JPH0781453A - Switch of driving controller for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate switch operation by decreasing a target vehicle-to-vehicle distance at the time of tracking driving control when a switch is thrown into (+) side, increasing the target vehicle-to-vehicle distance at the time of tracking driving control when the switch is thrown into (-) side, and decreasing preset vehicle speed at the time of constant speed driving control. CONSTITUTION:Each time an increase/decrease switch 53 is thrown into (+) side at a constant speed driving mode, fixed vehicle speed is added to vehicle speed VS which is preset at a preset vehicle speed presetting part, so that the preset vehicle speed VS increases. Each time the switch is thrown into (-) side, the fixed vehicle speed is decreased from the vehicle speed, VS, and the preset vehicle speed VS decreases. Each time the increase/decrease switch 53 is thrown into (+) side at the tracking driving mode, the fixed time is decreased from the time T1 which is preset at a target vehicle-to-vehicle distance computation part, so that a target vehicle-to-vehicle distance DO decreases. Each time the switch is thrown into (-) side, the fixed time T1 is added to the time T1, and the target vehicle-to-vehicle distance DO increases.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switch structure of a vehicle running control device. More specifically, a simplified switch configuration of the traveling control device for controlling the vehicle to travel at a constant vehicle speed or to travel while following the preceding vehicle while maintaining the target inter-vehicle distance according to the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. 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.

The "constant speed traveling device" is an "automatic
It is also known as "speed control" or "cruise control." In a car equipped with this device,
When you press the set switch, the vehicle will travel at the set vehicle speed even if you release your foot from the accelerator pedal. The set vehicle speed can be changed by operating the control switch. When the driver operates the brake, the clutch, or shifts the gear, this function is canceled.

In order to ensure the safety when the above-mentioned constant speed traveling device is used, there are some which are added with the following functions. That is, the distance to the preceding vehicle is detected by a laser radar or the like, and when an abnormal approach is made to the preceding vehicle, an alarm is issued to call attention to the driver, or the gear shift stage is shifted from the 4th speed (overdrive) to the 3rd speed. It will decelerate due to overdrive off when the engine brakes down and operates.

On the other hand, in the case of an automobile equipped with the "inter-vehicle distance control device", when the set switch is pushed, the target inter-vehicle distance is calculated from the vehicle speed of the own vehicle at that time, and the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle is detected to detect the preceding vehicle. The engine output and the brake are controlled so that the vehicle-to-vehicle distance between and becomes the target vehicle-to-vehicle distance, and the vehicle travels following the preceding vehicle. In this case, the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle is detected by performing image processing on the image captured by the camera or by using a laser radar or the like. The target inter-vehicle distance is calculated by multiplying the vehicle speed by the set time, but the set time can be changed by operating the switch. Therefore, the target inter-vehicle distance can be changed by adjusting the set time.

In the conventional "constant speed traveling device", when the driver catches up with a preceding vehicle whose vehicle speed is slow, the driver must decelerate to cancel the constant speed traveling control. For this reason, operations are frequently performed on a congested road, which is rather troublesome and highly dangerous. On the other hand, the conventional "inter-vehicle distance control device" cannot perform control when there is no preceding vehicle.

Therefore, the inventor of the present application has developed a "vehicle traveling control device" having both the functions of a constant speed traveling device and an inter-vehicle distance control device. In a vehicle equipped with this "vehicle drive control device", details will be described later. If there is no preceding vehicle, the vehicle travels at the set vehicle speed at a constant speed, and if there is a preceding vehicle, the target inter-vehicle distance is maintained and the vehicle is advanced. The vehicle is tracked, and deceleration control is performed when there is a further interruption or when a high-speed own vehicle catches up with a low-speed preceding vehicle. If this "vehicle drive control device" is used when traveling on the main line of a highway, the driver can travel by operating the steering wheel, and so-called easy drive can be realized. Moreover, considering that it is possible to avoid the risk of abnormally approaching or colliding with a vehicle ahead even if a little glancing or sleeping, it is expected to improve safety.

By the way, in the "vehicle drive control device" developed this time, if the switch mechanism of the conventional constant-speed drive device and the switch mechanism of the conventional inter-vehicle distance control device are used as they are, the switch system is 2 It became clear that it became a system and the number of switches increased and it became difficult to operate.

The present invention relates to this "vehicle traveling control device".
The purpose of the present invention is to simplify the switch configuration and to make the switch operation easy and convenient.

[0010]

The present invention that achieves the above-described object is a prior art for detecting whether or not there is a preceding vehicle traveling ahead in the same lane as the own vehicle. When there is a vehicle detection means and a preceding vehicle, the engine output is controlled so that the preceding vehicle is tracked while the target inter-vehicle distance according to the own vehicle speed is maintained, and tracking traveling control is performed, and the preceding vehicle exists. When the vehicle is not in operation, the vehicle drive control device is equipped with a control unit for controlling the engine output so as to set the vehicle speed to a preset vehicle speed and performing constant-speed traveling control. ON / OFF switch that shuts off power to the control unit when supplied and opened, and control by the control unit when turned on to the set side, and control by the control unit when turned on at the cancel side. Set to stop・ If the cancel switch is turned to the positive side, the target inter-vehicle distance is decreased during tracking travel control, and the set vehicle speed is increased during constant-speed travel control, and if it is turned to the negative side, the target inter-vehicle distance is increased during tracking travel control. It is equipped with a plus / minus switch that reduces the set vehicle speed during constant-speed running control.

[0011]

According to the present invention, when the preceding vehicle is present, the inter-vehicle distance control for traveling while following the preceding vehicle is performed, and when the preceding vehicle is not present, the constant speed traveling control for traveling at a constant vehicle speed is performed. By operating the switch, the inter-vehicle distance can be changed during the inter-vehicle distance control, and the set vehicle speed can be changed during the constant speed traveling control.

[0012]

【Example】

<Overall Description of “Vehicle Travel Control Device”> First, a vehicle travel control device currently under development will be described.
This traveling control device for an automobile is used when traveling on an expressway and an exclusive road for automobiles (hereinafter referred to as "expressway" representatively of both).

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle equipped with a vehicle running 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.

The stereoscopic camera 1 is a front view shown in FIG.
As shown in, two Cs that capture the scenery in front of the car
The CD cameras 11 and 12 are horizontally arranged, and electronic components such as a video board and a diaphragm board are mounted in a body 13. The stereoscopic camera 1 is attached near the rearview mirror in the vehicle interior. Each camera 11,1
The viewing angle in the horizontal plane of 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 recognized by the two cameras 11 and 12 are subjected to image processing by the image processing section of the controller 6 to perform the following recognition. Recognition of the preceding car (preceding car). Recognition of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling among the lanes on the highway. Recognition of the distance between the preceding vehicle and the vehicle.

The above-mentioned recognition of the preceding vehicle is performed as follows, for example. That is, an area surrounded by a vertical straight line is extracted from the image, and one of the extracted areas that is bilaterally symmetric and whose position does not move much in the successively captured images is recognized as a preceding vehicle. .

The white line indicating the traveling lane of the own vehicle is recognized as described above, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, the front road screen is captured from the stereoscopic camera 1, and then, as shown in FIG. 3B, pixels along four horizontal lines W1 to W4 are displayed. , The bright points are selected as white line candidates, and as shown in FIG. 3C, a line segment obtained by interpolating the upper candidate points and the lower candidate points is extracted as a white line.

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

On the other hand, one laser radar 2 is arranged at each of the front right side position and the front end left side position of the vehicle. The divergence angle of the laser beam emitted from the laser radar 2 is 2 degrees. The distance to the object can be measured by measuring the time from the emission of the laser beam from the laser radar 2 to the return of the laser beam reflected by the object to the laser radar 2 again. it can.

The laser radar 2 can detect the presence / absence of a long-distance object (100 m to several hundred m) in a short time, but cannot judge whether the object is an automobile.
On the other hand, in image processing using a camera, it can be accurately determined whether or not the object is a car, but it takes a long processing time until the determination. Therefore, if the presence or absence of the target object is detected by the laser radar 2 and it is confirmed that the target object is present, the roles are divided so as to narrow down to the detection area and perform image processing of the camera image to detect the presence or absence of the vehicle. Good. In this way, the preceding vehicle can be detected quickly and accurately.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6 which is a view of an automobile running on a highway from above, the laser beam 2a emitted from the laser radar 2 travels in a straight line, whereas the camera 1
Since the field of view 1a of the vehicle is 23 degrees, when the other vehicle suddenly interrupts the front of the vehicle, the laser beam 2a first hits the other vehicle and is reflected (the other vehicle that interrupts at this time is the camera 1). I have not entered the field of view 1a). Therefore, the laser radar 2 that can detect the interrupting vehicle first and has a quick response is in charge of detecting the interrupting vehicle. In addition, in FIG. 6, 8, 8a and 8b are white lines. The continuous white line 8 is located at the end of the highway, and the dotted white lines 8a and 8b are located at the lane boundaries.

When the throttle actuator 3 is operated by the command from the controller 6 and the opening degree of the throttle is increased, the engine speed is increased and the vehicle speed is increased. Conversely, when the throttle opening is reduced, the engine brake operates and the vehicle decelerates. The tracking travel control and the constant speed travel control described later are executed by adjusting the throttle opening. When the brake actuator 4 is activated by the command from the controller 6 and the brake is applied, the speed is rapidly reduced. This sudden deceleration occurs when another vehicle cuts in immediately before the host vehicle or when the brake control described later is performed, that is, when the host vehicle that was traveling at high speed approaches the preceding vehicle that is traveling at low speed. This is done when the distance becomes shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance. It should be noted that, in the present system, a sudden deceleration does not cause a sudden stop in accordance with a command from the controller 6, and the sudden stop is performed only by the driver stepping on the brake pedal.

Next, the outline of the traveling control mainly performed 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 automobile from the scenery in the front, and the lane recognition unit 61b drives the vehicle. The white line indicating the existing lane is recognized, and the inter-vehicle distance recognizing unit 61c recognizes the inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle. The target tracking vehicle recognition unit 62 recognizes this vehicle as a target tracking vehicle when there is a vehicle preceding the lane in which the vehicle is traveling.

A target tracking vehicle is recognized by the target tracking vehicle recognition unit 62.
When both are recognized, the setting command unit 63 controls the tracking traveling control.
do. That is, the setting command unit 63 is the inter-vehicle distance recognizing unit 61c.
Or use the laser radar 2 to reach the target vehicle
The inter-distance D is calculated and the vehicle speed obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 7
Vehicle speed V_aMultiply by the set time (for example, 2 seconds)
Distance D₀Ask for. The actual inter-vehicle distance D is the target inter-vehicle distance.
Distance D₀Throttle actuator equal to
Engine speed (∽ throttle opening)
Control. This way, depending on the vehicle speed
Target inter-vehicle distance D ₀Track the target tracking vehicle with
The car will continue to run. 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 vehicle runs at high speed while tracking the target tracking vehicle (for example, 120
km / h) In addition, the target tracking vehicle runs at low speed (for example, 6
0 km / h), the target inter-vehicle distance D₀Is short
(For example, 33.3m), the target vehicle tracks the target tracking vehicle.
While traveling at low speed (for example, 60 km / h).

During the tracking control, the target tracking vehicle travels at a high speed and moves ahead of the host vehicle, so that the stereoscopic 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 section 63 holds the throttle opening degree (throttle opening degree) by the throttle actuator 3 so as to hold the speed of the own vehicle at that time for a preset holding time (for example, 2 seconds). ∽ Engine speed) is controlled. That is, the tracking traveling control is shifted to the vehicle speed holding control (see FIG. 8).

When another preceding vehicle is recognized as the target tracking vehicle before the above-mentioned holding time has elapsed, that is, when the preceding vehicle can be captured on the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the above-described tracking traveling is performed again. Take control. When the holding time described above has elapsed, the routine proceeds to the constant speed traveling control described below (see FIG. 8).

After shifting to the constant speed traveling control, the setting command section 63
Controls the throttle opening (∽ engine speed) by the throttle actuator 3 so that the host vehicle travels at the speed when the preceding vehicle cannot be captured or at the set speed V _s set in the set vehicle speed setting unit 64 in advance. To do. When the target tracking vehicle is captured during the constant speed traveling control, the tracking traveling control is started (see FIG. 8).

When the presence of an interrupting vehicle is detected by the laser radar 2 during tracking traveling control, vehicle speed holding control or constant speed traveling control, the control shifts to interrupt control.
The setting command unit 63 controls the throttle actuator 3 so that the throttle is fully closed for a certain period of time. After the lapse of a fixed time period in which the vehicle is fully closed, if the target tracking vehicle can be captured, the tracking traveling control is performed, and if the target tracking vehicle cannot be captured, the constant speed traveling control is performed (see FIG. 8).

During the tracking traveling control, the vehicle speed holding control, the constant speed traveling control, and the interrupt control, the safe inter-vehicle distance (determined by the relative speed between the own vehicle and the traveling vehicle and the own vehicle speed as described later) When it is detected that a preceding vehicle is present at a position closer than the value of (), the control proceeds 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 preceding vehicle traveling at a low speed catches up with the own vehicle traveling at a high speed, or when the preceding vehicle suddenly decelerates. And the deceleration control is
The process is repeated until the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle returns to the safe inter-vehicle distance. When the deceleration traveling control is completed, the target traveling vehicle is shifted to the tracking traveling control when it can be captured, and the target traveling vehicle is not captured to the vehicle speed holding control (see FIG. 8).

When the driver operates the accelerator pedal, the brake pedal, and the winker during the tracking traveling control, the vehicle speed holding control, the constant speed traveling control, the interrupt control, and the deceleration traveling control, the manual operation is performed. At this time, the control command from the setting command unit 63 to the throttle actuator 3 and the brake actuator 4 is released, and the driver's operation is prioritized. When a set switch (described later) is turned on during manual operation, the control shifts to tracking traveling control and constant speed traveling control.

Next, referring to FIG. 9, a control state when the setting command unit 63 of the controller 6 performs tracking traveling control and deceleration traveling control will be described.

In FIG. 9, a target inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 101
Is the vehicle speed V _a obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 7 at the time T1.
By multiplying (for example, 2 seconds), the target inter-vehicle distance D
_Ask for ₀ . The inter-vehicle distance error calculating unit 102 obtains an inter-vehicle distance error ΔD which is a difference between the inter-vehicle distance D obtained from the inter-vehicle distance recognizing unit 61c or the laser radar 2 and the target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ . The correction speed calculation unit 103 obtains the correction speed V _c according to the inter-vehicle distance error ΔD based on the preset data conversion characteristics (the characteristics are shown in the figure).
When the value of ΔD is positive (when D ₀ > D), the value of V _c becomes negative, and when the value of ΔD is negative (when D ₀ <D), the value of V _c becomes positive. Become.

The relative speed calculation unit 104 receives data indicating the inter-vehicle distance D from the inter-vehicle distance recognizing unit 61c or the laser radar 2 at regular time intervals, and delays this inter-vehicle distance D _n by the delay circuit 104a. 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,
The relative speed V _ba between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle is obtained by taking the moving average of the divided data values. The preceding vehicle referred to here is a vehicle recognized by the target tracking vehicle recognition unit 62 (see FIG. 7) as a target tracking vehicle, that is, a vehicle traveling ahead of the own vehicle in the same lane as the own vehicle.

The preceding vehicle speed calculator 105 determines that the own vehicle speed V _a
And the relative speed V _ba are added to obtain the preceding vehicle speed V _b . The target speed calculation unit 106 calculates the target speed V ₀ by adding the correction speed V _c to the preceding vehicle speed V _b .

The throttle control unit 107 controls the vehicle speed V_a
Is the target vehicle speed V₀Throttle actuator to be
Issue a throttle command to 3 and slot according to this command
The actuator 3 controls the opening of the throttle. This
Therefore, the target vehicle distance is D ₀Track the preceding vehicle while taking
You can drive.

On the other hand, the safe inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 108 multiplies the own vehicle speed V _a by the time T2 by the multiplier 108a to obtain _a value V _a · T2, and multiplies the relative speed V _ba by the time T3 by the multiplier 108b. To obtain the value V _ba · T3, and subtracter 108c
Then, the value V _ba · T3 is subtracted from the value V _a · T2 to obtain the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s . The dangerous inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 109 subtracts the inter-vehicle distance D from the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s to calculate the dangerous inter-vehicle distance D.
ask for _d .

The dangerous inter-vehicle distance braking force calculation unit 110 is
The dangerous inter-vehicle distance braking force Fb ₂ corresponding to the dangerous inter-vehicle distance D _d is calculated based on the preset data conversion characteristic (the characteristic is shown in the figure). The braking force Fb ₂ is D
_It occurs when _d is positive, that is, when the inter-vehicle distance D becomes shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s , and its value is proportional to the magnitude of D _d .

The relative speed braking force calculation unit 111 is
Data conversion characteristics that have been set to the maximum (shown in the figure
Based on the relative velocity V_baRelative vehicle speed according to
Force Fb₁Ask for. Braking force Fb₁Is the relative speed V_baBut
When negative, that is, the vehicle speed V _aIs the preceding vehicle speed V_bthan
It occurs when it is large, and its value is V_baProportional to the absolute value of.

The braking force calculation unit 112 determines the braking force F
The braking force Fb is obtained by adding b ₁ and Fb ₂ , and the brake actuator 4 operates so that the braking force Fb is generated. Therefore, when the inter-vehicle distance D becomes shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance D _s , or when the host vehicle catches up with the preceding vehicle at high speed, the brake is activated and the deceleration traveling control can be performed.

<Explanation of a portion corresponding to the point of the present invention
> Next, referring to FIG. 10, the operation which is the point of the present invention
The configuration of the switch information display unit 5 will be described. 51 is the main
This is a power switch.
Torque actuator and brake actuator drive
When the power is turned on and off, the control output is cleared.
Turn off the drive power to the actuator and
finish. 52 is a control switch, which is turned on to the set side
Then, at that time, depending on the traveling condition, the tracking traveling control or deceleration is performed.
The drive control or constant speed drive control is performed and the set side
The vehicle speed when the vehicle is turned on is set in the constant-speed drive control mode.
Degree V _sBecomes Turn control switch 52 on the cancel side
Then, the driver enters the normal manual driving mode.
It Reference numeral 53 is an increase / decrease switch for the constant speed traveling control mode.
In this case, if it is turned to the + side, the set speed V_sIs big
Set speed V_sBecomes smaller and slows down
In the line mode, if you put it in the + side, it approaches the preceding vehicle.
Then the brakes are applied and if it is turned to the negative side,
The brake can be applied from a distance from the
In the case of the control mode, the vehicle speed will increase once it is turned to the + side.
Target vehicle distance D₀Becomes smaller-to the side
Target distance D when turned on₀Grows larger. That is, constant speed
Every time the increase / decrease switch 53 is turned to the + side in the running mode
Vehicle speed V set in the set vehicle speed setting unit 64 (see FIG. 7)_sTo
Set vehicle speed V with constant vehicle speed added_sBecomes larger, the minus side
Vehicle speed V each time_sFixed vehicle speed is reduced from
Vehicle speed V_sBecomes smaller. In addition, increase / decrease in the tracking mode.
Target inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 1 every time the switch 53 is turned to the + side
The fixed time is reduced from the time T1 set to 01 (see FIG. 9).
Target vehicle distance D₀Becomes smaller, and it is charged to the negative side
A certain time is added to the time T1 each time
₀Grows larger. In addition, the increase / decrease switch in the deceleration mode
The safety inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 108 (see FIG.
(See reference), the fixed time is reduced from the time T2, T3 set in
A certain time is reduced after approaching the preceding vehicle
The brake is applied after approaching the
And a certain time is added to time T2 and T3,
The brake can be applied from the point where it was hit.

A vehicle speed display unit 54 normally displays the vehicle speed (km / h) of the vehicle. An inter-vehicle distance display unit 55 displays the inter-vehicle distance to the target tracking vehicle. Further, when the increase / decrease switch 53 is turned to the + side or − side in the tracking traveling control mode, the corrected target inter-vehicle distance D ₀ is displayed as the inter-vehicle distance display unit 5.
5 is displayed, and when the increase / decrease switch 53 is turned to the + side or − side in the constant speed traveling control mode, the corrected set speed V _s is displayed on the vehicle speed display unit 54. The vehicle speed display unit 54 and the vehicle distance display unit 55 may display not only the shapes shown in FIG. 10 but also those having the same function in the instrument panel. Further, the increase / decrease switch 53, the control switch 52, and the main power switch 51 may have the same function and may be provided separately. For example, the increase / decrease switch 53, the control switch 5
2 may be arranged inside the steering wheel.

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

Reference numeral 58 is a system abnormality lamp, which lights up when the system is abnormal. A monitor 59 displays an image obtained by the stereoscopic camera 1 and an image obtained by performing image processing on this image.

As described above, in this embodiment, the switches 51,
Since 52 and 53 are shared and are used both during constant speed traveling control and during tracking traveling control, the switch configuration is simple and the switch operation is easy.

[0045]

As described above in detail with the embodiments, according to the present invention, since the switch for performing the tracking traveling control and the switch for performing the constant speed traveling control are shared, the switch structure is simplified. Operation becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle including a vehicle 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 a principle diagram for calculating an inter-vehicle distance based on the principle of triangulation.

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 block diagram showing a functional unit that performs tracking traveling control and deceleration traveling control in the setting command unit.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing an operation switch / information display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Stereoscopic Camera 1a Field of View 11, 12 CCD Camera 13 Body 2 Laser Radar 2a Laser Beam 3 Throttle Actuator 32 Throttle Command Section 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 Inter-vehicle distance display section 56 Tracking lamp 57 Constant speed lamp 58 System abnormality lamp 59 Monitor 6 Controller 61 Image processing section 61a Vehicle recognition section 61b Lane recognition section 61c Inter-vehicle distance recognition section 62 Target tracking vehicle recognition section 63 Setting command section 64 Setting vehicle speed Setting unit 7 Vehicle speed sensor 7a Steering wheel angle sensor 7b Brake switch 7c Brake pedal switch 7d Accelerator pedal switch 8, 8a, 8b White line 101 Target vehicle distance calculation unit 102 Inter-distance error calculation unit 103 Corrected speed calculation unit 104 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 braking force calculation unit 111 Relative Velocity Brake Force Calculation Unit 112 Brake Force Calculation Unit 150 Gain Variable Volume V _a Own Vehicle Speed V _b Preceding Vehicle Speed V _ba Relative Speed V _c Corrected Speed V _s Set Speed V ₀ Target Vehicle Speed ΔV Velocity Deviation D Vehicle Distance D ₀ Target inter-vehicle distance D _s Safe inter-vehicle distance D _d Dangerous inter-vehicle distance ΔD Inter-vehicle distance error

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lane in which the vehicle is traveling,
Preceding vehicle detection means that detects whether or not there is a preceding vehicle traveling ahead, and when there is a preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle is tracked while maintaining the target inter-vehicle distance according to the own vehicle speed. A control unit that controls the engine output so as to perform tracking traveling control, and controls the engine output so as to set the own vehicle speed to a preset vehicle speed when no preceding vehicle is present and performs constant speed traveling control. In a traveling control device for an automobile, the ON / OFF switch supplies power to the control unit when turned on and shuts off power to the control unit when opened, and the control unit when turned on to the set side. Control by the department,
When set to the cancel side, the set / cancel switch stops the control by the control unit, and when set to the positive side, it reduces the target inter-vehicle distance during tracking travel control and increases the set vehicle speed during constant speed travel control. A switch configuration for a vehicle travel control device, comprising: a plus / minus switch for increasing a target inter-vehicle distance during tracking travel control and for reducing a set vehicle speed during constant-speed travel control when the vehicle is driven to the side.