JP3246109B2 - Car 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 travel control device for an automobile. More specifically, when the vehicle travels while tracking the preceding vehicle while maintaining the target inter-vehicle distance according to the vehicle speed of the own vehicle, the driver can adjust the control characteristics of the tracking travel as desired. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to reduce the driving operation of an automobile, a constant-speed traveling device has been put to practical use, and an inter-vehicle distance control device has been developed.

[0003] The "constant speed traveling device"
It is also called "speed control" or "cruise control." In vehicles equipped with this device,
When the set switch is pressed, the vehicle keeps running at the set vehicle speed even when the accelerator pedal is released. The set vehicle speed can be changed by operating the control switch. This function is canceled when the driver steps on the brake, depresses the clutch, shifts the gear, or the like.

[0004] In order to ensure safety when the above-mentioned constant-speed traveling device is used, some devices have the following additional functions. That is, the distance from the preceding vehicle is detected by a laser radar or the like, and when the vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle abnormally, an alarm is issued to alert the driver or the gear shift stage is shifted from the fourth speed (overdrive) to the third speed. The engine decelerates due to overdrive off, which causes the engine to brake down and activate the engine brake.

On the other hand, in an automobile equipped with an "inter-vehicle distance traveling device", when a set switch is pressed, a target inter-vehicle distance is calculated from the vehicle speed of the own vehicle at that time, and an inter-vehicle distance from a preceding vehicle is detected. The vehicle is controlled by controlling the engine output and the brake so that the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the vehicle becomes the target inter-vehicle distance. In this case, the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle is detected by performing image processing on an image captured by a camera, or by using a laser radar or the like.

[0006]

In the conventional "constant-speed traveling apparatus", when the driver catches up with the preceding vehicle having a low vehicle speed, the driver must decelerate to release the constant-speed traveling control. . Therefore, the operation is frequent on a congested road, which is rather troublesome and increases the risk.

On the other hand, in the conventional "inter-vehicle distance control device",
Control cannot be performed when there is no preceding vehicle.

The inventor of the present application has developed a "vehicle travel control device" having both the functions of a constant speed travel device and an inter-vehicle distance control device. In the case of a vehicle equipped with this “vehicle travel control device”, details will be described later, but when there is no preceding vehicle, the vehicle travels at a constant speed at the set vehicle speed. The vehicle is tracked, and deceleration control is performed when there is further interruption or when the high-speed own vehicle catches up with the low-speed preceding vehicle. If this "vehicle travel control device" is used when traveling on the main line of a highway, the driver can travel simply by operating the steering wheel, and so-called easy drive can be realized. In addition, safety can be expected to be improved, even if a slight look-aside or sneaking can be avoided, because it is possible to avoid the danger of abnormally approaching or crashing into the vehicle ahead.

The present invention relates to a "vehicle travel control device".
It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to adjust the control characteristics at the time of performing the tracking travel control according to the driver's preference.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed of a host vehicle, and a vehicle running in the same lane as the host vehicle. An inter-vehicle distance detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle, and a preceding vehicle in the same lane as the lane where the own vehicle is traveling.
Target inter-vehicle distance calculating means for calculating the target inter-vehicle distance by multiplying the own vehicle speed detected when the vehicle is recognized as traveling by the set time, and the inter-vehicle distance which is the difference between the target inter-vehicle distance and the actual inter-vehicle distance Correction speed calculation means for multiplying the distance error by a correction gain to obtain a correction speed; gain variable means for adjusting the value of the correction gain by a driver's operation; A relative speed calculator for calculating the relative speed of the vehicle, a preceding vehicle speed calculator for calculating the preceding vehicle speed by adding the relative speed to the own vehicle speed, and a target vehicle speed calculator for calculating the target vehicle speed by adding the correction speed to the preceding vehicle speed. a throttle control means for the speed of the vehicle and outputs a throttle command such that the target vehicle speed, and a throttle operating means to vary the throttle opening in accordance with the throttle command, the
The inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is
It is characterized in that tracking running control is performed so as to achieve the target inter-vehicle distance .

[0011]

According to the present invention, the correction speed is adjusted by adjusting the value of the correction gain by the gain variable means, and the degree of the quick response control and the degree of the stable travel control when performing the tracking control are determined by the driver. It can be adjusted according to your preference.

[0012]

【Example】

<Overall Description of "Vehicle Travel Control Device"> First, a description will be given of a vehicle travel control device currently under development.
The traveling control device for an automobile is used when traveling on an expressway and an automobile exclusive road (hereinafter, both are represented as “expressways”).

FIG. 1 shows an automobile provided with an automobile traveling control device. In the figure, 1 is a stereoscopic camera, 2 is a laser radar, 3 is a throttle actuator, 4 is a brake actuator, 5 is an operation switch / information display section, 6 is a controller, 7 is a vehicle speed sensor, 7a is a steering wheel angle sensor, and 7b. Is a brake switch, 7c is a brake pedal switch, and 7d is an accelerator pedal switch.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the stereo camera 1.
As shown in the figure, two C
The CD cameras 11 and 12 are arranged horizontally, and electronic components such as an image board and an aperture board are mounted in a body 13. The stereoscopic camera 1 is mounted near a room mirror in a vehicle cabin. Each camera 11, 1
The viewing angle in the horizontal plane of No. 2 is 23 degrees. Then, a video signal indicating an image captured by the cameras 11 and 12 is sent to the controller 6.

The images captured by the two cameras 11 and 12 are subjected to image processing by the image processing unit of the controller 6 to perform the following recognition. Recognition of the preceding car (preceding car). Recognition of a white line that indicates the lane on which the vehicle is traveling, among a plurality of lanes (lanes) on a highway. Recognition of the inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle.

The recognition of the preceding vehicle is performed, for example, as follows. That is, an area surrounded by a straight line in the vertical direction is extracted from the image, and an image which is symmetrical in the extracted area and whose position does not move much in the image to be captured one after another is recognized as a preceding vehicle. .

The recognition of the white line indicating the traveling lane of the own vehicle is performed, for example, as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, the front road screen is fetched from the stereoscopic camera 1, and then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the pixels are arranged along four horizontal lines W1 to W4. Then, a bright point is selected as a white line candidate, and as shown in FIG. 3C, a line segment obtained by interpolating the upper candidate point and the lower candidate point is extracted as a white line.

The above-described recognition of the inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle is performed as follows. That is, from the two cameras 11 and 12 of the stereoscopic camera 1, FIG.
Two images are obtained as shown in FIG. The same image as the car image surrounded by the window on the right image is slightly shifted in the left image. Therefore, the position of the most matching image is obtained while shifting the right-side automobile image surrounded by the window by one pixel in the search area of the left-side image. At this time, as shown in FIG.
The focal length of the lenses 1 and 12 is f, and the left and right cameras 11 and 1
2, the distance between the optical axes is L, the pixel pitch of the CCD is P,
In FIGS. 4A and 4B, assuming that the number of pixels obtained by shifting the right image until the left and right vehicle images match is n, the distance R to the preceding vehicle (inter-vehicle distance) is calculated by the principle of triangulation. Can be calculated by the following equation. R = (fL) / (nP)

On the other hand, the laser radars 2 are arranged one by one at the right front end and at the left front end of the vehicle. The spread angle of the laser beam emitted from the laser radar 2 is 2 degrees. By measuring the time from when the laser beam is emitted from the laser radar 2 to when the laser beam reflected by the object returns to the laser radar 2 again, the distance to the object can be measured. it can.

Although the laser radar 2 can detect the presence or absence of an object at a long distance (100 m to several hundred m) in a short time, it cannot judge whether the object is an automobile.
On the other hand, in image processing using a camera, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a target is an automobile, but it takes a long processing time until the determination is made. Therefore, the presence or absence of the object is detected by the laser radar 2, and when the presence of the object is confirmed, the roles are divided so as to detect the presence or absence of the car by performing image processing of the camera image by focusing on the detection area. Is also good. In this way, the preceding vehicle can be quickly and accurately detected.

As shown in FIG. 6 which shows an automobile running on a highway as viewed from above, a laser beam 2a emitted from a laser radar 2 travels in a straight line while a camera 1
Since the field of view 1a is 23 degrees, when another vehicle suddenly breaks in front of the own vehicle, the laser beam 2a first strikes and reflects on the other vehicle (the other vehicle interrupted at this time is the camera 1). Not in the field of view 1a). Therefore, the detection of the interrupted vehicle is handled by the laser radar 2 which can detect the interrupted vehicle first and has a quick response. In FIG. 6, 8, 8a and 8b are white lines. The continuous white line 8 is at the end of the highway, and the dotted white lines 8a and 8b are at the positions separating the lanes.

When the throttle actuator 3 is actuated by a command from the controller 6 to increase the throttle opening, the engine speed increases and the vehicle speed increases. Conversely, as the opening of the throttle is reduced, the engine brake is activated and decelerates. Tracking running control and constant speed running control described later are executed by adjusting the throttle opening. When the brake actuator 4 is actuated by the command of the controller 6 to apply a brake, the vehicle decelerates rapidly. This rapid deceleration occurs when another vehicle interrupts immediately before the own vehicle, or when performing a brake control described later, that is, when the own vehicle traveling at a high speed approaches the preceding vehicle traveling at a low speed, and This is performed when the distance becomes shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance. In the present system, the vehicle is suddenly decelerated by the command of the controller 6, but does not stop suddenly, but is stopped only when the driver depresses the brake pedal.

Next, an outline of traveling control performed mainly by the controller 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The image processing unit 61 of the controller 6 performs image processing on the image captured by the stereoscopic camera 1, the vehicle recognition unit 61a recognizes the image of the car from the scene in front, and the lane recognition unit 61b runs the vehicle. The inter-vehicle distance recognizing unit 61c recognizes the inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle by recognizing a white line indicating the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The target tracking vehicle recognizing unit 62 recognizes the vehicle as the target tracking vehicle when there is a vehicle ahead of the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling.

The target tracked vehicle is recognized by the target tracked vehicle recognition unit 62.
When both are recognized, the setting command unit 63 performs the tracking drive control.
do. In other words, the setting command unit 63 is the inter-vehicle distance recognition unit 61c.
Or the car to the target tracking vehicle using the laser radar 2
The distance D is obtained, and the vehicle speed obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 7 is
Vehicle speed V_aMultiplied by the set time (for example, 2 seconds)
Distance D₀Ask for. And the actual inter-vehicle distance D is the target inter-vehicle distance.
Distance D₀Throttle actuator to equal
Engine speed (作 動 throttle opening)
Control. In this way, depending on the vehicle speed
Target inter-vehicle distance D ₀Tracking the target tracking vehicle
While the vehicle is running. Therefore, the target tracking vehicle
Is traveling at high speed (for example, 120 km / h)
Target inter-vehicle distance D₀Becomes longer (for example, 66.7 m)
The car travels at high speed while tracking the target tracking vehicle (for example, 120
km / h). Also, the target tracking vehicle runs at low speed (for example, 6
0 km / h), the target following distance D₀Is short
(For example, 33.3m), the vehicle tracks the target tracking vehicle
While traveling at a low speed (for example, 60 km / h).

During the tracking travel control, the target tracking vehicle travels at a high speed to advance ahead of the own vehicle, and the stereo tracking camera 1 or the laser radar 2 cannot capture the target tracking vehicle, or When the tracked vehicle moves to another lane, the setting command unit 63 sets the throttle opening (throttle opening degree) of the throttle actuator 3 so as to maintain the speed of the own vehicle at that time for a preset holding time (for example, 2 seconds). ∽Control the engine speed). That is, the control shifts from the tracking drive control to the vehicle speed holding control (see FIG. 8).

If another preceding vehicle is recognized as the target pursuit vehicle before the above-mentioned holding time elapses, that is, if the preceding vehicle can be captured on the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the above-mentioned pursuit traveling again is performed. Take control. After the elapse of the above-described holding time, the process proceeds to the constant speed traveling control described below (see FIG. 8).

When the control is shifted to the cruise control, the setting command section 63
As the vehicle travels at the preceding vehicle was speed or preset at the time that can no longer capture set speed V _s,
Throttle opening by throttle actuator 3 (∽
Engine speed). When the target tracking vehicle is captured during the constant-speed running control, the process proceeds to the tracking running control (FIG. 8).
reference).

If the laser radar 2 detects the presence of an interrupted vehicle during the tracking running control, the vehicle speed holding control, or the constant speed running control, the process shifts to the interrupt control.
The setting command section 63 controls the throttle actuator 3 so that the throttle is fully closed for a certain time. After a lapse of a fixed time period when the vehicle is fully closed, the process shifts to tracking running control when the target tracking vehicle can be captured, and shifts to constant speed running control when the target tracking vehicle cannot be captured (see FIG. 8).

During the tracking running control, the vehicle speed holding control, the constant speed running control, and the interruption control, the safety inter-vehicle distance (determined by the relative speed between the own vehicle and the running vehicle and the own vehicle speed as described later) When it is detected that the preceding vehicle exists at a position closer to the position than (1), the process shifts to deceleration traveling control. That is, the setting command unit 63 operates the throttle actuator 3 to fully close the throttle, and also operates the brake actuator 4 to operate the brake to decelerate.
This deceleration traveling control is performed when the own vehicle traveling at a high speed catches up with the preceding vehicle traveling at a low speed, or when the preceding vehicle suddenly decelerates. And the deceleration control is
The process is performed until the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle returns to the safe inter-vehicle distance. When the deceleration running control ends, the process shifts to tracking running control if the target tracking vehicle can be captured, and shifts to vehicle speed holding control if the target tracking vehicle cannot be captured (see FIG. 8).

When the driver operates the accelerator pedal, the brake pedal, and the turn signal during the tracking travel control, the vehicle speed holding control, the constant speed travel control, the interrupt control, and the deceleration travel control, the operation is shifted to the manual operation. At this time, the control commands from the setting command unit 63 to the throttle actuator 3 and the brake actuator 4 are released, and the operation of the driver is prioritized. When a set switch (described later) is turned on during manual operation, the mode shifts to tracking travel control or constant-speed travel control.

Next, the configuration of the operation / information display section 5 will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 51 denotes a main power switch. When the main power switch 51 is turned on, power is supplied to the drive units of the travel control device, the throttle actuator, and the brake actuator. When the main power switch 51 is turned off, the control output is cleared, and the drive power of the actuator is turned off. Reference numeral 52 denotes a control switch. When the vehicle is turned on the set side, tracking running control or constant speed running control is performed according to running conditions at that time, and the vehicle speed when turned on on the set side is set in the constant speed running control mode. The speed becomes _Vs. When the control switch 52 is turned on to the cancel side, a mode for performing a normal manual operation by the driver is set. 53 is increased or decreased switches, set to put into the + side in the case of cruise control mode speed V _s
Increases - the smaller the set speed V _s and put into the side, when placed in a positive side in the case of tracking travel control mode vehicle speed, the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ becomes smaller by increasing once - target inter-vehicle when turning to the side The distance D ₀ increases.

Reference numeral 54 denotes a vehicle speed display section, which normally displays the vehicle speed (km / h) of the own vehicle. An inter-vehicle distance display unit 55 displays the inter-vehicle distance with the target tracking vehicle. When the increase / decrease switch 53 is turned on the + side or the − side in the tracking travel control mode, the corrected target following distance D ₀ is displayed on the following distance display section 5.
Is displayed on the 5, the increase and decrease switches 53 to cruise control mode + side and - when turned to the side, corrected set speed V _s is displayed on vehicle speed display unit 54.

Reference numeral 56 denotes a tracking lamp, and 57 denotes a constant speed lamp. In the tracking driving control mode, only the tracking lamp 56 is turned on. In the constant speed driving control mode, only the constant speed lamp is turned on.
In the manual operation mode, both the lamps 56 and 57 are turned on.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a system abnormality lamp which is turned on when the system is abnormal.

Reference numeral 59 denotes a monitor, which is a stereoscopic camera 1
And the image obtained by performing image processing on this image is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 10, a control state when the tracking control or the deceleration control is performed by the setting command unit 63 of the controller 6 will be described.

In FIG. 10, a target inter-vehicle distance calculating unit 10
1 is _a time T corresponding to the own vehicle speed Va obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 7.
The target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ is obtained by multiplying by 1 (for example, 2 seconds). Inter-vehicle distance error calculating unit 102, and the inter-vehicle distance D obtained from the inter-vehicle distance detecting section 61c or laser radar 2, the inter-vehicle distance is a difference between the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ error ΔD
Ask for. Correction speed calculator 103 based on the data conversion characteristics are set in advance (shows the characteristic in the figure), to obtain a correction rate V _c corresponding to the inter-vehicle distance error [Delta] D.
When the value of ΔD is positive (D ₀ > D), the value of V _c is negative, and when the value of ΔD is negative (D ₀ <D), the value of V _c is positive. Become.

[0038] The relative speed calculating unit 104 has received data indicating the inter-vehicle distance D at regular time intervals from the vehicle distance recognition unit 61c or the laser radar 2, delayed by this inter-vehicle distance D _n and the delay circuit 104a 1 the difference D _n -D _n-1 of the inter-vehicle distance D _n-1 of the previous round, determined by the subtracter 104b, divided further the difference D _n -D _n-1 by the arithmetic unit 104c at time T4,
By taking a moving average of the divided data values, a relative speed V _ba between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle is obtained. Here, the preceding vehicle is a vehicle that has been recognized as a target tracking vehicle by the target tracking vehicle recognition unit 62 (see FIG. 7), that is, a vehicle that is running ahead of the host vehicle in the same lane as the host vehicle.

The preceding vehicle speed calculation unit 105 calculates the own vehicle speed V _a
Request preceding vehicle speed V _b by the addition of the relative velocity V _ba. Target speed calculator 106 calculates the target speed V ₀ by the preceding vehicle speed V _b adding the correction speed V _c.

The throttle control unit 107 calculates the vehicle speed V_a
Is the target vehicle speed V₀So that the throttle actuator
3 to the throttle command, and
The actuator 3 controls the opening of the throttle. This
The target vehicle is the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀To the preceding car while taking
You can run.

On the other hand, the safe inter-vehicle distance calculating section 108, a multiplier 108a multiplies the time on the vehicle speed V _a T2 obtain the value V _a · T2, the multiplication time T3 to the relative velocity V _ba by multiplier 108b To obtain the value V _ba · T3,
At from the value V _a · T2 by subtracting the value V _ba · T3 seek a safe inter-vehicle distance D _s. The dangerous inter-vehicle distance calculating unit 109 subtracts the inter-vehicle distance D from the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s and calculates the dangerous inter-vehicle distance D.
_{Find d} .

The dangerous inter-vehicle distance braking force calculation unit 110
Based on the data conversion characteristics are set in advance (shows the characteristic in the figure) to determine the risk vehicle distance braking force Fb ₂ in accordance with the risk vehicle distance D _d. The braking force Fb ₂ is D
When _d is positive, that is caused when the inter-vehicle distance D becomes shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s, the value is proportional to the magnitude of D _d.

The relative speed braking force calculation unit 111
Data conversion characteristics set in advance (characteristics shown in the figure
The relative velocity V_baRelative speed brake depending on
Power Fb₁Ask for. Braking force Fb₁Is the relative speed V_baBut
When negative, that is, own vehicle speed V _aIs the preceding vehicle speed V_bthan
When it is large, its value is V_baIs proportional to the absolute value of

The braking force calculator 112 calculates the braking force F
obtains a braking force Fb by adding b _1, Fb _2, the brake actuator 4 as the brake force Fb is generated is operated. Accordingly, or shorten the inter-vehicle distance D than the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s, the vehicle can brake is actuated deceleration control when caught up with the preceding vehicle at a high speed.

<Description of Parts Corresponding to the Points of the Present Invention> Next, the points of the present invention will be described. When the tracking control is performed by the above-described vehicle running control device, the detected actual inter-vehicle distance D is equal to the target inter-vehicle distance D.
₀ controls the engine output to be equal to (= vehicle speed V _a × time T1). In this case, a so-called speed-response running control for quickly matching the inter-vehicle distance D with the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ , or slowly reducing the inter-vehicle distance D to the target inter-vehicle distance D 0
It is conceivable to select a setting condition such that a so-called stable running control is made to coincide with _zero .

When the speed-dependent traveling control in which the control gain (specific means will be described later) is increased, even if the speed of the preceding vehicle changes during the tracking traveling control, the actual inter-vehicle distance D
Immediately becomes the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ , and control corresponding to the operation of the preceding vehicle is performed promptly. For this reason, the driver's feeling is such that the vehicle runs perfectly following the preceding vehicle. However, if the speed response control becomes excessive, the acceleration and deceleration of the own vehicle becomes sharp.

When the control gain is reduced and stable running control is performed, if the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle changes during tracking running control, the actual inter-vehicle distance D gradually approaches the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ , and It tracks the preceding vehicle without sudden acceleration or deceleration. Therefore, as a driver's feeling,
Although the vehicle is following the preceding vehicle, it does not immediately react to the movement of the preceding vehicle, but becomes slow and stable.
However, if the stable running control is excessive, the difference between the actual inter-vehicle distance D and the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ becomes too large, and the tracking is slow and slow in response. Gradually rises and the inter-vehicle distance D
Becomes too large, and when the preceding vehicle decelerates rapidly, the deceleration is performed with the feeling that the deceleration timing of the own vehicle is delayed, and the inter-vehicle distance D becomes too small, which is anxious.

Whether the tendency of the quick running control or the stable running control is better depends largely on the preference of the driver. In general, young people and people with a high degree of driving skills prefer quick-response traveling control, while elderly people and beginners prefer stable traveling control.

Therefore, in the present invention, the control gain can be made variable by the driver. Specifically, the characteristic of the correction speed calculation unit 103 (see FIG. 10) can be made variable. That is, as shown in FIG.
3 is connected to a variable gain volume 150. The gain variable volume 150 is provided on the operation / information display unit 5 (see FIGS. 1 and 9), the front panel, and the like.
When the volume value is 0, the correction speed calculation unit 103
Is shown by a solid line. When the volume value is turned to the + side, the data conversion characteristic approaches the characteristic shown by the two-dot chain line, and when the volume value is turned to the-value. The data change characteristic approaches the characteristic indicated by the dotted line. Note the upper limit value of the correction speed V _c is V
_{c max} (for example, 5 km / h), and the lower limit is limited to -V _{c min} (for example, -5 km / h).

In terms of the equation, the correction speed V_cAnd incorrect distance between vehicles
The difference ΔD is as follows. V_c= -K₁.DELTA.D (when .DELTA.D> 0) V_c= -K_Two.DELTA.D (when .DELTA.D.ltoreq.0) Then, turn the gain variable volume 150 to the + side.
And correction gain K₁, K _TwoThe absolute value of
When turning to the side, the correction gain K₁, K_TwoThe absolute value of
I'm trying to make it.

As a result, even if the inter-vehicle distance error ΔD is the same, as the gain variable volume 150 is turned to the + side, the absolute values of the correction gains K ₁ and K ₂ increase, and the correction speed _Vc increases. As a result, the target speed V ₀ changes greatly, and the speed-responsive traveling control can be performed.
By turning 50 toward the negative side, the absolute values of the correction gains K ₁ and K ₂ become smaller, the correction speed _Vc becomes smaller, and the change in the target speed V ₀ becomes smaller, thereby enabling stable running control.

The values of the correction gains K ₁ and K ₂ may be made variable by other means such as a variable gain switch instead of the variable gain control 150.

[0053]

According to the present invention, the correction gain of the correction speed calculating means can be changed by the driver's operation as described above in detail with the embodiment. The degree of quick-response traveling control or stable traveling control can be made according to the driver's preference.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an automobile provided with an automobile traveling control device.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a stereoscopic camera.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of detecting a white line by image processing.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of detecting an inter-vehicle distance by image processing.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of triangulation by a stereoscopic camera.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an automobile running on a highway.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a controller.

FIG. 8 is a state diagram showing a transition state of traveling control.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing an operation switch / information display unit.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional unit that performs tracking travel control and deceleration travel control in a setting command unit.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a correction speed calculation unit 103 and a variable gain volume.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stereo camera 1a Field of view 11,12 CCD camera 13 Body 2 Laser radar 2a Laser beam 3 Throttle actuator 4 Brake actuator 5 Operation switch / information display section 51 Main power switch 52 Control switch 53 Increase / decrease switch 54 Vehicle speed display section 55 Vehicle distance display Unit 56 tracking lamp 57 constant speed lamp 58 system abnormality lamp 59 monitor 6 controller 61 image processing unit 61a vehicle recognition unit 61b lane recognition unit 61c inter-vehicle distance recognition unit 62 target tracking vehicle recognition unit 63 setting command unit 7 vehicle speed sensor 7a handle angle sensor 7b Brake switch 7c Brake pedal switch 7d Accelerator pedal switch 8, 8a, 8b White line 101 Target inter-vehicle distance calculator 102 Inter-vehicle distance error calculator 103 Correction speed calculator 04 relative speed calculation unit 105 preceding vehicle speed calculation unit 106 target speed calculation unit 107 throttle control unit 108 safe inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 109 dangerous inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 110 dangerous inter-vehicle distance brake force calculation unit 111 relative speed brake force calculation unit 112 braking force calculation unit 150 variable-gain volume V _a vehicle speed V _b preceding vehicle speed V _ba relative velocity V _c compensation velocity V _s set speed V ₀ target vehicle speed ΔV deviation velocity D inter-vehicle distance D ₀ target inter-vehicle distance D _s safe distance D _d Dangerous inter-vehicle distance ΔD Inter-vehicle distance error K ₁ , K ₂ Correction gain

(56) References JP-A-61-6031 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60K 31/00 F02D 29/02 301

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed of a vehicle, which is a vehicle speed of the vehicle, and an inter-vehicle distance between a preceding vehicle traveling in the same lane as the vehicle traveling and the vehicle. The inter-vehicle distance detecting means for detecting, and when the preceding vehicle is traveling in the same lane as the lane in which the vehicle is traveling
Target inter-vehicle distance calculating means for calculating a target inter-vehicle distance by multiplying the own vehicle speed detected when the vehicle is recognized as being present and a set inter-vehicle distance, and correcting the inter-vehicle distance error which is a difference between the target inter-vehicle distance and the actual inter-vehicle distance. A correction speed calculating means for multiplying a gain to obtain a correction speed; a gain variable means for adjusting the value of the correction gain by a driver's operation; A relative vehicle speed calculating unit for calculating a preceding vehicle speed by adding a relative speed to the own vehicle speed; a target vehicle speed calculating unit for obtaining a target vehicle speed by adding a correction speed to the preceding vehicle speed; a throttle control means for the vehicle speed and outputs a throttle command such that the target vehicle speed, and throttle actuating means for changing the throttle opening in accordance with the throttle command to the throttle actuating means Distance from the preceding vehicle
The vehicle travel control device performs tracking travel control so that the vehicle distance becomes the target inter-vehicle distance .