JP6198019B2 - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device, and more particularly to a vehicle control device that suppresses a driving force of a vehicle and prevents a collision with a front obstacle.

  Conventionally, when the accelerator pedal is operated excessively in a stopped vehicle, a so-called erroneous start suppression control that prevents a collision with an obstacle in front of the host vehicle by restricting the sudden start or acceleration of the host vehicle. There is known a control device for a vehicle that performs the above.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a driving assistance control device that recognizes an obstacle at a close distance from a captured image of a monocular camera and performs driving assistance such as erroneous start suppression. In this driving support control device, an obstacle is recognized by determining whether or not the candidate image is an obstacle based on the image enlargement ratio of the candidate image of the obstacle in the captured image when the vehicle moves forward.

  Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses a driving support device that suppresses engine output when an obstacle pedal is depressed more than a predetermined amount when an obstacle exists within a predetermined range from the host vehicle. Has been. When the accelerator pedal suddenly starts operation within a predetermined time after the idle stop control is canceled, this driving support device holds the history of the sudden start operation in the memory for a predetermined time and also stores the sudden start in the memory. When the operation history is held, the engine output is suppressed.

JP 2012-118682 A JP 2014-118889 A

  By the way, in order to detect the obstacle ahead of a vehicle using a monocular camera like the driving assistance control apparatus of patent document 1, it is necessary to advance a vehicle. In this case, in order to prevent a collision with a front obstacle, it is desirable to suppress sudden start and acceleration of the vehicle until the presence or absence of the front obstacle is determined. However, there is a possibility that the vehicle is prevented from starting or accelerating despite the absence of a front obstacle. In this case, the driver feels uncomfortable and annoying.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and accelerates or starts a vehicle based on an image captured by a monocular camera without causing the driver to feel uncomfortable or bothersome. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can suppress and reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle control apparatus according to the present invention is a vehicle control apparatus that prevents a collision with a front obstacle by suppressing a driving force generated by a power source of the vehicle. Accelerator opening detecting means for detecting the accelerator opening, driving force control means for controlling the driving force generated by the power source of the vehicle, a monocular camera for photographing the front of the vehicle, and a monocular camera when the vehicle moves Obstacle determining means for determining the presence or absence of a front obstacle on the vehicle based on the captured image, and the driving force control means when the obstacle determination means has no front obstacle when starting from the vehicle stop If determined, the power source generates the required driving force determined according to the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening detecting means, and the obstacle detecting means determines that there is a front obstacle. To the source If the obstacle detection means cannot determine the presence or absence of a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is limited to be smaller than the required driving force. It is characterized by being suppressed to a driving force that is greater than the driving force and that allows the vehicle to move forward .
In the present invention configured as described above, when the obstacle detection unit cannot determine the presence or absence of the front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is smaller than the required driving force and larger than the limiting driving force or less. Therefore, if the vehicle is not moving and the presence or absence of a front obstacle cannot be determined based on an image taken by a monocular camera, the driver feels uncomfortable or annoyed while preventing a collision with the front obstacle. It is possible to determine the presence or absence of a front obstacle by moving the vehicle forward with a driving force that is suppressed to such an extent that it does not memorize, so that it was taken with a monocular camera without making the driver feel uncomfortable or bothersome Based on the image, acceleration or start of the vehicle can be suppressed to reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the vehicle control device further includes storage means for storing a final determination result by the obstacle determination means when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off. When the vehicle ignition switch is turned on and the determination result of the obstacle determination means stored in the storage means is that there is no forward obstacle, the required driving force is determined by the power source. If the determination result of the obstacle determination means that is generated and stored in the storage means is a determination that there is a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed to a limit driving force or less or requested The driving force is suppressed to an intermediate driving force that is smaller than the driving force and larger than the limited driving force .
In the present invention configured as described above, even when it is not possible to determine whether an obstacle exists in front of the vehicle immediately after the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, it is stored in the storage means. The driving force generated by the power source can be suppressed below the limit driving force or the intermediate driving force based on the determination result of the presence or absence of the front obstacle, and thus the vehicle can be controlled based on the image captured by the monocular camera. The acceleration or the start can be suppressed, and the collision with the front obstacle can be more reliably prevented.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the storage unit stores an image photographed by the monocular camera when the vehicle ignition switch is turned off, and the driving force control unit turns on the vehicle ignition switch. When the determination result of the obstacle determination means stored in the storage means is a determination that there is a front obstacle, the image stored in the storage means and the image taken by the monocular camera are If they match, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed below the limit driving force, and if the image stored in the storage means and the image taken by the monocular camera do not match, the driving force generated by the power source is reduced. Suppressed below the intermediate driving force.
In the present invention configured as described above, even when it is not possible to determine whether an obstacle exists in front of the vehicle immediately after the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, it is stored in the storage means. The driving force generated by the power source can be suppressed below the limit driving force or the intermediate driving force based on whether or not the image captured by the monocular camera matches the image captured by the monocular camera. It is possible to more reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle by suppressing acceleration or starting of the vehicle based on the captured image.

In the present invention, the vehicle control device is a vehicle control device that suppresses a driving force generated by a power source of the vehicle and prevents a collision with a front obstacle, and detects the accelerator opening of the vehicle. Based on the accelerator opening detection means, the driving force control means for controlling the driving force generated by the power source of the vehicle, a monocular camera for photographing the front of the vehicle, and an image photographed by the monocular camera when the vehicle is moving, Obstacle determining means for determining the presence or absence of a front obstacle, and storage means for storing an image photographed by a monocular camera when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off, and the driving force control means When the obstacle determining means determines that there is no obstacle ahead, the required driving force determined according to the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening detecting means is generated by the power source, If it is determined that the front obstacle is present by detecting means, a driving force generated by the power source is suppressed below a small limiting drive force than required driving force, further, the driving force control means, the ignition switch is on the vehicle In the case where the image stored in the storage unit and the image captured by the monocular camera match, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed below the limit driving force and stored in the storage unit. When the image taken by the monocular camera does not match the driving force generated by the power source, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed to a driving force that allows the vehicle to move forward, which is smaller than the required driving force and larger than the limiting driving force. And
In the present invention configured as described above, even when it is not possible to determine whether an obstacle exists in front of the vehicle immediately after the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, it is stored in the storage means. The driving force generated by the power source can be suppressed below the limit driving force based on whether the image captured by the monocular camera matches the image captured by the monocular camera. Based on this, acceleration or start of the vehicle can be suppressed, and a collision with a front obstacle can be reliably prevented.

  According to the vehicle control apparatus of the present invention, the vehicle is prevented from accelerating or starting based on an image taken by a monocular camera without causing the driver to feel uncomfortable or bothered, and a collision with a front obstacle is ensured. Can be prevented.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the detection range of the various sensors of the vehicle carrying the control apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the control apparatus of the vehicle by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the front obstacle detection process which the control apparatus of the vehicle by embodiment of this invention performs. It is a flowchart of the false start suppression control process which the vehicle control apparatus by embodiment of this invention performs. It is a flowchart of the start incorrect start suppression control process which the vehicle control apparatus by embodiment of this invention performs. It is a diagram which shows the time change of the torque which the control apparatus of the vehicle by embodiment of this invention generates to an engine.

Hereinafter, a vehicle control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing detection ranges of various sensors of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a system configuration of the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram.

  First, a vehicle control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention performs pre-crash safety (PCS) control including erroneous start suppression control. The erroneous start suppression control is a control to prevent sudden start of the vehicle by suppressing the engine output when the accelerator pedal is depressed more than a certain amount when there is a front obstacle while the host vehicle is stopped. is there. This erroneous start suppression control is activated when the ignition of the vehicle is turned on, and the control is continued unless an operation for stopping these controls is performed by the driver.

  A vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device according to the present embodiment includes a millimeter wave radar that detects an inter-vehicle distance from a preceding vehicle that travels in front of the vehicle. This millimeter wave radar operates mainly when tracking control or collision damage mitigation control is performed. As shown in FIG. 1, the millimeter wave radar emits radio waves toward a predetermined angle range A in front of the vehicle. From the time difference between the transmitted wave and the received wave, the intensity of the received wave, and the like, the inter-vehicle distance and relative speed from the preceding vehicle are detected. This millimeter wave radar can detect, for example, a preceding vehicle that travels a distance of about 100 m ahead of the vehicle.

In addition, the vehicle includes an ultrasonic sensor that detects a distance from a front obstacle existing in front of the vehicle.
The ultrasonic sensor is mainly operated when the collision damage reduction control is performed. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic sensor has an angle wider than the detection range of the millimeter wave radar described above toward the front of the vehicle. An ultrasonic wave is emitted toward the range B, and a distance and a relative speed with respect to a front obstacle including a preceding vehicle and a pedestrian are detected from a time difference from the emission of the ultrasonic wave to reception of a reflected wave by the object. This ultrasonic sensor can detect, for example, a front obstacle about 10 m ahead of the vehicle.

  Furthermore, the vehicle includes a monocular camera that acquires an image in front of the vehicle. The monocular camera is mainly used for erroneous start suppression control, lane departure warning, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, an image in an angle range C wider than the detection range of the millimeter wave radar described above in front of the vehicle. Shoot. Based on the image taken by the monocular camera when the vehicle is moving, the distance to the front obstacle including the preceding vehicle and the pedestrian is estimated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle control device according to the present embodiment, and this vehicle control device 1 includes the above-described millimeter wave radar 2, ultrasonic sensor 4, and monocular camera 6. In addition, an accelerator opening sensor 8 that detects the accelerator opening, a vehicle speed sensor 10 that detects the speed of the vehicle, an acceleration sensor 12 that detects acceleration in each direction acting on the vehicle, and information used for vehicle control are stored. A storage unit 14 is included.
The vehicle control device 1 includes a millimeter wave radar 2, an ultrasonic sensor 4, a monocular camera 6, an accelerator opening sensor 8, a vehicle speed sensor 10, and various sensors including an acceleration sensor 12, a storage unit 14, and a vehicle An ECU (Electric Control Unit) 22 that controls the engine 18 and the brake 20 of the vehicle based on a signal input from the ignition switch 16 is provided.
The ECU 22 stores a CPU, various programs that are interpreted and executed on the CPU (including a basic control program such as an OS and an application program that is activated on the OS to realize a specific function), and programs and various data. For this purpose, a computer having an internal memory such as a ROM or RAM is used.

  Next, the control contents of the vehicle control apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the forward obstacle detection process performed by the vehicle control device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the erroneous start suppression control process performed by the vehicle control device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a start erroneous start suppression control process performed by the vehicle control apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the forward obstacle detection process will be described with reference to FIG. This forward obstacle detection process is repeatedly executed after the ignition of the vehicle is turned on, the ECU 22 is powered on, and the vehicle starts running. As shown in FIG. 3, when the process is started, in step S1, the ECU 22 acquires information output from various sensors. Here, the information acquired by the ECU 22 includes an image captured by the monocular camera 6.

  Next, in step S2, the ECU 22 determines whether there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6 when the vehicle is moving. For example, the ECU 22 calculates the distance to each object included in the image based on the plurality of images captured within a predetermined time by the monocular camera 6 and the moving distance of the vehicle when each image is captured. Then, it is determined whether or not the object is an obstacle based on the contour of each object. And when the distance to the target object estimated to be an obstacle is within 4 m, it is determined that there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle.

As a result, if there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step S3, and the ECU 22 sets a front obstacle flag indicating whether there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle to ON.
On the other hand, if there is no obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step S4, and the ECU 22 sets the front obstacle flag to OFF.

After step S3 or S4, the process proceeds to step S5, where the ECU 22 determines whether or not the ignition switch 16 is turned off.
As a result, when the ignition switch 16 is turned off, the process proceeds to step S6, and the ECU 22 stores in the storage unit 14 the image last captured by the monocular camera 6 and the value of the forward obstacle flag at that time. .

  If the ignition switch 16 is not turned off in step S5, or after step S6, the ECU 22 ends the forward obstacle detection process.

  Next, the erroneous start suppression control process will be described with reference to FIG. This erroneous start suppression control process is activated and executed repeatedly when the ignition of the vehicle is turned on and the ECU 22 is powered on. As shown in FIG. 4, when the process is started, in step S11, the ECU 22 acquires information output from various sensors. Here, the information acquired by the ECU 22 includes an image taken by the monocular camera 6, the vehicle speed output by the vehicle speed sensor 10, the value of the front obstacle flag, and the like.

Next, in step S12, the ECU 22 determines whether or not the current vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed (for example, 4 km / h).
As a result, if the vehicle speed is not less than or equal to the predetermined vehicle speed (faster than the predetermined vehicle speed), the erroneous start suppression control is not necessary, so the ECU 22 ends the erroneous start suppression control.

On the other hand, when the current vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed (for example, 4 km / h), the process proceeds to step S13, and the ECU 22 performs the forward obstacle detection process between the time when the ignition switch 16 is turned on and the present time. It is determined whether or not there is a front obstacle.
As a result, when it is determined whether or not there is a front obstacle, the process proceeds to step S14, and the ECU 22 determines whether or not the value of the front obstacle flag is ON.
As a result, if the value of the front obstacle flag is not ON (OFF), the ECU 22 ends the erroneous start suppression control because the erroneous start suppression control is not necessary.

On the other hand, if the value of the front obstacle flag is ON, the process proceeds to step S15, and the ECU 22 keeps the accelerator pedal at a certain level or more in order to prevent the vehicle from suddenly starting or accelerating and colliding with the front obstacle. An upper limit value of torque generated by the engine 18 when the engine is depressed (upper limit torque at the time of erroneous start suppression) is set to a predetermined limit torque T _L. For example, the limit torque T _L is set to a torque value that allows the vehicle to move forward at a low speed that does not cause significant damage even when the vehicle contacts a front obstacle.

Next, it progresses to step S16, and ECU22 performs the erroneous start suppression control at the time of the front obstacle detection on the assumption that the front obstacle was detected. In this erroneous start suppression control during forward obstacle detection, the ECU 22 causes the engine 18 to output a torque corresponding to the accelerator opening when the accelerator opening output from the accelerator opening sensor 8 is less than a predetermined value. When the accelerator opening is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the driver may have erroneously operated the accelerator pedal. Therefore, the torque generated by the engine 18 is suppressed to a limit torque _TL or less.
When a forward obstacle is no longer detected due to the vehicle moving backward, or when a certain period of time has elapsed with the accelerator opening being equal to or greater than a predetermined value (that is, when the driver is deliberately operating the accelerator pedal) When possible, the ECU 22 ends the erroneous start suppression control when detecting a front obstacle, and ends the erroneous start suppression control.

  In step S13, if the presence or absence of a front obstacle has not been determined in the forward obstacle detection process between the time when the ignition switch 16 was last turned on and the present time, that is, the ignition switch 16 is turned on. If the vehicle has not started running after this, the ECU 22 cannot determine the presence or absence of a front obstacle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6. Then, it progresses to step S17 and ECU22 determines whether the front obstruction flag memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 14 is ON.

  As a result, if the front obstacle flag stored in the storage unit 14 is not ON (the front obstacle flag is OFF), the front obstacle is not detected when the ignition switch 16 is turned off at the current position of the vehicle. Since there is a high possibility that there is no forward obstacle even at the present time point immediately after the ignition switch 16 is turned ON, the ECU 22 ends the erroneous start suppression control.

  On the other hand, if the forward obstacle flag stored in the storage unit 14 is ON, the process proceeds to step S18, and the ECU 22 captures the image feature points stored in the storage unit 14 and the monocular camera 6 at the present time. It is determined whether or not the feature point of the captured image matches. The feature points of the image are, for example, corners and contours included in the image, and can be extracted using a known image analysis method.

As a result, when the feature point of the image stored in the storage unit 14 coincides with the feature point of the photographed image photographed by the monocular camera 6 at the present time, the forward obstacle present when the ignition switch 16 is turned off. Since it is considered that the object is still present at the same position immediately after the ignition switch 16 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S15, where the ECU 22 sets the upper limit torque at the time of erroneous start suppression to the predetermined limit torque T _L. Set.

On the other hand, when the feature point of the image stored in the storage unit 14 and the feature point of the photographed image photographed by the monocular camera 6 at the present time do not coincide with each other, the forward obstacle present when the ignition switch 16 is turned off. However, it does not exist at the present time immediately after the ignition switch 16 is turned on, and it cannot be determined whether there is an obstacle ahead of the vehicle. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S19, and the ECU 22 executes the erroneous start suppression control at the start when the presence or absence of the front obstacle cannot be determined immediately after the ignition switch 16 is turned on.
After executing the erroneous start suppression control at the start, the ECU 22 ends the erroneous start suppression control.

Next, the erroneous start suppression control at the start will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when the process is started, in step S21, the ECU 22 waits until the accelerator is depressed based on the accelerator opening output from the accelerator opening sensor 8.
When the accelerator is depressed, the process proceeds to step S22, and the ECU 22 determines whether or not the accelerator opening is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (for example, 50%). At this time, along with the determination of the accelerator opening, it may be determined whether or not the operation speed of the accelerator pedal is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed (for example, 150% / sec).

As a result, when the accelerator opening is not greater than or equal to the predetermined value (less than the predetermined value), it is not necessary to perform the erroneous start suppression control. The start suppression control is terminated. In this case, ECU 22 determines the required torque T _R to the engine 18 based on the accelerator opening and the current vehicle speed, and controls the engine 18 to generate the required torque.

On the other hand, when the accelerator opening is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the driver may have operated the accelerator pedal by mistake. However, since the presence or absence of a front obstacle cannot be determined at this time, the process proceeds to step S23, where the ECU 22 If the front obstacle exists, the torque generated by the engine 18 is suppressed to the intermediate torque T _M or less in order to prevent the front obstacle from colliding with the front obstacle. This intermediate torque T _M is smaller than the normal required torque T _R determined based on the accelerator opening and the current vehicle speed, but is set larger than the limit torque T _L, and there is a forward obstacle. Even if it is not, the driver will not feel uncomfortable.

Next, in step S24, the ECU 22 determines whether or not the vehicle has advanced based on the vehicle speed output by the vehicle speed sensor 10.
As a result, when the vehicle moves forward, the process proceeds to step S25, and the ECU 22 determines whether there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6 when the vehicle moves.

As a result, if there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the presence of the front obstacle is confirmed, so the process proceeds to step S26, and the ECU 22 reliably prevents a collision with the front obstacle due to an erroneous operation of the accelerator pedal. The torque generated in the engine 18 is suppressed to the limit torque T _L or less.

  Next, in step S27, the ECU 22 waits until the torque suppression release condition is satisfied. The torque suppression release condition is, for example, that no forward obstacle is detected, or that a certain period of time has elapsed with the accelerator opening being equal to or greater than a predetermined value (that is, if the driver is intentionally operating the accelerator pedal). If possible).

As a result, when the condition for canceling torque suppression is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S28, where the ECU 22 cancels the suppression of the torque generated by the engine 18, and ends the erroneous start suppression control at the start. Thus, ECU 22 determines the required torque T _R to the engine 18 based on the accelerator opening and the current vehicle speed, and controls the engine 18 to generate the required torque T _R.

  If no obstacle is detected within 4 m ahead of the vehicle in step S25, the process proceeds to step S29, where the ECU 22 pitches the vehicle based on the vertical acceleration of the vehicle output from the acceleration sensor 12 (that is, the vertical direction). It is determined whether or not (sway) has occurred.

As a result, when pitching occurs, the obstacle is detected from the image captured by the monocular camera 6 due to the pitching of the vehicle, even though the obstacle exists within 4 m ahead of the vehicle. May not have been possible. Therefore, in order to reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle, the process proceeds to step S26, where the ECU 22 suppresses the torque generated by the engine 18 to be equal to or less than the limit torque _TL .
On the other hand, if no pitching has occurred, it is considered that there is no forward obstacle, so the process proceeds to step S28, where the ECU 22 releases the suppression of the torque generated by the engine 18 and ends the erroneous start suppression control at the start. To do.

Further, when the upper limit value of the torque generated in the engine 18 is set to the intermediate torque T _M that is larger than the limit torque T _L , if the vehicle does not move forward in step S24, the process proceeds to step S30, and the ECU 22 Determines based on the acceleration in each direction of the vehicle output from the acceleration sensor 12 whether or not the upward gradient of the road surface in the traveling direction of the vehicle is a predetermined value θ (for example, 3 degrees) or more. This predetermined value θ is, for example, an angle of ascending slope at which the vehicle can advance when the engine 18 generates the intermediate torque T _M.
As a result, if the ascending slope is not greater than or equal to θ (less than θ), it is considered that the vehicle has not been able to move forward for some reason other than the road surface gradient (for example, a step). Without proceeding to step S27, the ECU 22 waits until the torque suppression cancellation condition is satisfied.

On the other hand, if the ascending slope is greater than or equal to θ, the intermediate torque T _M is considered insufficient to move the vehicle forward, the process proceeds to step S31, and the ECU 22 releases the suppression of the torque generated by the engine 18. Thus, the ECU 22 determines the required torque T _R for the engine 18 based on the accelerator opening and the current vehicle speed, and controls the engine 18 to increase the generated torque from the intermediate torque T _M to the required torque T _R.

Next, in step S <b> 32, the ECU 22 determines whether the vehicle has advanced based on the vehicle speed output by the vehicle speed sensor 10.
As a result, when the vehicle moves forward, the process proceeds to step S33, and the ECU 22 determines whether there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6 when the vehicle moves.

As a result, if there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the presence of the front obstacle has been confirmed, so the process proceeds to step S34, and the ECU 22 prevents the accelerator pedal from retreating on the uphill road. to reliably prevent the collision with the front obstacle by erroneous operation, the torque generated in the engine 18, the required torque T _R from small and the vehicle which is advanceable torque, for example, the engine 18 when the vehicle starts to move forward generating The forward start torque _TF that has been set is suppressed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S27, and the ECU 22 waits until the torque suppression release condition is satisfied.
On the other hand, if no obstacle is detected within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the ECU 22 continues to cancel the suppression of the torque generated by the engine 18 and ends the erroneous start suppression control at the start.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a description will be given of a temporal change in torque generated by the engine 18 by the vehicle control device 1 in the erroneous start suppression control. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a temporal change in torque generated by the engine 18 by the vehicle control apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the forward obstacle flag is OFF in step S14 or S17 of the erroneous start suppression control of FIG. 4 and it is considered that there is no forward obstacle, the ECU 22 suppresses the torque generated by the engine 18. without the required torque T _R which is determined based on the accelerator opening and the current vehicle speed is generated by the engine 18. In this case, as shown by a curve P in FIG. 6, the torque that the engine 18 is generated increases towards the required torque T _R.

On the other hand, when the forward obstacle flag is ON in step S14 of the erroneous start suppression control of FIG. 4, or in step S18, the feature points of the image stored in the storage unit 14 and the single-eye camera 6 at the present time are taken. If the feature point of the captured image matches, the ECU 22 sets the erroneous start suppression upper limit torque to a predetermined limit torque _TL in step S15, and performs erroneous start suppression control in step S16.
In this erroneous start suppression control, if the accelerator opening is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the driver may have accidentally operated the accelerator pedal, so the ECU 22 generates a torque to be generated by the engine 18 below the limit torque _TL. To suppress. In this case, as indicated by a curve Q in FIG. 6, the torque generated by the engine 18 is suppressed to be equal to or less than the limit torque _TL .

  4, when the feature point of the image stored in the storage unit 14 does not match the feature point of the photographed image photographed by the monocular camera 6 at the present time, that is, the ignition. If it is not possible to determine whether or not there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle immediately after the switch 16 is turned on, the ECU 22 executes the erroneous start suppression control at the start in step S19.

In step S22 of the erroneous start suppression control at the time of start shown in FIG. 5, if the accelerator opening is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the ECU 22 determines that the front obstacle is present if a front obstacle exists in step S23. In order to prevent the engine 18 from colliding with the engine, the torque generated in the engine 18 is suppressed to an intermediate torque T _M or less. In this case, as shown by a curve R in FIG. 6, the torque generated by the engine 18 increases toward the intermediate torque T _M.

When it is determined that there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle at time t ₁ in FIG. 6 as a result of the vehicle moving forward with an increase in torque, the ECU 22 collides with the obstacle ahead due to an erroneous operation of the accelerator pedal. In order to prevent this, the torque generated by the engine 18 in step S26 of the erroneous start suppression control at the time of starting is suppressed to be equal to or less than the limit torque _TL . In this case, as indicated by a curve S in FIG. 6, the torque generated by the engine 18 is suppressed to be equal to or less than the limit torque _TL .

Further, as indicated by the curve R in FIG. 6, the vehicle is not moving forward at time t ₁ in FIG. 6 even though the torque generated by the engine 18 increases toward the intermediate torque T _M. When the upward gradient of the road surface in the traveling direction of the vehicle at that time is equal to or greater than θ, the ECU 22 cancels the suppression of the torque generated by the engine 18 in order to advance the vehicle. In this case, as indicated by the curve U in FIG. 6, the torque that the engine 18 is generated increases towards the required torque T _R.
Then, the vehicle starts to move forward at a time t ₂ in FIG. 6, on the basis of the image monocular camera 6 is taken during movement of the vehicle, when an obstacle within front 4m of the vehicle is not detected, ECU 22 to the engine 18 Continue to cancel the suppression of the torque to be generated. In this case, as shown by the curve W in FIG. 6, the torque that the engine 18 is generated increases towards the required torque T _R.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the ECU 22 prevents the vehicle from retreating on an uphill road and reliably prevents a collision with the front obstacle due to an erroneous operation of the accelerator pedal. to order, the torque generated in the engine 18, the vehicle is reduced to be less than the forward start torque T _F engine 18 was allowed to occur at the time t ₂ that started the forward. In this case, as indicated by a curve X in FIG. 6, the torque generated by the engine 18 is suppressed to be equal to or less than the forward start torque _TF .

Next, further modifications of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the embodiment of the present invention described above, when it is determined in step S33 of the erroneous start suppression control at start shown in FIG. 5 that there is an obstacle within 4 m ahead of the vehicle, the ECU 22 generates the engine 18 in step S34. Although it has been described that the torque to be suppressed is the forward start torque _TF generated by the engine 18 when the vehicle starts moving forward, it is suppressed to a torque that is smaller than the forward start torque _TF and does not reverse the vehicle. May be. In addition to the suppression of these torques or instead of the suppression of torque, the brake 20 may be operated so that the vehicle does not move backward.

  In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the case where the power source of the vehicle is the engine 18 has been described as an example. However, the power source of the vehicle may be a motor.

  Next, functions and effects of the above-described embodiment of the present invention and the vehicle control apparatus 1 according to the modification of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, when the ECU 22 cannot determine the presence or absence of a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the engine 18 is suppressed to an intermediate driving force T _M that is smaller than the required driving force T _{R and} larger than the limiting driving force T _L. When the vehicle is not moving and the presence / absence of a front obstacle cannot be determined based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6, the driver does not feel uncomfortable or bothered while preventing a collision with the front obstacle. It is possible to determine whether there is an obstacle ahead by moving the vehicle forward with the intermediate driving force T _M suppressed by the image, and thereby, an image taken by the monocular camera 6 without causing the driver to feel uncomfortable or bothering Based on this, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from accelerating or starting and to reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle.

Even when it is not possible to determine whether there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle immediately after the ignition switch 16 of the vehicle is turned on, the ECU 22 stores the forward obstacle stored in the storage unit 14. Based on the determination result of the presence / absence of an object, the driving force generated by the engine 18 can be suppressed to the limit driving force T _L or the intermediate driving force T _M or less, and thus the vehicle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6. It is possible to more reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle by suppressing acceleration or starting of the vehicle.

Even when it is not possible to determine whether there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle immediately after the ignition switch 16 of the vehicle is turned on, the ECU 22 determines whether the image stored in the storage unit 14 Based on whether or not the image taken by the monocular camera 6 matches, the driving force generated by the engine 18 can be suppressed to the limit driving force T _M or the intermediate driving force T _M or less. On the basis of the image photographed by 6, acceleration or start of the vehicle can be suppressed to prevent the collision with the front obstacle more reliably.

Further, when it is determined that there is no front obstacle and the pitching of the vehicle is detected, the ECU 22 suppresses the driving force generated by the engine 18 to be equal to or less than the limited driving force T _L that is smaller than the required driving force T _R. When it is considered that the front obstacle has not been detected due to the occurrence of pitching in the vehicle due to overcoming the step, etc., the collision with the front obstacle is suppressed by suppressing the driving force below the limit driving force T _L. Thus, even when pitching occurs in the vehicle, the vehicle is prevented from accelerating or starting based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6 to reliably collide with a front obstacle. Can be prevented.

Also, if ECU22 is unable to determine the presence or absence of the obstacle ahead, after suppressing the driving force to a smaller driving force than the required driving force T _R, to increase the driving force until the vehicle starts to move forward, the vehicle starts to move forward If it is determined that the front obstacle is not the obstacle determining means when the required driving force T _R is generated by the engine 18, the vehicle is determined to forward obstacle is present by ECU22 when starting the forward If the driving force generated by the engine 18, the smaller and the vehicle than the required driving force T _R to suppress the driving force T _F not retract, it detects the front obstacle on the basis of the image photographed by the monocular camera 6 to advance the vehicle However, even when a forward obstacle is detected, the driving force _TF that does not cause the vehicle to move backward can be maintained, thereby preventing the vehicle from moving backward on an uphill road. In addition, it is possible to suppress the acceleration or start of the vehicle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6 and reliably prevent a collision with a front obstacle.

Further, when the ECU 22 determines that there is a front obstacle when the vehicle starts to move forward, the ECU 22 suppresses the driving force generated by the engine 18 to the driving force _TF that allows the vehicle to move forward. When a forward obstacle is detected on the road, the vehicle can be moved forward slowly while reliably preventing a collision with the forward obstacle, and thereby the forward obstacle based on the image taken by the monocular camera 6. Object detection can be continued. In addition, it is possible to make the driver recognize that the suppression of the driving force is not a vehicle failure but a control for preventing a collision with a front obstacle. Furthermore, the change width of the acceleration when the suppression of the driving force is released can be suppressed.

  Further, the ECU 22 of the vehicle control device 1 increases the braking force of the vehicle so that the vehicle does not move backward when it is determined that there is an obstacle ahead when the vehicle starts moving forward. When a front obstacle is detected at, it is possible to more reliably prevent the vehicle from moving backward while increasing the braking force of the vehicle while reliably preventing a collision with the front obstacle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle control apparatus 2 Millimeter wave radar 4 Ultrasonic sensor 6 Monocular camera 8 Accelerator opening sensor 10 Vehicle speed sensor 12 Acceleration sensor 14 Memory | storage part 16 Ignition switch 18 Engine 20 Brake 22 ECU

Claims (4)

A vehicle control device that suppresses a driving force generated by a power source of a vehicle and prevents a collision with a front obstacle,
Accelerator opening detection means for detecting the accelerator opening of the vehicle;
Driving force control means for controlling the driving force generated by the power source of the vehicle;
A monocular camera that captures the front of the vehicle;
Obstacle determination means for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle ahead of the vehicle based on an image taken by the monocular camera when the vehicle moves,
The driving force control means, at the time of starting from the vehicle stop,
When it is determined by the obstacle determining means that there is no front obstacle, the required driving force determined according to the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening detecting means is generated by the power source,
If it is determined by the obstacle detection means that there is a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed below a limit driving force smaller than the required driving force,
When the obstacle detection unit cannot determine whether there is a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed to a driving force that allows the vehicle to move forward, which is smaller than the required driving force and larger than the limited driving force. A control apparatus for a vehicle. Furthermore, when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off, it has a storage means for storing the final determination result by the obstacle determination means,
The driving force control means, when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, the determination result of the obstacle determination means stored in the storage means is a determination that there is no front obstacle, When the required driving force is generated by the power source and the determination result of the obstacle determination unit stored in the storage unit is a determination that there is a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is generated. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control device is suppressed to be equal to or less than the limit drive force, or is suppressed to an intermediate drive force that is smaller than the required drive force and greater than the limit drive force . The storage means stores an image taken by the monocular camera when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off,
In the case where the determination result of the obstacle determination means stored in the storage means is a determination that there is a front obstacle when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, When the image stored in the storage means matches the image taken by the monocular camera, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed to be equal to or lower than the limit driving force, and the image stored in the storage means The vehicle control device according to claim 2, wherein a driving force generated by the power source is suppressed to be equal to or less than the intermediate driving force when the image taken by the monocular camera does not match. A vehicle control device that suppresses a driving force generated by a power source of a vehicle and prevents a collision with a front obstacle,
Accelerator opening detection means for detecting the accelerator opening of the vehicle;
Driving force control means for controlling the driving force generated by the power source of the vehicle;
A monocular camera that captures the front of the vehicle;
Obstacle determining means for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle ahead of the vehicle based on the image taken by the monocular camera when the vehicle moves,
Storage means for storing an image taken by the monocular camera when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off,
When the obstacle determining means determines that there is no front obstacle, the driving force control means supplies the required driving force determined according to the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening detecting means to the power source. And when it is determined by the obstacle detection means that there is a front obstacle, the driving force generated by the power source is suppressed to a limit driving force smaller than the required driving force,
Further, the driving force control means is generated by the power source when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on and the image stored in the storage means matches the image taken by the monocular camera. The driving force to be generated is suppressed below the limit driving force, and when the image stored in the storage means and the image taken by the monocular camera do not match, the driving force generated by the power source is the required driving force. A control device for a vehicle, characterized in that the control device suppresses the driving force to be smaller and larger than the limited driving force so that the vehicle can move forward.

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