JP2867856B2 - Vehicle travel control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle traveling control device, and more particularly to a vehicle traveling control device for controlling automatic driving of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a vehicle traveling control device which detects a relative distance and a relative speed with respect to a preceding vehicle in a radar apparatus and controls the vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle while keeping a distance between the preceding vehicle and a safe vehicle.

[0003] For example, a vehicle running control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-16137 cancels following running in bad weather conditions such as rain, fog, snow, etc., in which the detection performance of a radar device is deteriorated. To improve safety.

[0004]

In the conventional apparatus, when the weather condition of the bad environment is suddenly detected during the following running, the following running is canceled, and the driver suddenly concentrates on the driving from the moment when the following running is canceled. Therefore, there is a problem in that the driver's mental state becomes unstable due to a sudden change in the situation, and the driver's environmental cognitive ability and driving ability decrease.

It is also conceivable to notify the driver that the follow-up running will be canceled a predetermined time before the follow-up running is canceled before the cancellation of the follow-up running. In such a case, there is a problem that the notification of the cancellation becomes unnecessary, which is troublesome for the driver.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
By increasing the relative distance at which an alarm is started when automatic driving is denied, an alarm is issued early during automatic driving control in which the environment recognition ability and driving ability of the driver are reduced,
By recovering the above ability and instructing a driving operation suitable for the driving environment when automatic driving is denied, giving an optimal operation instruction to a driver whose mental state is unstable and reassuring the driver It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle travel control device capable of performing the following.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an automatic driving means M1 controls the vehicle to run automatically.

The propriety judging means M2 judges the suitability of the automatic driving from the running environment of the vehicle.

The canceling means M3 cancels the control of the automatic operation when it is determined that the automatic operation is not performed.

The warning means M4 gives a warning when the relative distance to the object ahead of the traveling direction of the vehicle is less than a predetermined value.

[0012] changing means M5, when the automatic operation is determined to not above appropriateness determination means in the control of automatic operation, at least a predetermined time non automatic operation a predetermined value of said alarm means
It is increased compared to a predetermined value at the time of control .

The driving instructing means M6 instructs the driver to perform a driving operation suitable for the driving environment when the appropriateness determining means determines that the automatic driving is not performed during the automatic driving control.

[0014]

In the present invention, in order to increase the relative distance at which an alarm is started when automatic driving is denied, an alarm is issued early at the time of automatic driving control in which the driver's environmental cognitive ability and driving ability decrease. Restore the above abilities.

In addition, when the automatic driving is not performed, a driving operation suitable for the driving environment is instructed. Therefore, an optimal operation is instructed to a driver whose mental state is unstable, so that the driver can be relieved.

[0016]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a distance measuring sensor 10 is, for example, a radar device, and measures an inter-vehicle distance, a relative speed and a relative acceleration between a preceding vehicle and the own vehicle, and performs an auto cruise electronic control circuit (ECU) 1.
Feed to 1. The vehicle sensor 12 measures the vehicle momentum such as the vehicle speed, longitudinal acceleration, and yaw rate of the own vehicle, and supplies the vehicle momentum to the auto cruise ECU 11.

The manual operation sensor 14 detects an accelerator opening, a brake pedal force, a steering angle, and a gear shift position by manual operation of the driver such as accelerator, brake, steering, etc., and detects the auto cruise ECU 11 and the human-machine interface. HMI) 15. The auto cruise operation switch 16 is used by the system switch for instructing the start and end of the auto cruise control, the vehicle speed setting switch for setting the target vehicle speed, and the inter-vehicle setting switch for setting the target inter-vehicle distance. Supply.

The auto cruise ECU 11 is roughly divided into a risk calculation block 11a, a target vehicle speed calculation block 11b, and a throttle / brake calculation block 11c. The risk calculation block 11a calculates the risk based on whether the vehicle is in the auto cruise control state, the relative speed, and the like, generates an alarm signal according to the result of comparison between the risk and the inter-vehicle distance, and outputs an HM signal.
Supply to I15. The target vehicle speed calculation block 11b calculates a target vehicle speed of the own vehicle based on the following distance, relative speed, vehicle speed, steering angle, shift position, and the like. The throttle / brake calculation block 11c generates a control signal for each of the throttle and the brake based on a target vehicle speed, an accelerator opening, a brake pedaling force, a vehicle speed setting switch, an inter-vehicle setting switch, etc., and controls the throttle actuator 17 and the brake for driving the throttle valve. It is supplied to each of the driving brake actuators 18.

The HMI 15 has an alarm device for generating an alarm sound,
The head-up display (HUD) displays manual operation contents and auto-cruise control contents.

Here, when the auto-cruise system is automatically stopped during the auto-cruise control, the response delay time of the driver is 0.6 sec to 2.4 sec as shown by the solid bar in the histogram of FIG. On the other hand, the response delay time of the driver during manual driving is 0.3 sec to 1.3 sec, as indicated by the hatched bar in the histogram of FIG. 3, which is about 0.7 sec faster than the automatic cruise automatic stop.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a control process executed by the auto cruise ECU. This process is executed every predetermined time. In FIG. 5, in step S10, the detection data of each of the distance measuring sensor 10, the vehicle sensor 12, and the manual operation sensor 14 is read, and in step S20, the data of the cruise operation switch 16 is read.

Next, it is determined whether or not the auto cruise control is being executed. If the auto cruise control is being executed, the process proceeds to step S40. In step S40, the degree of danger is calculated by equation (1).

Danger = ΔV × τauto + ΔV ² / (K1 + K2 × ΔV) (1) where ΔV is a relative speed obtained by the distance measuring sensor 10, and τauto is a response delay time during auto cruise. For example, 1.5 sec, K1 and K2 are constants. The first term on the right side of the equation (1) represents the idle running distance due to the response delay, and the second term represents the braking distance.

Next, in step S50, it is determined whether or not the inter-vehicle distance obtained by the distance measuring sensor 10 exceeds the risk obtained in step S40. If the inter-vehicle distance exceeds the degree of danger, there is no danger, and the process proceeds to step S60 to continue the auto cruise control, where the auto cruise control amounts (throttle control amount and brake control amount) are calculated and the processing is performed. finish. Further, Oh since it has become a dangerous state when the inter-vehicle distance becomes equal to or less than the risk in the step S50
It is determined that the auto cruise control is not performed, and the process proceeds to step S70 to instruct the HMI 15 to generate an alarm sound. Thereafter, in step S80, the automatic cruise control is stopped, that is, the operation is switched to the manual operation, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if the automatic cruise control is not being executed in step S30, that is, if the manual operation is being executed, the process proceeds to step S100, and the degree of danger is calculated by the equation (2).

Danger = ΔV × τmanu + ΔV ² / (K1 + K2 × ΔV) (2) Here, τmanu is a response delay time at the time of manual operation, and is, for example, 0.7 seconds based on FIG.

Equation (2) itself is equivalent to τau in equation (1).
I just changed to to τmanu.

Next, at step S110, the distance measuring sensor 10
It is determined whether or not the inter-vehicle distance obtained in step S100 exceeds the risk obtained in step S100. If the inter-vehicle distance exceeds the danger level, there is no danger, and the process is terminated as it is. When the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less than the risk level in step S110, the vehicle is in a dangerous state, so the process proceeds to step S120, in which the HMI 15 is instructed to generate an alarm sound, and the process ends. Note that the auto cruise ECU 11 is an automatic driving means.
Step S50 corresponds to the suitability determination means M2 corresponding to M1.
Step S80 corresponds to the releasing means M3.
Steps S70 and S120 correspond to the alarm means M4, and
S40 corresponds to the changing means M5. In addition, HMI15
The head-up display corresponds to the driving instruction means M6.
Respond.

As described above, the risk as the relative distance at which the alarm is started differs depending on whether the vehicle is in auto cruise control or manual operation, and the risk in auto cruise control is set to be large. During auto cruise control, where the driving ability is reduced, an alarm is issued earlier than during manual operation, and auto cruise control is denied.
In other words, before moving to manual operation
The driver's environmental cognitive ability and driving ability are restored at an early stage ,
Emergency response is hastened.

By the way, the head up of the HMI 15
The display shows the manual operation in the upper part and the auto cruise control in the lower part in two parts. At the time of manual operation, as shown in FIG. 5A, a brake display 21 and an accelerator display 22 are displayed in the upper stage of the head-up display screen 20 in accordance with the manual operation. At the time of auto cruise control, as shown in FIG.
Any one of the deceleration display 23, the constant speed display 24, and the acceleration display 25 is displayed in the lower part of the display screen 20 according to the current auto cruise control. Further, when an alarm is generated in step S70, the display screen shown in FIG. The brake display is blinked at the upper part of 20 to guide the driver to perform the brake operation.

As described above, since the contents of each of the manual operation and the auto cruise control are displayed on the head-up display, the movement of the driver's line of sight can be reduced.
Respond to an emergency immediately. Also,
Since the contents of the auto cruise control can be known from the display on the head-up display, the possibility of performing abnormal auto cruise control can be grasped in advance, and the avoidance operation or the stop of the auto cruise control can be determined earlier.

In the above embodiment, the auto cruise system has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to a lateral control system for performing steering control or an automatic driving system including auto cruise control and steering control. Not limited.

[0033]

As described above, according to the vehicle traveling control device of the present invention, the relative distance at which the warning is started when the automatic driving is not performed is increased, so that the environmental recognition ability and the driving ability of the driver are low. A warning can be given early at the time of automatic driving control to recover the above ability, and when automatic driving is not possible, by instructing a driving operation suitable for the driving environment, the mental state is unstable It is possible to give the driver an optimal operation instruction and reassure the driver, which is extremely useful in practice.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a histogram of a response delay time.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a control process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a head-up display display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Distance measuring sensor 11 Auto cruise ECU 12 Vehicle sensor 14 Manual operation sensor 15 HMI 16 Auto cruise operation switch M1 Automatic driving means M2 Suitability judging means M3 Canceling means M4 Alarm means M5 Changing means M6 Operation instruction means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An automatic driving means for controlling automatic driving of the vehicle; an appropriateness determining means for determining whether the automatic driving is appropriate based on a traveling environment of the vehicle; A vehicle travel control device having release means for releasing the control of driving, a warning means for issuing a warning when a relative distance to an object ahead in the traveling direction of the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and the propriety determination during the control of the automatic driving. A vehicle travel control device comprising: a change unit that increases a predetermined value of the alarm unit at least for a predetermined time when the automatic driving is determined not to be performed by the control unit when the automatic driving is not controlled. . 2. The vehicle traveling control device according to claim 1, wherein the driver is instructed to perform a driving operation suitable for the traveling environment when the propriety determining unit determines that the automatic driving is not performed during the automatic driving control. A vehicle travel control device comprising driving instruction means.