JP2011213295A - Speed control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a speed controller for suppressing unreasonable mutual passing behavior of vehicles the speed differences of which are small.SOLUTION: The speed controller 1 includes a relative-speed measurement unit 13 for measuring a speed difference between a self-vehicle 100 and a preceding vehicle traveling, immediately prior to own vehicle 100; and a control ECU 10 for adjusting the speed of own vehicle 100. When the speed difference measured by the relative speed measurement unit 13 is smaller than a prescribed value, the speed control ECU 10 adjusts the speed of own vehicle 100 so that the speed matches the speed of the preceding vehicle; moreover, when the speed difference is equal to or more than the prescribed value and when it is predicted that a vehicle traveling behind own vehicle 100 catches up with own vehicle until the time the vehicle 100 completes passing of the preceding vehicle, the control ECU adjusts the speed of own vehicle 100 so that the speed matches the speed of the preceding vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a speed control device.

  Conventionally, as a technology in such a field, a speed limiting device described in Patent Document 1 below is known. This device is a speed limiting device that operates in cooperation with the inter-vehicle distance maintaining travel control device. According to this speed limiting device, when the host vehicle is traveling at the maximum vehicle speed, the preceding vehicle detection function of the inter-vehicle distance maintaining travel control device is automatically activated, and when the host vehicle catches up with the preceding vehicle or When there is an interruption ahead of the same lane, priority is given to the vehicle speed control by the inter-vehicle distance maintaining travel control device over the vehicle speed control by the speed limiting device.

JP 2002-362182 A

  However, when the rear vehicle tries to overtake the front vehicle between the two front and rear vehicles in the controlled state of such a speed limiting device, the speed difference is small, so it takes time to complete the overtaking. Take it. Especially on a two-lane road, two vehicles that are overtaking may block the road for a long time, which may cause a traffic jam in the rear.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the speed control apparatus which can suppress the excessive overtaking action of vehicles with a small speed difference.

  A speed control apparatus according to the present invention includes a speed difference measuring unit that measures a speed difference between the host vehicle and a vehicle that is traveling immediately before the host vehicle, and a speed adjusting unit that adjusts the speed of the host vehicle. If the speed difference measured by the speed difference measuring means is smaller than a predetermined value, the means adjusts the speed of the own vehicle to match the speed of the preceding vehicle, and the speed difference measured by the speed difference measuring means If it is predicted that the vehicle behind you will catch up with your vehicle by the time your vehicle is overtaking the vehicle immediately before the vehicle is overtaken, It is characterized by adjusting to match the speed.

  According to this speed control device, when the speed difference from the immediately preceding vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value, the speed of the host vehicle is adjusted to the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle. As a result, in the state where it takes a long time to pass, such as when the speed difference between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is small, the driver of the host vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle by eliminating the speed difference between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle. You can avoid having the will to do so. Even if the speed difference with the preceding vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and the vehicle is predicted to catch up with the vehicle behind by the time the overtaking of the own vehicle is completed, the speed of the own vehicle It will be adjusted to the speed. As a result, if the vehicle is overtaken by the vehicle behind it, the driver of the vehicle has the will to overtake the vehicle immediately before by eliminating the speed difference between the vehicle immediately preceding and the vehicle. You can avoid it. In this way, it is possible to suppress excessive overtaking behavior from a state in which it takes time to pass or a state in which the vehicle is overtaken by a rear vehicle during overtaking.

  The speed control device of the present invention further includes speed limiting means for limiting the speed of the host vehicle to a preset upper limit speed or less, and the speed adjusting means is configured so that the host vehicle sets the upper limit speed by operating the speed limiting means. If the vehicle is traveling at a speed, the set upper limit speed of the speed limiting means may be updated and set so that the speed of the host vehicle matches the speed of the preceding vehicle.

  In the state where the host vehicle is traveling at the set upper limit speed by the speed control means, the host vehicle cannot be accelerated even if the overtaking action is started, and there is often no difference in speed between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle. Therefore, if the own vehicle tries to overtake the preceding vehicle, it takes time to overtake. Therefore, in such a state, by eliminating the speed difference between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle, it is possible to prevent the driver of the own vehicle from having the will to overtake the preceding vehicle. .

  The speed control device according to the present invention further includes speed limiting means for limiting the speed of the host vehicle to a preset upper limit speed or less, and the speed adjusting means has the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle less than or equal to the specified speed. If the vehicle is traveling at the specified speed due to the operation of the speed restricting means that restricts to the vehicle speed and the vehicle is traveling at the set upper limit speed due to the operation of the speed restricting means, the speed of the own vehicle is set to the speed of the preceding vehicle The setting upper limit speed of the speed limiting means may be updated and set so as to match.

  When the host vehicle is traveling at the set upper limit speed by the speed control means and the immediately preceding vehicle is traveling at the specified speed by the speed regulating means, there is often no difference in speed between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle. Therefore, if the own vehicle tries to overtake the preceding vehicle, it takes time to overtake. Therefore, in such a state, by eliminating the speed difference between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle, it is possible to prevent the driver of the own vehicle from having the will to overtake the preceding vehicle. .

  Further, the speed adjusting means may perform update setting of the set upper limit speed based on the speed difference measured by the speed difference measuring means. By updating and setting the set upper limit speed based on the speed difference with the immediately preceding vehicle, the speed difference between the immediately preceding vehicle and the host vehicle can be eliminated.

  According to the speed control device of the present invention, it is possible to suppress overtaking behavior between vehicles having a small speed difference.

It is a figure which shows 1st Embodiment of the speed control apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the road condition on which the own vehicle provided with the speed control apparatus of FIG. 1 drive | works. It is a flowchart which shows the process by the speed control apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process by the speed control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a speed control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the speed control device 1 is mounted on a vehicle (automobile) 100. The speed control device 1 is a device that controls the speed of the vehicle 100 by controlling the engine 51 and the brake 53 of the vehicle 100. The speed control device 1 includes a control ECU (speed adjustment means) 10, a relative speed measurement unit (speed difference measurement means) 13, and a communication device 17.

  The control ECU 10 is an electronic control unit that performs overall control of the speed control device 1, and is configured mainly by a computer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, for example. The control ECU 10 also has a speed limiter (speed limiting means) 11. The speed limiter 11 is a component realized in software by hardware such as a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM of the control ECU 10 operating in accordance with a predetermined program. The speed limiter 11 limits the speed of the vehicle 100 to a predetermined upper limit speed (for example, 90 km / h) or less by controlling the engine 51 and the brake 53. The upper limit speed of the speed limiter 11 is recorded as electronic information in the RAM of the control ECU 10, for example. Although details will be described later, the upper limit speed in the speed limiter 11 can be changed under a predetermined condition.

  The communication device 17 performs vehicle-to-vehicle communication with other vehicles located around the host vehicle 100 by radio. In this vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the vehicles exchange information on the running state of each other. If other vehicles around the own vehicle 100 have own vehicle position detection means such as a GPS device for recognizing the current position, and a vehicle speed sensor for obtaining current speed information, each vehicle Information on the speed and position of the vehicle is exchanged by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication. As described above, the control ECU 10 of the host vehicle 100 can acquire the speed, position, and the like of other vehicles located around the host vehicle based on the information obtained by the inter-vehicle communication of the communication device 17. Further, the communication device 17 may further have a function of performing road-to-vehicle communication wirelessly with a roadside device (Obis, traffic counter, etc.) installed on a running road. In this case, the control ECU 10 can acquire various information regarding each vehicle on the road by road-to-vehicle communication.

  The relative speed measurement unit 13 calculates the relative speed (speed difference) of the own vehicle 100 with respect to the immediately preceding vehicle M1 when there is the immediately preceding vehicle M1 (see FIG. 2) traveling immediately ahead in the same lane as the own vehicle 100. To do. The relative speed of the own vehicle 100 with respect to the immediately preceding vehicle M1 is defined as a value obtained by subtracting the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle M1 from the speed of the own vehicle 100. In the following description, the relative speed of the vehicle 100 with respect to the immediately preceding vehicle M1 may be simply referred to as “relative speed”. The relative speed measurement unit 13 also has a function of calculating an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 (an inter-vehicle distance in front of the host vehicle 100). In the following description, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 may be simply referred to as “front inter-vehicle distance”.

  Specifically, as described above, since information such as the speed and position of other surrounding vehicles can be obtained through vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication, the relative speed measurement unit 13 performs vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication. Based on the information obtained through the above, the relative speed and the front inter-vehicle distance are obtained by calculation. In this case, the relative speed measurement unit 13 may include a vehicle position detection unit such as a GPS device for obtaining the current position of the vehicle 100 and a vehicle speed sensor for obtaining the current speed of the vehicle 100. . Note that the relative velocity measurement unit 13 may include a millimeter wave radar device or the like. According to the millimeter wave radar, it is possible to calculate the relative speed and the front inter-vehicle distance based on the information on the reflection state of the millimeter wave.

  Next, processing performed by the speed control device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Now, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the own vehicle 100 equipped with the speed control device 1 is traveling in the left lane of the two-lane road 200, and immediately before the own vehicle 100 in the left lane, It is assumed that the car M1 is traveling. Further, the immediately preceding vehicle M1 includes a speed limiter (speed regulating means) 21 similar to the speed limiter 11 of the host vehicle 100, and the speed limiter 21 allows the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle M1 to be a predetermined specified speed (for example, 90 km). / H) shall be limited to:

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control ECU 10 acquires the traveling state information of the immediately preceding vehicle M <b> 1 through the inter-vehicle communication of the communication device 17 (S <b> 101). The traveling state information includes control state information such as the speed and position of the immediately preceding vehicle M1 and whether or not the speed limiting function by the speed limiter 21 is operating. Further, the relative speed measuring unit 13 acquires the traveling state (speed and position) of the host vehicle 100 (S101). Then, the relative speed measurement unit 13 calculates the relative speed of the own vehicle 100 with respect to the immediately preceding vehicle M1 and the front inter-vehicle distance based on the acquired traveling state of the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 (S103). As described above, the relative speed measurement unit 13 may acquire such a relative speed and a front inter-vehicle distance using a millimeter wave radar or the like. Next, the control ECU 10 acquires the speed and position of each of the vehicles M2, M3,... Traveling around the host vehicle 100 through inter-vehicle communication of the communication device 17 (S105). Here, mainly the speed and position of the rear vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle 100 are acquired.

  Subsequently, the control ECU 10 compares the acquired front inter-vehicle distance with a predetermined specified distance (S107). This specified distance is recorded in advance as electronic information in the ROM of the control ECU 10, for example. Here, when the front inter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than the specified distance (No in S107), the control ECU 10 returns the setting of the upper limit speed in the speed limiter 11 to the initial value (S109). Specifically, the upper limit speed value recorded in the RAM of the control ECU 10 is rewritten to a predetermined initial value. And after process S109, it returns to process S101 again. On the other hand, when the front inter-vehicle distance is less than the specified distance in S107 (Yes in S107), the next process S111 is performed.

  In the process S111, the control ECU 10 determines whether or not the speed limiting function by the speed limiter 11 of the host vehicle 100 is operating based on the operating state of the speed limiter 11, and immediately preceding the vehicle M1 obtained by inter-vehicle communication. It is determined whether or not the speed limit function by the speed limiter 21 of the immediately preceding vehicle M1 is operating based on the traveling state information (S111). Here, when both the speed limit functions by the speed limiters 11 and 21 of the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 are operating, both the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 are of the limit allowed by the speed limiters 11 and 21. It means that the vehicle is traveling at a speed (for example, 90 km / h).

  In the process S111, when both the speed limit functions of the host vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 are operating (Yes in S111), the process proceeds to the next process S113, and the speed limit of either the host vehicle 100 or the immediately preceding vehicle M1 is limited. If the function is not activated (No in S111), the process proceeds to the above-described process S109, and the setting of the upper limit speed is returned to the initial value (S109).

  In the process S113, the control ECU 10 compares the relative speed of the host vehicle 100 with the preceding vehicle M1 and a predetermined specified speed (S113). This specified speed is recorded in advance as electronic information in the ROM of the control ECU 10, for example. If the relative speed is less than the specified speed (Yes in S113), the process proceeds to step S115. If the relative speed is equal to or higher than the specified speed (No in S113), the process proceeds to step S117.

  In process S115, the control ECU 10 updates and sets the upper limit speed in the speed limiter 11 (S115). Specifically, a value obtained by subtracting the relative speed from the set upper limit speed value currently recorded in the RAM of the control ECU 10 is overwritten in the RAM as a new set upper limit speed value. And after process S115, it returns to process S101 again.

  In the process S117, when it is assumed that the own vehicle 100 has started the overtaking action of the immediately preceding vehicle M1, whether or not a rear vehicle traveling behind the own vehicle 100 catches up with the own vehicle 100 before the overtaking is completed. Is determined (S117). Here, since the speed and position of each of the vehicles M2, M3,... Around the host vehicle 100 are acquired in the above-described process S105, the speed and position of the rear vehicle M2 closest to the host vehicle 100 are referred to. . Then, based on the speeds and positions of the three of the host vehicle 100, the immediately preceding vehicle M1, and the rear vehicle M2, it is possible to predict whether or not the rear vehicle M2 catches up with the host vehicle 100 until the overtaking is completed.

  When it is predicted that the rear vehicle catches up with the host vehicle 100 in the process S117 (Yes in S117), the above-described process S115 is performed, and the control ECU 10 updates and sets the upper limit speed (S115). On the other hand, when it is predicted that the rear vehicle will not catch up with the host vehicle 100 in the process S117 (No in S117), the above-mentioned process 109 is performed to return the upper limit speed setting to the initial value (S109).

  Then, the effect based on the above-mentioned process which the speed control apparatus 1 performs is demonstrated.

  Considering the case where the host vehicle 100 and the preceding vehicle M1 are both traveling at the same upper limit speed by the operation of the speed limiters 11, 21, ideally, the host vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 have the same speed. It is considered that the distance between the two is constant. However, in reality, there may be a speed difference between the host vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 due to variations in each vehicle such as sensor errors. And when the speed of the own vehicle 100 is larger than the speed of the preceding vehicle M1, the own vehicle 100 approaches the immediately preceding vehicle M1. In such a case, there is a possibility that the driver of the own vehicle 100 will consider overtaking the immediately preceding vehicle M1.

  However, since the vehicle 100 is being speed limited by the speed limiter 11, even if the driver starts the overtaking action, the vehicle 100 cannot be accelerated, and it takes time to complete the overtaking. In particular, on a two-lane road, the overtaking host vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 may block the road for a long time, which may cause a traffic jam in the rear. According to the speed control device 1, such an overtaking behavior can be suppressed.

  That is, when the speed limiters 11 and 21 of the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 are operating (Yes in S111) and the relative speed is less than the specified speed (Yes in S113), the immediately preceding vehicle 100 and It means that the speed difference with the car M1 is small. If the overtaking operation is started with such a small speed difference, the road is blocked for a long time during overtaking. Therefore, in this case, the current set upper limit speed in the vehicle 100 is reduced by the relative speed (S115). According to the processing of S115, the set upper limit speed of the host vehicle 100 is decreased by the relative speed, and therefore the actual speed of the host vehicle 100 is also decreased by the relative speed by the speed limit function of the speed limiter 11. As a result, the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 have substantially the same speed, so that the driver of the own vehicle 100 can be prevented from having the will to overtake the immediately preceding vehicle M1.

  Further, even if the relative speed is equal to or higher than the specified speed (No in S113), if the vehicle 100 is predicted to catch up with the rear vehicle M2 by the time the overtaking of the host vehicle 100 is completed (Yes in S117), the overtaking is performed. Since the operation may cause a traffic jam in the rear, it is necessary to avoid the overtaking operation of the vehicle 100. Therefore, also in this case, the above-described processing S115 is performed. As a result, the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1 have substantially the same speed, and the driver of the own vehicle 100 can be prevented from having the will to overtake the immediately preceding vehicle M1.

  As described above, according to the speed control device 1, it is possible to suppress the overtaking operation of the host vehicle 100 such as blocking the road for a long time or being overtaken by the rear vehicle during the overtaking operation. .

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the speed control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the speed control device of the present embodiment performs a determination process S211 instead of the determination process S111 in the speed control device 1 of the first embodiment. That is, in the determination process S211, regardless of whether or not the speed limiter 21 of the immediately preceding vehicle M1 is operating, if the speed limiting function by the speed limiter 11 of the host vehicle 100 is operating (Yes in S211), the process S113. The following processing is performed. In addition, in the process (FIG. 4) by the speed control apparatus of this embodiment, the process same as or equivalent to the process (FIG. 3) by the speed control apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment attaches | subjects the same code | symbol, and overlaps. Description is omitted.

  When the speed limiting function by the speed limiter 11 of the own vehicle 100 is operating, the own vehicle 100 cannot be accelerated even if the overtaking action is started, so that there is almost no difference in speed between the own vehicle 100 and the immediately preceding vehicle M1. In many cases, it takes time to complete the overtaking. Therefore, in such a case, the process after the process S113 is performed, and the road of the host vehicle 100 is not obstructed to overtake the immediately preceding vehicle M1, thereby blocking the road for a long time. It is possible to suppress the overtaking operation of the host vehicle 100 such as being overtaken or being overtaken by a rear vehicle during the overtaking operation.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Speed control apparatus, 10 ... Control ECU (speed adjusting means), 11 ... Speed limiter (speed limiting means), 13 ... Relative speed measuring part (speed difference measuring means), 21 ... Speed limiter (speed regulating means), 100 ... own car, M1 ... immediately preceding car, M2 ... rear car.

Claims (4)

A speed difference measuring means for measuring a speed difference between the own vehicle and a vehicle immediately before traveling the vehicle;
Speed adjusting means for adjusting the speed of the host vehicle,
The speed adjusting means is
If the speed difference measured by the speed difference measuring means is smaller than a predetermined value, adjust the speed of the host vehicle to match the speed of the preceding vehicle,
When the speed difference measured by the speed difference measuring means is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the vehicle behind the vehicle traveling behind the vehicle immediately before the vehicle is overtaken by the vehicle, When it is predicted that the vehicle will catch up, the speed control device adjusts the speed of the host vehicle so as to match the speed of the preceding vehicle. Further comprising speed limiting means for limiting the speed of the host vehicle to a preset upper limit speed or less,
The speed adjusting means is
When the host vehicle is traveling at the set upper limit speed by the operation of the speed limiter, the set upper limit speed of the speed limiter is updated so that the speed of the host vehicle matches the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle. The speed control device according to claim 1, wherein the speed control device is set. Further comprising speed limiting means for limiting the speed of the host vehicle to a preset upper limit speed or less,
The speed adjusting means is
The immediately preceding vehicle is traveling at the specified speed by the operation of speed restricting means that restricts the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle to a specified speed or less, and the host vehicle is traveling at the set upper limit speed by the operation of the speed limiting means. 2. The speed control device according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit speed of the speed limiter is updated and set so that the speed of the host vehicle matches the speed of the immediately preceding vehicle. The speed adjusting means is
The speed control apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the update setting of the set upper limit speed is performed based on the speed difference measured by the speed difference measuring unit.

Images