JPH07334790A - Merging vehicle foreseeing device and travel controller using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To foresee a merging vehicle before reaching a merging part and perform acceleration/deceleration control over the vehicle by recognizing that the vehicle approaches the merging part of roads during travel and foreseeing the presence of the merging vehicle at the merging part from the behavior of a precedent vehicle. CONSTITUTION:A radar 12 emits infrared laser light forward, measures the distance to a precedent vehicle from the time required to photodetect its reflected light, and detects the relative speed to the precedent vehicle from variation in vehicle distance in each measurement cycle. Further, a navigation device 16 grasps map information and the position of this vehicle on a road at all times and supplies the information to a merging part approach recognition part 10a. When the merging approach recognition part 10a recognizes the approach of the road to the merging part, a merging state foreseeing part 10b foresees the presence of the merging vehicle at the merging part from the behavior of the precedent vehicle at the time of the approach to the merging part and a control part 10 controls a brake actuator 20, a throttle actuator 22, and an indication part 24 to perform the acceleration/deceleration control.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merging vehicle predicting device for assisting a driver at a merging portion of a road and a traveling control device using the merging vehicle predicting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various devices have been provided to reduce the burden on the driver. One of them is a constant speed traveling device, which is provided in a relatively large number of vehicles. This constant speed traveling device automatically adjusts the throttle by setting a predetermined vehicle speed so as to maintain the vehicle speed even if the accelerator is not operated. This constant speed traveling device is very effective when traveling at a relatively high speed for a long time without a signal such as a highway. However, there are many other vehicles traveling on some roads, and in such a case, traveling at a constant speed is difficult and the constant speed traveling device cannot be used. Normally, the constant speed traveling device is
The constant-speed traveling set is released by the brake operation, and if the constant-speed traveling device is forcibly used, the setting and release will be repeated, and the operation becomes complicated.

Therefore, a distance measuring device for monitoring the preceding vehicle is provided, and when the vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle at the time of setting the constant speed traveling, the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle is automatically maintained at a predetermined distance. As described above, follow-up traveling is proposed in which the vehicle driving force (for example, engine output, transmission, brake, etc.) is controlled. According to this follow-up running, acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle can be automatically controlled even on a road where there are a relatively large number of running vehicles, and the range of use is extremely wide as compared with simple constant-speed running.

Further, such follow-up running is often used on a relatively wide road such as a highway. In such a wide road, there are a plurality of lanes, and it may be necessary to control the acceleration / deceleration of the own vehicle depending on the behavior of the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane as well as the own lane.

Therefore, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-217099, a vehicle in an adjacent lane is monitored in addition to the distance measuring device for monitoring the preceding vehicle. Then, when the vehicle traveling in front of the adjacent lane continues traveling at substantially the same speed as the own vehicle for a predetermined time or more and the position of the vehicle is between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle of the own lane, It predicts that the vehicle traveling ahead will cut into its own lane, and controls traveling based on this prediction.

In this way, by predicting an interruption from an adjacent lane and performing traveling control, traveling control that suits the driver's feeling in a wider range of conditions can be performed and the burden on the driver can be reduced.

[0007]

On the other hand, there are mergers such as interchanges, service area exits, and the end of an uphill lane on a highway or the like, and here a merged vehicle enters the traveling lane. For example, at an interchange on an expressway, the vehicle joins a driving lane from a side acceleration lane. At such a merging portion, the driver shifts the lane diagonally forward and confirms the existence of the merging vehicle. Therefore, it is considered to be very convenient if traveling control can be performed in such a merging portion according to the presence or absence of a merging vehicle.

If the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-217099 is applied, it is considered that the merged vehicle in the acceleration lane can be recognized as the interrupting vehicle and the control at the merged time can be performed. However, the acceleration lane is not so long, and the vehicles in the acceleration lane always join each other, so the situation is different from the interruption from the adjacent lane. Therefore, it is considered that sufficient control cannot be performed by detecting the merged vehicle in the acceleration lane and then determining the interruption.
It is considered not appropriate to use the technique described in Japanese Patent No. 217099 as it is for controlling the merging portion.

Further, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-217099 is premised on detecting a vehicle in an adjacent lane, and there is a problem that a distance measuring means for constantly monitoring the adjacent lane is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a traveling vehicle predicting device for predicting the existence of a merging vehicle at a merging portion and a traveling control device using the same.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A merged vehicle predicting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a merged portion approach recognition means for recognizing an approach to a merged portion of a road while traveling, and a preceding vehicle monitoring means for monitoring the behavior of a preceding vehicle. And a predicting means for predicting the presence or absence of a merged vehicle at the merged portion based on the behavior of the preceding vehicle when approaching the merged portion, and predicting the merged vehicle before reaching the merged portion.

Further, the traveling control device according to the present invention includes a merging portion approach recognition means for recognizing an approach to a merging portion of a road during traveling, a preceding vehicle monitoring means for observing the behavior of a preceding vehicle, and a merging portion. Acceleration / deceleration control means for controlling acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle according to the behavior of the preceding vehicle when approaching, and performing acceleration / deceleration control of the vehicle predicting the situation of the merging portion before reaching the merging portion. Is characterized by.

According to the monitoring result of the preceding vehicle monitoring means, when the preceding vehicle accelerates when approaching the confluence,
It is characterized in that the acceleration / deceleration control means performs acceleration / deceleration control so as to widen the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle.

According to the monitoring result of the preceding vehicle monitoring means, when the preceding vehicle changes lanes when approaching the merging portion, the acceleration / deceleration control means prohibits acceleration.

According to the monitoring result of the preceding vehicle monitoring means, when the preceding vehicle decelerates when approaching the merging portion,
It is characterized in that the acceleration / deceleration control means controls so as to decelerate more than the deceleration of the preceding vehicle.

Further, it is characterized in that acceleration / deceleration in the acceleration / deceleration control means is prohibited under a predetermined condition.

The predetermined condition is that the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is short, and in this case, the deceleration control by the acceleration / deceleration control means is prohibited.

The predetermined condition is intended to change the lane of the own vehicle, and in this case, the deceleration control by the acceleration / deceleration control means is prohibited.

Further, the preceding vehicle monitoring means can change the monitoring direction obliquely forward of the own vehicle, and when the existence of the merged vehicle is predicted, the monitoring direction is changed to confirm the presence of the merged vehicle. It is characterized by

The acceleration lane length recognizing means for recognizing the acceleration lane length at the confluence portion of the road is provided, and the acceleration / deceleration control means changes the control amount of the acceleration / deceleration control according to the acceleration lane length. Characterize.

Further, the distance to the merging portion is detected, and the acceleration / deceleration control means changes the control amount of the acceleration / deceleration control according to the distance to the merging portion.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the presence or absence of a merging vehicle at the merging portion is predicted from the behavior of the preceding vehicle when the merging portion approaches. Therefore, the own vehicle actually reaches the merging portion, and the merging vehicle can be foreseen at a stage before confirming the presence or absence of the merging vehicle. Therefore, suitable acceleration / deceleration control of the vehicle can be performed based on this prediction result.

Further, when the preceding vehicle accelerates when approaching the merging portion, acceleration / deceleration control is performed so that the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle is widened so that the merging vehicle can smoothly enter the preceding vehicle. You can

Further, when the preceding vehicle changes lanes when approaching the merging portion, the acceleration of the preceding vehicle is prohibited, so that the merging vehicle can be moved to a place vacated by the preceding vehicle.

Further, when the preceding vehicle decelerates when approaching the merging portion, the vehicle speed is reduced more than the deceleration of the preceding vehicle so that when the preceding vehicle tries to enter the merging vehicle in front of it. Can be prevented from getting closer than necessary.

Further, the acceleration / deceleration that occurs due to the merging condition is prohibited under a predetermined condition. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the control at the time of merging based on the incorrect determination.

Further, when the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is short,
By prohibiting the deceleration control, the merged vehicle can smoothly enter after the own vehicle.

Further, when the own vehicle is going to change lanes by turning on the turn signal, the deceleration control is prohibited so that the passing of the merging portion by the smooth lane change can be achieved.

Also, by making the monitoring direction of the preceding vehicle monitoring means changeable diagonally forward of the own vehicle, the monitoring direction is changed diagonally forward when the vehicle approaches the merging portion and the existence of the merging vehicle is confirmed. can do. Therefore, more precise control can be performed.

Further, the approach speed of the merged vehicle can be predicted according to the acceleration lane length. Therefore, by controlling the acceleration / deceleration according to the predicted approach speed, more accurate control can be performed.

Further, by controlling the acceleration / deceleration according to the distance to the merging portion, more precise control can be performed.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Description of Overall Configuration] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the embodiment, in which the control unit 10 performs various processes. A radar 12, a vehicle speed sensor 14, a navigation device 16, and a winker switch 18 are provided on the input side of the control unit 10, and a brake actuator 20, a throttle actuator 22, and a notification unit 24 are provided on the output side.

The radar 12 emits an infrared laser beam forward and measures the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle by the time until the reflected light is received. Also, the relative speed with respect to the preceding vehicle can be detected from the change in the inter-vehicle distance for each measurement cycle. The vehicle speed sensor 14 detects the own vehicle speed from the rotation speed of the wheels.
The navigation device 16 uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like to detect the position of the vehicle and a storage unit for map information, and also receives information (besides position information, traffic jam information, etc.) from beacons installed on the road. It has a receiving unit for receiving and detects where the vehicle is traveling on the road. The turn signal switch 18 detects that the turn signal has been turned on by the driver's operation.

On the other hand, the brake actuator 20 drives the brake of the vehicle to control the deceleration of the vehicle. The throttle actuator 22 adjusts the opening of a throttle valve (not shown) installed in the intake passage of the gasoline engine to control acceleration and deceleration by engine braking. Needless to say, other controls such as shift control of the automatic transmission and fuel supply amount control (particularly diesel engine) may be used together or substituted as long as the driving force of the vehicle is changed. . Further, the notification unit 24 includes a display and a voice output unit, and notifies the driver of various information.

Then, the control unit 10 performs acceleration / deceleration control based on various input information and provides the driver with the information. In particular, the present embodiment has a confluence unit approach recognition unit 10a and a confluence situation prediction unit 10b. When the own vehicle approaches the confluence unit, there is a confluence vehicle and how the confluence vehicle merges. It predicts whether or not it will come and informs the driver of this, and also controls the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle.

That is, the navigation device 16 constantly grasps the position of the own vehicle on the road from the map information and the own vehicle position information, and supplies this information to the merge section approach recognition section 10a. In particular, information that an interchange, a service area exit, an end of an uphill lane, or the like exists ahead is also supplied to the merge section approach recognition unit 10a. Therefore, the merging portion approach recognizing unit 10a is arranged in front of the merging portion (for example, 500 m).
Recognize the confluence part (in front). It should be noted that the recognition of the approach of the confluence may be performed by the navigation device.

When the approach of the merging portion is recognized, the presence of the merging vehicle is predicted from the behavior of the preceding vehicle, and the control unit 1
0 controls the brake actuator 20, the throttle actuator 22, and the alerting | reporting part 24, and performs various processes. Therefore, this operation will be described below. Further, the acceleration control is performed by opening the throttle by the throttle actuator 22, and the deceleration control is based on the control of closing the throttle by the throttle actuator 22, and the deceleration by braking by the brake actuator 20 is combined if necessary.

[Description of Basic Operation] The operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figures for explaining the merged state, the own vehicle is indicated by A, the preceding vehicle is indicated by B, and the merged vehicle is indicated by C. First, it is determined whether or not the approaching portion is approached (S100). When the vehicle approaches the merging portion, it is determined whether the preceding vehicle (target) in the own lane is decelerating (S110). If the vehicle is not decelerating, it is then determined whether the target is accelerating (S120). The fact that neither acceleration nor deceleration has occurred means that there is no change in speed or there is a state in which the target cannot be detected.

In this case, it is determined whether or not the target has moved from the detected state to the undetected state (S140), and if not, the normal inter-vehicle distance control (following traveling) is performed. This is because if the speed of the target traveling in the merging section does not change, it is considered that there is no merging vehicle, and if the target remains undetected, it is sufficient to control only by observing the merging vehicle. This is because the vehicle-to-vehicle distance control must be immediately performed when is detected from undetected. In addition, the inter-vehicle distance control, when the target remains undetected,
It will run at a constant speed.

If it is determined in S100 that the vehicle is not approaching the merging portion, the process proceeds to S140 and normal inter-vehicle distance control is performed. Then, in S110, when the target is decelerating, the inter-vehicle distance is controlled to be longer according to the own vehicle speed (S200).

That is, the target inter-vehicle distance Lt is determined by Lt = α · L0. Here, L0 is a target inter-vehicle distance in normal control, and α is a correction coefficient.

Then, the correction coefficient α is as shown in FIG.
After the vehicle speed reaches a predetermined vehicle speed V0, α = 1, and after exceeding V0, α is increased in proportion to the vehicle speed. This is because when the preceding vehicle decelerates at the merging portion, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a merging vehicle, which is about to enter in front of the preceding vehicle, and it is considered that the preceding vehicle will further decelerate. Then, by changing the target inter-vehicle distance to a large value, the own vehicle decelerates at a deceleration of the preceding vehicle or more. As a result, it is possible to deal with the deceleration of the preceding vehicle due to the entry of the merged vehicle with a sufficient margin, and it is possible to perform the traveling control suitable for the driver's feeling.

Next, if the target is accelerating in S120 and if the target shifts from the detected state to the undetected state in S130, it is next determined whether the turn signal of the host vehicle is on (S300). If the turn signal is not on, it means that the preceding vehicle has accelerated in its own lane or that the preceding vehicle has changed lanes.

As described above, when the preceding vehicle accelerates at the merging portion, it is considered that the preceding vehicle is trying to enter the merging vehicle after the preceding vehicle, as shown in FIG. In this case, it is considered that the own lane has been emptied in order to enter the merged vehicle as shown in FIG. 6, and the own vehicle should cope with this merge.

Therefore, in this case, as shown in FIG. 7, when the vehicle speed is V0 or higher, deceleration is performed to increase according to the vehicle speed, and the vehicle is decelerated to a constant vehicle speed (S31).
0). Here, β is the deceleration of the vehicle. This allows the merged vehicle to smoothly enter in front of the own vehicle at the merged portion.

On the other hand, if the turn signal is on in S300, the vehicle is about to change lanes. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the driver has started an operation assuming the presence of a merged vehicle. Then, when changing the lane, it is necessary to follow the flow to enter the adjacent lane, and in such a case, it is not preferable to perform the deceleration control like S310. Therefore, the process at the time of approaching the merging portion is prohibited, and the vehicle moves to constant speed running (S400).

[Description of Other Operations] (Control According to Length of Acceleration Lane) In some cases, the length of the acceleration lane at the merge portion may be known from the data in the navigation device. If the acceleration lane is long, high-speed merging is possible, and deceleration due to the effect of the merging vehicle is relatively small. Therefore, it is preferable to change the vehicle speed V0 in FIGS. 3 and 7 described above according to the length of the acceleration lane. It should be noted that V0 is 70 km / h on the expressway, and a smaller value is the standard value on the Metropolitan Expressway and small service areas.

(Control According to Distance to Junction)
When the distance to the merging portion is detected based on the information from the navigation device 16, more detailed control can be performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the deceleration correction coefficient γ is calculated according to the distance Δ to the merging portion. This γ
Is a larger value as the distance Δ to the merging portion is smaller.

Then, in S200, when the target vehicle distance is changed, the deceleration at that time is set to a value obtained by multiplying the normal deceleration by γ. As a result, when the distance to the merging portion is small, it is possible to decelerate with a larger deceleration, and it is possible to maintain a sufficient target inter-vehicle distance even when the preceding vehicle decelerates with a large deceleration. Further, in S310 described above, the deceleration β is multiplied by γ, so that the deceleration increases as it gets closer to the confluence. The fact that the distance to the merging section is short means that the driving control according to the entry of the merging vehicle must be performed in a shorter time, and the multiplication by γ reduces the deceleration to the driver's feeling. Control can be performed.

(Side-side monitoring at merging portion) The radar 12 is for monitoring the front side, and the direction of the radar 12 (beam) is limited to the front side for the purpose of inter-vehicle distance control and the like. Should be. However, in the merging section, monitoring of the merging vehicle is also important. Therefore, S11 in FIG.
In 0 to S130, the beam of the radar 12 may be steered (swing to the side) to monitor the side and detect a merged vehicle.

Therefore, as the laser 12, a laser that swings the beam to the lateral side is adopted, the beam is steered to the lateral side immediately before the merging portion, and the merging vehicle is detected by the reflected beam from the lateral side. If there is no merged vehicle, the deceleration control in S200 and S310 is prohibited, and S14
It returns to the normal zero distance control. In addition, S120 and S13
0, in S130, if YES, the beam is steered immediately before merging to determine the presence of a merging vehicle, and if there is a merging vehicle, proceed to S200 or S300,
If there is no merged vehicle, the process may proceed to S140.

According to this, as shown in FIG. 10, the beam of the radar 12 is laterally swayed only at the merging portion. Therefore, there is no problem during normal traveling and one radar 12
By this, effective merging control can be performed.

(When accelerating the preceding vehicle) As shown in FIG.
When the approaching vehicle is approached in a state where the distance to the preceding vehicle is short (the distance between the vehicles is short) and the preceding vehicle accelerates, it is better not to perform the deceleration processing as described above. That is, when the inter-vehicle distance is small, it is difficult to let the merged vehicle enter here, and it is better to let the merged vehicle enter through the merged portion together with the preceding vehicle and then the merged vehicle after the own vehicle. Therefore, acceleration is performed by following the preceding vehicle.

Here, the inter-vehicle distance judgment as to whether or not the acceleration following the preceding vehicle is performed is determined by the distance l to the merging portion, the own vehicle speed V and the estimated speed Va of the merging vehicle. That is, when V-Va is large and l is long, the inter-vehicle distance L with the preceding vehicle can be made sufficiently large even if the vehicle decelerates, but when the distance l to the merging portion is small, the vehicle immediately joins. There is a possibility of coming. Therefore, when the inter-vehicle distance L is small, the own vehicle also accelerates. This determination is made by the acceleration determination shown in FIG. In this example, the inter-vehicle distance L is divided into three (short), intermediate (mid), and long (long). The straight line is located higher as the inter-vehicle distance is shorter. In FIG. 12, the horizontal axis is V-Va.
(Relative velocity), the vertical axis is the distance to the confluence. Therefore, the smaller the inter-vehicle distance L, the larger the distance 1 from the merging portion, and the vehicle is positioned below the straight line even if the relative speed is small. If it is above the straight line in the figure, it is determined that the merged vehicle can enter in front of the own vehicle due to deceleration. Therefore, the turn-on / off of the winker in S300 is determined as in the above-described flowchart. On the other hand, when the vehicle is below the straight line in the figure, it is determined that it is difficult to enter the merged vehicle in front of the own vehicle, and the process proceeds to the normal inter-vehicle distance control of S140, and the own vehicle follows the preceding vehicle and performs the acceleration control. Perform and pass through the confluence.

Such processing is performed as shown in FIG.
This is performed by inserting the step (S125) of performing the determination based on FIG. 12 between S120 and S300. Then, in the case of the upper side of the applicable straight line in FIG. 10, the process proceeds to S300, and in the case of the lower side, the normal inter-vehicle distance control of S140 is performed. The estimated speed of the merged vehicle in this process is
It can be done by accelerating lane length.

(Notification of Merged Vehicle) In each of the above examples, the acceleration / deceleration control is performed according to the presence or absence of the merged vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the driver may be provided with information regarding the presence or absence of a merged vehicle, or information regarding the presence or absence of a merged vehicle may be provided in addition to acceleration / deceleration control. That is, in S110, S120, and S130 in the flowchart of FIG. 2, if YES, the control unit 10 determines that there is a merged vehicle. Therefore, this information is supplied to the notification unit 24, and the notification unit 24 notifies the driver of the presence of the merged vehicle by display or voice. For example, a message such as "There seems to be a merging car at the merging ahead" is displayed and voice output is performed.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In order to predict the presence or absence of a merged vehicle at the merged portion from the behavior of the preceding vehicle when approaching the merged portion, the own vehicle actually reaches the merged portion, and the merged vehicle is foreseen at a stage before confirming the presence or absence of the merged vehicle. it can. Therefore, suitable acceleration / deceleration control of the vehicle can be performed based on this prediction result.

Further, when the preceding vehicle accelerates when approaching the merging portion, acceleration / deceleration control is performed so that the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle increases, so that the merging vehicle can smoothly enter into the preceding vehicle. You can

Further, when the preceding vehicle changes lanes when approaching the merging portion, by prohibiting acceleration, the merging vehicle can be made to enter the space left for the merging vehicle.

Further, when the preceding vehicle decelerates when approaching the merging portion, the preceding vehicle decelerates more than the deceleration of the preceding vehicle so that when the preceding vehicle tries to enter the merging vehicle in front of it. Can be prevented from getting closer than necessary.

Further, acceleration / deceleration that occurs due to the merging condition is prohibited under a predetermined condition. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the control at the time of merging based on the incorrect determination.

When the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is short,
By prohibiting the deceleration control, the merged vehicle can smoothly enter after the own vehicle.

Further, when the own vehicle is going to change lanes by turning on the turn signal, by inhibiting the deceleration control, it is possible to achieve smooth passage through the merging section by changing lanes.

Further, by making the monitoring direction of the preceding vehicle monitoring means changeable diagonally forward of the own vehicle, when the approaching portion is approached, the monitoring direction is changed diagonally forward and the existence of the merged vehicle is confirmed. can do. Therefore, more precise control can be performed.

Further, the approach speed of the merged vehicle can be predicted according to the acceleration lane length. Therefore, by controlling the acceleration / deceleration according to the predicted approach speed, more accurate control can be performed.

Further, by controlling the acceleration / deceleration according to the distance to the merging portion, more precise control can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a correction coefficient during target deceleration.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a merging situation (during deceleration of a preceding vehicle).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a merging situation (when the preceding vehicle is accelerating).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a merging situation (when a preceding lane is changed).

FIG. 7 is a characteristic diagram showing deceleration when a target is accelerated or not detected.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a merging situation (when the vehicle lane is changed).

FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a distance to a merging portion and a deceleration correction coefficient.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of beam steering at the time of merging.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a merging situation (during vehicle follow-up acceleration).

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing determination of deceleration / acceleration control according to an inter-vehicle distance.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing determination of deceleration / acceleration control according to an inter-vehicle distance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Control Unit 12 Radar 14 Vehicle Speed Sensor 16 Navigation Device 18 Blinker 20 Brake Actuator 22 Throttle Actuator 24 Notification Unit

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A merging portion approach recognition means for recognizing an approach to a merging portion of a road during traveling, a preceding vehicle monitoring means for observing a behavior of a preceding vehicle, and a behavior of a preceding vehicle when approaching the merging portion. A merging vehicle predicting device, comprising: a prediction means for predicting the presence or absence of a merging vehicle at the merging portion, and predicting the merging vehicle before reaching the merging portion. 2. A merging portion approach recognition means for recognizing an approach to a merging portion of a road while traveling, a preceding vehicle monitoring means for observing a behavior of a preceding vehicle, and a behavior of a preceding vehicle when approaching the merging portion. An acceleration / deceleration control means for controlling acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle according to the above, and a traveling control device characterized by performing acceleration / deceleration control of the vehicle predicting the situation of the merging section before reaching the merging section. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the acceleration / deceleration control means determines that the preceding vehicle is accelerated when the preceding vehicle accelerates when approaching the merging portion based on the monitoring result of the preceding vehicle monitoring means. A travel control device characterized by performing acceleration / deceleration control so as to increase the distance between vehicles. 4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the acceleration / deceleration control means accelerates when the preceding vehicle changes lanes when approaching the merging portion based on the monitoring result of the preceding vehicle monitoring means. A travel control device characterized by prohibiting 5. The acceleration / deceleration control means according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein when the preceding vehicle decelerates when approaching the merging portion based on the monitoring result of the preceding vehicle monitoring means. Is controlled so that the vehicle decelerates more than the deceleration of the preceding vehicle. 6. The travel control device according to claim 2, wherein the acceleration / deceleration in the acceleration / deceleration control means is prohibited under a predetermined condition. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined condition is that the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is short, and in this case, the deceleration control by the acceleration / deceleration control means is prohibited. Travel control device. 8. The apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the predetermined condition is an intention to change the lane of the own vehicle, and in this case, the deceleration control by the acceleration / deceleration control means is prohibited. Travel control device. 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preceding vehicle monitoring means can change a monitoring direction thereof diagonally forward of the own vehicle, and changes the monitoring direction when the presence of a merged vehicle is predicted. A merged vehicle predicting device characterized by confirming the existence of a merged vehicle. 10. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising acceleration lane length recognition means for recognizing an acceleration lane length at a confluence portion of a road, and the acceleration / deceleration control means accelerating or decelerating the acceleration lane length according to the acceleration lane length. A travel control device characterized by changing a control amount of control. 11. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the distance to the merging portion is detected, and the acceleration / deceleration control means changes the control amount of the acceleration / deceleration control according to the distance to the merging portion. A characteristic travel control device.