JP2012121405A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle control device that can improve a degree of comfort during vehicle stop.SOLUTION: The vehicle control device 1 which performs ACC control including cruise control and follow-up control to a preceding vehicle, includes: a stop position information acquisition unit 10 which acquires stop position information of an own vehicle during ACC control; a traveling plan creation unit 11 which draws up a traveling plan for the own vehicle to stop at stop position when the stop position information acquisition unit 10 acquires the stop position information; and a vehicle control unit 14 which performs traveling control of the own vehicle based on the traveling plan which the traveling plan creation unit 11 drew up. According to this vehicle control device 1, the own vehicle is stopped along with the traveling plan based on the stop position information, even if under the ACC control, and stop can be smoothly performed, compared with the conventional control to stop based on distance between own car and the preceding vehicle, and the degree of comfort can be improved during the vehicle stops.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus that performs traveling control of a vehicle.

  Conventionally, JP-A-2003-54289 is known as a technical document in this field. This publication describes a vehicle control device that performs follow-up control of the host vehicle with respect to the preceding vehicle based on the detected inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle. In this vehicle control device, when it is determined that the preceding vehicle has stopped, the following distance control value is replaced with the vehicle distance calculation value for stopping, thereby improving the riding comfort when the vehicle is stopped.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-54289

  By the way, it is necessary to stop the own vehicle regardless of the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle even during the follow-up control in the traffic light or the railroad crossing displayed in red. In recent years, it has been demanded to stop the vehicle in a comfortable manner even in such a case.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can improve the ride comfort when the vehicle is stopped.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a vehicle control device that performs adaptive cruise control control including cruise control control and follow-up control with respect to a preceding vehicle, and acquires stop position information of the host vehicle during adaptive cruise control control. Stop position information acquisition means for generating, travel plan creation means for creating a travel plan for stopping the host vehicle at the stop position when the stop position information acquisition means acquires stop position information, and creation of travel plan creation means Vehicle control means for controlling the travel of the host vehicle based on the travel plan.

  According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, when stop position information such as the position of a traffic light is acquired during adaptive cruise control control, a travel plan based on the stop position information is created, and travel according to the travel plan is performed. Implement control. Therefore, according to this vehicle control device, the host vehicle is stopped according to the travel plan based on the stop position information, so that the vehicle can be stopped more smoothly than in the case where the vehicle is stopped based on the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle by the follow-up control. It is possible to improve the ride comfort when the vehicle is stopped.

In the vehicle control apparatus according to the present invention, the travel plan creation means creates a travel plan so that at least one of the fluctuation amount of acceleration and the fluctuation amount of jerk applied to the host vehicle falls within a predetermined riding comfort allowable range. It is preferable.
According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, the smoother stopping is performed as the fluctuation amount of acceleration and the fluctuation amount of jerk applied to the host vehicle when the vehicle is stopped. By creating the travel plan so as to be within the range, it is possible to improve the ride comfort when executing the travel control along the travel plan.

In the vehicle control apparatus according to the present invention, when the host vehicle stops at the stop position even in the adaptive cruise control control, the ride comfort of the adaptive cruise control control up to the stop position and the ride comfort of the travel control based on the travel plan. It is preferable to further include a ride comfort evaluation means for calculating the evaluation, and the vehicle control means performs a control with a high ride comfort evaluation among the adaptive cruise control control up to the stop position and the travel control based on the travel plan.
According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, when the host vehicle stops at the stop position by adaptive cruise control control, ride comfort evaluation such as a small amount of jerk fluctuation at each control is calculated, and ride comfort evaluation is performed. Since the higher control is performed, the ride comfort during vehicle control can be improved.

In the vehicle control device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the stop position information acquisition means acquires stop position information based on the position of the traffic signal on the route of the host vehicle.
According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, the own vehicle can be smoothly stopped with respect to the traffic light according to the travel plan, so that it is possible to improve the riding comfort when the vehicle is stopped.

  In the vehicle control device according to the present invention, the traffic light information acquisition means for acquiring the display cycle information of the traffic lights on the route of the host vehicle, the display cycle information of the traffic lights acquired by the traffic light information acquisition means, and the stop of the stop position information acquisition means A traffic light that determines whether or not the traffic light is in a red state at the timing when the host vehicle reaches the traffic light when traveling along the travel plan based on the position information and the travel plan created by the stop position travel plan creation means Stop control means, and the vehicle control means preferably performs travel control based on the travel plan when the traffic light stop determination means determines that the traffic light is in a red state at the timing when the host vehicle reaches the traffic light. .

  According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, if the traffic light is displayed in red when the host vehicle arrives, it is necessary to stop regardless of the distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle. When it is determined that the traffic light is in the red state at the timing of the traffic, the vehicle can be stopped smoothly by performing the travel control based on the travel plan, and the ride comfort when the vehicle is stopped can be improved. it can.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve riding comfort when the vehicle is stopped.

It is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a vehicle control device concerning the present invention. It is a graph which shows the acceleration change which concerns on a travel plan. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a vehicle control apparatus.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same or an equivalent part, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control device 1 according to the present embodiment performs CC [Cruise Control] control that causes the host vehicle to travel at a constant speed at a set speed when there is no preceding vehicle ahead. If the vehicle exists, ACC [Adaptive Cruise Control] control is performed to perform follow-up control that causes the host vehicle to travel according to the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle. The ACC control in the present embodiment is an all-vehicle speed compatible ACC capable of handling from stopping to high speed travel.

  When the vehicle control device 1 acquires stop position information such as the position of a traffic light during ACC control, the vehicle control device 1 creates a travel plan for stopping at the stop position. The vehicle control device 1 realizes a smooth vehicle stop by switching to the travel control based on the travel plan for stopping from the ACC control according to the situation.

  The vehicle control device 1 includes an ECU [Electronic Control Unit] 2 that controls the device centrally. The ECU 2 is an electronic control unit including a CPU [Central Processing Unit], a ROM [Read Only Memory], a RAM [Random Access Memory], and the like. In the ECU 2, an application program stored in the ROM is loaded into the RAM and executed by the CPU to perform various arithmetic processes such as ACC control.

  The ECU 2 is connected to the vehicle speed sensor 3, acceleration sensor 4, navigation system 5, road-to-vehicle communication unit 6, preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7, and vehicle travel unit 8.

  The vehicle speed sensor 3 is a sensor that detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 3 outputs the detected vehicle speed of the host vehicle to the ECU 2 as a vehicle speed signal. The acceleration sensor 4 is a sensor that detects the acceleration of the host vehicle. The acceleration sensor 4 outputs the detected acceleration of the own vehicle to the ECU 2 as an acceleration signal.

  The navigation system 5 is a system for performing route guidance to the destination for the driver of the host vehicle. The navigation system 5 includes a GPS [Global Positioning System] signal receiving unit for detecting the position of the host vehicle, and a map database in which map data is stored. This map database stores stop position information such as the position of traffic lights, the position of a temporary stop line, and the position of a railroad crossing. The navigation system 5 outputs map data including the position data of the host vehicle and stop position information around the host vehicle to the ECU 2 as a navigation signal.

  The road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 performs road-to-vehicle communication between a roadside transceiver (for example, an optical beacon) provided on the road and the host vehicle. The road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 acquires various traffic information from VICS [Vehicle Information and Communication System] or the like through road-to-vehicle communication with a roadside transceiver. The road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 acquires display cycle information of traffic lights located on the course of the host vehicle through road-to-vehicle communication. The display cycle information of the traffic signal is information relating to timing at which the traffic signal is switched to blue display, yellow display, and red display. The road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 outputs the display cycle information of the traffic light acquired by the road-to-vehicle communication to the ECU 2 as a display cycle signal. The road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 functions as traffic signal information acquisition means described in the claims.

  The preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7 acquires information related to a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle. The preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7 includes, for example, a radar sensor and an image sensor that detect the presence of a preceding vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance, an inter-vehicle communication unit that acquires information on the behavior and vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle, and the like. The preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7 outputs the acquired information related to the preceding vehicle to the ECU 2 as a preceding vehicle signal.

  The vehicle travel unit 8 executes travel control of the vehicle. The vehicle travel unit 8 includes a vehicle engine control unit, a steering actuator, a brake actuator, a shift actuator, and the like. The vehicle travel unit 8 executes vehicle travel control in accordance with the signal output from the ECU 2.

  The ECU 2 includes an ACC control unit 9, a stop position information acquisition unit 10, a travel plan creation unit 11, a ride comfort evaluation unit 12, a traffic light stop determination unit 13, and a vehicle control unit 14.

  The ACC control unit 9 performs calculation for performing ACC control of the host vehicle based on the vehicle speed signal of the vehicle speed sensor, the acceleration signal of the acceleration sensor, the navigation signal of the navigation system, and the preceding vehicle signal of the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7. . The ACC control unit 9 performs arithmetic processing for realizing constant speed traveling at a speed set by the driver and follow-up traveling with respect to the preceding vehicle.

  The stop position information acquisition unit 10 acquires stop position information of the host vehicle from the navigation signal of the navigation system and the preceding vehicle signal of the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7. This stop position information includes the stop position of the preceding vehicle as well as the position of the traffic light on the course of the host vehicle, the position of the temporary stop line, the position of the railroad crossing, and the like.

  The travel plan creation unit 11 creates a travel plan for the host vehicle to stop at the stop position from the stop position information acquired by the stop position information acquisition unit 10. The travel plan creation unit 11 is based on the stop position information of the stop position information acquisition unit 10, the vehicle speed signal of the vehicle speed sensor, the acceleration signal of the acceleration sensor, the navigation signal of the navigation system, and the preceding vehicle signal of the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7. Create a travel plan.

  Here, FIG. 2 is a graph showing acceleration applied to the host vehicle when the host vehicle travels according to the travel plan. The vertical axis represents acceleration G applied to the host vehicle, and the horizontal axis represents time. As shown in FIG. 2, the travel plan creation unit 11 creates a travel plan that applies acceleration G so as to decelerate the host vehicle in order to stop the host vehicle at the arrival time at the stop position.

  Further, the travel plan creation unit 11 creates a travel plan so that the variation amount of the acceleration G is within a predetermined riding comfort allowable range A. The riding comfort allowable range A is an allowable acceleration range from the viewpoint of the ride comfort of the occupant. The riding comfort allowable range A of the acceleration G is expressed as a range from 0 to a predetermined maximum acceleration setting value, for example. The travel plan creation unit 11 creates a travel plan so as to limit the variation amount of the acceleration G within the allowable ride comfort range A because the greater the variation amount of the acceleration G, the worse the riding comfort. In addition, the travel plan creation unit 11 creates a travel plan so that the jerk becomes continuous because the ride comfort deteriorates when the jerk fluctuates intermittently. The travel plan creation unit 11 creates a travel plan composed of four sections: steady travel, braking startup for applying braking force, constant braking for applying constant braking force, and braking return for gradually returning the braking force to zero.

  The method for creating the travel plan can be arbitrarily set by the driver. For example, the travel plan may be created so that the jerk fluctuation amount is within a predetermined range instead of the acceleration fluctuation amount. Alternatively, the travel plan may be created so that both the acceleration fluctuation amount and the jerk fluctuation amount are within a predetermined range. In addition, the driving plan may be created on the condition of the braking distance. For example, the travel plan creation time can be reduced by creating a travel plan using a travel plan pattern stored in advance according to the braking distance.

  The riding comfort evaluation unit 12 determines whether or not the stop position indicated by the stop position information of the stop position information acquisition unit 10 is based on a preceding vehicle. When it is determined that the stop position is based on the preceding vehicle, the ride comfort evaluation unit 12 determines that the host vehicle is stopped at the stop position even in the ACC control, and calculates the ride comfort evaluation. The ride comfort evaluation unit 12 calculates the ride comfort evaluation of the ACC control up to the stop position and the ride control evaluation of the travel control based on the travel plan created by the travel plan creation unit 11. The ride comfort evaluation is calculated from, for example, acceleration applied to the host vehicle during control, a small amount of fluctuation of jerk, continuity of jerk, and the like.

  The traffic signal stop determination unit 13 determines whether or not the stop position indicated by the stop position information of the stop position information acquisition unit 10 is due to a traffic signal. When it is determined that the stop position is due to a traffic light, the traffic light stop determination unit 13 follows the travel plan based on the display cycle signal of the road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 and the travel plan created by the travel plan creation unit 11. When the vehicle travels, it is determined whether or not the traffic signal is displayed in red at the timing when the vehicle reaches the traffic signal.

  The vehicle control unit 14 executes the ACC control calculated by the ACC control unit 9. The vehicle control unit 14 executes ACC control by outputting an ACC control signal corresponding to the calculation result of the ACC control unit 9 to the vehicle traveling unit 8. In addition, the vehicle control unit 14 executes travel control based on the travel plan created by the travel plan creation unit 11 under a predetermined condition. Specifically, the vehicle control unit 14 determines that the traffic signal stop determination unit 13 determines that the stop position related to the stop position information of the stop position information acquisition unit 10 is not due to the traffic signal, and calculates the ride comfort evaluation unit 12. If the travel control based on the travel plan is higher than the ACC control, the travel control based on the travel plan is executed. In addition, when the traffic light stop determination unit 13 travels according to the travel plan, the vehicle control unit 14 determines that the traffic light is red when the host vehicle reaches the traffic signal, and travel control based on the travel plan. Execute.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle control device 1 will be described. Here, an operation in which the host vehicle is performing the ACC control will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the vehicle control device 1, the stop position information acquisition unit 10 first acquires stop position information of the own vehicle based on the navigation signal of the navigation system and the preceding vehicle signal of the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7. (S1).

  Next, the travel plan creation unit 11 includes stop position information from the stop position information acquisition unit 10, a vehicle speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration signal from the acceleration sensor, a navigation signal from the navigation system, and a preceding vehicle signal from the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 7. Based on the above, a travel plan is created (S2).

  Subsequently, the traffic signal stop determination unit 13 determines whether or not the stop position indicated by the stop position information of the stop position information acquisition unit 10 is due to a traffic signal (S3). When the traffic light stop determination unit 13 determines that the stop position is not due to the traffic light, the ride comfort evaluation unit 12 determines whether or not the stop position is due to the preceding vehicle (S4). When the riding comfort evaluation unit 12 determines that the stop position is not based on the preceding vehicle, the ride comfort evaluation unit 12 proceeds to step S10.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the stop position is due to the preceding vehicle, the ride comfort evaluation unit 12 determines that the host vehicle stops at the stop position even in the ACC control, and calculates the ride comfort evaluation (S5). The ride comfort evaluation unit 12 calculates ride comfort evaluation for ACC control up to the stop position and ride comfort evaluation for travel control based on the travel plan.

  When the riding comfort evaluation unit 12 calculates the riding comfort evaluation, the vehicle control unit 14 determines whether or not the ACC control has a higher riding comfort evaluation than the traveling control based on the travel plan (S6). When it is determined that the ACC control has a lower ride comfort evaluation than the travel control based on the travel plan, the vehicle control unit 14 proceeds to step S10.

  When it is determined that the ACC control has a higher riding comfort evaluation than the travel control based on the travel plan, the vehicle control unit 14 determines to continue the ACC control (S7). Thereafter, the operation relating to the stop position is terminated.

  In step S3, when the traffic signal stop determination unit 13 determines that the stop position is based on the traffic signal, the traffic signal stop determination unit 13 travels based on the display cycle signal of the road-to-vehicle communication unit 6 and the travel plan created by the travel plan creation unit 11. When the vehicle travels according to the plan, it is determined whether or not the traffic signal is displayed in red at the timing when the host vehicle reaches the traffic signal (S8). If the traffic light stop determination unit 13 determines that the traffic light is red when the host vehicle reaches the traffic light, the process proceeds to step S10.

  On the other hand, when the traffic signal stop determination unit 13 determines that the traffic signal is not displayed in red at the timing when the host vehicle reaches the traffic signal, the vehicle control unit 14 continues the ACC control (S9). Thereafter, the operation relating to the stop position is terminated.

  In step S10, the vehicle control unit 14 performs travel control based on the travel plan created by the travel plan creation unit 11, and stops the host vehicle at the stop position. Thereafter, the operation relating to the stop position is terminated.

  According to the vehicle control apparatus 1 described above, when stop position information such as the position of a traffic light is acquired during ACC control, a travel plan based on the stop position information is created, and travel control according to the travel plan is performed. carry out. Therefore, according to this vehicle control device 1, since the own vehicle is stopped according to the travel plan based on the stop position information, the vehicle control device 1 can smoothly stop compared with the case where the vehicle is stopped based on the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle by the follow-up control. The vehicle can be stopped, and the ride quality can be improved when the vehicle is stopped.

  Further, in this vehicle control device 1, since the vehicle stops more smoothly as the variation amount of the acceleration G applied to the host vehicle is smaller, the vehicle control device 1 travels so that the variation amount of the acceleration G is within the predetermined riding comfort allowable range A. By creating the plan, it is possible to improve the ride comfort when executing the travel control according to the travel plan.

  Furthermore, according to the vehicle control device 1, when the host vehicle stops at the stop position even in the ACC control, the ride comfort evaluation of the ACC control up to the stop position and the ride comfort evaluation of the travel control based on the travel plan are calculated. In addition, since the control with the higher ride comfort evaluation is performed, the ride comfort in vehicle control can be improved.

  Further, according to the vehicle control device 1, since the stop position information is acquired based on the position of the traffic signal on the route of the host vehicle, the host vehicle can be smoothly stopped with respect to the traffic signal along the travel plan. Riding comfort can be improved when the signal stops.

  Moreover, according to this vehicle control apparatus 1, when the traffic signal is displayed in red when the host vehicle arrives, it is necessary to always stop regardless of the distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle. When it is determined that the traffic light is in a red state at the timing when the traffic signal is turned on, it is possible to ensure a smooth stop by performing the travel control based on the travel plan, and to improve the riding comfort when the vehicle is stopped. it can.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

  For example, the stop position information acquired by the stop position information acquisition unit 10 does not include information on the stop position of the host vehicle that is obtained from the stop position of the preceding vehicle, and the stop that is obtained from map data such as the position of a traffic light or the position of a railroad crossing. It may be an aspect in which only position information is included. That is, a travel plan may be created only for the stop position information obtained from the map data, and the stop of the host vehicle by the stop of the preceding vehicle may be executed by ACC control.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle control apparatus 2 ... ECU 3 ... Vehicle speed sensor 4 ... Acceleration sensor 5 ... Navigation system 6 ... Road-to-vehicle communication part (signal information acquisition means) 7 ... Preceding vehicle information acquisition part 8 ... Vehicle travel part 9 ... ACC control part 10 ... Stop position information acquisition unit (stop position information acquisition means) 11 ... Travel plan creation part (travel plan creation means) 12 ... Ride comfort evaluation part (ride comfort evaluation means) 13 ... Traffic light stop determination part (traffic signal stop determination means) 14 ... Vehicle control unit (vehicle control means)

Claims (5)

A vehicle control device that performs adaptive cruise control control including cruise control control and follow-up control for a preceding vehicle,
Stop position information acquisition means for acquiring stop position information on the course of the host vehicle during the adaptive cruise control control;
When the stop position information acquisition means acquires the stop position information, a travel plan creation means for creating a travel plan for the host vehicle to stop at the stop position;
Vehicle control means for controlling the travel of the host vehicle based on the travel plan created by the travel plan creation means;
A vehicle control device comprising:   The travel plan creation means creates the travel plan so that at least one of a variation amount of acceleration and a variation amount of jerk applied to the host vehicle falls within a predetermined allowable riding comfort range. The vehicle control device according to 1. Also in the adaptive cruise control control, when the host vehicle stops at the stop position, a ride comfort evaluation of the adaptive cruise control control up to the stop position and a ride comfort evaluation of the travel control based on the travel plan are calculated. Further equipped with a ride comfort evaluation means,
The said vehicle control means performs control with high riding comfort evaluation among the said adaptive cruise control control to the said stop position, and the traveling control based on the said travel plan, The riding comfort evaluation is high. Vehicle control device.   The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the stop position information acquisition unit acquires stop position information based on a position of a traffic signal on a route of the host vehicle. Traffic light information acquisition means for acquiring display cycle information of traffic lights on the course of the host vehicle;
In accordance with the travel plan based on the display cycle information of the traffic signal acquired by the traffic signal information acquisition means, the stop position information acquired by the stop position information acquisition means, and the travel plan created by the travel plan creation means. A traffic light stop determination means for determining whether the traffic light is in a red state at a timing when the host vehicle reaches the traffic light when traveling
5. The vehicle control according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle control means performs travel control based on the travel plan when the traffic light stop determination means determines that the traffic light is in a red state at the timing. apparatus.

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