CN100382995C - Collision-safety vehicle control system - Google Patents

Abstract

A collision-safe vehicle control system for controlling working devices of an own vehicle, such as a vehicle deceleration device and an occupant protection device, based on information about at least one preceding object in front of the own vehicle. The system is configured to implement control based on non-first-preceding-object information. The control based on the non-first preceding object information is control of the working device based on the non-first preceding object information detected by the present system itself in a case where the own vehicle has a high possibility of collision with the first preceding vehicle immediately in front thereof. The non-first-preceding-object information relates to at least one non-first preceding object each existing in front of the first preceding vehicle.

Description

Collision Safety Vehicle Control System

technical field

The present invention relates to a collision safety vehicle control system for realizing (executing) the so-called "ACC" and "PCS" controls and any other motor vehicle control in order to deal with vehicle collisions, in particular to prevent collisions and to Protect the occupants in the vehicle in the event of a collision with any object.

Background technique

In the field of control of vehicles such as automobiles, recent progress has been made in the development of control techniques for dealing with collisions between own (own, own) vehicles and front (going) objects existing in front of the own vehicles. Examples of such control techniques include control to prevent or avoid a collision of the own vehicle with a front object, and control to protect occupants in the own vehicle when the own vehicle collides. A typical known control technique of the former control is so-called "ACC" (Automotive Cruise Control, or Adaptive Cruise Control), which adjusts the output of a driving force source such as an own vehicle engine device so that the own vehicle cruises to follow the front A control technique for vehicles to maintain a predetermined relationship, such as the distance between two vehicles. On the other hand, the typical known control technology of the latter control is the so-called "PCS" (Pre-Crash-Safety) control, which usually predicts the collision of the own vehicle and applies the seat belt and other components before the collision. A control technique in which the occupant acts with a protective device. These crash-safe vehicle control techniques are required to handle vehicle crashes more effectively in practical use.

For example, JP-A-2000-142321 and JP-B2-2946995 disclose methods for detecting an object existing in front of the own vehicle, determining the distance between the own vehicle and the object based on the detected distance and relative speed between the own vehicle and the object. The possibility of collision, and the technology to make the pretensioner of the seat belt work. These technologies are general collision safety controls that deal with the ego vehicle colliding with an object ahead. In order to realize collision safety control, it is desirable to accurately detect the positional relationship between the own vehicle and a front object with a high possibility of colliding with the own vehicle. JP-A-2003-296350 discloses an example of a technique for accurately obtaining the positions of surrounding objects surrounding the own vehicle or existing near the own vehicle.

As disclosed in JP-A-2000-95130, conventional collision safety control is generally implemented based on the state of a vehicle traveling immediately in front of the own vehicle (traveling ahead and closest to it). On the other hand, JP-A-5-238367 discloses a collision safety control of own vehicle, which obtains information about a second preceding vehicle traveling in front of a first preceding vehicle, wherein the first preceding vehicle is just behind the own vehicle Traveling closely ahead in order to determine the likelihood of a collision between the first and second preceding vehicles and to control the own vehicle to avoid the collision.

Patent document US6269308B1 discloses a safety driving system for vehicles, wherein the lateral travel distance when the own vehicle travels to the current position of the oncoming vehicle is calculated according to the vehicle speed and yaw rate of the own vehicle, and according to the radar information processor The detected relative distance, relative speed and relative angle between the own vehicle and the oncoming vehicle calculates the relative lateral distance of the oncoming vehicle relative to the body axis of the own vehicle. When the relative lateral deviation obtained by subtracting the lateral running distance from the relative lateral distance is within a certain range and this state continues for a predetermined period of time, it is judged that the possibility of the collision between the own vehicle and the oncoming vehicle is high , and perform automatic steering to avoid a collision.

The technology disclosed in the above-mentioned publication JP-A-2003-296350 involves detecting the width and other information of each object, and it is not clear how this technology can realize collision safety control of own vehicles in practical applications. The detecting device disclosed therein is operable on the assumption that each object, such as a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle, has a wave reflecting portion or a reflecting device, so that the width of the preceding vehicle can be detected from waves reflected by the reflecting device and other information. However, currently available motor vehicles do not have such a reflector. That is, the described technology is not practical in practice, and an infrastructure is required to make the technology practically applicable.

The technology disclosed in the above-mentioned publication JP-A-5-238367 proposes an advanced collision safety vehicle control technology capable of avoiding multiple collisions of a plurality of vehicles traveling in succession. However, this technique needs to install a transmitter on the first vehicle in front that travels immediately in front of the own vehicle, or to install a transmitter on any ground communication facility so that the own vehicle receives information about the vehicle from the transmitter. Information on a second or other vehicle ahead traveling in front of the first vehicle ahead. This technology is also impractical in this respect. It is necessary to establish a communication infrastructure between vehicles and between the own vehicle and the ground communication facility, so that the own vehicle can obtain the travel speed of the vehicle in front and the speed of the vehicle in front and the vehicle in front. the distance between.

Contents of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a collision-safe vehicle control system that can effectively implement collision-safety control of motor vehicles. This object is achieved in accordance with the principles of the present invention, which provides a collision-safe vehicle control system for controlling the operation (steering, operation, processing) of an own vehicle based on information about at least one forward object present in front of the own vehicle Devices such as a vehicle deceleration device and an occupant protection device, the collision safety vehicle control system is characterized by: realizing at least one of control based on non-first front object information and control based on width-related information. The term "control based on non-first front object information" means: in a case where the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with the first front vehicle immediately in front of the own vehicle is high, according to the control by the collision safety vehicle control system The control of the working device of the non-first front object information detected by itself. The non-first front object information relates to at least one non-first front object each present in front of the first front vehicle. The term "control based on width-related information" means: control of the working device based on width-related information related to the width and width-wise position of at least one specific object selected from the above-mentioned at least one front object at least one parameter.

In short, the non-first front object information control is the collision safety vehicle control realized by the collision safety vehicle control system, which detects the existence of (driving immediately in front of the own vehicle) by using a device provided on the own vehicle, for example. The state of each non-first front object in front of the first front vehicle (first front object), and control the own vehicle according to the detected state of the non-first front object. Since the non-first front object information for control based on the non-first front object information can be obtained only by means provided on the own vehicle as part of the collision safety vehicle control system, the system can actually be effectively Ensure the safety of own vehicles and their occupants.

In short, the width-related information-based control is collision safety control implemented based on at least one parameter, for example, the width size and the width-direction position of the front object in front of the own vehicle seen along the width direction of the own vehicle. The width-related information can be used to accurately identify the positional relationship of the front object relative to the ego vehicle. A collision-safe vehicle control system capable of realizing control based on width-related information is very effective, and actually effective in securing the safety of the own vehicle and its occupants.

The present invention can be various forms of collision safety vehicle control systems, which will be described in detail in the following "specific embodiments". These forms of crash-safe vehicle control systems have corresponding features and advantages that make the systems useful for ensuring the safety of host vehicles and their occupants.

Description of drawings

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a collision management vehicle control system constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a manner in which a second vehicle in front of a first vehicle in front is detected through wave diffraction by the radar device of the vehicle control system according to the embodiment of FIG. The vehicle on the other side is driving closely ahead;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a method of detecting a second vehicle in front by using the radar device of the vehicle control system through wave reflection on the driving road surface;

4 is a view showing a relative position and a relative velocity between an own vehicle and a forward object in the form of a vehicle obtained by a radar device;

5 is a view showing width-related information of an object in front obtained by the image-based information obtaining device of the vehicle control system of the present embodiment;

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of the collision safety control program executed by the collision safety ECU of the vehicle control system;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an own lane object specifying routine executed in step S1 of the collision safety control program in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a relative position between an own vehicle and a specific front object recognized by a radar device;

9A and 9B are views showing selection of potential ego lane objects;

FIG. 10 is a view showing width-related positions of a specific front object, wherein the width-related positions are calculated from width-related information obtained by an image-based information acquisition device;

11A-11D are views for determining whether each specific object exists in the driving lane of an own object;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a routine for designating ACC and PCS objects (objects), which routine is executed in step S2 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a first routine for control mode determination, which is executed in step S3 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a second routine for control mode determination, which is executed in step S4 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6;

15A and 15B are views showing the overlapping ratio of the own vehicle and the front object, which is a parameter for changing the PCS control mode;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a routine of ACC and PCS control, which is executed in step S5 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6;

17 is a block diagram showing functional elements of a collision safety ECU of the collision safety vehicle control system.

Detailed ways

Various forms of crash safe vehicle control systems are described in detail below which are considered inventive in light of the principles of the present invention. To facilitate the understanding of the technical features disclosed in this specification, each of these forms of the present invention has the same reference numerals as in the appended claims, and depends on other forms when appropriate. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the following technical features or any combination thereof, and the present invention will be constructed according to the following description of various forms and preferred embodiments of the invention. It is also understood that a plurality of elements or features included in any of the following forms of the present invention need not be provided at the same time, and the present invention can be implemented by selecting at least one element or feature among elements or features described with respect to the same form. It is also to be understood that this application is based on Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 2003-195957 and 2003-195958, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

(1) A collision-safe vehicle control system for controlling an own vehicle, comprising:

object information acquiring means operable to acquire information on each of at least one forward object existing in front of the own vehicle, the object information including information relating to the position of each forward object relative to the own vehicle Information;

a working device operable in a situation where the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with one of the at least one forward objects is high; and

a collision safety control device operable to control the working device based on the object information about at least one forward object obtained by the object information obtaining device,

Wherein the collision safety control device can work to realize at least one of the following controls: (a) when the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the first vehicle in front is high, according to the information obtained by the object information acquisition device The control of the working device based on the non-first front object information based on the non-first front object information, wherein the first front object is one of at least one front object and exists immediately in front of the own vehicle, and the non-first front object information involves at least one non-first front objects, each non-first front object is one of at least one front object and exists in front of the first front vehicle, and (b) width-related information-based control of the working device based on the width-related information, width The relevant information relates to at least one of a width and a position along the width direction of at least one specific object selected from the at least one front object.

The collision safety vehicle control system constructed according to the above form (1) is the basic form of the present invention. As briefly mentioned above, the non-first front object information control is the collision safety vehicle control, such as the ACC control and PCS control of the working device realized by the collision safety vehicle control system, by using the radar device installed on the own vehicle or any other suitable means to detect the status of each non-first front object existing in front of the first front vehicle (first front object), the first front vehicle is driving immediately in front of the self-vehicle, and according to the detected non-first front object status The working device is controlled so that the own vehicle is prevented from colliding with the first preceding vehicle, and occupants in the own vehicle are protected when the collision occurs. Since the control according to the non-first front object information is based on the non-first front object information that can be obtained only through the device installed on the own vehicle, the present collision safety vehicle control system can handle Multiple collisions with at least one non-first vehicle ahead, thus effectively ensuring the safety of the own vehicle and its occupants. In addition, the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with the first preceding vehicle can be determined with high accuracy based on the non-first preceding object information.

As described above, control based on width-related information is collision-safe vehicle control, such as ACC and PCS control of working equipment, which is based on the width (as viewed in the width direction of the own vehicle) of the front object traveling in front of the own vehicle at least one of the size and the position along the width direction. The width direction of the own vehicle is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the own vehicle. Width-related information is used to accurately identify the positional relationship of the front object relative to the own vehicle. The collision safety vehicle control system capable of realizing control based on width-related information is efficient and can effectively ensure the safety of the own vehicle and its occupants.

The collision safety control device, which is the core of the collision safety vehicle control system, is mainly composed of a computer for realizing ACC, PCS and any other collision safety control of the working device. Realize ACC control to make the own vehicle follow the front vehicle at a speed within a predetermined range, thereby maintaining a predetermined relationship, such as the distance between the two vehicles, to avoid collision between the own vehicle and the front vehicle. On the other hand, PCS control is implemented when the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are likely to collide, so that the occupant protection device is activated (or the occupant protection device is ready to operate) before the collision, or the own vehicle is braked. Although various types of controls such as ACC and PCS control can be used as the collision safety control of the work equipment, the collision safety control device of this system can be set to implement all or more of these collision safety controls, or from these collision safety controls A control of choice. In the present system, the working device may work when the own vehicle is likely to collide with one of at least one front object (wherein the one front object may be a first front vehicle traveling immediately in front of the own vehicle). The degree of "likely" depends on the specific type of crash safety control to be implemented and cannot be generally defined. That is, the threshold value of "collision possibility" that triggers the collision safety control device varies depending on the specific type of the collision safety control. For example, the collision safety control generally starts the PCS control of the working device when the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with the preceding vehicle exceeds a threshold higher than that of the ACC control.

In order to achieve collision safety control, based on the distance between the own vehicle and the front object, the time until the expected moment when the own vehicle reaches the current position of the front object, the time until the expected time when the own vehicle collides with the front object, and any other similar A control parameter that can conveniently or reasonably determine the probability of the ego vehicle colliding with an object in front. For example, the possibility that a first front object (first front vehicle) existing immediately in front of the own vehicle directly collides with the own vehicle is generally quite high. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with the first front object according to the above-mentioned control parameters. The above-mentioned distances as well as arrival time and collision time may be referred to as “collision-related relationship parameters” or simply “relationship parameters”, which represent the relationship between the own vehicle and the mentioned front vehicle. In particular, the arrival time is defined as the time required for the ego vehicle to reach the current position of the object ahead at the ego vehicle's current travel speed, regardless of the movement or travel speed of the object ahead. On the other hand, the collision time is defined as when the ego vehicle The time required for a collision between the vehicle in front and the object in front when the relative velocity between them remains constant. When the front object is a front vehicle, the above-mentioned distance can be called "distance between vehicles", and the above-mentioned arrival time can be called "time between vehicles (time between vehicles)" or "critical time".

In order to control the working device according to the determined possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the front object, determine the working mode of the working device (including the conditions for starting work and the working state of the working device) according to the determined possibility of collision, when the determined Control the working device in the working mode. For example, when the possibility of a collision is relatively high, the time at which the work implement starts to work is advanced relative to the time when the possibility is relatively low. Furthermore, the working device is controlled in such a way that the work by the working device achieves a higher effect when the probability of collision is relatively high than when the probability of collision is relatively low. The moment at which the working device starts working and the effect to be achieved by working can be controlled as described above. The collision safety control of the working device will be described below, so as to advance the start time of work and/or improve the effect achieved by working with the belt as the possibility of collision increases.

In addition to or instead of the above relationship parameters, according to the conditions of the non-first front object information, the control based on the non-first front object information realized by the collision safety control device can be set to determine that the own vehicle collides with the first front vehicle possibility, so that the collision safety control device controls the working device according to the determined possibility of collision. For example, the collision safety control device estimates (estimates) the relationship between the own vehicle and the non-first front object according to the relationship parameter representing the relationship between the own vehicle and the non-first front object, and determines the relationship between the own vehicle and the non-first front object according to the estimated relationship. The probability of collision with the first front vehicle (existing between the own vehicle and the non-first front object) is determined, and the working device is controlled according to the determined possibility of the own vehicle to collide with the first front vehicle. In another example, the collision safety control device is based on the relationship parameters between the non-first front object and the first front vehicle, such as the moving speed of the non-first front object (the speed of the second front vehicle traveling in front of the first front vehicle) travel speed), and the deceleration value of the non-first front object as the moving object, to estimate the possibility of collision between the non-first front object and the first front vehicle. In this example, the collision safety control device determines the possibility of the collision between the own vehicle and the first front vehicle according to the estimated possibility of collision between the first front vehicle and the non-first front object, and according to the determined possibility of the collision of the own vehicle The probability of collision with the first preceding vehicle controls the working device. Compared with the collision safety control based on determining the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the first preceding vehicle based only on the relationship between the own vehicle and the first preceding vehicle, the collision safety control as described above significantly shortens the operation delay of the working device and make it work at its best.

The width-related information for the width-related-information-based control of the working device by the collision safety control device is information concerning the position of at least one front object in the width direction of the own vehicle, in particular the width ( The width dimension of the vehicle in front), and the amount by which each front object deviates from the own vehicle in the width direction of the own vehicle (that is, the position of the selected part of each front object deviates from the reference position of the own vehicle in the width direction of the own vehicle). These width-related information items are initially obtained by width-related information acquisition means (which will be described below), and can be processed by the collision safety control means to obtain other width-related information items. For example, the width-related information acquisition means initially obtains the width of the front object and the center position of the width in the width direction, and processes them through calculation by, for example, the collision safety control means to obtain the end position of the front object in the width direction. It is to be understood that the width-related information used for control based on the width-related information includes information obtained by processing the information initially obtained by the width-related information acquiring means by the collision safety control means.

The collision safety control device of the collision safety vehicle control system may include: (a) an object information acquisition section configured to receive object information from the object information acquisition means, (b) a control object (object) specifying section configured to The object information received by the information acquisition section to designate at least one specific front object each as a control object of the work device collision safety control, (c) an operation mode determination section configured to correspond to each specific front object designated by the control object designation section to determine the control mode of the working device (such as the conditions for starting work and the working state), and (d) a work control part configured to control the operation of the working device according to the control mode determined by the control mode determining part. When the control of the working device based on the non-first front object information is realized under the control of the collision safety control device configured as described above, the non-first front object can be designated as one of at least one specific front object by the control-object designation part . As described below, the control-object designation part of the collision safety control device may be configured to designate at least one forward object based on the width-related information, and the control mode determination part may be configured to determine the control mode of the working device based on the width-related information.

The working device to be controlled by the collision safety control device is not particularly limited, and may include any vehicle deceleration device that decelerates the own vehicle, any occupant protective device that protects the occupants (driver and passenger) when the own vehicle collides and any other device that can be controlled in the manner of a crash safety control. Although a typical example of a vehicle reduction device is a brake device (such as a hydraulically operated brake device), a vehicle reduction device may also include other devices and transmissions (transmissions), other devices such as engine units, electric motors, and Or any other type of driving power source for regenerative braking, while the transmission can be downshifted (downshifted) to increase the braking force to be generated by the driving power source. The occupant protective devices include seat belt devices (preferably equipped with pre-tensioning devices), airbag devices, steering devices (including steering columns with buffer mechanisms) and pedal devices (such as brake pedal devices). into a movable position to reduce the impact on the driver of the own vehicle in the event of a collision with the own vehicle. The working device of the collision safety vehicle control system of the present invention may further include: a steering device having a steering mechanism, which can be operated to avoid the collision of the own vehicle; a suspension device configured to allow the distance between the vehicle body and the ground to be changed. height, so as to reduce the impact on the occupants; rear indicator devices, such as brake lights; and communication devices, used to notify following vehicles that they are in danger of colliding with their own vehicles.

The "at least one front object" whose information is obtained by the object information obtaining means may be a moving object such as a driving vehicle, or a stationary object such as a vehicle parked on the road, and an obstacle or any other object left or placed on the road. The possibility of collision between the first vehicle in front and the own vehicle is used for control based on the information of non-first front objects, the first front vehicle is the first object located immediately in front of the own vehicle, and the own vehicle is most likely to directly collide with it . Although the first preceding vehicle is a vehicle traveling immediately before the own vehicle, the non-first preceding object existing in front of the first preceding vehicle is not limited to the vehicle traveling ahead and may be a stationary object. Each preceding object whose information is used to avoid or handle a collision with the own vehicle is preferably an ego-lane (same-lane) object in the ego-vehicle's ego-lane, which is the imaginary ego-vehicle driving A lane, which has a predetermined width and is not necessarily an actual driving lane marked on the road surface. Preferably the first preceding vehicle and the non-first preceding object are selected from own lane objects.

The at least one non-first front object whose information is used for control based on the non-first front object information may be one non-first front object existing in front of the first front vehicle, or multiple objects existing in front of the first front vehicle. a non-first front object. For example, the control based on the non-first front object information can be realized based on the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with the first front vehicle according to the state of a plurality of non-first front vehicles existing in front of the first front vehicle definite.

The at least one specific object whose width-related information is obtained for the control based on the width-related information is selected from at least one front object whose information is obtained by the object information obtaining means. All of the at least one front object may be selected as the at least one specific object, or one or more of the selected at least one front object may be selected as the specific object. Since the own vehicle has the greatest possibility of directly colliding with the first front object, the at least one specific object preferably includes at least the first front object. Both the control based on the non-first front object information and the width-related information-based control are implemented by the collision safety control device, and the at least one specific object may include at least one non-first front object.

The object information acquisition device of the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (1) of the present invention is not particularly limited in structure. When the collision safety control device is configured to realize at least the control based on the non-first front object information, it is required that the object information acquisition device includes a device capable of detecting at least one non-first front object. Since each non-first front object exists in front of the first front vehicle, and the first front vehicle is located immediately in front of the own vehicle, the object information acquisition device preferably includes a on the device of multiple front objects. When the collision safety control device is configured to implement at least the control based on the width-related information, it is required that the object information acquisition device includes a device capable of obtaining width-related information.

(2) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (1), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to realize at least the control based on the non-first front object information.

According to the collision safety vehicle control system of the above-mentioned form (2) of the present invention, the above-mentioned control based on the non-first front object information can be realized, and the following forms (3)-(20) of the collision safety vehicle control system involve various implementations based on the non-first Configuration of control of front object information

(3) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (2), wherein the object information acquiring means includes an object information acquiring radar means operable to detect a plurality of forward objects existing in front of the own vehicle and located on the own lane for driving the own vehicle, the object information acquisition radar device is operable to acquire object information on each of the at least one forward object.

In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (3) of the present invention, the object information acquisition means includes an object information acquisition radar means capable of detecting a front object, so that the object information acquisition means of the system acquires object information of at least one front object. The radar device can obtain object information of a plurality of front objects located on the own lane of the own vehicle, that is, it can detect that there is at least one non-first front object in front of the first front vehicle, and the first front vehicle is located on the own side. The vehicle is straight ahead. Therefore, the object information obtaining device can obtain object information for realizing control based on non-first front object information.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (3) is defined as the following independent form:

-- A collision-safe vehicle control system for controlling an own vehicle, comprising:

an object information acquisition device comprising a radar device operable to detect a plurality of forward objects existing in front of the own vehicle and on the own lane for the own vehicle to travel, the object information acquisition device operable to obtaining object information about each of the plurality of forward objects, the object information including information relating to a position of each forward object relative to the ego vehicle;

an operating device operable when the own vehicle is likely to collide with at least one of the objects ahead; and

a collision safety control device operable to control the working device based on object information about at least one forward object obtained through the object information obtaining device,

And wherein the collision safety control device can, according to the non-first front object information obtained by the object information acquisition device, distinguish between the own vehicle and the first front vehicle (the first front vehicle is one of the plurality of front objects and exists in close proximity to the own vehicle) When the front) is likely to collide, work is performed to control the work device, the non-first front object information relates to at least one non-first front object, each of the non-first front objects is one of a plurality of front objects and exists in front of the first front vehicle .

It is to be understood that the stand-alone form of the collision safe vehicle control system defined above may include the features of the following collision safe vehicle control system forms (4)-(20).

(4) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (3), wherein the radar device of the object information acquiring device is a millimeter wave type radar device.

A radar device of the millimeter wave type is configured to generate millimeter waves as detection waves having longer wavelengths. Unlike a radar device using laser light, a millimeter-wave type radar device can detect a non-first front object at least partially hidden by a first front vehicle by utilizing a diffraction phenomenon or by reflection of a millimeter wave by a road. Therefore, the radar device of the millimeter wave type can obtain information about the non-first front object, such as the distance, relative angle and relative speed between the non-first front object and the first front vehicle. As described below, the radar device is preferably an FM-CW radar device capable of performing scanning operations by digital beam forming (DBF) to detect objects ahead.

(5) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (2)-(4), wherein the object information obtaining means is operable to obtain the distance between each of the at least one preceding object and the own vehicle At least one of relative angle and relative velocity is used as object information.

The above object information items obtained by the object information acquisition means can be effectively used for collision safety control as information concerning the relationship between the own vehicle and each of the preceding objects. For example, those object information items can be used to determine whether each preceding object exists on the own lane on which the own vehicle is going to travel, or to obtain information such as arrival time and the above-mentioned collision time. The radar device is preferably configured to be able to obtain the above three items of object information at the same time in order to improve the operational responsiveness and efficiency of the system.

(6) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (2)-(5), wherein the object information obtaining means obtains information on the first preceding vehicle as object information on one of the above-mentioned at least one preceding object, The collision safety control device may operate to control the working device based on the information on the first preceding vehicle obtained by the object information obtaining device.

Like in the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (6) of the present invention, in view of the fact that the self-side object has the greatest possibility of directly colliding with the first vehicle in front, it is required to obtain information related to the first vehicle in front according to the information acquired by the object information acquisition device. The information realizes the collision safety control of the working device. For example, the ACC and PCS control of the working device may be implemented based on the relationship parameters between the own vehicle and the first preceding vehicle, which are obtained according to the distance and relative speed between the own vehicle and the first preceding vehicle. When the collision safety vehicle control system is set to further implement such collision safety control according to the specific state of the non-first front object, the collision safety control can be started when the obtained relational parameters meet the predetermined conditions, and the control mode of the working device can be based on the relevant The information of the non-first forward object is changed.

(7) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (2)-(6), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to predict a collision between the first preceding vehicle and at least one non-first preceding object and controlling the working device according to the estimated possibility of collision between the first vehicle in front and at least one non-first front object.

When the estimated possibility of collision between the first front object and any non-first front object is relatively high, it may be determined that the own vehicle is highly likely to collide with the first front vehicle. When the first front vehicle collides with the non-first front vehicle or brakes suddenly to avoid collision with the non-first front vehicle, there is a high possibility that the own vehicle collides with the first front vehicle. In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (7) of the present invention, it is possible to determine the collision between the own vehicle and the first vehicle based on the estimated high possibility of collision between the first vehicle in front and any non-first front object. The collision safety control of the working device is realized when the possibility of collision of the vehicle in front is very high.

(8) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (7), wherein the object information acquiring means acquires information on a second preceding vehicle immediately in front of the first preceding vehicle as object information on at least one non-first preceding object, The collision safety control device is operable to estimate a possibility of a collision between the first and second preceding vehicles, and control the working device based on the estimated possibility of a collision between the first and second preceding vehicles.

The collision-safe vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (8) is configured to realize collision-safe control of the work equipment in accordance with the possibility of multiple collisions of a plurality of vehicles including the own vehicle and a plurality of front vehicles, wherein the plurality of front vehicles The vehicles include a first preceding vehicle and a non-first preceding object in the form of a second preceding vehicle.

(9) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (7) or (8), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the timing at which the working device starts to operate so that the first preceding vehicle and at least the non-first preceding vehicle The start time when the probability of collision between objects is high is earlier than the start time when the probability is low.

The above form (9) of the present invention is an embodiment of the work implement collision safety control based on the possibility of collision between the first front vehicle and any (one or more) non-first front objects. The operation delay of the working device can be shortened by advancing the time when the working device starts to operate. For example, by changing the predetermined conditions for starting ACC and PCS control, it is possible to advance the time when the working device starts working. For example, in the case of determining whether the start condition is met according to the relationship parameters between the own vehicle and the first vehicle in front, the time when the working device starts to work can be advanced by changing the threshold value of the relationship parameter, so that even if the own vehicle represented by the relationship parameter and It also works when the possibility of a collision between the first preceding vehicle is low. In order to advance the start time of the ACC control of the own vehicle, it is possible to advance the time at which the device operable to decelerate the own vehicle starts to operate, more specifically, the time at which the output of the engine device starts to decrease based on the estimated possibility of collision. Time, the start time of the transmission downshift action and the time when the hydraulic brake device takes effect are advanced. In order to advance the start time of PCS control, the action time of the pretensioner of the seat belt device can be advanced to pretension the seat belt before the own vehicle collides, and the emergency brake applied to the own vehicle can be shortened. Time ahead. The time when the working device starts to work may be continuously advanced as the estimated possibility of collision increases, or the time when the working device starts to work can be made gradually ( in stages) in advance.

(10) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (7)-(9), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the work device so that the first vehicle in front and at least one non-second vehicle When the probability of a collision between objects in front is high, the effect achieved by the operation of the working device is increased relative to the effect when the probability is low.

The above form (10) of the present invention is another embodiment of the collision safety control of the working device according to the possibility of collision between the first preceding vehicle and any non-first preceding object. The enhanced effect achieved by working the working device ensures an increased degree of stability of the functions to be performed by the working device. By increasing the workload of the working device or the force generated by the working device, the effect to be achieved by working the working device can generally be increased. For example, the effect achieved by the ACC or PCS control operation can be increased by increasing the deceleration value of the own vehicle or the effect to be achieved by the occupant protective device. In detail, the collision can be made possible by controlling the vehicle deceleration device to increase the deceleration value of the own vehicle, or by controlling the hydraulic brake device so as to increase the hydraulic pressure of the hydraulically operated brake cylinder (cylinder) of the brake device. The effect achieved by the ACC control work increases when the resistance is greater. By controlling the pretensioner of the seat belt device in order to increase the pretension of the seat belt before a collision, the effect to be achieved by the PCS control operation when the probability of a collision is high can be increased. The effect to be achieved by the operation of the working device can be continuously improved with the increase of the presumed collision possibility, or a specific mode can be selected from a plurality of control modes according to the presumed collision possibility, and depending on the specific mode, the waiting The effect achieved by the work of the working device is gradually increased.

(11) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above forms (2) to (10), wherein the object information acquiring means acquires information on a second preceding vehicle immediately in front of the first preceding vehicle as information on at least one non- The object information of the first front object, and the collision safety control device is operable to estimate the deceleration value of the second front vehicle based on the obtained information about the second front vehicle, and based on the estimated deceleration value of the second front vehicle Control work equipment.

For the case where the non-first preceding object is a second preceding vehicle immediately in front of the first preceding vehicle, there is a high probability that emergency braking will be applied to the first preceding vehicle in response to emergency braking applied to the second preceding vehicle. In addition, the first preceding vehicle collides with the second preceding vehicle despite applying emergency braking to the first preceding vehicle. In this case, there is a high possibility that the own vehicle collides with the first preceding vehicle. In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (11) of the present invention, the collision safety control device may be configured to: when the detected deceleration value of the second front vehicle exceeds a threshold value, it is determined that the own vehicle collides with the first front vehicle There is a high probability that the crash safety control suitable for the working device will be activated. For the situation where the relative speed between the own vehicle and the second front vehicle can be detected, the traveling speed of the second front vehicle can be calculated according to the detected relative speed between the own vehicle and the second front vehicle, and according to the calculated traveling speed The speed change rate obtains the deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle, thereby obtaining the deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle. As an alternative, the deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle can be obtained by obtaining the relative deceleration values of the own vehicle and the second preceding vehicle from the rate of change of the detected relative speed. The present collision-safe vehicle control system can be regarded as a system configured to control the working device based on the collision possibility between the first and second preceding vehicles, which is estimated based on the deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle. In this respect, the present system can be regarded as an embodiment of a system configured to control the working device based on the presumed collision possibility of the first vehicle in front with a non-first front object.

(12) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (11), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the timing at which the working device starts to operate so that when the estimated deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle is high The start time is advanced with respect to the start time when the estimated deceleration value is low.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (12) of the present invention is an embodiment of the system according to the above form (11), wherein the working device is controlled based on the estimated deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle. The operation delay of the work equipment can be shortened by advancing the time when the work equipment starts to operate. The specific configuration of advancing the timing at which the work implement starts to work has been described above with respect to the form (9) of the invention.

(13) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (11) or (12), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the work device so that when the estimated deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle is high The effect achieved by the operation of the work machine is greater than the effect when the estimated deceleration value is low.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (13) of the present invention is another embodiment of the system according to the above form (11), wherein the working device is controlled based on the estimated deceleration value of the second preceding vehicle. The enhanced effect achieved by working the working device ensures an increased degree of stability of the functions performed by the working device. The specific configuration in which the effect is enhanced by the operation of the working device has been described above with respect to the aspect (10) of the present invention.

(14) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above forms (2) to (13), wherein the object information acquiring means acquires information on the first preceding vehicle as the object information on one of the at least one preceding object , the collision safety control device can work to estimate at least one relationship value according to the information about the first front vehicle obtained by the object information acquisition device and the above-mentioned non-first front object information about at least one non-first front object , the relationship value represents the relationship between the first front vehicle and the at least one non-first front object, and the at least one relationship value is selected from the distance between the first front vehicle and at least one non-first front object, Until the time when the first vehicle in front reaches the current position of the non-first front object and the time when the first vehicle in front collides with the non-first front object, the collision safety control device estimates at least one relationship value Control work equipment.

In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (14) of the present invention, the working device is controlled according to the relationship between the first vehicle in front and the at least one non-first front object, the relationship being determined by at least one of the above relationship values or parameters One said. These relationship parameters are adapted to infer the probability of a collision between the first preceding vehicle and any non-first preceding object. In this case, the present collision safe vehicle control system may be an embodiment of the system described above, wherein the operating device is controlled based on a presumed likelihood of a collision between the first preceding vehicle and any non-first preceding object. It should be understood that the possibility of a collision between the first front vehicle and the non-first front object varies with the above-mentioned relationship parameters (the distance between the first front vehicle and the non-first front object, until the first front vehicle reaches the above-mentioned non-first front The time at the moment of the current position of the object and the time to the moment at which the first front vehicle collides with the non-first front object) decrease and increase, therefore, the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the first front vehicle increases with The value of the relationship parameter decreases and increases.

(15) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (14), wherein the object information acquiring means acquires information on a second preceding vehicle existing immediately in front of the first preceding vehicle as an object on the aforementioned one other than the first preceding object information, the collision safety control device can work to estimate the first and second front as at least one relational value based on the information about the first front vehicle and the information about the second front vehicle obtained through the object information acquisition device At least one of the distance between the vehicles, the time until the first vehicle in front reaches the current position of the second vehicle in front, and the time until the time when the first vehicle in front collides with the second vehicle in front, the collision safety control device estimates At least one of said distance and time controls the working device.

Given the relationship between a first preceding vehicle and a non-first preceding object in the form of a second preceding vehicle and the possibility of multiple collisions involving multiple vehicles including one's own vehicle and multiple preceding vehicles, the plurality of preceding vehicles including the first The first and second preceding vehicles, thus the collision-safe vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (15) of the present invention is arranged to realize the collision-safe control of the working implement.

(16) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (14) or (15), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the timing at which the working device starts to operate so that the starting time when at least one of the presumed relational values is small is The time is advanced with respect to the start time when at least one of the presumed relationship values is large.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (16) of the present invention is an embodiment of a system, wherein the working device is controlled according to the above-mentioned at least one relationship value described in the above-mentioned form (14), which can be achieved by causing the working device to start working. The time is advanced to shorten the working delay of the working device. The specific configuration of advancing the timing at which the working implement starts to work has been described above with respect to the aspect (9) of the present invention.

(17) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (14) to (16), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the working device so that when the estimated at least one relationship value is small, the The effect achieved by operating the working device is increased relative to the effect if the estimated at least one relation value is larger.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (17) of the present invention is another embodiment of the system according to the above form (14), wherein the working device is controlled based on at least one relational value. The effect to be achieved is enhanced by the working of the working device, which ensures an increased stability of the functions performed by the working device. The specific configuration in which the effect is enhanced by the operation of the working device has been described above regarding the aspect (10) of the present invention.

(18) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (2) to (17), wherein the object information acquisition means includes an operation state information acquisition means for obtaining operation state information, the operation state information representing as at least one The working state of the vehicle in front of one of the front objects, the collision safety control device operates to control the working device according to the working state information obtained by the working state information acquiring device.

Hazards placed on the first vehicle ahead, for example, when the first vehicle ahead brakes, or when the distance from the first vehicle ahead to the second vehicle ahead or any other non-first vehicle ahead becomes shorter The light will be turned on (lit) to inform the own vehicle that the first vehicle in front is in a deceleration state. In this case, it can be considered that the own vehicle is highly likely to collide with the first preceding vehicle. Therefore, the operating state information representing the lighting state of the hazard lamp or the stop lamp, or any other operating state of the preceding vehicle can be effectively used to estimate the possibility of the own vehicle colliding with the first preceding vehicle. When the preceding vehicle is accelerating with the operation of the accelerator pedal to operate the engine throttle, it can be considered that the own vehicle is less likely to collide with the first preceding vehicle. The collision-safe vehicle control system according to the above form (18) is configured to realize the collision-safe control of the working equipment based on the operation state information received from the preceding vehicle. More specifically, the control mode of the working device may be changed when a suitable device on the preceding vehicle is operating. The vehicle ahead may be the first vehicle ahead, or a non-first vehicle ahead, usually a second vehicle ahead. Since the possibility of the own vehicle directly colliding with the first vehicle in front is the greatest, it is desirable to obtain at least information about the working status of the first vehicle in front. Based on not only the object information obtained by the radar device but also the work state information obtained by the work state information acquiring device, the collision safety control of the work device can be realized with enhanced stability.

(19) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (18), wherein the operation state information acquisition device includes a front vehicle monitoring camera (camera) device operable to monitor the front vehicle, and operable to monitor The image data obtained by the camera device obtains the operation state of each of at least one of the brake light and the hazard light provided on the vehicle in front as the operation state information, and the collision safety control device can operate to operate according to the obtained brake light and hazard light. The operating state of each of at least one of the lamps controls the operating device.

In the above form (19) of the present invention, the working state information acquiring device may include a front vehicle monitoring camera device and an image processing device which can process image data obtained by the front vehicle monitoring camera device. Since the working state information can be obtained only through the object information acquiring device installed on the own vehicle and including the working state information acquiring device, the system actually effectively realizes the collision safety control of the own vehicle. When the system can realize the above-mentioned control based on width-related information and control based on non-first front object information, the front vehicle monitoring camera device can also be used to image at least one front object, as described in the form (13) of the present invention as follows .

(20) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (18) or (19), wherein the operating state information acquisition means includes a receiving means operable to receive the operating state information transmitted by radio communication, and the collision safety control means can The working device is controlled according to the working status information received by the receiving device.

In the collision safety vehicle control system according to form (20) of the invention, the operation state information acquiring means is configured to receive the operation state information by radio communication. The receiving device of the working status information acquisition device can receive the working status information directly from the vehicle in front through radio communication with the vehicle in front, or receive the working status information indirectly from the communication device through radio communication with the communication device installed along the road . In a well-established infrastructure environment for communication between own vehicles and other vehicles and between own vehicles and ground communication facilities, the receiving device can easily and reliably receive working status information from vehicles in front and precisely control working equipment.

(21) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above forms (1) to (20), wherein the collision safety control means is operable to realize at least said width-related information-based control.

According to the collision safety vehicle control system of the above-mentioned form (21) of the present invention, the above-mentioned width-related information-based control can be realized, and the following forms (22)-(34) of the collision-safe vehicle control system relate to methods for realizing the width-related information-based control. Various configurations.

(22) The collision safe vehicle control system according to the above form (21), wherein the object information obtaining means includes width-related information obtaining means operable to obtain width-related information related to the above-mentioned at least one specific object.

In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (22) of the invention, the object information acquiring means includes width-related information acquiring means capable of acquiring width-related information on each specific object. The configuration of the width-related information acquisition means is not particularly limited, as long as the width-related information can be obtained by the acquisition means. For example, the width-related information acquisition means is a combination of a radar device, a camera device, and an image processing device (which will be described below), or any other suitable device capable of monitoring the position of each specific object relative to the own vehicle.

The collision safety control system according to the above form (22) is defined as an independent form designed as follows:

A crash-safe vehicle control system for controlling an own vehicle, comprising:

object information obtaining means capable of obtaining object information on each of at least one front object existing in front of the own vehicle, the object information including information relating to the position of each front object relative to the own vehicle;

A working device operable when the likelihood of the own vehicle colliding with at least one of the objects ahead is significant; and

a collision safety control device capable of controlling the working device based on object information about at least one forward object obtained through the object information obtaining device,

And, wherein the object information acquisition means includes a width-related information acquisition means capable of obtaining width-related information, the width-related information relates to the width and width direction (lateral) position of at least one specific object selected from the at least one front object, collision safety control The device can control the working device according to the width-related information of at least one specific object obtained by the width-related information obtaining device.

It is to be understood that the collision safe vehicle control system defined in the above independent form may include the features of the following collision safe vehicle control system forms (23)-(34).

(23) The collision safe vehicle control system according to the above form (22), wherein the width-related information acquiring means includes an object imaging camera means operable to capture an image of each of the at least one forward object; and the image data Processing means operable to process image data representative of images captured by the object imaging camera means to obtain width-related information about each of the at least one particular object.

The collision safety control system according to the above form (23) of the present invention is configured to obtain the width-related information from image data obtained by the object imaging camera device. As mentioned above, the use of radar devices to accurately obtain width-related information requires that appropriate portions of objects in front be provided with reflective devices. On the other hand, the use of an object-imaging camera and an image data processing device allows accurate acquisition of width-related information without having to provide such reflective devices on the front object. From this point of view, the present collision safe vehicle control system can actually effectively control the work equipment. The imaging device includes an imaging device, the structure of which is not particularly limited, and may be a CCD camera or a CMOS camera. The camera can be configured to take monochrome or color images. The image data processing device may mainly consist of a computer, and its configuration depends on the particular type of camera and the required data processing method. The manner of processing the image data to obtain the width-related information is not particularly limited, and may be a known method in the field of image data processing. The camera means may comprise a single camera or a plurality of cameras. For example, the imaging device is a stereoscopic imaging device using two cameras spaced apart from each other. Stereo cameras allow the position of objects ahead to be identified in the longitudinal or direction of travel of the host vehicle.

(24) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (22) or (23), wherein, in addition to the width-related information acquiring means, the object information acquiring means includes object detecting radar means operable to detect the above at least one forward object.

In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (24) of the present invention, the object information acquisition means includes both the width-related information acquisition means and the object detection radar means. When all the front objects are detected by the object imaging camera device and the image data processing device, the image data processing device takes a long time to process the image data, and when the number of front objects is large, the burden on the image data processing device is quite heavy. On the other hand, it is fairly easy to detect objects ahead with a radar setup. In the present collision safety vehicle control system, the object information on each front object can be effectively obtained through the radar device, so that the width-related information on the selected one or more front objects can be obtained through the object imaging camera device and the image data processing device , that is, the width-related information about each specific object. The configuration of the radar device is not particularly limited, but it is required to be configured to obtain at least one of a distance, a relative angle, and a relative speed between each of the at least one front object and the own vehicle as object information. It is preferable to make the radar device generate millimeter waves as detection waves, since this type of radar device can detect all the above-mentioned distances, relative angles and relative velocities. Millimeter waves generated by millimeter wave type radar devices have relatively long wavelengths. Unlike a radar device using laser light, a millimeter-wave type radar device can detect a non-first front object at least partially hidden by a first front vehicle by utilizing a diffraction phenomenon of millimeter waves or reflection by a road surface. The millimeter-wave type radar device is thus able to obtain information on the non-first front object, such as the distance, relative angle and relative speed between the non-first front object and the first front vehicle. The width-related information acquisition device including the object imaging camera device and the image data processing device cannot obtain width-related information about non-first front objects hidden by the first front vehicle. From this point of view, the role of the millimeter-wave radar device is to supplement the width-related information acquisition device. As described below, the radar device is preferably an FM-CW radar device capable of scanning operations by digital beam forming (DBF) to detect objects ahead. For the case where the collision safety vehicle control system according to this form (24) can realize the control based on the non-first front object information and the control based on the width-related information, a single radar device usually performs the object information acquisition described in the above form (3) The radar device and the role of the object detection radar device described with respect to this form (24).

(25) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (24), wherein the object detection radar means is operable to obtain information concerning the approximate position of each of at least one forward object, and the width-related information obtaining means is operable , for obtaining width-related information about each of the at least one specific object based on the information related to the approximate position obtained by the object detection radar device.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (25) of the invention is an embodiment of the system in which the object information acquisition means includes an object detection radar means. As described below, the radar device is generally unable to accurately detect the position of an object in front in some cases, but is effective in detecting the approximate position of the object in front. In the present collision safety vehicle control system, the width-related information acquisition means acquires width-related information on each specific object based on the approximate position of each specific object obtained by the radar means, so that the load on the width-related information acquisition means can be reduced . When the width-related information acquisition device includes an object imaging camera device and an image data processing device capable of obtaining width-related information, according to the approximate position of the front object detected by the radar device, the image of the front object is extracted in the field of view of the camera device as a specific An image of an object, and image data representing the image is processed to obtain the width and/or widthwise position of a particular object.

(26) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (24) or (25), wherein the width-related information acquiring means selects the aforementioned at least one specific object from the aforementioned at least one forward object detected by the object detecting radar means, and acquires information about Width-related information of each of the at least one specific object.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (26) of the invention is an embodiment of the system in which the object information acquisition means includes the object detection radar means. For the case where each front object is detected by the object imaging camera device and the image data processing device, the image data processing device takes a long time to process the image data, and the burden on the image data processing device is quite large, as described above. In the present collision safe vehicle control system, the selected one or more forward objects detected by the radar device are selected as at least one specific object, so that only the width-related information of the selected at least one specific object is obtained. Therefore, object information of all front objects can be efficiently obtained, and width-related information about (one or more) specific objects can also be efficiently obtained. For example, only those width-related information of objects in front that are detected by the radar device and whose width-related information is necessary for collision-safe control of the working device are acquired. As an alternative, only the width-related information of the front object found to be located in the driving lane of the own vehicle is obtained.

(27) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (21) to (26), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to operate based on the widthwise center of at least one specific object indicated by the width-related information. position to control the working device.

The collision-safe vehicle control system according to the above form (27) of the present invention is an embodiment involving a reference position of each front object for collision-safe control of the work equipment. In the present system in which the center position of each front object in the width direction is selected as its reference position, the manner of collision safety control can be relatively easily determined.

(28) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (21) to (27), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to determine the For controlling the working device, the relative position in the width direction is indicated by width-related information.

The collision-safe vehicle control system according to the above form (28) of the present invention is another embodiment involving a reference position of each front object for collision-safe control of the work equipment. In this system which selects one or two widthwise end positions of each front object along its width direction as its reference position, the collision safety control device can easily perform various processing tasks, such as determining whether each front object is within its own position or not. work on the driveway of vehicles on the other side.

(29) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (21) to (28), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to estimate the own vehicle and the Each of at least one of the specified objects has an overlap ratio that is the ratio of the own vehicle's overlap width relative to its overall width that would be expected if the own vehicle collided with each of the specified objects at the overlap width, collision safety The control device is operable to control the working device based on the estimated overlap ratio.

When the own vehicle collides with the front object, the own vehicle receives a larger impact if the contact surface area between the own vehicle and the front object is larger. For the case where the own vehicle and the front vehicle have the same width, the impact when the own vehicle and the front vehicle collide with each other so that the widthwise centerlines of the two vehicles are aligned with each other, that is, when the overlap ratio is 1.0 (when the overlap percentage is 100%), the impact is usually considered the largest. When the collision is an offset collision with the centerlines separated from each other widthwise, the impact is considered to be small and decreases as the distance between the centerlines of the two vehicles increases. Therefore, the overlap ratio is a parameter that expresses the magnitude of the impact of a collision. When the collision safety control takes into account the presumed collision impact, it is possible to optimize the collision safety control of the work implement, especially the PCS control, to meet the specific situation. Therefore, the present collision-safe vehicle control system which realizes the collision-safe control according to the overlap ratio can actually effectively control the work equipment.

(30) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (29), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the timing at which the working device starts to work so that the starting timing when the estimated overlap ratio is large relative to the overlap ratio Smaller moments ahead.

The above form (30) of the present invention is an embodiment in which the working device performs collision safety control according to the overlapping ratio of the own vehicle and the object in front. The collision impact is considered to be larger when the overlap ratio is larger. In the present collision safety vehicle control system in which the timing at which the work equipment starts to operate is advanced when the overlap ratio is large, the operation delay of the work equipment can be shortened. For example, by changing the predetermined conditions for starting ACC and PCS control, the time when the working device starts to work can be advanced. When judging whether the start condition is met according to the relationship parameters between the own vehicle and the first vehicle in front, for example, the time when the working device starts to work can be advanced by changing the relationship parameter threshold, so that even when the own vehicle represented by the relationship parameter This work is also initiated when the possibility of a collision between the vehicle and the first preceding vehicle is low. In order to advance the time when the own vehicle starts ACC control, according to the estimated overlap ratio, the start time of the device that can be used to decelerate the own vehicle can be advanced, more specifically, the time when the output of the engine device starts to decrease, the transmission The timing of starting the downshift and the activation of the hydraulic brakes is brought forward. In order to advance the timing of starting the PCS control, it is possible to advance the activation timing of the seat belt pretensioner before the own vehicle collides, and to advance the timing of emergency braking applied to the own vehicle. The time when the working device starts to work can be continuously advanced with the increase of the estimated overlap ratio, or a specific mode can be selected from multiple control modes according to the estimated overlap ratio, and the time when the working device starts to work can be divided depending on the specific mode. stage ahead.

(31) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (29) or (30), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to control the work device so that the operation of the work device is performed when the presumed overlap ratio is high. The effect achieved is increased relative to the effect obtained when the presumed overlap ratio is low.

The above form (31) of the present invention is another embodiment in which the working device performs collision safety control based on the estimated overlap ratio. Since the collision impact is considered to be larger when the overlap ratio is higher, in the present collision safe vehicle control system, the effect is enhanced by working the working device, thereby ensuring an increased degree of stability of the function to be performed by the working device. The effect to be achieved by working the working device can generally be increased by increasing the workload of the working device or the force generated by the working device. For example, the effect to be achieved by the ACC or PCS control operation can be increased by increasing the deceleration value of the own vehicle or the effect to be achieved by the occupant protective device. In detail, the presumed overlap can be increased by controlling the vehicle deceleration device so as to increase the deceleration value of the own vehicle, or by controlling the hydraulic brake device so as to increase the hydraulic pressure of the hydraulically operated brake cylinder of the brake device The effect to be achieved by the ACC control operation when the ratio is larger. The effect to be achieved by the PCS control work when the overlap ratio is large can be increased by controlling the pretensioner of the seat belt device so as to increase the pretension of the seat belt before the collision. The effect to be achieved by the operation of the working device can be continuously improved with the increase of the inferred overlap ratio, or a specific mode can be selected from a plurality of control modes according to the inferred overlap ratio, and the specific mode can be used to make the to-be-operated The effect achieved by the work of the device increases in stages.

(32) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (21) to (31), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to determine at least one specific whether each of the objects is located on the own lane for the own vehicle to travel, and control the working device according to the result of the determination.

In the collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (32) of the invention, it is checked whether each specific object is an own lane object located on the own lane of the own vehicle. The own lane is an imaginary driving lane in which the own vehicle is expected to travel, has a predetermined width, and does not have to be an actual driving lane marked on the road surface. Width related information can be effectively used to determine whether each specific object is an ego-lane object. In this system, width-related information is used to efficiently detect objects ahead in the own lane.

(33) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (32), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to determine that at least one specific object Each of the is located on its own lane.

The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above-mentioned form (33) of the present invention is an embodiment of the system related to determining whether each specific object is an own lane object located on the own lane. For example, if at least one of the positions on both sides (both ends) in the width direction of the front object indicated by the width-related information is within the width of the own lane, it is determined that the front object is located on the own lane. In this system, it is easy to determine whether each object in front is an object in the own lane.

(34) The collision safety vehicle control system according to any one of the above-mentioned forms (21) to (33), wherein the object information obtaining means is operable to obtain width-related information on each of at least one specific preceding vehicle, each The specific front vehicle is one of the above-mentioned at least one specific object, and is a front vehicle located in front of the own vehicle, and the collision safety control device is operable to control the operation based on the width-related information on each of the at least one specific front vehicle. device.

In collision safety control of a work implement, generally, at least one preceding vehicle existing in front of the host vehicle is considered. In the ACC control, for example, the work machine may be controlled so that the own vehicle follows the first preceding vehicle. In this case, it is required to obtain width-related information on the first preceding vehicle, and it is important. In PCS control, it is also required to obtain width-related information on the first preceding vehicle with which the own vehicle is likely to collide with it, and this is also important.

(35) The collision safety vehicle control system according to the above form (1), wherein the collision safety control device is operable to simultaneously realize the control based on the non-first front object information and the control based on the width-related information.

According to the collision safety vehicle control system of the above form (35) of the present invention, the control based on the non-first front object information and the control based on the width-related information can be realized simultaneously, and the working device can actually be effectively controlled. The present system may incorporate any one of the technical features according to the above forms (3)-(20) and (22) to (34).

best practice

An embodiment of the collision safety vehicle control system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make various changes and improvements as described in the above summary of the invention.

<Overall configuration of the system>

Referring first to the block diagram shown in FIG. 1, there is shown a crash-safe vehicle control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the system includes multiple electronic controllers, and each electronic controller is composed of a computer, referred to as "ECU". These ECUs include a central ECU as a crash safety control device in the form of a crash safety ECU 10 . As described below, the collision safety ECU 10 is configured to obtain the relative positional relationship between the own vehicle and at least one preceding vehicle existing in front of the own vehicle, and realize the operation by controlling appropriate working devices described below according to the obtained relative positional relationship. Collision safety control of own vehicle, such as ACC and PCS control (automotive cruise control, or adaptive cruise control, and collision prevention safety control).

The collision safety ECU 10 is connected to various detection devices through the sensor system LAN 12 (local area network of the own vehicle), and is configured to control these detection devices and obtain information concerning the surrounding environment of the own vehicle and information concerning the running state (behavior) of the own vehicle information. The detection device provided in the present collision safety vehicle control system includes a radar device 14 , an image-based information acquisition device 20 and a yaw rate sensor 22 arranged and constructed according to the principle of the present invention. The radar device 14 functions as an object information acquisition radar device and an object detection radar device. The image-based information acquisition device 20 includes two CCD cameras 16 and an image data processor 18 . The CCD camera 16 functions as an object imaging camera and a front vehicle monitoring camera. A yaw rate sensor 22 is provided to monitor the yaw rate of the own vehicle. The radar device 14 and the image-based information acquisition device 20 constitute the main part of the object information acquisition device of the present collision safety vehicle control system.

The collision safety ECU 10 is also connected to the control system LAN 30 (local area network in the own vehicle), and various working devices are connected to the control system LAN 30 through corresponding ECUs. These working devices are controlled electronically, and the corresponding ECUs are connected to the crash safety ECU 10 through the control system LAN 30. Figure 1 shows some working equipment arranged and constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. These working devices are: engine device, including engine ECU 32 and electronic throttle actuator controlled by engine ECU 32; Speed changer (transmission part) ECU 36 and speed changer actuator 38 controlled by speed changer ECU 36; Braking device, Comprising brake ECU 42 and brake actuator 44 controlled by brake ECU 42; Steering device includes steering ECU 46 and steering actuator 48 controlled by steering ECU 46; Seat belt device includes seat belt ECU 50 and a seat belt actuator 52 controlled by the seat belt ECU 50; and an air bag device including an air bag ECU 56 and an air bag actuator 56 controlled by the air bag ECU 54. These working devices are controlled based on control signals received from the crash safety ECU 10 as described below. The braking device further includes a wheel speed sensor 64 , and the steering device further includes a steering angle sensor 66 . The collision safety ECU 10 obtains the traveling speed and the steering angle of the own vehicle detected by the wheel speed sensor 64 and the steering angle sensor 66 as own vehicle information concerning the own vehicle. For example, the collision safety ECU 10 obtains the travel speed based on the calculated average peripheral speed of the four wheels of the self-party vehicle. The steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor 66 is obtained by the rotation angle of the own vehicle's steering wheel from its neutral position, or by the steering angle of the own vehicle's steerable wheels relative to the own vehicle's longitudinal direction.

The present collision safe vehicle control system also includes a communication device 70 that wirelessly communicates with surrounding vehicles that exist near the own vehicle, and communication devices that are arranged along the road at predetermined intervals. The communication device 70 is connected to an AV system LAN 72 (local area network in the own vehicle) for providing car navigation information. The AV system LAN 72 is connected to the control system LAN 30 through the gateway ECU 74. Therefore, the collision safety ECU 10 can obtain information related to surrounding vehicles, and transmit the obtained information to the surrounding vehicles. The communication device 70 constitutes a part of the object information acquisition device described above.

The present collision safety vehicle control system is set to: control the above-mentioned working device for realizing the ACC and PCS control of the own vehicle according to the state of the front object detected by the radar device 14, the CCD camera 16, etc., so as to prevent the own vehicle from colliding with the front object. Such as collision of a preceding vehicle existing in front of the own vehicle, and protection of the occupants (driver and passenger) of the own vehicle when the own vehicle collides.

<Radar Device>

The radar device 14 provided in this collision safety vehicle control system is a millimeter-wave type radar using a millimeter wave as a detection wave, and is an FM-CW type radar using a transmission signal obtained by continuous wave (CW) frequency modulation (FM processing). radar device. The radar device 14 is mounted on the host vehicle and is operable to detect front objects, such as front vehicles and traffic or road signals, and at the same time obtain the positional relationship and speed of the own vehicle relative to the front objects. The radar device 14 uses an adaptive array antenna filter and is configured to form and scan an antenna beam by a digital beam forming (DBF) technique so as to detect a front object as point information. The detection principle and DBF technology of the FM-CW radar device are well-known technologies in the art, as described in detail in JP-A-2003-130945 and JP-A-8-220220, so it is not necessary to understand the present invention explain it further.

The present radar device 14 detects a front object within a predetermined detection range. Specifically, the radar device 14 is set to scan a predetermined angle range (such as an angle range of 10-20°) within a predetermined distance range limited by a predetermined maximum distance (such as 200 m) in front of the own vehicle, so that the radar device 14 detects An object in front of the vehicle whose distance from the own vehicle exceeds the maximum distance. The radar device 14 is also configured so that when the own vehicle is running on a curved road surface (on a curved lane of the road surface), the width of the detection range in the lateral or width direction of the own vehicle can be determined according to the own vehicle detected by the steering angle sensor 66. The vehicle steering angle and the traveling speed of the own vehicle detected by the wheel speed sensor 64 (or the yaw rate of the own vehicle detected by the yaw rate sensor 22 ) vary.

Unlike a radar device using laser light, the present radar device 14 is capable of detecting a non-first front object hidden by a first front object (eg, a first front vehicle) immediately in front of the own vehicle. For example, in the case of two preceding vehicles driving ahead of the own vehicle on a straight road, the radar device 14 can detect a second leading vehicle driving ahead of the first leading vehicle, which is driving immediately in front of the own vehicle. Referring to FIG. 2 , there is shown an example in which a wave having a longer wavelength is emitted by a radar device 14 mounted on an own vehicle C0, and the emitted wave reaches a second preceding vehicle located in front of a first preceding vehicle Cf due to a diffraction phenomenon. Cff, the first front vehicle Cf is running immediately in front of the own vehicle C0. The wave that has reached the second preceding vehicle Cff is reflected by the vehicle Cff and received by the own vehicle C0. FIG. 3 shows another example in which the detection wave emitted by the own vehicle C0 is reflected by the road surface area located under the body of the first preceding vehicle Cf, and reaches the second preceding vehicle Cff. The detection wave reaching the second preceding vehicle Cff is reflected by the vehicle Cff and received by the own vehicle C0. As will be described below, the present collision safety vehicle control system including the radar device 14 having the above-mentioned technical features obtains the own vehicle and the distance between the vehicle in front of the first preceding vehicle (the first preceding vehicle is traveling immediately in front of the own vehicle). The relative positional relationship between the second vehicles in front, and the obtained relative positional relationship is effectively used to realize the ACC and PCS control of the own vehicle.

The radar device 14 detects the maximum (strong) reflection portion of the front object in which the reflectance to the wave emitted by the radar device 14 is the largest. A more detailed description will be given regarding the example shown in FIG. 4, wherein the front object is a front vehicle, the rear end face of the front vehicle Cn has a maximum reflection portion Q′(Cn), and the radar device 14 obtains the front end center O and the maximum reflection portion of the own party vehicle C0. The relative positions and relative velocities between the parts Q'(Cn) serve as the relative positional relationship between the own vehicle C0 and the preceding vehicle Cn. In more detail, the radar device 14 obtains (a) the distance I _Cn-C0 between the own vehicle C0 and the front vehicle Cn, (b) the distance from the center line CL in the width direction of the own vehicle C0 and the connection center O and the maximum reflection portion Q The relative angle θ _Cn defined by the straight line O-Q'(Cn) of '(Cn), and (c) the relative velocity V _Cn of the own vehicle C0 and the front vehicle Cn along the direction parallel to the straight line O-Q'(Cn) _-Co . The distance I _Cn-C0 is one of parameters indicating the relative positional relationship between the own vehicle C0 and the preceding vehicle Cn. The relative speed is represented by a positive value when the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle approach each other. Even when the front object is stationary such as a stationary vehicle, the relative positional relationship is obtained. It should be pointed out that when the relative angle θ _Cn is large, the detected relative speed V _Cn-C0 cannot accurately represent the difference between the traveling speeds V _C0 and V _CN of the own vehicle and the vehicle in front, but it can be properly used as a parameter for the ACC and PCS controls because these controls deal with collisions between the own vehicle and the vehicle ahead according to the rate of change of the distance I _Cn-C0 .

The position of the maximum reflection portion of the preceding vehicle in the width direction of the own vehicle does not remain constant, but changes according to the positional relationship between the own vehicle and the front object. When the widthwise position of the most reflective portion of the front object is estimated, the estimated widthwise position may include a certain amount of estimation error. When precise control of the ego vehicle is required, appropriate measures must be taken to eliminate guessing errors.

The radar device 14 is configured to detect objects ahead intermittently at very short time intervals (tens of milliseconds). The radar device 14 includes a processor mainly composed of a CPU for processing obtained object information in order to specify a detected forward object based on a plurality of information sets obtained in a corresponding final detection cycle. In other words, the radar device 14 has the function of following or monitoring designated one or more objects in front according to changes in the obtained relative positional relationship, relative speed, etc., thereby eliminating unwanted noise, guardrails and any other things in the outside the object to be monitored. This processing method, which is not particularly limited, is disclosed, for example, in the above-mentioned publication JP-A-8-220220. The radar device 14 is arranged to carry out this process so that a particular object is selected from among objects ahead. Specific objects include vehicles traveling ahead of the own vehicle and stationary objects on the road, such as stationary vehicles. The acquired relative positional relationship and relative velocity information on the selected specific object is sent to the image-based information acquiring device 20, and then transmitted to the collision safety ECU 10 according to a request command from the ECU 10.

<Image-based information acquisition device>

The image-based information acquisition device 20 comprises mainly two CCD cameras 16 and an image processor 18 mainly constituted by a computer. Two CCD cameras 16 are connected to corresponding two side ends (opposite ends) of corresponding two door mirrors or front grills of the own vehicle, and serve as stereoscopic camera devices. The image-based information acquisition device 20 operates to detect the position of an object ahead relative to a reference position on the ego vehicle, ie the center O of the front face, according to the so-called triangulation principle utilizing the parallax of each CCD camera 16 .

The image processor 18 is arranged to process relative positional relationships and other information about particular objects from the radar device 14 . From the information received, the image processor 18 is able to detect the approximate position of each particular object (defined by the distance I _Cn-C0 and the relative angle θ _Cn described above). The detected position of the specific object is recognized by the image processor 18 as an image of the specific object, the part of which moves within the field of view of the CDD camera 16 . The processing mode of the image processor 18 is not particularly limited, and is a well-known technology in the art.

Referring to FIG. 5 , in the example shown in the figure, the specific object is in the form of a leading vehicle Cn traveling in front of the own vehicle C0. In this example, the information obtained by the image processor 18 includes: the width W _Cn of the specific object and the position ΔX of the center Q(Cn) of the specific object relative to the width centerline CL of the own vehicle C0 in the width direction of the own vehicle C0 _Q (CN). When the center Q(Cn) is on the right side of the width center line CL, the position ΔX _Q (CN) is expressed as a positive value, and when the center Q(Cn) is on the left side of the width center line CL, the position ΔX _Q (CN) is expressed as a negative value value. The width WCn and the central position _ΔXQ (CN) of the specific object are obtained by calculation based on both ends (opposite ends) of the image detected along the width direction of the own vehicle, which is recognized by the image data processor 18 as described above. of. For example, in the case that the specific object is the front vehicle Cn, two width indicator lamps (width end indicator lamps) of the front vehicle can be detected as both side ends in the width direction of the front vehicle, so as to obtain the width and width direction of the specific object as related to the specific object width and width direction. Width of position related information width W _Cn and center position ΔX _Q (CN). Therefore, the image-based information acquisition means 20 functions as a width-related information acquisition means.

As described above, the radar device 14 detects the indeterminate position of the maximum reflection portion Q'(Cn) of the front object as the front object position, while on the other hand, the image-based information acquisition device 20 can precisely specify the position of the front object. In this embodiment, the image-based information acquisition device 20 is configured to accurately detect the width and widthwise position of the front object based on the approximate position of the front object obtained by the radar device 14 . The image data processor 18 provided in this embodiment is configured to perform intermittent processing cycles at variable short time intervals (tens of milliseconds), and has a function of following or monitoring objects ahead, like the radar device 14 .

According to a request command from the ECU 10, the obtained width W _Cn , center position ΔX _Q (CN) and other information of each specific object are transmitted to the crash safety ECU 10 . It should be pointed out that the CCD camera 16 may not be able to obtain image data of a non-first front object hidden by the first front object, such as a second front vehicle just in front of the first front vehicle, while the second front vehicle is hidden by the first front object. A vehicle ahead is driving immediately in front of your own vehicle. In this case, the image-based information acquiring device 20 notifies the collision safety ECU 10 that the CCD camera 16 cannot acquire image data.

In the present embodiment, the image-based information acquisition device 20 detects the position of each front object by utilizing the parallax of the two CCD cameras 16 . However, the parallax method can be replaced by a method of inferring a specific object within the field of view of one of the CCD cameras 16 based on the relative positional relationship obtained by the radar device 14, and detecting the proper position of the presumed specific object within the field of view. The position of the part, so that the width-related information can be obtained according to the position of the appropriate part of the detected specific object. According to this alternative method, each of the two spaced apart CCD cameras 16 can be used independently so that the dead zone (dead zone or dead space) in which the first front object is hidden by the first front object observed by the ego vehicle ) narrows. Therefore, the image-based information acquisition device 20 can use only one CCD camera 16 .

The two CCD cameras 16 of the image-based information acquisition device 20 are each a color imaging camera such that the image-based information acquisition device 20 can recognize the color of a specific object or the color of a part of a specific object. For example, in the case that the specific object is a vehicle in front, the device 20 can recognize the lighting states of brake lamps, hazard lamps, turn signals and any other indicator lights provided on the vehicle in front. In the present embodiment, the image processor 18 is configured to detect the lighting state of the brake lamp as the operating state information of the first preceding vehicle as one of the specific objects. The obtained operation status information and the above-mentioned width-related information are sent to the crash safety ECU 10 . That is, the image-based information acquisition device 20 also functions as an operation status information acquisition device.

<Collision Safety Control>

The collision safety control performed by the present collision safety vehicle control system includes the control of the working device based on the non-first front object information and the control of the working device based on the width-related information. According to the collision safety control program stored in the ROM of the collision safety ECU 10, the control based on the non-first front object information and the control based on the width related information are executed. The crash safety control routine is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 and begins with step S0 in which the crash safety vehicle control system is initialized. After step S0, proceed to steps S1-S5 to execute the corresponding five routines, namely, step S1, execute the routine for specifying objects in the own lane; step S2, execute the routine for specifying objects for ACC and PCS work; Step S3, execute the first routine for control mode determination; step S4, execute the second routine for control mode determination; step S5, execute the routine for realizing ACC and PCS control. In the initialization of step S0, various parameters, mode indicator values, flags etc. are reset. Next, steps S1-S5 are executed in sequence. This collision safety control routine is repeatedly executed with a short cycle time (for example, several tens of milliseconds) while the ignition switch of the own vehicle is in the ON state. The routine in steps S1-S5 is described below in order.

I) Routine for specifying self-side lane objects

As shown in the flowchart in FIG. 7, the own lane object specifying routine in step S1 is executed. The routine starts at step S101 to obtain information about each specific front object Cn (n=1, 2, . . . ) that has been detected by the radar device 14 as to be monitored. objects. In detail, the information obtained in step S101 includes the distance I _Cn-C0 between the own vehicle C0 and each front object Cn, the relative angle θ _Cn of each front object Cn seen by the own vehicle C0 And the relative velocity V _Cn-Co of own object C0 and each particular front object Cn. Next, the flow of control proceeds to step S102, so that the driving speed V _C0 of the own vehicle detected by the wheel speed sensor 64 (or the own vehicle detected by the yaw rate sensor 22 ) The yaw rate γ) predicts or limits the own lane OL. The own lane OL is an imaginary travel lane in which the own vehicle is expected to travel and has a predetermined width. In detail, the center line COL of the own lane OL is obtained as a trajectory through which the reference position O of the own vehicle (the center in the width direction of the front end of the own vehicle) passes, and the own lane OL is defined so that the own lane OL has a predetermined Width W _OL (eg 3m) and its center lies on the obtained center line COL. When the own vehicle travels straight, the own lane OL is a lane extending straight and parallel to the widthwise centerline CL of the own lane. For the case of the own vehicle turning, the own lane OL is curved according to the own vehicle turning radius.

Step S102 is followed by step S103, wherein at least one potential (highly probable) self-lane object is selected from the specific object Cn. Each potential own lane object is a front object Cn with a high possibility of existing in the own lane OL. Referring to FIG. 8, the figure shows the positional relationship of the own vehicle C0 and some specific front objects Cn recognized by the radar device 14 when the own vehicle makes a turn along a road curve having a large radius. In the example shown in FIG. 8, there are six preceding vehicles as specific preceding objects Cn on a part of the road ahead of the own vehicle C0. 9A and 9B show two examples of the positional relationship between a preceding vehicle Cn and the own lane OL. The selection of potential ego lane objects from specific objects is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8 , 9A and 9B. Initially, based on the data representing the distance I _Cn-C0 between the reference position of the own vehicle C0 and the portion Q'(Cn) of the specific object Cn detected by the radar device 14, the data representing the relative angle θ _Cn , and the data representing the own vehicle Cn The data of the center line COL of the lane OL obtains the deviation amount ΔQ'(Cn) of each specific object Cn from the center line COL of the own lane OL. That is, the deviation amount ΔQ'(Cn) of each specific object Cn from the center line COL of the own lane OL in the width direction of the own vehicle C0 is calculated. If the absolute value of the deviation ΔQ'(Cn) is greater than the width W _OL of the own lane OL, the front object Cn is not selected as a potential own lane object. In detail, the front object Cn in the example shown in FIG. 9A is selected as a potential own lane object, but the front object Cn in the example shown in FIG. 9B is not selected as a potential own lane object. If the width of each front object Cn can be accurately detected by the radar device 14, the threshold for selecting potential ego-lane objects may be W _OL /2. However, the radar device 14 cannot accurately detect the width of the preceding vehicle Cn, and W _OL is used as a threshold in step S103. That is, step S103 determines whether or not a portion Q'(Cn) of each specific object Cn recognized by the radar device 14 is located within a lane whose center line is C0L and width is 2W _OL . The threshold used in step S102 is not limited to W _OL /2, and can also be selected according to the specific collision safety control to be realized as needed. According to the selection in step S103, the front vehicles C2 and C5 in the example shown in FIG. 8 are excluded from potential own lane objects.

Next, the flow of control proceeds to step S104, receiving from the image-based information acquisition device 20 the width in the form of the width Wcn of each selected specific object _Cn and the width center position _ΔXQ (Cn) of the potential ego lane object Cn Related Information. Step S105 is followed after step 104 to calculate three widthwise positions of each potential self-lane object Cn as another part of width-related information. These three widthwise positions are deviated from the deviation ΔQ(Cn) of the widthwise center Q(Cn) of the specific object Cn from the centerline CO _L of the own lane _OL , and the right and left ends _QR ( Cn) and Q _L (Cn) deviate from the center line COL by ΔQ _R (Cn) and ΔQ _L (Cn), as shown in Figure 10. Each deviation amount ΔQ(Cn), _ΔQR (Cn) and _ΔQL (Cn) is calculated based on the assumption that the distance between the front object Cn and the own vehicle C0 is the distance I _Cn-C0 detected by the radar device 14 . For the corresponding positions Q(Cn), _QR (Cn) and _QL (Cn) located on the right side of the centerline COL when viewed along the driving direction of the own vehicle C0, the deviations ΔQ(Cn), _ΔQR (Cn) and ΔQ _L (Cn) is a positive value, and (the amount of deviation) is a negative value for the positions Q(Cn), _QR (Cn) and _QL (Cn) located on the left side of the center line COL. For a self-vehicle traveling straight (without turning), the deviation ΔQ(Cn) of the widthwise center Q(Cn) of the potential own-side lane object Cn is equal to the aforementioned widthwise center position ΔX _Q (Cn).

Then the control flow goes to steps S106-S113 to determine whether each potential own-lane object Cn selected in step S103 is located on the own-lane OL, ie whether each potential own-lane object is an own-lane object. That is, step S106 is performed to determine whether the deviation ΔQ(Cn) of the center Q(Cn) in the width direction is a positive value, that is, whether the centerline Q(Cn) of the width direction deviates from the center line COL of the own lane OL along the right, as shown in FIG. 11A and 11B. If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S106, the control flow proceeds to step S107 to judge whether the deviation amount ΔQ _L (Cn) of the left end Q _L (Cn) is less than half of the width W _OL of the own lane OL, That is, whether the left end Q _L (Cn) is located on the own lane OL, as shown in FIG. 11A . If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S107, the specific object Cn will be regarded as existing on the own lane OL, and the flow of control proceeds to step S108 to set the own lane object flag F _Cn as "1", that is, it is determined that the specific object Cn is an object in the own lane. If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step S107, the specific object Cn is regarded as existing outside the own lane OL, as shown in FIG. _Cn is set to "0", that is, it is determined that the specific object Cn is not an object of the own lane. If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step S106, that is, if the widthwise center Q(Cn) deviates from the center line COL in the left direction, as shown in FIGS. Whether the absolute value of the deviation ΔQ _R (Cn) of _R (Cn) is less than half of the width W _OL , that is, whether the right end Q _R (Cn) is located on the own lane OL, as shown in FIG. 11C . If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S110, the specific object Cn will be regarded as existing on the own lane OL, and the flow of control proceeds to step S111 to set the own lane object flag F _Cn as "1". If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step S110, the specific object Cn is regarded as existing outside the own lane OL, as shown in FIG. 11D, the control flow proceeds to step S112 to mark the own lane object F _Cn is set to "0". Therefore, when at least the left end or the right end of the specific object Cn is within the width WOL of the own lane OL, steps S106-S112 are performed to determine that the specific object Cn is an own lane object existing on the own lane OL of the own vehicle C0. Steps S108, S109, S111 and S112 are followed by step S113 to determine whether steps S106-S112 have been executed for all potential self-lane objects Cn. Steps S106-S112 are repeatedly executed until an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S113. When an affirmative judgment result is obtained in step S113, one execution cycle of the routine shown in FIG. 7 is ended. In the example shown in FIG. 8, it is judged that the vehicles C1, C4, and C6 in front are objects in the own lane.

As described above, the collision safety ECU 10 is notified when the image-based information acquiring device 20 fails to acquire width-related information on any front object Cn hidden by another front object Cn _-1 (traveling ahead of the object Cn) : The image-based information acquisition device 20 has not acquired width-related information about the front object Cn. If any potential ego lane object Cn is any front object Cn whose width-related information is not obtained by the image-based information acquisition device 20, the portion Q'(Cn) of the potential ego lane object Cn identified by the radar device 14 Considered as its widthwise center Q(Cn), the deviations ΔQ _R (Cn) and ΔQ _L (Cn) of the left and right ends of the potential ego lane object Cn are regarded as zero. That is, the said potential own-lane object Cn is considered to exist on the own-lane OL, so it is regarded as an own-lane object. If no potential own lane object is selected from the specific objects Cn in step S103, one execution cycle of the own lane object designation routine is terminated, and steps S106-S113 are skipped.

Based on the center position in the width direction of the potential own lane object and at least one of the left and right end positions, a judgment is made on whether each potential own lane object is an own lane object. That is, based on the width-related information, a judgment is made as to whether a potential own lane object exists on the own lane OL. This judgment is more reliable than a judgment based only on each specific object information obtained by the radar device 14 . If the requirement for the judgment accuracy of whether each specific object is an object in the own lane is not very high, steps S104-S113 can be cancelled. In this case, each potential own-lane object selected in steps S101-S103 is judged as an own-lane object.

Steps S101 - S103 may be performed by a data processor of the radar device 114 . In this case, information relating to potential own lane objects is sent to the image-based information acquisition means 20 and the image data processor 18 processes the received information to obtain width related information of the potential own lane objects. This modification reduces the number of objects whose information is processed by the image data processor 18, so that the burden on the image data processor 18 is reduced accordingly.

II) ACC/PCS object specification routine

Step S1 of the collision safety control procedure is followed by step S2 to designate objects for ACC and PCS control. That is, after execution of the routine for designating an own lane object, the routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is executed to designate a body (object) for ACC and PCS control. The routine of FIG. 12 starts at step S201 to determine whether any own lane object Cn exists on the own lane OL of the own vehicle C0. If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step S201, the control flow goes to step S5 of the collision safety control routine shown in FIG. 6, ie, to the ACC and PCS control routine. If an affirmative determination result (Yes) is obtained in step S201, the flow of control proceeds to step S202 to specify the first front object Cf traveling immediately in front of the vehicle C0. If only one front object exists in the own lane OL, it is determined that the object is the first front object Cf. For a plurality of front objects existing in the own lane OL and located in front of the own vehicle, the front object whose distance I _Cn-C0 from the own vehicle is the shortest is judged as the first front object Cf. In order to realize the ACC and PCS control of the own vehicle, determine the first front object Cf, in order to avoid the collision of the own vehicle with the first front object Cf, and protect the own vehicle when the own vehicle collides with the first front object Cf crew. The first front object Cf may be a first front vehicle C1 traveling immediately in front of the own vehicle C0, as shown in FIG. 1 .

Step S202 is followed by step S203 to obtain or calculate the distance I _Cf-C0 between the first front object Cf and the own vehicle C0, the relative velocity V _{Cf-C0 between the first front object Cf and the own vehicle C0} , arrival time Ta _Cf-C0 , collision time Tb _Cf-C0 and moving velocity V _Cf , of the first front object Cf. The arrival time Ta _Cf-C0 is the time until the expected moment when the own vehicle C0 reaches the current position of the first front object Cf. The collision time Tb _Cf-C0 is the time until the expected moment when the own vehicle C0 collides with the first front object Cf. The arrival time Ta _Cf-C0 and the collision time Tb _Cf-C0 are relationship parameters, in particular, relationship values representing the relationship between the own vehicle C0 and the first front object Cf. In detail, the distance I _Cf-C0 and the relative speed V _Cf-C0 are the distance and the relative speed of the first front object Cf obtained by the radar device 14, and are obtained by using the traveling speed of the own vehicle C0 obtained by the wheel speed sensor 64. The arrival time Ta _{Cf-C0 is} calculated by dividing the distance I _Cf-C0 by the velocity V C0 , while the collision time Tb Cf-C0 is calculated by dividing the distance I _Cf-C0 by the relative velocity V _{Cf -C0} . The moving speed V _Cf of the first front object Cf is calculated by subtracting the relative speed V _{Cf - C0} from the moving speed V _C0 of the own vehicle C0 . When the first front object Cf is the first front vehicle in front of the own vehicle C0, the arrival time Ta _Cf-C0 can be called "the time between vehicles", the moving speed V _Cf of the object Cf is the travel speed of the front vehicle, This travel speed is zero when the vehicle is stationary.

Next, the control flow proceeds to step S204 to determine whether any non-first front object exists in the own lane OL and in front of the first front object Cf. If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step S204, the control flow goes to step S4 of the collision safety control routine shown in FIG. 6, that is, to the second control mode judgment routine. If an affirmative determination result (Yes) is obtained in step S204, the flow of control proceeds to step S205 to determine the second front object Cff existing in the own lane OL and immediately in front of the first front object Cf. If only one non-first front object exists in the own lane OL and is located in front of the first front object Cf, it is determined that the non-first front object is the second front object Cff. If a plurality of non-first front objects Cn exist in the own lane OL and are located in front of the first front object Cf, it is judged that the distance I _Cn-C0 from the own vehicle C0 among the non-first front objects Cn is the shortest one is the second front object Cff. The second front object Cff may be a second front vehicle located in front of the first front object Cf. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the preceding vehicle C4 is the second preceding vehicle Cff existing in the own lane OL and immediately in front of the first preceding vehicle C1.

Step S205 is followed by step S206 to obtain or calculate the distance I _Cff-Cf between the second front object Cff and the first front object Cf, the relative velocity V _{Cff-Cf of the second and first front object Cff and Cf} , Arrival time Ta _Cff-Cf , collision time Tb _Cff-Cf , moving velocity V _Cff of the second front object Cff and deceleration value G _Cff of the second front object. The arrival time Ta _Cff-Cf is the expected elapsed time until the first front object Cf reaches the current position of the second front object Cff. The collision time Tb _Cff-Cf is the elapsed time until the first front object Cf collides with the second front object Cff. The arrival time Ta _Cff-Cf and the collision time Tb _Cff-Cf are relationship parameters, more specifically relationship values representing the relationship between the first and second front objects Cf, Cff. In detail, by subtracting the distance I _Cn-C0 between the own vehicle C0 and the first front object Cf from the distance I _Cn -C0 between the own vehicle C0 and the second front object Cff, the The distance I _Cff-Cf . The distance I _Cn−C0 between the first and second front objects Cf, Cff and the own vehicle C0 is the distance detected by the radar device 14 . The relative velocity V is calculated by subtracting the detected relative velocity V _Cn-C0 between the own object C0 and the first front object Cf from the relative velocity V _Cn-C0 of the own object C0 and the second front object Cff _Cff-Cf . The arrival time Ta _{Cff- Cf is calculated by dividing the distance I Cff-Cf} by the already calculated moving velocity V _Cf of the first front object Cf, and the collision time Tb is calculated by dividing the distance I _Cff-Cf by the relative velocity V _{Cff-Cf Cff-Cf} . The moving speed V _Cff of the second front object _Cff is calculated by subtracting the calculated relative speed V _{Cff - Cf} from the running speed V C0 of the own vehicle C0 . To calculate the deceleration value G _Cff , the _collision safety ECU 10 stores the moving speed V _Cff of the second front object Cff calculated in the last execution cycle of the routine shown in FIG. 12 . The deceleration value G _Cff is calculated by dividing the difference between the two moving speed values V _Cff calculated in the previous and current execution cycles of the routine shown in FIG. 12 by the predetermined execution cycle time of the routine. When the calculation in step S206 is completed, one execution cycle of the routine shown in FIG. 12 is ended.

III) The first control mode judgment routine

The first control mode judgment routine in step S3 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6 is shown in detail by the flowchart shown in FIG. 13 . This routine is provided to judge the control mode of the ACC and PCS control to be performed in step S5. In detail, the present routine is executed to change the control mode of ACC and PCS control according to the relationship between the first front object Cf and the second front object Cff. The change in control pattern is particularly effective for the case where the first front object Cf is the first front vehicle C1, as shown in the example in FIG. 8 . In this sense, the routine shown in FIG. 13 will be described for the case where the front object Cf is the first front vehicle. Steps S301-S304 are executed to judge the control mode of PCS control, and steps S305-S309 of the routine are executed to judge the control mode of ACC control.

The routine shown in FIG. 13 starts from step S301 to determine whether the collision time Tb _Cff-Cf of the first front vehicle Cf with respect to the second front object Cff is shorter than a predetermined threshold time Tb _PCS (eg, 0.65 seconds). That is, step S301 is executed to judge according to the collision time Tb _Cff-Cf : whether the possibility of collision between the first vehicle Cf in front and the second object Cff in front is very high. This determination made to determine the control mode of the PCS control is used to determine whether the possibility of the own vehicle C0 colliding with the first preceding vehicle Cf is high. For the case where the second front object Cff is the second front vehicle Cff, the judgments in steps S302 and S303 performed after step S301 are valid. These steps S302 and S303 are performed to determine whether the possibility of a collision between the first and second front vehicles Cf, Cff is high. More specifically, step S302 is executed to determine whether the deceleration value G _Cff of the second front vehicle Cff is greater than a predetermined threshold G _PCS (such as 0.5G), and step S303 is executed to judge that the first front vehicle Cf has reached the second front vehicle Cff Whether the time required for the current position, that is, the time between the vehicles of the first and second front vehicles Cf, Cff or the critical time Ta _Cff-Cf is shorter than a predetermined threshold time Ta _PCS (such as 1.0 seconds). For example, when the distance between the first and second front vehicles Cf, Cff is relatively short and the second front vehicle Cff is suddenly braked, it is judged that the possibility of a collision between the first and second front vehicles Cf, Cff is high is large, therefore it is judged that the possibility of collision between the own vehicle C0 and the first preceding vehicle Cf is high. Step S304 is executed when an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S301 or when an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in both steps S302 and S303 .

Step S304 is executed to change or increase the PCS start time T _SPCS and the PCS working mode value M _PCS . The PCS start time T _SPCS defines the working start time of the appropriate working devices (32-56) in the PCS control, and the PCS working mode value M _PCS shows the working modes of these working devices. The PCS start time T _SPCS is a threshold time (eg, 10 seconds) that is determined or updated with respect to the collision time Tb _Cf-C0 of the first front vehicle Cf and own vehicle C0, and the steps of the ACC and PCS control routines Using this threshold time in S502, the ACC and PCS control routine will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 16 . That is, when the time to collision is equal to or shorter than the threshold time T _{SPCS of Tb Cf - C0} , the operation of the appropriate working devices (such as the brake actuator 44 and the seat belt actuator 52) for PCS control is started . Every time step S304 is executed, the PCS start time T _SPCS is increased by a predetermined amount ΔT _SPCS1 (for example, 0.2 seconds), so that the working start time of a suitable working device is advanced by a predetermined amount ΔT _SPCS1 . Therefore, the control mode of the PCS control is changed with respect to the operation start timing of the work implement for the PCS control. On the other hand, the PCS operation mode value M _PCS is a parameter that defines the magnitude of the effect obtained by the operation of the working device in PCS control. The PCS working mode value M _PCS is initially set to zero, and it is increased by a predetermined amount ΔM _PCS1 (such as 1) every time step S403 is performed to increase the effect. Therefore, the control mode of the PCS control is changed with respect to the effect to be obtained by the PCS control.

Next, the control flow proceeds to step S305 to determine whether the collision time Tb _Cff-Cf of the first front vehicle Cf with respect to the second front object Cff is shorter than a predetermined threshold time Tb _ACC (for example, 1.0 second). That is, step S305 is executed to determine whether the possibility of collision between the first front vehicle Cf and the second front object Cff is high according to the collision time Tb _Cff-Cf . This judgment made to determine the control mode of the ACC control is used to determine whether the possibility of the own vehicle C0 colliding with the first preceding vehicle Cf is high. When the second front object Cff is the second front vehicle Cff, the judgments made in steps S306 and S307 subsequent to step S305 are valid. These steps S306 and S307 are executed to determine whether the possibility of a collision between the first and second preceding vehicles Cf, Cff is high. Specifically, step S306 is executed to determine whether the deceleration value G _Cff of the second front vehicle Cff is greater than a predetermined threshold G _ACC (such as 0.2G), and step S307 is executed to determine whether the deceleration value G Cff of the second front vehicle Cff reaches the second front vehicle Cff. Whether the time of the current position, that is, the critical time of the first and second front vehicles Cf, Cff or the time Ta _Cff-Cf between the vehicles is shorter than a predetermined threshold time Ta _ACC (such as 2.0 seconds). Step S307 is followed by step S308 to determine whether the brake is applied to the first front vehicle Cf. Judging whether the brake light of the braking device of the first front vehicle Cf is in a lighted state according to the working state information obtained by the image-based information obtaining device 20, or the working state of the braking device detected by the communication device 70, and executing Judgment in step S308. As in the PCS control, for the case where the emergency brake is applied to the second front vehicle Cf when the first front vehicle Cf is traveling at a relatively high speed and the distance between the first and second front vehicles Cf, Cff is short , it is determined that the possibility of a collision between the first and second preceding vehicles Cf and Cff is high. In this case, it is determined that there is a high possibility that the vehicle C0 will collide with the first front vehicle Cf. When a positive judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S305, or when a positive judgment result (Yes) is obtained in all three steps S306, S307, and S308, step S309 is executed.

Step S309 is executed to change or increase the ACC start time Ts _ACC and the ACC working mode value M _ACC . ACC start time Ts _ACC defines the above-mentioned operating devices in ACC control (more precisely, electronic throttle actuator 34, transmission actuator 38, and brake actuator 44 in deceleration ACC control operation to be described) The working start time of the appropriate working device in , and the ACC working mode value M _ACC indicates the working mode of the working device. The ACC start time Ts _ACC is judged or updated with respect to the collision time Tb _Cf-C0 of the first preceding vehicle Cf and own vehicle C0 and is used as the threshold time of step S507 in the ACC and PCS control routine shown in FIG. 16 . That is, when the collision time Tb _Cf-C0 is equal to or less than the threshold time Ts _ACC , the operation of the appropriate working device for ACC control is started. The ACC start time Ts _ACC (threshold time) can be kept constant (such as 2.0 seconds) or can be selected from multiple values (such as 2.4 seconds, 2.0 seconds and 1.8 seconds) depending on weather, time of day (day or night) or any other environmental factors. Every time step S309 is executed, the ACC start time Ts _ACC is increased by a predetermined amount ΔTs _ACC1 (for example, 0.4 seconds), so that the working start time of the working device is advanced by the predetermined value ΔTs _ACC1 . Therefore, the control mode of the ACC control is changed with respect to the operation start time of the ACC-controlled work machine. On the other hand, the ACC operation mode value M _ACC is a parameter defining the magnitude of the effect to be obtained by the operation of the operating device in ACC control. The ACC working mode value M _ACC is initially set to zero, and it is increased by a predetermined amount ΔM _ACC1 (such as 1) every time step S309 is executed to increase the effect. Therefore, with regard to the effect to be obtained by the ACC control, the control mode of the ACC control is changed. Each time the control program is executed, in the start step S1 of the collision safety control program shown in Fig. 6, the PCS start time Ts _PCS , the PCS work mode value M _PCS , the ACC start time Ts _ACC and the ACC work mode value M _ACC are reset .

IV) The second control mode judgment routine

The second control mode determination routine in step S4 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6 is shown in detail by the flowchart of FIG. 14 . This routine is provided for judging the control mode of the PCS control to be implemented in step S5. In detail, according to the relationship between the first front object Cf and the own vehicle C0, more specifically, the expected overlap ratio Lap between the own vehicle C0 and the first front object Cf if a collision occurs between them , execute this routine to change the control mode of PCS control. The PCS control based on the overlap ratio Lap is effective not only when the first front object Cf is the first front vehicle but also when the first front object Cf is a stationary object.

The routine shown in FIG. 14 starts with step S401 to calculate an overlap ratio in the form of an overlap percentage Lap (%) of the own vehicle C0 with respect to the first front object Cf, which is the own vehicle C0 and the first front object Cf The expected overlap ratio in the event of a collision between . As shown in FIG. 15A , the own vehicle C0 collides with the first front object Cf, if the own vehicle C0 collides with the front object Cf at the overlap width Ws, the expected overlap width Ws of the own vehicle C0 relative to its total width The percentage value of W _C0 is expressed by the lapping percentage Lap (%). The overlapping percentage Lap (%) is expressed by the following equation:

Lap(%)＝(W _C0 /2·(|ΔQ(Cf)|-W _Cf /2))×100/Wco

As shown in FIG. 15B , according to the width Wco of the own vehicle C0, the width W _Cf of the first front object Cf, and the deviation amount ΔQ(cf) of the width direction center of the first front object Cf from the center line CL of the own vehicle C0 and the overlap width Ws of the own vehicle C0 to calculate the overlap percentage Lap (%). In this example, it is assumed that the width W _Cf of the first front object Cf is not smaller than the width Wco of the own vehicle C0. In step S401, the overlap percentage Lap (%) is calculated according to the above specified equation.

Step S402 is followed by step S401 to determine whether the overlap percentage Lap(%) is greater than a predetermined first threshold Lap1(%) (eg 20%). If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step 402, one execution cycle of the routine shown in FIG. 14 is terminated. If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step 402, the control flow proceeds to step S403, and the PCS start time T _SPCS is increased by a predetermined amount ΔT _SPCS2 (such as 0.2 seconds), so that the work start time of the working device is advanced by a predetermined amount ΔT _SPCS2 , and increase the PCS operating mode value M _PCS by a predetermined amount ΔM _PCS2 (such as 1).

Step S403 is followed by step S404 to determine whether the calculated overlap percentage Lap (%) is greater than a predetermined second threshold Lap2 (%) (such as 80%), and the predetermined second threshold Lap2 (%) is greater than the first threshold Lap1 (%) ). If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step 404, one execution cycle of the routine shown in FIG. 14 is terminated. If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step 404, the control flow proceeds to step S405 to further increase the PCS start time T _SPCS by a predetermined amount ΔT _SPCS3 (such as 0.2 seconds), so that the work start time of the working device is advanced A predetermined amount ΔT _SPCS3 , and the PCS operating mode value M _PCS is increased by a predetermined amount ΔM _PCS3 (such as 1). According to the routine shown in FIG. 14, the PCS control mode is gradually changed in accordance with the overlap percentage Lap(%) of the own vehicle C0 with respect to the first front object Cf.

V) ACC and PCS control routines

The ACC and PCS control routine of step 5 of the collision safety control program shown in FIG. 6 is shown in detail by the flow chart shown in FIG. 16 . This routine is provided to realize the ACC and PCS control of the own vehicle C0 work equipment (32-56) in the control mode judged in the first and second control mode judgment routines of steps S3 and S4.

The routine shown in FIG. 16 starts with step S501 to judge whether or not a predetermined condition for starting PCS control is satisfied. This condition may be a condition that must be controlled in order to start the normal PCS control of the own vehicle C0. For example, the predetermined condition is satisfied when the running speed Vco of the own vehicle C0 is higher than the predetermined value _VSPCS . If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step 501, PCS control is not started, ie, the control flow skips subsequent step 502 and proceeds to step S505. If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step 501, the control flow proceeds to step S502 to judge whether the collision time Tb _Cf-C0 of the own vehicle C0 with the first front vehicle Cf is equal to the PCS updated in step S304 The start time is Ts _PCS or shorter. If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step S502, the flow of control proceeds to step S505 to prohibit the PCS control and permit the ACC control. If an affirmative judgment result (YES) is obtained in step S502, the flow of control proceeds to step S503 to prohibit the ACC control and permit the PCS control. Step S503 is followed by step S504, to start the PCS control operation according to the control mode of the PCS operation mode value M _PCS updated in step S304. The PCS control operation will be described in detail below. Upon completion of step S504, one execution cycle of the ACC and PCS control routine shown in FIG. 16 is terminated.

Step S505 is followed by step S506 to determine whether the predetermined condition for starting ACC control is satisfied. This condition may be a condition that must be controlled to start the normal ACC control of the own vehicle C0. For example, the predetermined condition is satisfied when the running speed Vco of the own vehicle C0 is higher than the predetermined value Vs _ACC while the ACC control switch is in its ON state and the brake operating member (brake pedal) is inactive. If a negative judgment result (No) is obtained in step 506, ACC control is not started, and one execution cycle of this routine is terminated. If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S506, the flow of control proceeds to step S507 to judge whether the collision time Ts _Cf-C0 of the own vehicle C0 with the first preceding vehicle Cf is equal to the ACC updated in step S309 The start time Ts _ACC or shorter than this time. If a negative judgment result (NO) is obtained in step S507, the control flow proceeds to step S509 to start the constant speed ACC operation of the electronic throttle actuator 34 of the own vehicle C0, and then terminate one execution cycle of the routine. If an affirmative judgment result (Yes) is obtained in step S507, the control flow proceeds to step S508 to start the deceleration of the working device (34, 38, 44) in accordance with the control mode of the ACC operation mode value M _ACC updated in step S309 ACC works, and then ends an execution cycle of this routine. The constant speed ACC operation and deceleration ACC operation of the work implements (32-56) are described in detail below.

<Operation of working device (32-56) in ACC and PCS control>

ACC and PCS controls are known per se in the art. The collision safety vehicle control system according to the present embodiment is basically arranged to implement ACC and PCS control in a manner known in the art. Therefore, only those aspects of ACC and PCS control that characterize the invention are described.

The ACC control is roughly divided into a constant (speed) ACC control operation and a deceleration ACC control operation. When the time Ta _Cf-C0 between the own vehicle C0 and the vehicle of the first preceding vehicle Cf is longer than the threshold Ts _ACC (ACC start time), the constant speed ACC control operation is performed. In the constant speed ACC control operation, the electronic throttle actuator 34 of the engine device is controlled so that the running speed VCO of the own vehicle C0 is kept within a predetermined range (eg, 40-100 km/h) by the vehicle driver ( The ACC speed V _ACC selected by the operator). In detail, the collision safety ECU 10 calculates the target acceleration/deceleration value of the own vehicle C0 based on the difference between the selected ACC speed V _ACC and the detected traveling speed V _C0 , and sets the value corresponding to the calculated acceleration/deceleration value to The engine control signal is applied to the engine ECU 32 of the engine device, so that the engine ECU 32 controls the electronic throttle actuator 34 according to the engine control signal to control the output of the engine device.

The deceleration ACC control operation is performed when the time Ta _Cf-C0 between the own vehicle C0 and the vehicle of the first preceding vehicle Cf is equal to or shorter than the threshold time Ts _ACC (ACC start time). In the constant speed ACC control operation, the own vehicle is controlled based on the difference between the time Ta _Cf-C0 between the vehicles and the ACC start time Ts _ACC , the relative speed V _Cf-C0 of the first preceding vehicle Cf and the own vehicle C0 Electronic throttle actuator 34 , transmission actuator 38 and brake actuator 44 of CO. In detail, the collision safety ECU 10 calculates the target deceleration value G ^* of the own vehicle C0 based on the above-mentioned difference value and the relative speed V _Cf-C0 , and applies the control signal corresponding to the calculated target deceleration value G ^* The engine ECU 32 of the engine device, the transmission ECU 36 of the transmission and the brake ECU 42 of the brake device, so that the ECUs 32, 36, 42 control the corresponding electronic throttle actuator 34, transmission actuator 38 and brake actuator. brake 44 to apply a braking force corresponding to the deceleration value G ^* to the own vehicle C0. More specifically, when the target deceleration value G ^* is smaller than a predetermined first upper limit, only the electronic throttle actuator 34 is controlled to reduce the output of the engine device, and when the target deceleration value G ^* is larger than the first upper limit, it is also controlled. The transmission actuator 38 is controlled to downshift the transmission. When the target deceleration value G ^* is greater than a predetermined second upper limit greater than the first upper limit, the brake actuator 44 is controlled to apply the brakes to an own vehicle C0. Therefore, the deceleration ACC control operation is performed in one of three ways depending on the calculated target deceleration value G ^* of the own vehicle C0.

When the ACC start time Ts _ACC is increased in step S309 of the first control mode judging routine, the threshold value Ts _ACC of the time Ta _Cf-C0 between vehicles used in step S507 is correspondingly increased, so that the deceleration ACC control operation start time So ahead, as above. In this case, the ACC operation mode value M _ACC (initially set to "0") is also increased, and the calculated target deceleration value G ^* is increased according to the increased ACC operation mode value M _ACC . When the operation mode value M _ACC increases to "1", the calculated target deceleration value G ^* is multiplied by 1.2. Since each appropriate working device (engine device, transmission and brake device) is controlled according to the target deceleration value G ^* , the target deceleration value G ^* is increased according to the ACC control mode changed in step S309 As a result, the start timing of the transmission and the brakes is advanced, thereby increasing the braking force produced by the transmission and the brakes. For example, the result of increasing the ACC start time and the ACC operating mode value M _ACC in step S309 is to increase the target deceleration value G ^* , and according to the increase of the target deceleration value G ^* , the brake actuation of the brake device is made The hydraulic pressure in the hydraulically operated brake cylinder (wheel cylinder) of the brake 44 is increased, thereby increasing the braking force applied to the own vehicle C0.

In the PCS control, the braking device is put into operation and, for example, the seat belt device is controlled. The brake device is ready for operation before the operation of the brake operating member (brake pedal) by the vehicle driver is expected immediately before the own vehicle C0 collides with the first front object Cf. More specifically, when the collision time Tb _Cf-C0 of the own vehicle C0 and the first front object Cf is equal to or less than the PCS start time Ts _PCS (threshold), as described above, the collision safety ECU 10 applies the Control signal to start PCS control work. In this case, the hydraulic pump that is part of the brake actuator 44 is activated. When the PCS start time Ts _PCS and the PCS operating mode value M _PCS are increased in steps S3 and S4 with at least one of the first and second control mode judgment routines, the hydraulic pump starts or starts according to the increased PCS start time Ts _PCS is advanced to control the hydraulic pump so as to increase the target hydraulic pressure in the wheel cylinder according to the increased PCS operation mode value M _PCS . Thus, an increase in the PCS start time Ts _PCS and the PCS operating mode value M _PCS will start and control the hydraulic pump to arm the brakes to increase the braking force to be applied to the own vehicle C0. In the PCS control, as in the deceleration ACC control operation, it is also possible to control the engine unit, the transmission, and the brake unit so as to perform sudden emergency braking on the own vehicle C0, thereby avoiding the collision of the own vehicle with the first front object Cf . In this emergency braking application controlled by the PCS, the braking force to be generated is significantly greater than that in normal deceleration ACC controlled operation.

The seat belt actuator 42 of the seat belt arrangement has a pretensioner which pretensions a suitable seat belt. In PCS control, these pretensioners are activated before the own vehicle C0 collides. When the above-mentioned predetermined condition for starting the PCS control is satisfied, the PCS control operation is started, that is, the crash safety ECU 10 applies a control signal for starting the pretensioner to the seat belt ECU 50 . When the PCS start time Ts _PCS and the PCS operating mode value M _PCS increase, the time to start the pretensioner is advanced according to the increased PCS start time Ts _PCS , and the pretension provided to the pretensioner under the control of the seat belt ECU 50 The tight value increases according to the increasing PCS operating mode value M _PCS . For example, when the PCS operating mode values M _PCS are 0, 1, 2 and 3, the pretension values M _PCS are 80N, 100N, 150N and 200N, respectively. Therefore, the effect obtained by PCS control increases with the increase of PCS operation mode value M _PCS .

As soon as the PCS control work starts, the brake light of the own vehicle C0 is turned on immediately to notify the trailing vehicle following the own vehicle C0 that the own vehicle C0 has applied the brakes to avoid the collision between the following vehicle and the own vehicle C0. The brake light can also be regarded as a working device to be controlled in the PCS control. The timing of turning on the brake lights is changed according to the selected PCS control mode, eg advanced by increasing the PCS start time Ts _PCS . The following vehicle can be notified through the communication device 70 and the brake light that the own vehicle C0 is likely to collide with the vehicle object in front. In addition, the airbag device and any other devices protecting occupants in the own vehicle C0 can be controlled according to the selected PCS control mode, and the steering device including the steering actuator 48 can be controlled to avoid the own vehicle C0 from colliding with a front object. In this case, the control work start timing and control work amount of the steering device can be changed according to the selected PCS control mode.

<Functional Elements of Crash Safety ECU 10>

The collision safety ECU 10 is set to execute the collision safety control program (routines of FIGS. 7, 12-14 and 16) shown in FIG. The functional elements shown in. These functional elements are described with reference to FIG. 17 . The collision safety vehicle control system also includes an object information acquisition device 100 including a radar device 14 , an image-based information acquisition device 20 and a communication device 70 . The collision safety ECU 10 includes an object information acquisition section 102 for receiving object information transmitted by the object information acquisition device 100; a control object (object) designation section 104; an operation mode judgment section 106; and an operation control section 108. The object information acquired by the object information acquisition section 102 is used by the sections 104 , 106 and 108 .

The control object designation section 104 is configured to designate the front objects Cf, Cff as control objects for ACC and PCS control based on the object information. It can be understood that the control object specifying part 104 is assigned by the collision safety ECU 10 to execute step S1 (the specified routine of the self-side lane object shown in FIG. 7 ) in FIG. 6 and step S2 in FIG. 6 (the ACC/PCS control object shown in FIG. Part of the specified routine). The control object specifying section 104 includes an own lane object specifying section 110 for performing step S1 and a two-forward object determining section 112 for performing step S2 to specify the first and second forward objects Cf, Cff. In detail, the own lane object specifying section 110 is configured to execute steps S106-S113 shown in FIG. Lane objects. These steps S106-S113 are regarded as a control based on width-related information. That is, the own lane object specifying section 110 includes a width-related information-based specifying section 114 constituted by a portion of the collision safety ECU 10 that executes steps S106-S113. The two-front object judging section 112 is configured to select, from among the own-lane objects specified by the own-lane object specifying section 110, a first front object (vehicle) Cf and a second front object traveling immediately in front of the first front object Cf. (Vehicle) Cff so that the designated objects Cf, Cff are controlled under ACC and PCS control.

The work mode judging section 106 is configured to judge a control mode in ACC and PCS control of an appropriate working device based on information on the control objects Cf, Cff specified by the control object specifying section 104. It should be understood that the part of the crash safety ECU 10 that executes step S3 (the first control mode judging routine shown in FIG. 13 ) and step S4 (the second control mode judging routine shown in FIG. 14 ) shown in FIG. 6 constitutes the working mode. Judgment part 106. The operation mode judging section 106 includes a judging section 116 based on the second front object information for performing step S3 and a judging section 118 based on width related information for performing step S4. The judgment section 116 based on the second front object information is configured to judge the ACC and PCS control modes according to the state of the non-first front object in the form of the second front object CW. In this regard, the judging section 116 is considered to implement a control based on non-first front object information. In detail, the judgment section 116 based on the second front object information is configured to be based on at least the deceleration value G _Cff , and the arrival time Ta _Cff-Cf and collision time Tb _{Cff-Cf of the first front vehicle Cf with respect to the non-first front object Cff} to determine the ACC and PCS control modes. The width-related information-based judging section 118 is configured to estimate an overlap ratio in the form of an overlap percentage Lap(%) of the own vehicle C0 with respect to the first front object Cf based on the width-related information, and judge the PCS control based on the estimated overlap ratio. model. It can be understood that the step S4 performed by the judgment part 118 based on the width-related information can be regarded as a control based on the width-related information.

The work control section 108 is configured to control the work equipment 120, such as the (above-mentioned) engine equipment, brakes, etc., in the control mode judged by the work mode judging section 106, based on object information related to the designated control object or specific objects Cf, Cff. device and seat belt device. That is, the operation control section 108 is configured to execute step S5 shown in FIG. 6 (the ACC and PCS control routine of FIG. 16 ).

The crash safety ECU 10 also includes a memory section 122 for storing various control parameters, thresholds and other data used by the control object specifying section 104 , the operation mode judging section 106 and the operation control section 108 . The data stored in the memory section 122 includes: the width W _C0 of the self-party vehicle C0; the threshold values Ta _PCS , Ta _ACC , Tb _PCS , Tb _ACC of the arrival time Ta _Cff-Cf and the collision time Tb _Cff-Cf ; the start time Ts _PCS , ACC start time Ts _ACC , PCS work mode value M _PCS and start value of ACC work mode value M _ACC ; start time Ts _PCS and Ts _ACC increment ΔTs _PCS1-3 and work mode value M _PCS and M _ACC increment ΔM _PCS1-3 ; and the threshold Lap1 and the threshold Lap2 of the overlap percentage Lap (%). These control parameters, thresholds, etc. stored in the memory section 122 can be changed to change the state of starting PCS and ACC control and the PCS, ACC control mode.

Claims (33)

1. a control is from the crash-safe vehicle control system of square vehicle, and it comprises:

Object information deriving means (14,20,100), it can carry out work in order to obtaining about being present in the information from each of square vehicle (C0) at least one objects in front of fwd (Cn), and described object information comprises and relates to each objects in front with respect to the information from the position of square vehicle;

Equipment (32-56,120) carries out work under its can be in a possibility that bumps in square vehicle and described at least one objects in front high situation; And

Crash safety controller (10), it can carry out work and the Control work device according to the object information about described at least one objects in front that is obtained by the object information deriving means,

And wherein said crash safety controller can carry out work in order to be implemented under the high situation of possibility that square vehicle and first front vehicles (Cf) bump, control (108 according to the described equipment that is undertaken by the non-first objects in front information of described object information deriving means acquisition based on the non-first objects in front information, 112,116, S3, S5), wherein first front vehicles (Cf) is one of described at least one objects in front (Cn) and is present in tight the place ahead from square vehicle, the described non-first objects in front information relates at least one non-first objects in front, each non-first objects in front be described at least one objects in front be present in the first front vehicles front in the lump.

2. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means comprises that can carry out work obtains radar installation (14) in order to the object information that detects a plurality of objects in front (C1, C4, C6), described a plurality of objects in front (C1, C4, C6) be present in from square vehicle (C0) front and be positioned at from square vehicle (C0) travelled on square track (OL), described object information obtains radar installation can carry out work in order to obtain the object information about each of described at least one objects in front.

3. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that, it is a millimeter wave mode radar installation that the object information of described object information deriving means obtains radar installation.

4. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that described object information deriving means can carry out work in order to obtain each of at least one objects in front and among the distance between the square vehicle, relative angle and relative velocity at least one as object information.

5. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means obtains information about first front vehicles as the object information about one of described at least one objects in front, and crash safety controller can carry out work with the Control work device according to the information about first front vehicles that is obtained by the object information deriving means.

6. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, crash safety controller can carry out work in order to inferring possibility of collision between first front vehicles and described at least one non-first objects in front, and possibility of collision Control work device between first front vehicles by inference and at least one non-first objects in front.

7. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 6, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means obtain about in the information of second front vehicles (Cff) in the tight the place ahead of first front vehicles (cf) as object information about at least one non-first objects in front (Cn), crash safety controller can carry out work in order to inferring possibility of collision between first and second front vehicles, and possibility of collision Control work device between first and second front vehicles by inference.

8. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 6, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out the work zero hour of work in order to the Control work device, and the zero hour when making the zero hour of winning when possibility of collision is higher between front vehicles and described at least one non-first objects in front low with respect to its possibility in advance.

9. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 6, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to the Control work device, so that the effect that the effect that will be obtained by the work of equipment when possibility of collision is higher between first front vehicles and described at least one non-first objects in front obtains when low with respect to its possibility increases.

10. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means obtains the information about second front vehicles (Cff) that is present in the tight the place ahead of first front vehicles (Cf), as object information about at least one non-first objects in front (Cn), described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to inferring the deceleration value of this second front vehicles according to the information about second front vehicles that obtains, and the deceleration value Control work device of second front vehicles by inference.

11. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 10, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out the work zero hour of work in order to the Control work device, so that the zero hour when low with respect to the deceleration value of the inferring zero hour of the deceleration value of second front vehicles of inferring when higher in advance.

12. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 10, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to the Control work device, so that the effect of the deceleration value of second front vehicles of inferring when will be by the effect that equipment work obtains when higher low with respect to the deceleration value of inferring increases.

13. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means obtains the information about first front vehicles (Cf), as object information about one of described at least one objects in front (Cn), and described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to according to obtain by the object information deriving means about the information of first front vehicles with about the described non-first objects in front information of described at least one non-first objects in front, infer at least one relation value that concerns between expression first front vehicles and described at least one non-first objects in front, described at least one relation value is selected from the distance between one of first front vehicles and at least one non-objects in front (Cff), arrive the required time of described non-first an objects in front current location and collide the required time up to first front vehicles and described non-first objects in front up to first front vehicles, described crash safety controller is according at least one relation value Control work device of this supposition.

14. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 13, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means obtains about the information in second front vehicles (Cff) in the tight the place ahead of first front vehicles (Cf), as object information about described non-first objects in front, and described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to according to obtain by the object information deriving means about the information of first front vehicles with about the information of second front vehicles, infer the distance between first and second front vehicles, arrive required time of the second front vehicles current location and in the required time of first front vehicles and second front vehicles collision at least one up to first front vehicles, as described at least one relation value, described crash safety controller described distance by inference and at least one the Control work device in the time.

15. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 13, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out the work zero hour of work in order to the Control work device, so that the zero hour when big with respect at least one relation value of inferring at least one relation value of inferring zero hour hour in advance.

16. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 13, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to the Control work device, so that the effect that at least one relation value of inferring is obtained when hour will be by the effect that equipment work is obtained big with respect at least one relation value of inferring increases.

17. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means comprises to be arranged in order to obtain the work state information deriving means of work state information, this work represents that as status information the mode of operation of the front vehicles (Cn) as one of at least one objects in front, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to come the Control work device according to the work state information that is obtained by the work state information deriving means.

18. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 17, it is characterized in that, described work state information deriving means comprises can carry out the front vehicles monitoring and shooting device (16) that work is used to monitor front vehicles, and can carry out the view data that work is obtained by the front vehicles monitoring and shooting device in order to basis, the mode of operation of each that acquisition one of is arranged in brake lamp on the front vehicles and the hazard lamp at least, as work state information, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to according to one of at least each mode of operation Control work device in brake lamp that obtains and the hazard lamp.

19. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 17, it is characterized in that, described work state information deriving means comprises receiving device (70), this receiving device (70) can carry out work in order to receive the work state information that transmits by radio communication, and described crash safety controller can carry out the work state information Control work device that work is received by receiving device in order to basis.

20. as each described crash-safe vehicle control system of claim 1-19, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to the control based on the width relevant information of the described equipment additionally realizing carrying out according to the width relevant information (108,114,118, S1, S4, S5), described width relevant information relate to the width of at least one certain objects and width position one of at least, described at least one certain objects is selected from described at least one objects in front (Cn).

21. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 20, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means comprises width relevant information deriving means (20), and this width relevant information deriving means (20) can carry out work in order to obtain to relate to the width relevant information of described at least one certain objects.

22. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 21, it is characterized in that, described width relevant information deriving means comprises object image-forming camera head and image data processing system, this imaging camera head can carry out work in order to take each image of at least one objects in front, this image data processing system can carry out work in order to the view data of processing representative by the image of object image-forming camera head shooting, thereby obtains the width relevant information about each of at least one certain objects.

23. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 21, it is characterized in that, except that width relevant information deriving means, described object information deriving means also comprises can carry out work in order to detect the object detection radar installation of described at least one objects in front.

24. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 23, it is characterized in that, described object detection radar installation can carry out work in order to obtain to relate to each the information of approximate location of at least one objects in front, described width relevant information deriving means can carry out work, in order to according to the information that relates to approximate location that obtains by the object detection radar installation, obtain width relevant information about each of at least one certain objects.

25. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 23, it is characterized in that, described width relevant information deriving means is selected described at least one certain objects from described at least one objects in front that is detected by the object detection radar installation, and obtains the width relevant information about each of this at least one certain objects.

26. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 20, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to come the Control work device according to the Width center of at least one certain objects of being represented by the width relevant information.

27. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 20, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to come the Control work device according at least one of the position of the both sides on each the Width of at least one certain objects of being represented by the width relevant information.

28. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 20, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to width relevant information according at least one certain objects, infer overlapping ratio from each of square vehicle and at least one certain objects, described overlapping ratio is from the overlapping width (WS) of square vehicle (C0) ratio with respect to its integral width (WC0), this ratio be when square vehicle and described each certain objects are collided on described overlapping width expect have, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to by inference overlapping ratio Control work device.

29. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 28, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out the work zero hour of work in order to the Control work device, so that the zero hour when low with respect to the overlapping ratio of the inferring zero hour of the overlapping ratio of inferring when higher in advance.

30. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 28, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work in order to the Control work device, so that the effect that the effect that the overlapping ratio of inferring will be obtained by the work of equipment when higher obtains when low with respect to the overlapping ratio of inferring increases.

31. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 20, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to whether be positioned at according to each that judge at least one certain objects about the width relevant information of described at least one certain objects from square vehicle (C0) travel on square track (OL), and according to described judged result Control work device.

32. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 31, it is characterized in that, described crash safety controller can carry out work, when being positioned at the width from square track in described each certain objects to small part, each that judge at least one certain objects is positioned on square track.

33. crash-safe vehicle control system as claimed in claim 20, it is characterized in that, described object information deriving means can carry out work, in order to obtain width relevant information about each of at least one specific front vehicles, each of described at least one specific front vehicles is one of described at least one certain objects, and be to be present in from square vehicle fwd front vehicles, described crash safety controller can carry out work, in order to come the Control work device according to each the width relevant information about at least one specific front vehicles.

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