. The other vehicle (specific vehicle) in front of the merge position is identified at the merge time, the distance between the own vehicle and the specific vehicle at the merge position is estimated, and the specific vehicle is decelerated to widen the inter-vehicle distance so that the vehicle is smooth. It is possible to join.
[0004]
In addition, what is described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-328584 is that a group of vehicles traveling in a main line receives position information of a vehicle traveling on a branch line by inter-vehicle communication or road-to-vehicle communication, and the like. Of these, the vehicle speed that is closest to the vehicle traveling on the branch line at the joining position is controlled to divide the platoon, so that vehicles from the branch line can smoothly join the space formed there.
[0005]
In addition, it is possible to recognize the preceding vehicle on the traveling locus immediately before the own vehicle by the preceding vehicle recognition means such as a radar device or an imaging device mounted on the own vehicle, so that the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is maintained at the target inter-vehicle distance. In addition, a vehicle travel control device for performing follow-up travel by controlling the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is also known.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, it is desirable to shorten the target inter-vehicle distance as much as possible when performing follow-up traveling with respect to the preceding vehicle in a traffic jam. The reason for this is that if the follow-up running is performed with the target inter-vehicle distance widened, the frequency of other vehicles interrupting in front of the host vehicle increases and the driver feels uncomfortable. In addition, shortening the target inter-vehicle distance during a traffic jam also has the effect of shortening the section of the traffic jam itself.
[0007]
The likely location jam occurs, the location and the lamp way the main line of more highway trafficked merge, the number of lanes available traffic at construction or accident there is a place like decreased, in FIG. 5 (A) As shown in FIG. 5B, it is preferable to positively allow vehicle interruptions as shown in FIG. 5B, because it prevents traffic jams in such a place and promotes traffic jams. However, when the vehicle is following the vehicle at a short target inter-vehicle distance, there is a problem that traffic congestion is promoted because the forward interruption of the vehicle is impossible.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to smoothly interrupt another vehicle in front of a vehicle that is following and traveling at a target inter-vehicle distance in a traffic jam.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, target inter-vehicle distance setting means for setting a target inter-vehicle distance with a preceding vehicle, and an actual inter-vehicle distance detecting an actual inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle. a detection unit, a vehicle speed control means for controlling the vehicle of the vehicle speed as the actual inter-vehicle distance detected by the actual inter-vehicle distance detecting means coincides with the target inter-vehicle distance set by the target inter-vehicle distance setting section, of a vehicle in front of the vehicle A vehicle junction detection unit capable of detecting a junction, a junction unit distance detection unit capable of detecting a distance from the own vehicle to the vehicle junction, a traffic jam detection unit capable of detecting a traffic jam on the vehicle traveling path, and a preceding The interrupt vehicle detection means capable of detecting an interrupt vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle, the actual inter-vehicle distance detected by the actual inter-vehicle distance detection means, and the distance to the merging portion detected by the merging portion distance detection means are each equal to or less than a predetermined value. Part detection hand And congestion in the combined portion near the information from the congestion detection means is detected, and when the interrupt vehicle detecting means detects the interrupt vehicle preceding vehicle near a target inter-vehicle distance correcting means for increasing the target inter-vehicle distance The vehicle travel control device further includes an object detection unit capable of detecting an object in front of the host vehicle, and the vehicle junction detection unit has a predetermined frequency of moving to the own lane of the vehicle in the adjacent lane obtained by the object detection unit. A vehicle travel control device is proposed, which detects a merging portion from statistics of the moving points if the number of times is equal to or greater than the number of times and the point at which the vehicle in the adjacent lane moves to the own lane is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of times. The
[0010]
According to the above configuration, the actual inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle is less than or equal to the predetermined value, the distance to the merging portion where other vehicles merge is less than or equal to the predetermined value, traffic congestion has occurred in the vicinity of the merging portion, and the preceding vehicle When an interrupting vehicle that is about to interrupt the junction is detected in the vicinity of the vehicle, the target inter-vehicle distance of the follow-up traveling to the preceding vehicle is increased, so the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle is automatically increased. The interrupting vehicle can be smoothly interrupted, the traffic jam at the junction can be reduced, and the flow of the entire traffic can be made smooth. Moreover, since the merge part is detected based on the number of lane changes and the lane change point of the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle, the merge part can be accurately detected.
[0011]
According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the first aspect, wherein the congestion detecting means, and detecting a traffic jam based on the object movement history obtained from the object detecting means A travel control device for a vehicle is proposed.
[0012]
According to the above configuration, the traffic jam is detected based on the movement history of the object ahead of the host vehicle detected by the object detection means, so that the traffic jam can be accurately detected.
[0013]
According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the configuration of claim 1, wherein the congestion detecting means, a predetermined interval from the vehicle position to the joining portion of the vehicle detected by the vehicle merging section detecting means There is proposed a vehicle travel control device that detects a traffic jam when the speed of the host vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
[0014]
According to the above configuration, since the traffic jam is detected when the vehicle speed of the vehicle in a predetermined section from the vehicle position to the junction of the vehicles is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the traffic jam can be accurately detected.
[0015]
According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the first aspect, the traffic jam with a communication means for enabling communication between the vehicle and the outside, said congestion detection means, resulting from the communication unit Proposed is a vehicle travel control device that detects traffic jams based on information.
[0016]
According to the above configuration, the traffic jam is detected based on the traffic jam information obtained by communication between the vehicle and the outside, so that the traffic jam can be accurately detected.
[0017]
According to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a road information storage means for storing road information, the vehicle merging section detecting means In addition, a vehicle travel control device is proposed in which a junction is detected based on road information stored in road information storage means.
[0018]
According to the said structure, since a junction part is detected based on the memorize | stored road information, a junction part can be detected exactly.
[0019]
According to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a communication means for enabling communication between the vehicle and the outside, the vehicle merge A vehicle travel control device is proposed in which the part detection means detects the junction based on the accident information obtained by the communication means.
[0020]
According to the above configuration, since the merge part is detected based on the accident information obtained by communication between the host vehicle and the outside, the merge part can be accurately detected.
[0021]
According to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to the arrangement according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle merging section sensing means, when the accident point is on a lane adjacent to the host vehicle traveling lane, merging section It is determined that the vehicle is on the traveling lane of the vehicle.
[0022]
According to the above configuration, when the accident occurrence point is on the lane adjacent to the own vehicle traveling lane, it is determined that the merging portion is on the own vehicle traveling lane, so that the merging portion can be accurately detected.
[0023]
Note that the imaging device 11 and the radar device 13 in the following embodiments correspond to the object detection means of the present invention.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0025]
1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle travel control device, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a main routine of this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an interrupt vehicle determination routine, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the inter-vehicle distance control at the time of interrupt.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic control unit U of the vehicle travel control device includes a preceding vehicle determination unit M1, a host vehicle locus estimation unit M2, an actual inter-vehicle distance detection unit M3, a target inter-vehicle distance correction unit M4, Vehicle speed control means M5, vehicle information display means M6, vehicle junction detection means M7, junction distance detection means M8, traffic jam detection means M9, and interrupt vehicle detection means M10 are provided. An imaging device detection output means 12 connected to an imaging device 11 such as a television camera and a radar device detection output means 14 connected to a radar device 13 such as a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar serve as the preceding vehicle determination means M1. Connected. A sensor for detecting the driving state of the host vehicle, for example, a vehicle speed sensor 15 for detecting the vehicle speed, a yaw rate sensor 16 for detecting the yaw rate, and a steering angle sensor 17 for detecting the steering angle are connected to the host vehicle trajectory estimating means M2. The vehicle trajectory estimation means M2 estimates the future travel trajectory of the vehicle based on the vehicle speed, the yaw rate, and the steering angle.
[0027]
Based on the outputs of the imaging device detection output unit 12 and the radar device detection output unit 14, the preceding vehicle determination unit M <b> 1 selects the vehicle that has been estimated by the vehicle trajectory estimation unit M <b> 2 from the vehicles traveling in front of the vehicle. A vehicle located on a future travel locus is determined as a preceding vehicle. Then, the actual inter-vehicle distance detection means M3 detects the actual inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle determined as described above. Detection of the actual headway distance is performed based on the output of the image pickup device detection output unit 12 and / or a radar device detecting the output unit 14.
[0028]
The target inter-vehicle distance correction means M4 connected to the target inter-vehicle distance setting means 22 for setting the desired target inter-vehicle distance by the driver may cause an interrupting vehicle to interrupt the merging portion in front of the own vehicle while following the preceding vehicle. When there is, the target vehicle distance is corrected to increase in order to enable smooth interruption. Then, the vehicle speed control means M5 to which the target inter-vehicle distance corrected by the target inter-vehicle distance correction means M4 and the actual inter-vehicle distance detection means M3 are input so that the actual inter-vehicle distance matches the target inter-vehicle distance. The operation of the throttle actuator 23 and the brake actuator 24 is controlled. Specifically, when the actual inter-vehicle distance becomes smaller than the target inter-vehicle distance, the actual inter-vehicle distance is increased by decelerating the vehicle by operating the throttle actuator 23 and / or the brake actuator 24, and the actual inter-vehicle distance becomes the target inter-vehicle distance. If larger than this, the distance between actual vehicles is reduced by operating the throttle actuator 23 to accelerate the vehicle.
[0029]
When the target inter-vehicle distance correction unit M4 corrects the target inter-vehicle distance, the vehicle information display unit M6 activates the audio output unit 25 and / or the video output unit 26, and the target inter-vehicle distance is corrected by audio and / or video. Inform the driver of this.
[0030]
The vehicle joining part detection means M7 is for detecting the joining part of the vehicle in front of the host vehicle, and the detection can be performed by a plurality of methods. The first method is to detect a junction of vehicles in front of the host vehicle based on the road shape stored in advance in the road information storage means 21 such as a CD-ROM of the navigation system. The second technique is to detect a merging portion of a vehicle in front of the own vehicle based on a road shape obtained from an imaging device 11 such as a TV camera or a radar device 13 such as a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar. . The third method is to detect a joining portion of the vehicle in front of the own vehicle based on accident information obtained from the communication means 20 such as VICS or road-to-vehicle communication device. When the number of lanes that can be used is reduced at the accident site, a merging part occurs, and when the lane adjacent to the own lane is the accident occurrence point, a merging part occurs in the own lane before the accident occurrence point. Become.
[0031]
The merging portion distance detecting means M8 detects the distance between the merging portion detected by the vehicle merging portion detecting means M7 and the own vehicle position from the outputs of the imaging device 11 and the radar device 13.
[0032]
The traffic jam detection means M9 is for detecting whether or not there is a traffic jam at the junction in front of the host vehicle, and the detection can be performed by a plurality of methods. The first method is to detect the occurrence of traffic jam based on the movement history of other vehicles detected from the output of the imaging device 11 and the radar device 13. When a traffic jam occurs at the junction in front of the host vehicle, the vehicle speed of other vehicles in front of the host vehicle is generally reduced, so that the traffic jam can be detected. The second method is to detect the occurrence of traffic congestion when the vehicle speed of the host vehicle in a predetermined section up to the junction detected by the vehicle junction detection means M7 is equal to or less than a predetermined value. The third method is to detect the occurrence of a traffic jam based on the traffic jam information obtained from the communication means 20 such as a road-to-vehicle communication device.
[0033]
The interrupting vehicle detection means M10 interrupts the merging portion detected by the vehicle merging portion detection means M7 by monitoring the behavior of the vehicle around the preceding vehicle determined by the preceding vehicle determining means M1 by the imaging device 11 and the radar device 13. Detect the vehicle.
[0034]
The target inter-vehicle distance correcting means M4 has an actual inter-vehicle distance detected by the actual inter-vehicle distance detecting means M3 and a distance to the merging portion detected by the merging portion distance detecting means M8, which are not more than predetermined values, respectively, and the vehicle merging portion detecting means M7 and The target inter-vehicle distance set by the target inter-vehicle distance setting unit 22 is increased when the traffic jam in the vicinity of the merging portion is detected by the information from the traffic jam detection unit M9 and the interrupt vehicle detection unit M10 detects the interrupt vehicle near the preceding vehicle. Let
[0035]
Thus, when there is a traffic jam at the junction, as shown in FIG. 5 (B), the target inter-vehicle distance of the follow-up traveling with respect to the preceding vehicle is increased and the vehicle is positively moved between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle. A space is formed in the space, and an interrupting vehicle is inserted into the space, so that the flow of the entire traffic can be smoothed and the dissatisfaction of the driver of the interrupting vehicle can be solved. In addition, at that time, the driver does not need to perform a special operation and the follow-up running control is not canceled, so that the operation burden on the driver is reduced.
[0036]
It should be noted that the target inter-vehicle distance is automatically returned to the original state after completion of the interrupt or when the interrupt is not performed even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the inter-vehicle distance is increased.
[0037]
The above operation will be further described based on a flowchart.
[0038]
The flowchart of FIG. 2 shows the main routine of this embodiment. First, in step S1, the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and in step S2, the host vehicle is traveling near the junction, and step S3 If there is a traffic jam in the vicinity of the junction, and there is an interrupting vehicle to be interrupted with the preceding vehicle in step S4, the target vehicle distance for follow-up driving is increased in step S5 to make the interrupting vehicle smoother. To interrupt. On the other hand, if any of the steps S1 to S4 is not established, the target inter-vehicle distance for the follow-up travel is maintained as it is in step S6.
[0039]
The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows the junction estimation routine. First, if there is traffic jam information from the communication means 20 such as VICS or road-to-vehicle communication device in step S11, the current position of the vehicle and the position of the interchange in step S12. The position of the merging portion is detected from the etc.
[0040]
If there is no traffic jam information from the communication means 20 in the step S11, the vehicles existing in the own lane and the adjacent lane are detected based on the outputs of the imaging device 11 and the radar device 13 in the step S13, and both lanes are predetermined in the step S14. There are more than a few vehicles, and the frequency at which the vehicle in the adjacent lane moves to the own lane at the predetermined time in step S15 is greater than or equal to the predetermined number of times, and the point at which the vehicle in the adjacent lane moves to the own lane at step S16 is the predetermined number of times. If they are the same, the joining part is detected from the statistics of the moving points in step S17. On the other hand, if any of Steps S14 to S16 is not established, it is determined in Step S18 that there is no junction.
[0041]
The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows an interrupt vehicle determination routine . First, if a vehicle exists in a predetermined peripheral range of the preceding vehicle in step S21, the vehicle is set as an interrupt vehicle candidate in step S22. If the driving lane of the interrupting vehicle candidate joins the own lane in the subsequent step S23, the interrupting vehicle candidate is determined as the interrupting vehicle in step S24. Even if the driving lane of the interrupting vehicle candidate does not merge with the own lane in step S23, an accident occurrence point (or construction point) exists in front of the interrupting vehicle candidate in step S25, so If the traveling lane merges with the own lane, the interrupted vehicle candidate is determined as the interrupted vehicle in step S24. If there is no vehicle in the predetermined peripheral range of the preceding vehicle in step S21, or there is no accident occurrence point (or construction point) ahead of the candidate for interrupting vehicle in step S25, there is no interrupting vehicle in step S26. Is determined.
[0042]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0043]
For example, in the embodiment, the driver operates the target intervehicular distance setting means 22 to set the target intervehicular distance, but the target intervehicular distance setting means 22 automatically sets the target intervehicular distance according to the speed of the host vehicle. The distance may be set.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the distance between the actual vehicle and the preceding vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the distance to the merging portion where another vehicle merges is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value, and the vicinity of the merging portion. When an interrupting vehicle is detected in the vicinity of the preceding vehicle and is about to interrupt the merging section, the target inter-vehicle distance of the follow-up driving with respect to the preceding vehicle is increased. The inter-vehicle distance can be automatically increased to interrupt the interrupted vehicle smoothly, and the traffic in the entire traffic can be smoothed by reducing the traffic jam at the junction. Moreover, since the merge part is detected based on the number of lane changes and the lane change point of the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle, the merge part can be accurately detected.
[0045]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the traffic jam is detected based on the movement history of the object ahead of the host vehicle detected by the object detection means, the traffic jam can be accurately detected.
[0046]
According to the invention described in claim 3, since the traffic jam is detected when the vehicle speed of the vehicle in a predetermined section from the vehicle position to the junction of the vehicles is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the traffic jam is accurately detected. be able to.
[0047]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the traffic jam is detected based on the traffic jam information obtained by communication between the vehicle and the outside, the traffic jam can be accurately detected.
[0048]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the junction is detected based on the stored road information, the junction can be detected accurately.
[0049]
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the merging portion is detected based on the accident information obtained by communication between the vehicle and the outside, the merging portion can be accurately detected.
[0050]
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the accident occurrence point is on the lane adjacent to the own vehicle travel lane, it is determined that the junction is on the own vehicle travel lane. Can be detected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle travel control apparatus. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a main routine of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a junction estimation routine. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an interrupt vehicle determination routine. Explanatory diagram of inter-vehicle distance control [Explanation of symbols]
11 Imaging device (object detection means)
13 Radar device (object detection means)
20 Communication means 21 Road information storage means 22 Target inter-vehicle distance setting means M3 Actual inter-vehicle distance detection means M4 Target inter-vehicle distance correction means M5 Vehicle speed control means M7 Vehicle junction detection means M8 Junction distance detection means M9 Traffic jam detection means M10 Interrupt vehicle detection means

Claims (7)

Target inter-vehicle distance setting means (22) for setting the target inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle;
An actual inter-vehicle distance detection means (M3) for detecting an actual inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle;
Vehicle distance between the vehicle speed control means for controlling the speed of the vehicle to match the target inter-vehicle distance set by the target inter-vehicle distance setting section (22) (M5) detected by the actual inter-vehicle distance detecting means (M3),
Vehicle junction detection means (M7) capable of detecting a vehicle junction in front of the vehicle;
A merging portion distance detecting means (M8) capable of detecting a distance from the own vehicle to the merging portion of the vehicle;
A traffic jam detection means (M9) capable of detecting traffic jams on the own vehicle traveling path;
An interruption vehicle detection means (M10) capable of detecting an interruption vehicle near the preceding vehicle;
The actual inter-vehicle distance detected by the actual inter-vehicle distance detecting means (M3) and the distance to the merging portion detected by the merging portion distance detecting means (M8) are less than a predetermined value, respectively, and the vehicle merging portion detecting means (M7) and the congestion detection Target inter-vehicle distance correction means for increasing the target inter-vehicle distance when a traffic jam in the vicinity of the merging portion is detected from information from the means (M9) and the interrupt vehicle detection means (M10) detects an interrupt vehicle near the preceding vehicle. (M4),
In a vehicle travel control device comprising:
An object detection means (11, 13) capable of detecting an object in front of the host vehicle;
The vehicle junction detection means (M7) has a frequency that the vehicle in the adjacent lane obtained by the object detection means (11, 13) moves to the own lane more than a predetermined number of times, and the vehicle in the adjacent lane moves to the own lane. If the points to be performed are the same for a predetermined number of times or more, the merging portion is detected from the statistics of the moving points . The vehicle traffic control device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic jam detection means (M9) detects a traffic jam based on an object movement history obtained from the object detection means (11, 13). The traffic jam detection means (M9) detects traffic jam when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle in a predetermined section from the vehicle position to the vehicle junction detected by the vehicle junction detection means (M7) is below a predetermined value. The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A communication means for enabling communication between the vehicle and the outside (20), said jam detecting means (M9) is characterized by detecting the traffic jam based on the traffic jam information obtained from the communication unit (20) The vehicle travel control device according to claim 1. Comprising a road information storage means for storing road information (21), said vehicle merging section detecting means (M7) is to detect the merging portion on the basis of the road information stored in the road information storage unit (21) The vehicle travel control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vehicle travel control device is characterized by the following. A communication means for enabling communication between the vehicle and the outside (20), said vehicle merging section detecting means (M7) is to detect the merging portion on the basis of the accident information obtained by the communication means (20) The vehicle travel control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vehicle travel control device is characterized by the following. The vehicle merging portion detection means (M7) determines that the merging portion is on the own vehicle traveling lane when the accident occurrence point is on a lane adjacent to the own vehicle traveling lane. 6. The vehicle travel control device according to 6.

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