JP2007210591A - Automatic braking control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve automatic braking control in a truck or a bus. <P>SOLUTION: When TTC derived based upon the relative distance and the relative speed of an object and an own vehicle is under a preset value, automatically stepped braking control for gradually increasing braking force or braking deceleration in two or more stages is time-series conducted. At this time, when an auto-cruise function is used in combination, at least at the final stage, the auto-cruise function is nullified. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is used for large vehicles (trucks, buses) for transporting cargo and passengers.

  The electronic control of automobiles has progressed steadily, and events that have so far depended solely on the judgment of the driver have been carried out by onboard computers.

  As an example, the distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle (inter-vehicle distance) is monitored by a radar, and when the inter-vehicle distance approaches abnormally, appropriate braking control is automatically performed to prevent a collision. Sometimes, there is an automatic braking control device that minimizes the damage (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-31967 A

  The above-described automatic braking control device has already been put into practical use in passenger cars, but it must be solved when a similar function is to be used for large vehicles (trucks, buses) for transporting cargo and passengers. There is a problem that must be done.

  In other words, large vehicles have an extremely large mass compared to passenger cars, and in addition to the driver's own safety, the safety of passengers and cargo must be ensured. It is difficult to achieve the intended purpose with simple simple braking control, and it is necessary to perform more advanced automatic braking control than in the case of passenger cars. However, since such means has not been established, automatic braking control devices for trucks and buses have not yet been put into practical use.

  The present invention has been made under such a background, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic braking control device that can realize automatic braking control in a truck or a bus.

  The automatic braking control device of the present invention is a device that can reduce the impact at the time of a collision while maintaining the stability of a large vehicle such as a truck or a bus by performing stepwise braking control.

  That is, the present invention is an automatic braking control device provided with a control unit that automatically performs braking control without a driving operation based on a sensor output including a distance to an object in the traveling direction of the host vehicle.

  Here, a feature of the present invention is that the vehicle is provided with speed maintaining means for maintaining a predetermined host vehicle speed according to an operation input, and the control means includes the object obtained by the sensor output and When the predicted value of the time required for the object and the vehicle, which are derived based on the relative distance and relative speed with the vehicle, to fall below the predetermined distance falls below the set value, automatically, in time series Stepwise braking control means for performing stepwise braking control for gradually increasing the braking force or braking deceleration over a plurality of stages, and when stepwise braking control by the stepwise braking control means is performed, at least In the final stage, there is provided means for invalidating the maintenance of the vehicle speed by the speed maintaining means.

  The predicted value of the time required for the object and the vehicle to be less than a predetermined distance derived based on the relative distance and relative speed between the object and the vehicle is, for example, the object and the vehicle Is a predicted value of the time required for the collision (hereinafter referred to as TTC (Time To Collision)).

  The speed maintaining means is a function generally referred to as auto-cruise, and is a function that automatically maintains a set constant speed until a brake operation or an accelerator operation is performed in accordance with a driver's operation input. is there.

  Such an auto cruise function and an automatic braking control function are contradictory functions. That is, one is a function that tries to maintain a constant speed, and the other is a function that tries to reduce the speed. In the present invention, the automatic braking function is prioritized over the automatic cruise function, and the automatic cruise function is disabled when automatic braking control is being performed.

  However, at the initial stage of automatic braking control, there is still a possibility that a collision can be avoided by operating the steering wheel. At such an initial stage, there is little need to disable the auto cruise function. . Therefore, in the present invention, the auto-cruise function is disabled at least at the final stage of the stepwise braking control, but the auto-cruise function is allowed to remain valid in the previous stage.

  Further, it is desirable to provide means for prohibiting activation of the stepwise braking control means when the host vehicle speed is less than a predetermined value and the value taken by the steering angle or yaw rate is outside the predetermined range.

  In other words, the stepwise braking control performed by the automatic braking control device of the present invention is such that the own vehicle speed is, for example, 60 km / h or more, and a large steering wheel operation is not performed such as when changing lanes or driving sharp curves. Since it is assumed to be used, the start of the stepwise braking control can be limited in other driving conditions.

  For example, if the vehicle speed before the start of braking control is less than 60 km / h, the vehicle has less kinetic energy, so there is no problem even if simple sudden braking control as conventionally applied to passenger cars is performed. Limit the start of stepwise braking control. Also, for example, if the steering angle before starting the braking control is + 30 ° or more or −30 ° or less, this means that the vehicle is changing lanes or driving in a sharp curve. Restrict. In this case, a yaw rate may be used instead of the steering angle.

  In addition, when invalidating the maintenance of the host vehicle speed by the speed maintaining means, a means for notifying the driver of the fact can be provided. According to this, the driver can recognize the occurrence of an emergency and take measures to avoid it.

  Alternatively, prior to invalidating the maintenance of the host vehicle speed by the speed maintaining means, a means for informing the driver to that effect can be provided. According to this, since it is possible to make the driver recognize the occurrence of an emergency at an early stage, the driver can take early measures to avoid this. Therefore, the success probability of avoiding an emergency can be increased.

  According to the present invention, automatic braking control in a truck or bus can be realized. In particular, appropriate competition with the auto cruise function can be achieved.

(First Example)
An automatic braking control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a control system configuration diagram of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a braking control ECU (Electric Control Unit) of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a braking pattern at the time of idle loading that the braking control ECU has. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a braking pattern at the time of half product of the braking control ECU. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a braking pattern at the time of fixed volume that the braking control ECU has. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a full-scale braking pattern possessed by the braking control ECU. FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining the competition between the automatic braking control function and the auto cruise function in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the braking control ECU 4, the gateway ECU 5, the meter ECU 6, the engine ECU 8, the axle weight meter 9, the EBS (Electric Breaking System) _ECU 10, and the auto cruise ECU 14 are connected to each other via a VehicleCAN (J1939) 7.

  Further, the steering sensor 2, the yaw rate sensor 3, and the vehicle speed sensor 13 are connected to the VehicleCAN (J1939) 7 via the gateway ECU 5, and the sensor information is taken into the braking control ECU 4. The brake control is performed by the EBS_ECU 10 driving the brake actuator 11. Note that the brake instruction to the EBS_ECU 10 is performed by the brake operation and braking control ECU 4 at the driver's seat (not shown). The brake information including information on the brake operation by the driver is also output from the EBS_ECU 10 and taken into the brake control ECU 4. The engine ECU 8 performs fuel injection amount control of the engine 12 and other engine control. Note that the injection amount control instruction for the engine ECU 8 is given by the accelerator operation of the driver's seat and the auto cruise ECU 14. Further, the alarm display and sound output by the braking control ECU 4 are displayed on the display unit (not shown) of the driver's seat by the meter ECU 6. Since the control system related to steering other than the steering sensor 2 is not directly related to the present invention, the illustration is omitted.

  An auto cruise function ON / OFF instruction to the auto cruise ECU 14 is performed by an operation input from the driver's seat. The auto cruise function OFF instruction is also given by the braking control ECU 4. When an auto-cruise function ON instruction is input, the auto-cruise ECU 14 receives vehicle speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 13, and instructs the engine ECU 8 to control the fuel injection amount so that the own vehicle speed becomes a set value. .

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a millimeter wave radar 1 for measuring a distance from a preceding vehicle or a falling object such as a falling object in the traveling direction of the own vehicle, a steering sensor 2 for detecting a steering angle, This is an automatic braking control device including a braking control ECU 4 that automatically performs braking control based on sensor outputs such as a yaw rate sensor 3 for detecting the yaw rate and a vehicle speed sensor 13 for detecting the host vehicle speed without any driving operation. .

  The braking control ECU 4 automatically detects when the TTC derived based on the relative distance and relative speed between the object and the vehicle obtained from the sensor outputs from the millimeter wave radar 1 and the vehicle speed sensor 13 falls below a set value. Therefore, stepwise braking control is performed in which the braking force is gradually increased over a plurality of stages in time series. This stepwise braking control gradually increases the braking force over three stages in time series as shown in FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 3B, first, braking of about 0.1 G is applied from TTC 2.4 seconds to 1.6 seconds in the first stage marked “alarm”. At this stage, the so-called sudden braking is not yet applied, and the stop lamp is lit to notify the following vehicle that the sudden braking will be performed. Next, in the second stage described as “enlarged area braking”, braking of about 0.3 G is applied from TTC 1.6 seconds to 0.8 seconds. Finally, in the third stage, marked as “full-scale braking”, the maximum braking (about 0.5G) is applied from TTC 0.8 seconds to 0 seconds.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle is provided with an auto cruise ECU 14 that maintains a predetermined host vehicle speed in accordance with an operation input from the driver's seat. When the brake control ECU 4 is performing stepwise brake control, for example, in order to invalidate the maintenance of the vehicle speed by the auto-cruise ECU 14 at each stage of “enlarged region braking” and “full-scale braking” shown in FIG. The auto-cruise function OFF instruction is sent to the auto-cruise ECU 14.

  In this embodiment, the reason why the auto-cruise function OFF instruction is not sent in the first stage marked “alarm” shown in FIG. 3 is that the TTC has some margin at this stage, and a collision is still caused by the steering operation. This is because there is a possibility that it can be avoided, and the necessity of turning off the auto-cruise function is low. Furthermore, since the warning for the following vehicle is the main role in the “warning” stage, the auto cruise function remains in the ON state. In some cases, the deceleration will be more gradual and rather advantageous.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, the auto-cruise function is not turned off at the “alarm” stage, and the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “enlarged area braking” stage. Of course, an embodiment in which the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “alarm” stage can be adopted, and this is more general. Since this can be easily analogized, an example in which the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “enlarged area braking” stage is shown here, but an embodiment in which the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “alarm” stage. Is not to be excluded. As another embodiment, an embodiment in which an auto-cruise function OFF instruction is sent after the “full-scale braking” stage is considered.

  Further, when the driver performs a strong braking operation exceeding the braking force shown above, the stronger braking force is given priority.

  In the following description, the preceding vehicle will be described, but the automatic braking control device of this embodiment is also effective for falling objects on the road.

  As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the braking control ECU 4 includes a braking pattern selection unit 40 that changes the braking pattern according to the weight of the loaded cargo or the passenger. As a method of changing, a plurality of control patterns for “empty product”, “half product”, and “constant product” are stored in advance in the braking pattern storage unit 41 of the braking control ECU 4, and the braking pattern selection unit 40 is This can be realized by selecting a braking pattern that matches (or approximates) these braking patterns according to the weight. The weight information of the loaded cargo and passengers is obtained by the axle weight meter 9 shown in FIG. 1 and is taken into the braking control ECU 4.

The notations of 2.4 seconds, 1.6 seconds, and 0.8 seconds in FIG. 3 are TTC. TTC is
Distance between vehicles / (Self-vehicle speed-preceding vehicle speed)
Is calculated by In the example of FIG. 3B, the “alarm” stage is started from the time point when the TTC is 2.4 seconds. Further, the “enlarged area braking” stage is started from the time point when the TTC is 1.6 seconds. Further, the “full-scale braking” stage is started from the time point when the TTC is 0.8 seconds.

  Further, when the host vehicle speed is less than 60 km / h and the steering angle is not less than +30 degrees or not more than -30 degrees, the braking control ECU 4 prohibits the start of the stepwise braking control. A yaw rate may be used instead of the steering angle.

  In other words, the stepwise braking control performed by the automatic braking control device of this embodiment is such that the host vehicle speed before starting the braking control is 60 km / h or more, and a large steering wheel operation such as when changing lanes or driving sharp curves is performed. Since it is assumed that the vehicle is not used, it is possible to limit the start of the stepwise braking control in other driving conditions.

  Also, if the vehicle speed before the start of braking control is less than 60 km / h, the vehicle has less kinetic energy, so there is no problem even if simple sudden braking control as conventionally applied to passenger cars is performed. Since the usefulness of performing stepwise braking control is low, the activation of stepwise braking control is limited. Alternatively, if the steering angle before the start of the braking control is +30 degrees or more or -30 degrees or less, this means that the vehicle is changing lanes or traveling sharply. Restrict startup of. In this case, a yaw rate may be used instead of the steering angle.

  In this embodiment, when the host vehicle speed before the start of braking control is less than 60 km / h and is 15 km / h (minimum speed at which the usefulness of automatic braking control (full-scale braking control) is recognized) or more, stepwise Although braking control is not performed, as shown in FIG. 6, only full-scale braking control shown in FIGS. 3B, 4B, and 5B is performed. When only such full-scale braking control is performed, braking control equivalent to conventional automatic braking control used in passenger cars can be applied. Note that when applying such automatic braking control equivalent to the conventional one, there is no need to determine whether or not the vehicle is changing lanes or traveling sharply.

  Next, the operation of the automatic braking control device of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 2 will be described by taking a braking pattern at the time of idle product (FIG. 3) as an example, but the procedure of the flowchart of FIG. 2 is also followed at the time of half product (FIG. 4) or constant product (FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 2, the braking control ECU 4 measures and monitors the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle and the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle by the millimeter wave radar 1. Further, the vehicle speed is measured by the vehicle speed sensor 13 and monitored. Further, the weight of the loaded cargo and passengers is measured and monitored by the axle weight meter 9. The braking pattern selection unit 40 of the braking control ECU 4 selects in advance one of the braking patterns (FIGS. 3, 4, and 5) based on the measurement result of the weight (S1). The following description is an example in which the braking pattern of FIG. 3 is selected.

The braking control ECU 4 calculates TTC from the inter-vehicle distance, the own vehicle speed, and the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle (S2). The calculation method is
Distance between vehicles / (Self-vehicle speed-Vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle)
It is. The vehicle speed before starting the braking control is 60 km / h or more (S3), the steering angle before starting the braking control is +30 degrees or less and -30 degrees or more (S4), and the TTC is shown in FIG. If it is in the region of (1) (S5), the braking control ECU 4 executes “alarm” braking control (S8). At the “alarm” stage, the braking control ECU 4 instructs the EBS_ECU 10 to perform 0.1 G braking, and the EBS_ECU 10 performs 0.1 G braking by driving the brake actuator 11. If is in the ON state, the auto-cruise ECU 14 issues a fuel injection amount control instruction (injection amount increase instruction) to the engine ECU 8 so as to repel the brake drive and keep the vehicle speed constant.

  As described above, since the auto cruise function remains in the ON state, the deceleration of the host vehicle speed becomes more gradual than in the case where the auto cruise function is in the OFF state. At the “alarm” stage, it may be more convenient for the auto-cruise function to remain in the ON state, and the necessity of setting the auto-cruise function to the OFF state is low. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the auto-cruise function is not turned off at the “alarm” stage, and the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “enlarged area braking” stage. Of course, an embodiment in which the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “alarm” stage can be taken, and this is not excluded.

  If the TTC is in the region (2) shown in FIG. 3A (S6), the braking control ECU 4 executes “enlarged region braking” control and sends an auto-cruise function OFF instruction to the auto-cruise ECU 14. (S9). As a result, the auto-cruise ECU 14 turns off the auto-cruise function. Therefore, the auto cruise ECU 14 does not react to the 0.3 G braking instruction given to the EBS_ECU 10 by the braking control ECU 4, and a large deceleration is started compared to the “warning” stage.

  If the TTC is in the region (3) shown in FIG. 3A (S7), the braking control ECU 4 executes the “full-scale braking” control and continuously sends the auto cruise function OFF instruction to the auto cruise ECU 14. (S10).

  Further, if the host vehicle speed before starting the braking control is less than 60 km / h and 15 km / h or more (S3, S11) and the TTC is in the region (4) shown in FIG. 3C (S12), the braking control ECU 4 Notifies the driver that the relative distance from the preceding vehicle is short (S13). Notification is performed by warning display or buzzer sound. Further, if the TTC is in the region (5) shown in FIG. 3C (S14), "full-scale braking" control is executed and an auto-cruise function OFF instruction is sent to the auto-cruise ECU 14 (S10).

  Note that the yaw rate from the yaw rate sensor 3 can be used instead of the steering angle from the steering sensor 2. Alternatively, the steering angle and the yaw rate may be used in combination.

  The time chart of FIG. 7 shows the competition between the automatic braking control function and the auto cruise function when the control procedure shown in FIG. 2 is performed. As shown in FIG. 7, the auto-cruise function is turned ON / OFF according to an operation input (ON operation or OFF operation) from the driver's seat. The speed that should be maintained during the ON operation is also set. When the automatic braking control is started, the auto-cruise function is turned off at the “enlarged area braking” stage regardless of the operation input from the driver's seat.

  Here, FIG. 3 to FIG. 4 will be described. The straight lines c, f, i in FIGS. 3 to 4 are called steering avoidance limit straight lines. Moreover, the curves B, D, and F in FIGS. 3 to 4 are called braking avoidance limit curves.

  That is, the steering avoidance limit straight line is a straight line indicating a limit at which a collision can be avoided by a steering operation within a predetermined TTC in the relationship between one relative distance to the obstacle and one relative speed with the obstacle. The braking avoidance limit curve is a curve indicating a limit at which a collision can be avoided by a braking operation within a predetermined TTC in the relationship between one relative distance to the obstacle and one relative speed with the obstacle.

  In FIGS. 3 to 4, in the area under both of these straight lines or curves, the collision can no longer be avoided by the steering operation or the braking operation.

  For example, in the example of the empty product in FIG. 3, the straight line c has TTC set to 0.8 seconds. In the present embodiment, a straight line b when the TTC is 1.6 seconds is provided above the steering avoidance limit straight line c, and a straight line a when the TTC is 2.4 seconds is provided. Further, a curve A with TTC set at 1.6 seconds is provided above the braking avoidance limit curve B with TTC set at 0.8 seconds.

  The initial state of the vehicle has a relative distance and a relative speed with respect to the obstacle indicated by a black point G in FIG. When the host vehicle speed before the start of braking control is 60 km / h or more, the relative distance gradually decreases, and when the vehicle reaches the position of the straight line a, the alarm mode is set (area (1)). In the alarm mode, braking of about 0.1 G is applied from TTC 2.4 seconds to 1.6 seconds (further, in the second embodiment to be described later, the driver is informed of the auto cruise function OFF and that is described later. In the third embodiment, the driver is notified of the auto cruise function OFF notice). During this period, it is meaningful to turn on the stop lamp and inform the subsequent vehicle of braking. When the relative speed further decreases and reaches the position of the straight line b, the expansion area braking mode is set (area (2)). In the enlarged region braking mode, braking of about 0.3 G is applied from TTC 1.6 seconds to 0.8 seconds and an auto cruise function OFF instruction is given (similarly in the second and third embodiments described later, the third embodiment is further performed). In the example, the driver is notified that the auto cruise function is OFF). When the position of the straight line c is reached, the full braking mode is set (area (3)). In the full-scale braking mode, the maximum braking (about 0.5G) is applied from TTC 0.8 seconds to 0 seconds and the auto-cruise function OFF instruction is given (the same applies to the second and third embodiments described later). According to the calculation in step S2 of FIG. 2, a collision occurs at this time. However, the actual TTC is longer than the calculation result of step S2.

  In other words, in the calculation of TTC in the automatic braking control device targeted by the present invention, precise distance measurement and complicated calculation processing are omitted as much as possible, and a general-purpose simple distance measurement device (for example, millimeter wave radar) or a calculation device is used. It is assumed that. Such considerations are useful for keeping vehicle manufacturing costs or maintenance costs low.

  Therefore, strictly speaking, the preceding vehicle and the subject vehicle, which are the objects, are performing a uniform acceleration motion by braking (deceleration), and therefore the TTC calculation must also be calculated based on the uniform acceleration motion. By calculating the TTC as simply performing constant velocity motion, precise distance measurement and complicated arithmetic processing are omitted.

  In addition, by performing a calculation that is regarded as such a constant velocity motion, the calculated TTC value becomes smaller than the actual TTC value. There is no hindrance.

  Further, when the host vehicle speed before starting the braking control is 15 km / h or more and less than 60 km / h, the relative distance is gradually shortened, and when the vehicle reaches the position of the straight line b, the notification mode is set (region (4)). . In the notification mode, the driver is notified that the relative distance to the obstacle is shortened by an alarm display or a buzzer sound. When the position of the straight line c is reached, the full braking mode is set as shown in FIG. 7 (region (5)). In the full-scale braking mode, the maximum braking (about 0.5G) is applied from TTC 0.8 seconds to 0 seconds and the auto-cruise function OFF instruction is given (the same applies to the second and third embodiments described later).

  FIG. 4 shows an example at half load, and FIG. 5 shows an example at constant load. However, when compared with equal braking forces, the braking distance increases as the weight of loaded cargo and passengers increases. The avoidance limit curve and the braking avoidance limit curve also move upward in the figure. Thereby, the area of area | region (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) becomes large according to the weight of a loaded cargo or a passenger.

  The straight lines a to c in FIG. 3 correspond to the straight lines df to f in FIG. 4 and the straight lines g to i in FIG. 5, and the curves A and B in FIG. 3 are the curves C and D in FIG. , F, and the black point G in FIG. 3 corresponds to the black point H in FIG. 4 and the black point I in FIG.

(Second embodiment)
A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The control system configuration is the same as in FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the braking control ECU of the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a time chart for explaining the competition between the automatic braking control function and the auto cruise function in the second embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, when invalidating the maintenance of the host vehicle speed by the auto-cruise ECU 14, the braking control ECU 4 notifies the driver to that effect. That is, as shown in step S28 of FIG. 8, the braking control ECU 4 executes the “alarm” braking control, instructs the auto cruise ECU 14 to turn off the auto cruise function, and indicates that the auto cruise function has been turned off. The driver is notified via the ECU 6. Other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, the driver is notified that the automatic braking control has started, and a collision avoidance by the driver's own maneuvering is expected. For this purpose, the auto-cruise function is turned off from the “alarm” stage, which is the initial stage of the automatic braking control, and the driver is notified that the automatic braking control has started.

  In addition, as in the flowchart of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the auto-cruise function may be turned off from the stage of “enlarged area braking”, and at this time, the driver may be notified of this, Since the purpose of the notification is to avoid a collision by the driver's own steering, it is desirable to perform the notification from an early stage.

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The control system configuration is the same as in FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the braking control ECU of the third embodiment. FIG. 11 is a time chart for explaining the competition between the automatic braking control function and the auto cruise function in the third embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, prior to invalidating the maintenance of the vehicle speed by the auto-cruise ECU 14, the brake control ECU 4 notifies the driver beforehand. That is, as shown in step S48 of FIG. 10, the braking control ECU 4 executes “alarm” braking control and notifies the driver of the advance notice that the auto-cruise function is turned off via the meter ECU 6. Further, as shown in step S49, the braking control ECU 4 executes the “enlarged area braking” control, instructs the auto cruise ECU 14 to turn off the auto cruise function, and confirms that the auto cruise function has been turned off. The driver is notified via the meter ECU 6. Other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the driver is notified that the automatic braking control has started, and a collision avoidance due to the driver's own steering is expected. For this purpose, the driver is notified that the automatic braking control has started from the “warning” stage, which is the initial stage of the automatic braking control. However, unlike the second embodiment, the auto-cruise function is not turned off at the “alarm” stage, and the auto-cruise function is turned off after the “enlarged area braking” stage as in the first embodiment. The driver is informed and the driver is notified accordingly.

  As described in the first embodiment, the warning stage plays a major role in the “warning” stage. Therefore, the auto-cruise function is in the OFF state because the auto-cruise function remains in the ON state. Since the deceleration of the own vehicle speed becomes more gradual than in the case, it may be more convenient.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the automatic braking control in a truck or a bus | bath can be implement | achieved, and it can contribute to traffic safety. In particular, appropriate competition with the auto cruise function can be achieved.

The control system block diagram of a 1st Example. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of braking control ECU of a 1st Example. The figure which shows the braking pattern at the time of the idle product which braking control ECU has. The figure which shows the braking pattern at the time of the half product which braking control ECU has. The figure which shows the braking pattern at the time of the fixed volume which braking control ECU has. The figure which shows the full-scale braking pattern which braking control ECU has. The time chart for demonstrating the competition condition of the automatic braking control function and auto-cruise function of a 1st Example. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of braking control ECU of a 2nd Example. The time chart for demonstrating the competition condition of the automatic braking control function and auto-cruise function of 2nd Example. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of braking control ECU of a 3rd Example. The time chart for demonstrating the competition condition of the automatic braking control function and auto-cruise function of 3rd Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Millimeter wave radar 2 Steering sensor 3 Yaw rate sensor 4 Braking control ECU
5 Gateway ECU
6 Meter ECU
7 VehicleCAN (J1939)
8 Engine ECU
9 Shaft weigher 10 EBS_ECU
11 Brake actuator 12 Engine 13 Vehicle speed sensor 14 Auto cruise ECU
40 Braking pattern selection unit 41 Braking pattern storage unit

Claims (4)

In an automatic braking control device including a control unit that automatically performs braking control without a driving operation based on a sensor output including a distance from an object in the traveling direction of the host vehicle,
The vehicle is provided with speed maintaining means for maintaining a predetermined own vehicle speed according to an operation input,
The control means predicts the time required for the object and the vehicle, which are derived based on the relative distance and relative speed between the object and the vehicle obtained from the sensor output, to be equal to or less than a predetermined distance. Stepwise braking control means for performing stepwise braking control that gradually increases braking force or braking deceleration gradually over a plurality of steps in a time series when a value falls below a set value,
An automatic braking control apparatus comprising: means for invalidating the maintenance of the host vehicle speed by the speed maintaining means at least in the final stage when the stepwise braking control by the stepwise braking control means is performed.   2. The automatic braking control device according to claim 1, further comprising means for prohibiting the stepwise braking control means from starting when the host vehicle speed is less than a predetermined value and the value of the steering angle or yaw rate is outside the predetermined range.   2. The automatic braking control device according to claim 1, further comprising means for notifying a driver when the maintenance of the host vehicle speed by the speed maintaining means is invalidated.   The automatic braking control device according to claim 1, further comprising means for informing the driver in advance of invalidating the maintenance of the host vehicle speed by the speed maintaining means.

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