JP2002205599A - Automobile or brake control system for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce rear-end collision accidents. SOLUTION: In accordance with road information from elements arranged along a road, brake lights are lighted before brakes are applied. The early notice of braking can be given to the following driver, so that rear-end collision accidents are reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for controlling the operation of a vehicle based on information transmitted from road condition information installed along a road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Information on road conditions in the traveling direction (for example, whether there is traffic congestion, accidents, curves, lane reduction, etc., The control device mounted on the vehicle receives the position and deceleration instruction of the vehicle through road-to-vehicle communication, and notifies the driver of the automatic acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and the navigation instruction to the driver (for example, when the vehicle is on the right from the intersection ahead, at the end of the curve Stopped vehicle at 40km / h
The technology to reduce the speed is disclosed. In addition,
Although it is not based on road-vehicle communication, control of brake lights and hazard lights is described in JP-A-2000-351347.
There are JP-A-7-65298 and JP-A-7-76235.

[0003]

In a system in which a brake light is turned on in conjunction with a mechanical operation of a brake, even if a vehicle having a control device applies a brake based on road condition information by road-to-vehicle communication, the brake is not activated. Lighting of the brake light is delayed due to play. If the following vehicle does not have the control device, the driver may collide with a delay from the time when the driver sees the brake light of the preceding vehicle, releases the accelerator, and depresses the brake pedal to apply the brake.

[0004]

The control device immediately turns on the brake light based on road condition information such as "decelerate". If the brakes are turned on at about the same time as or before the mechanical operation of the brakes so as to be shorter than the brake play delay, the driver of the following car should apply the brakes faster than usual. Can be recognized,
The possibility of rear-end collision is reduced. Further, if the road condition information is to notify the timing of applying the brake in advance, the control device turns on the brake lamp or the hazard lamp at least a preset time before applying the brake. This further reduces the possibility of a rear-end collision.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment 1) A plurality of sensors installed along a road transmit road condition information in the traveling direction of a vehicle. The information of the road condition includes, for example, presence or absence of traffic congestion, accidents, curves, lane decrease, their positions,
There is a deceleration instruction, etc. The vehicle is equipped with a control device that receives this information. Based on this information, the control device performs automatic acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle and notifies the driver of the navigation (for example, immediately stop, decelerate to 40 km / h, decelerate ahead, etc.). The control device is connected to a brake (accelerator in the case of an engine brake) and a brake light. Road condition information is "deceleration"
When the instruction is given, the controller turns on the brake light and starts the mechanical operation of the brake. If the road condition information indicates the timing of applying the brake in advance, such as "congestion at a distance of 2 km", the control device calculates the timing of applying the brake and applies the brake (starts mechanical operation or actually starts deceleration due to brake pad friction). Alternatively, control is performed such that the brake light is turned on at least a predetermined time before the start of engine braking) and then the brake is applied. Since the time from when a normal driver looks at the brake light of the vehicle ahead to apply the brake is 0.2 to 0.5 seconds (equivalent to about 5.6 to 14 m at 100 km / h), This time is considered as a gap with the vehicle equipped with the control device, and is set as a preset time. When the speed of the control device-equipped vehicle is high, the braking distance is long. Therefore, it is good to notify the following driver to apply the brake earlier to avoid a rear-end collision. Therefore, it is preferable that a correspondence table between the speed and the set time is created and input to the control device so that the set time becomes longer as the speed is higher. Instead of a table, a set time determination formula using speed as a parameter may be provided. When the position of the own vehicle such as a GPS is known, instead of setting the time, control may be performed to turn on the brake light a predetermined distance before the point where the brake should be applied.

(Embodiment 2) On a highway or the like, a hazard light is often turned on as a warning to apply a brake. Therefore, the control device of the first embodiment is connected to the hazard light instead of the brake light, and the brake light is turned on in conjunction with the mechanical operation of the brake. A connection line is added to turn on the hazard light more than a preset time. When adding a connection line to the hazard light, considering the role of the hazard light, the timing of the lighting of the hazard light is set to 2 to 5 seconds or more before applying the brake. This timing may be set according to the speed. This embodiment can also be replaced with the lighting position setting by GPS.

(Embodiment 3) As another method of turning on a brake light or a hazard light more than a preset time before applying a brake except for an engine brake, a brake light or a hazard light is interlocked with a mechanical operation of the brake. Hazard lights shall be illuminated, and a method of maintaining the state where the brake light and hazard lights are turned on without friction from the start of mechanical operation of the brake to the contact between the brake pad and the brake shoe. Conceivable. When performing such control, the control device does not need to be directly connected to the brake light or the hazard light. Although it is applicable to the first and second embodiments, in order to indicate the brake light lighting state in a non-contact state of the brake pad, blinking the brake light in this state is also good for alerting the following driver. .

In the first and second embodiments, the definition of the brake includes the engine brake. However, in the case of the engine brake, normally, the brake light and the hazard light are not turned on. However, in the case of deceleration based on road condition information, it is known in advance that the vehicle will decelerate surely. It is important to notify the following vehicle that the start of the vehicle is started to avoid a rear-end collision. In this case, similarly to the above, the brake light may blink. If the difference between the current speed and the speed indicated by the road condition information is less than a certain value when the brake or the engine brake is applied, the brake light or the hazard light may be set not to light. This is because it is not necessary to light up even in the case of gentle deceleration.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, the possibility of a rear-end collision accident is reduced.

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Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A brake, a brake light, and a control device for controlling the brake and the brake light based on road condition information obtained by road-to-vehicle communication, wherein the control device starts mechanical operation of the brake. An automobile that turns on the brake at or about the same time or earlier. And a control device for controlling the brake based on road condition information by road-to-vehicle communication, wherein the control device controls the brake for a predetermined time rather than applying the brake. A car that turns on the brake light before. 3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the brake light is turned on at least a predetermined time before the start of deceleration due to friction of the brake pad. 4. An automobile according to claim 2, wherein said predetermined time is 0.2 seconds to 0.5 seconds. 5. A brake, a hazard light, and a control device for controlling the brake based on road condition information by road-to-vehicle communication, wherein the control device sets the brake for a predetermined time rather than applying the brake. A car that turns on the hazard lights as before. 6. The automobile according to claim 5, wherein the hazard light is turned on at least a predetermined time before the start of deceleration due to friction of the brake pad. 7. An automobile according to claim 5, wherein said predetermined time is 2 to 5 seconds. 8. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined time is set according to a speed of the vehicle. 9. A control device for controlling a brake and a brake light of a vehicle based on road condition information by road-to-vehicle communication, and turning on the brake almost simultaneously with or before mechanical start of the brake. 10. A control device for controlling a brake and a brake light of an automobile based on road condition information by road-to-vehicle communication, and lighting the brake light at least a predetermined time before applying the brake. 11. The control device according to claim 10, wherein the brake light is turned on at least a predetermined time before the start of deceleration due to friction of the brake pad. 12. The control device according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined time is 0.2 seconds to 0.5 seconds. 13. A control device for controlling a brake and a hazard light of an automobile based on road condition information by road-vehicle communication, and turning on the hazard light at least a predetermined time before applying the brake. 14. The control device according to claim 13, wherein the hazard light is turned on at least a predetermined time before the start of deceleration due to friction of the brake pad. 15. The control device according to claim 13, wherein the predetermined time is 2 to 5 seconds. 16. The method according to claim 10, wherein
The control device, wherein the predetermined time is set according to a speed of the vehicle. 17. A control device for controlling the accelerator and the brake light based on road condition information by road-vehicle communication, comprising: an accelerator, a brake light, and an engine brake by controlling the accelerator. An automobile that starts the above and lights the brake light. 18. A control device for controlling an accelerator and a brake light of an automobile based on road condition information obtained by road-vehicle communication, and controlling the accelerator to start engine braking and turn on the brake light.