JPH0817000A - Controller for distance between vehicles going to the same direction - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To adjust target distance between vehicles in the control of the dis tance between one's own vehicle and the vehicle in front by the operation of an accelerator pedal. CONSTITUTION:An inter-vehicle distance control part 24 outputs the controlled variable thetad of a sub-throttle 14 in accordance with the distance between two vehicles from an inter-vehicle distance sensor 26. Here, this thetad is changed in accordance with the mount of the tread-down thetam of the accelerator pedal 16. Namely, by treading down the accelerator pedal 16, the target distance between two vehicles is turned small. Then, since the sub-throttle 14 is controlled so as to attain this target distance between two vehicles, the distance between two vehicles can be made small by the tread-down of the accelerator pedal 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle distance control device for automatically controlling an inter-vehicle distance to a preceding vehicle, and more particularly to control of a target inter-vehicle distance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a distance measuring device for monitoring a preceding vehicle is provided, and when a vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle, the vehicle speed is automatically controlled so as to automatically maintain a predetermined vehicle-to-vehicle distance. An inter-vehicle distance control device has been proposed. According to this inter-vehicle distance control, the accelerator operation for maintaining the inter-vehicle distance becomes very easy, and the burden on the driver is reduced.

On the other hand, the target inter-vehicle distance often differs depending on the driver. Therefore, it has been proposed that the target inter-vehicle distance can be changed by the driver's operation.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-133250 discloses that an adjustment lever is provided and the target inter-vehicle distance is changed by operating this adjustment lever. According to this configuration,
The distance between cars can be made to match the driver's feeling,
It is possible to control the distance between vehicles without feeling strange.

[0004]

However, in the device described in the above publication, the adjusting lever must be provided exclusively, and its operation must be performed by hand. on the other hand,
Acceleration / deceleration control during normal traveling is performed by the accelerator.
Therefore, there is a problem that the manual operation is relatively difficult to adjust and the operability is not good.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and by operating the accelerator,
An object is to provide an inter-vehicle distance control device capable of adjusting inter-vehicle distance control.

[0006]

An inter-vehicle distance control device according to the present invention comprises a distance measuring means for measuring an inter-vehicle distance between a vehicle and a preceding vehicle, a driving force control means for controlling a driving force of the vehicle. An inter-vehicle distance control means for controlling the inter-vehicle distance to a target inter-vehicle distance by controlling the driving force control means, and an accelerator pedal operation amount detection means for detecting an operation amount of an accelerator pedal operated by a driver, are detected. A target inter-vehicle distance adjusting means for changing the target inter-vehicle distance according to an operation amount of an accelerator pedal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the driving force control means has a first throttle whose opening degree is adjusted by an operation amount of an accelerator pedal and an opening degree according to a control amount from the target inter-vehicle distance control means. A second throttle to be adjusted, the target inter-vehicle distance is changed according to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal, and the opening degree of the second throttle is adjusted accordingly.

Further, the following invention further comprises a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of the own vehicle, wherein the target inter-vehicle distance adjusting means sets the control amount in the inter-vehicle distance control means in accordance with the detected vehicle speed of the own vehicle. It is characterized by changing.

Further, the following invention further comprises road condition detecting means for detecting slipperiness of a road on which the vehicle is running, and the driving force control means controls the driving force according to the detected road condition. Is also performed.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, the target inter-vehicle distance in the inter-vehicle distance control is changed according to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal. For example, the target inter-vehicle distance is changed to a small value by depressing the accelerator during traveling by the inter-vehicle distance control. The driver depresses the accelerator for acceleration, and the inter-vehicle distance can be controlled according to the driver's feeling by reducing the inter-vehicle distance by depressing the accelerator pedal. Further, the accelerator pedal is originally provided in the vehicle and does not require any special device. Furthermore, the depression of the accelerator pedal is
This is an operation that is normally performed when adjusting the acceleration / deceleration, and the operability thereof is better than the manual operation.

Further, in a system having both a main throttle and a sub-throttle, by making the sub-throttle the subject of the inter-vehicle distance control, the driver reduces the opening of the main throttle to be smaller than the sub-throttle to achieve the desired deceleration. You can control.

Further, more appropriate control can be performed by changing the control amount of the inter-vehicle distance control means according to the own vehicle speed. For example, by controlling the vehicle-to-vehicle distance only when the engine brake is effective at high speed, or by detecting the amount of change in the accelerator pedal depression amount by referring to the standard accelerator depression amount according to the vehicle speed, the driver's feeling can be improved. Matched control can be performed.

Further, by performing throttle control depending on slipperiness of the road and the like, a wide throttle opening control can be performed by using one throttle driver.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the first embodiment, in which an intake pipe 10 to the engine is provided with both a main throttle 12 and a sub throttle 14.
Therefore, the intake amount of the engine is determined by whichever of the main throttle 12 and the sub-throttle 14 has the smaller opening, and the engine output is controlled by this. An accelerator pedal 16 is connected to the main throttle 12 via a cable 18. Therefore,
The main throttle 12 opens according to the operation amount (depression amount) of the accelerator pedal 16. Therefore, in a normal traveling state, fuel and air are supplied to the engine according to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 16 by the driver, the output of the engine is controlled, and the acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle is controlled. Further, the accelerator opening sensor 19 detects the depression amount θm of the accelerator pedal 16. The accelerator pedal 16 depression amount θm has a one-to-one relationship with the opening of the main throttle 12, and the throttle opening of the main throttle is also θm.
It is represented by.

On the other hand, the sub-throttle 14 is a motor 20.
The opening degree of the motor 20 is adjusted by the rotation of the motor 20. Further, this motor 20 is connected to a motor driver 22, and this motor driver 2
2 controls the rotation of the motor 20 to control the opening of the sub-throttle 14.

The motor driver 22 has a plurality of sub-throttle control mechanisms, generates a control amount according to the running condition of the road surface, and controls the acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle to a more preferable one. In this example, the motor driver 2
2 is a high μ road non-linear control unit 22a, a low μ road non-linear control unit 22b, a drive wheel slip suppression control unit 22c, a drive system protection control unit 22d, a shift shock reduction control unit (AT vehicle) 22.
e and the inter-vehicle distance control unit 24 have six control units,
The minimum value is selected from the six control amounts θ1 to θ5 and θd output from these control units, and the motor 20 is controlled based on this to control the opening of the sub-throttle 14. The high μ road non-linear control is an accelerator opening control during normal traveling, and is usually set to be larger than the main throttle opening. The low μ road non-linear control and the drive wheel slip suppression control are throttle opening suppression control for slip prevention. Further, the drive system protection control is control for suppressing an excessive output change, and the shift shock reduction control is output control for preventing a shock at the time of shifting.

As described above, in this embodiment, the motor driver 22 also receives the control amount from the inter-vehicle distance control unit 24, and the motor driver 22 receives the control amount from the inter-vehicle distance control unit 24. Also consider the minimum value. The inter-vehicle distance control unit 24 is connected to the inter-vehicle distance sensor 26, and generates the control amount θd based on the inter-vehicle distance d with the preceding vehicle detected by the inter-vehicle distance sensor 26.

That is, the inter-vehicle distance control section 24 generates a control amount θd for adjusting the opening degree of the sub-throttle 14 so that the detected inter-vehicle distance d matches the appropriate target inter-vehicle distance during traveling at that time. To do. Further, in the present embodiment, the inter-vehicle distance control unit 24 is also supplied with the signal θm regarding the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 16, and the inter-vehicle distance control unit 24 also considers the signal θm regarding the accelerator depression amount and the control amount. θd is generated. The inter-vehicle distance sensor 26
As such, a laser radar that irradiates the infrared laser light forward and measures the time until the reflected light is received, a millimeter wave radar that irradiates a millimeter wave instead of the laser light, and the like are used. Further, the relative speed with respect to the preceding vehicle can be detected from the change in the inter-vehicle distance, and the preceding vehicle speed can also be calculated by combining the output of the own vehicle speed sensor (own vehicle speed).

Next, the operation of the headway distance control section 24 will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described based on. First, the inter-vehicle distance d, which is the output of the inter-vehicle distance sensor 26, is fetched (S101). If the inter-vehicle distance sensor 26 does not have a calculation processing function, the inter-vehicle distance d is calculated from the output value. Next, it is determined whether the inter-vehicle distance d is smaller than a predetermined large inter-vehicle distance dmax (S103). The inter-vehicle distance dmax is a distance that requires inter-vehicle distance control, and may be set to a fixed value, but normally it is determined according to the vehicle speed or the like from a map or the like stored in advance.

If d <dmax, the inter-vehicle distance control is started,
It is determined whether or not d ≧ dmax last time (S10
5). If you entered the inter-vehicle distance control for the first time, here Y
ES occurs, and in this case, the opening degree θm (corresponding to the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 16) θm of the main throttle 12 at that time is taken in to the initial value θm0.

In the case of NO in S105 or when the data acquisition in S107 is completed, the actually detected inter-vehicle distance d is corrected according to the change in the opening degree θm of the main throttle 12 (S109). That is, the corrected inter-vehicle distance dm is calculated by dm = d × θm / θm0. In this way, by changing the inter-vehicle distance d in accordance with the ratio of the accelerator opening degree θm0 when the inter-vehicle distance control is started and the main throttle opening degree θm at that time, the accelerator pedal 16 is depressed during the inter-vehicle distance control. By changing the amount θm, the control amount in the inter-vehicle distance control can be changed. For example, when the depression amount is increased by 10%, θm / θm0 becomes 1.1, which is converted into the inter-vehicle distance multiplied by 1.1.
Therefore, by performing the inter-vehicle distance control using the corrected inter-vehicle distance dm, the inter-vehicle distance can be shortened. Note that this correction does not necessarily have to be a proportional calculation, and a predetermined function or an arbitrary relationship may be set by a map.

For example, it may be calculated using a function such as dm = d × {1+ (θm-θm0) / 100} dm = d × (θm-θd) / (θm0-θd). Where θd is the sub-throttle 1 calculated by the previous inter-vehicle distance control
4 is an opening control amount for No. 4. In either case, θm
The inter-vehicle distance control is performed such that the larger the value of, the larger dm and the smaller inter-vehicle distance.

Further, dm may be restricted so that dm ≧ d. Thereby, the opening degree of the main throttle 12 is taken into consideration only when the inter-vehicle distance is reduced. This is because if the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 16 becomes smaller,
This is because the opening degree of the main throttle 12 becomes smaller and the engine output becomes smaller, so that the vehicle can be decelerated.

Next, the change amount ΔV of the own vehicle speed is calculated based on the map based on the corrected inter-vehicle distance dm and the relative speed Vc with respect to the preceding vehicle (S111). This map is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and if the relative speed Vc is constant, acceleration is performed when the corrected inter-vehicle distance dm is greater than the target inter-vehicle distance, and deceleration ΔV is output when the corrected inter-vehicle distance dm is less than the target inter-vehicle distance. Also,
If the relative speed is in the direction of leaving, ΔV is set to increase to the + side. Here, the target vehicle distance is a point where the own vehicle speed change amount ΔV is 0.

In this way, when the own vehicle speed change amount ΔV is calculated, the throttle opening change control amount Δθ is calculated by Δθ = C · ΔV based on the own vehicle speed change amount ΔV (S113). ). Here, C is a predetermined constant.

Next, as the control amount of the sub-throttle 14 at the previous time, the control amounts θ2 to θ5 in the motor driver 22.
It is determined whether any of the above has been adopted (S117). Then, if YES, the control amount θd regarding the throttle opening in the previous inter-vehicle distance control is set to the current control amount, and the control amount θd is not changed. As a result, when the sub-throttle control for other items is completed, smooth control transition can be performed. On the other hand, if the inter-vehicle distance control by other items was not performed last time, the throttle opening control amount θd for the inter-vehicle distance control is calculated by θd = θs + Δθ (S119). Here, θs is the actual control amount of the sub-throttle 14 output from the motor driver 22 last time. This is because the inter-vehicle control is performed on the basis of the inter-vehicle distance, the relative speed, etc., which are the results of the actual traveling. The throttle control amount θd for the current inter-vehicle distance control is calculated by adding the two.

As a result, the throttle control amount θd by the inter-vehicle distance control of this embodiment is calculated.
If NO in 03, that is, if the inter-vehicle distance d is greater than or equal to dmax, it is not necessary to control the inter-vehicle distance, and θd = θ
Set to 1 (S121). θ1 is a control amount of the opening degree of the sub-throttle 14 at the time of the high μ road non-linear control, and this control amount θ1 is an amount slightly larger than the opening degree θm of the main throttle during the normal running as described above. Therefore, the throttle control amount θd for the inter-vehicle distance control is set to a normal value according to the opening degree θm of the main throttle.

In this way, θd is set, and this θ
d is supplied to the motor driver 22. The motor driver 22 selects and outputs the minimum value among θ1 to θ5 and θd (S123). Therefore, the motor 20 is controlled by the control amount θs, and thus the opening degree of the sub-throttle 14 is controlled by the control amount θs.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the opening degree of the sub-throttle 14 is controlled in consideration of the output of the headway distance control section 24. Therefore, when the inter-vehicle distance is less than the predetermined value θmax, the inter-vehicle distance control is performed by the control of the sub-throttle 14. And accelerator pedal 1
When 6 is operated, the inter-vehicle distance d thus measured is corrected. That is, when the accelerator pedal 16 is depressed, the inter-vehicle distance is treated as being larger than the actual distance. Therefore, by performing the inter-vehicle distance control based on the corrected inter-vehicle distance dm, the controlled inter-vehicle distance, that is, the target inter-vehicle distance is reduced. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the target inter-vehicle distance in the inter-vehicle distance control can be changed by the driver's operation of the accelerator pedal 16, and the driver can drive by the inter-vehicle distance control with the same feeling as in normal traveling. .

[Description of Modification] Next, a modification of S115 to S119 in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. First, in FIG. 4A, when Δθ is obtained in S113, the opening control amount θd of the sub-throttle 14 in the previous inter-vehicle distance control is set to the main throttle 1
It is determined whether or not the opening control amount θm of 2 or more (S21
5). If YES, then θd = θm is set (S217). This is because when the opening of the sub-throttle 14 is set larger than that of the main throttle 12, the throttle opening is determined by the opening of the main throttle 12, so it is meaningless to set θd to θm or less. . On the other hand, if NO in S215, θd = θd + Δθ is set as in the case of FIG. 2 (S219).

Further, in FIG. 4B, it is judged whether or not θd is equal to or larger than the control amount θ1 of the high μ road nonlinear control (S31).
5). If YES, then θd = θ1 is set (S317). This is because it is meaningless to set θd to θ1 or less because the motor driver 22 selects the minimum value among the control amounts θ1 to θ5 and θd. If NO in S315, θd = θd + Δθ is set as in the case of FIG. 2 (S319).

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, S101 and S1
Insert the judgment whether the own vehicle speed is a predetermined value or more between 03, and NO
If it is, it is advisable to move to S121 and set θd to θ1 in the same manner as when the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and not perform the process for inter-vehicle distance control. This is because this device reduces the throttle opening to decelerate by engine braking, and it is preferable to perform control on the high vehicle speed side rather than the low vehicle speed side in order to obtain a large effect of the engine braking. Because it can be considered. As a result, useless control of the sub throttle 14 can be prevented.

FIG. 6 shows another modification. In this example, the upper and lower limits corresponding to the vehicle speed are set for the opening control amount θm0 of the main throttle 12 when the inter-vehicle distance control is started. That is, when the setting of θm0 = θm is completed in S107, the throttle opening θm00 = f (Vs) corresponding to the vehicle speed Vs at that time is obtained (S4).
01). This value may be calculated using a predetermined function or may be calculated based on a map created in advance. Then, θm0 is greater than θm00 by a predetermined value (ΔC
1) It is determined whether or not it is greater than or equal to (S403), and if YES, θm0 = θm00 + ΔC1 is set (S40).
5). Further, θm0 is compared with θm00−ΔC2 (S4
07), if YES, θm0 = θm00 +
ΔC1 is set (S409). As a result, the initial value of the main throttle opening is within a predetermined range (θm00-C1 ≦ θm0 ≦ θm0) from the throttle opening corresponding to the vehicle speed at that time.
0 + C2). Thus, θm0
By setting the upper and lower limits according to the own vehicle speed to, when the driver is operating the accelerator, the inter-vehicle distance control is started, and θm
It is possible to prevent an abnormal value from being set as 0.

Further, when θm0 is set in S107, a standard throttle opening corresponding to the vehicle speed Vs at that time may be set. That is, S10 of FIG.
7 is set to θm0 = f (Vs). In this way, the behavior of the driver when entering the inter-vehicle distance control is not affected.

Further, S105 and S10 in FIG.
By using the process of θm0 = f (Vs) instead of 7, θm0 is always set to a value corresponding to the vehicle speed. So, what is the driver's accelerator operation like the standard accelerator operation according to the vehicle speed,
You can change the target vehicle distance.

Next, FIG. 7 shows the configuration of another embodiment. In this example, the intake pipe 10 is provided with only one throttle 28. The accelerator pedal 16 is not mechanically connected to the throttle 28, and the throttle 28 is controlled only by the motor 20. Further, the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 16 is detected by the accelerator opening sensor 19, and the detected value θp is the motor driver 22.
Is input to the reference throttle opening f (θp) unit 22f. The motor driver 22 calculates a reference throttle opening degree θ1 based on the accelerator depression amount θp (in this example, the reference throttle opening degree is adopted as θ1 instead of the control amount θ1 of the high μ road nonlinear control). . Then, the motor driver 22 adjusts the opening degree of the throttle 28 by adopting the minimum value among θ1 to θ5 and θd. Therefore, when no special control is performed, the motor driver 22 adopts θ1 and the opening degree of the throttle 28 is adjusted based on the operation of the accelerator pedal 16.

On the other hand, in the inter-vehicle distance control, S507 and S509 shown in FIG. 8 are adopted instead of S107 and S109 in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the inter-vehicle distance control is started, the accelerator depression amount θp at that time is adopted as the initial value θp0 (S507). And
The corrected inter-vehicle distance dm is calculated by multiplying the measured inter-vehicle distance d by θp / θp0. As a result, the target inter-vehicle distance is changed according to the change in the accelerator depression amount after the inter-vehicle distance control is started, and the inter-vehicle distance control similar to the above case can be performed. Note that the above-described modified example can be applied in the same manner.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the target inter-vehicle distance in inter-vehicle distance control is changed according to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal. For example, the target inter-vehicle distance is changed to a small value by depressing the accelerator during traveling by the inter-vehicle distance control. The driver depresses the accelerator for acceleration, and the inter-vehicle distance can be controlled according to the driver's feeling by reducing the inter-vehicle distance by depressing the accelerator pedal. In addition, the accelerator pedal was originally provided in the vehicle,
No special equipment required. Further, the depression of the accelerator pedal is an operation that is normally performed when adjusting the acceleration / deceleration, and the operability is better than the manual operation.

Further, in a system having both a main throttle and a sub-throttle, by making the sub-throttle the subject of the inter-vehicle distance control, the driver makes the opening of the main throttle smaller than that of the sub-throttle. Deceleration control can be performed.

Further, more appropriate control can be performed by changing the control amount of the inter-vehicle distance control means according to the own vehicle speed. For example, by controlling the vehicle-to-vehicle distance only when the engine brake is effective at high speed, or by detecting the amount of change in the accelerator pedal depression amount by referring to the standard accelerator depression amount according to the vehicle speed, the driver's feeling can be improved. Matched control can be performed.

Furthermore, by performing throttle control according to the slipperiness of the road and the like, a wide throttle opening control can be performed using one throttle driver.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing calculation of a vehicle speed change amount according to a relative speed and an inter-vehicle distance.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of setting of an accelerator opening initial value when the inter-vehicle distance control is started.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a control flowchart in consideration of a vehicle speed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of setting of an accelerator opening initial value when the inter-vehicle distance control is started.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of another embodiment.

8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Intake Pipe 12 Main Throttle 14 Sub Throttle 16 Accelerator Pedal 19 Accelerator Opening Sensor 22 Motor Driver 24 Inter-Vehicle Control Unit 26 Inter-Vehicle Distance Sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A distance measuring means for measuring an inter-vehicle distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle, a driving force control means for controlling a driving force of the own vehicle, and the driving force control means for controlling an inter-vehicle distance. An inter-vehicle distance control means for controlling the inter-vehicle distance, an accelerator pedal operation amount detecting means for detecting an operation amount of an accelerator pedal operated by a driver, and the target inter-vehicle distance is changed according to the detected operation amount of the accelerator pedal. And a target inter-vehicle distance adjusting means for controlling the inter-vehicle distance. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the driving force control means responds to a first throttle whose opening is adjusted by an operation amount of an accelerator pedal and a control amount from the target inter-vehicle distance control means. And a second throttle whose opening is adjusted according to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal, the target inter-vehicle distance is changed, and the opening of the second throttle is adjusted accordingly. Inter-vehicle distance control device. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed of the own vehicle, wherein the target inter-vehicle distance adjusting means is arranged to detect the vehicle speed according to the detected vehicle speed of the own vehicle. An inter-vehicle distance control device characterized by changing a control amount in a distance control means. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising road condition detecting means for detecting slipperiness of a road on which the vehicle is running, wherein the driving force control means is detected. An inter-vehicle distance control device, which also controls the driving force according to the road conditions.