JPH04295878A - Vehicle controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To adopt the follow-up traveling, etc., only in the case it is appropriate to use it. CONSTITUTION:By the present position of a vehicle detected by a present position detecting means 10, and the map information from a map information storage means 12, whether a vehicle is in an area in which the follow-up traveling at present can be executed such as in an expressway, etc., or not is decided by a useable area deciding means. Subsequently, as the result of this decision, a vehicle speed controlling arithmetic means 26 regulates a vehicle speed control means 30 and determines whether the vehicle speed control is executed or not. Accordingly, it is prevented that the follow-up travel is control in a place in which the follow-up traveling is inhibited such as in a city area.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for a vehicle that follows a preceding vehicle.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, constant-speed traveling devices, follow-up traveling control devices that maintain a constant inter-vehicle distance, and the like have been proposed for the purpose of improving the operability and safety of vehicles. That is, on expressways and motorways, vehicles may travel at a constant high speed for long periods of time. In such a case, the accelerator opening degree is automatically controlled by the constant speed traveling device to maintain the vehicle speed constant and reduce the burden on the driver. Furthermore, when the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed using this constant speed traveling device, if there is a preceding vehicle, the vehicle must be decelerated to maintain the distance between the vehicles. Therefore, in the following vehicle, the following distance sensor detects the following distance to the preceding vehicle, and the vehicle speed is controlled to maintain this following distance.

[0003] Such constant speed driving and follow-up driving are normally used when driving at high speeds on expressways, and the inter-vehicle distance sensor is also used at a relatively long distance (for example, 20
30 m or more), and is normally operable only when the traveling speed is 40 km/hour or more.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when there is a traffic jam on an expressway, there is a demand for following vehicles at low speeds and with a very small distance between vehicles. Therefore, it is sufficient to adopt a vehicle-to-vehicle distance sensor that can detect from a short distance (for example, several meters), and to operate the follow-up traveling device even when the traveling speed is 40 km/hour or less. However, if the following traveling device can be operated even at low speeds, there is a possibility that this following traveling device will be used even in urban areas. Many traffic lights are installed on roads in urban areas, and course changes occur frequently, so it is not desirable to operate a follow-up device that attempts to maintain a constant distance from the vehicle in front. For this reason, it has not been possible to operate the follow-up traveling device during low-speed travel.

The present invention has been made with the object of solving the above-mentioned problems, and relates to a vehicle control device that enables the use of a control device for appropriate follow-up travel, etc. only when it is appropriate to use the control device.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A vehicle control device according to the present invention includes a position detecting means for detecting the current position of a vehicle, and a position detecting means for detecting the current position of a vehicle, and a position detecting means for detecting the current position of a vehicle, and a road position information indicating whether the control device can use the road or not. a road map for storing road information stored together with the identification data; a determining means for determining whether the control device is currently usable based on the current position obtained by the position detecting means and the road information obtained from the road map; , and is characterized in that the control device is operated only when driving on a usable road.

[0007]

[Operation] As described above, according to the vehicle control device according to the present invention, the determining means can determine whether or not the current position of the own vehicle allows the use of a control device such as following travel. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the control device from being used on roads where it should not be used.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vehicle control device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration, and includes current position calculation means 10, map information storage means 12, and usable area determination means 14 in order to determine whether the control device is usable or not. are doing. In addition, in order to perform vehicle running control according to the determination result, a vehicle motion detection means 20, an inter-vehicle distance detection means 22, an operation request signal input means 24, and a vehicle speed control calculation means for generating a control signal according to signals from these means are provided. 26, and a vehicle speed control means 30 for actually controlling the vehicle speed is connected to this vehicle speed control calculating means 26.

[0010] The current position calculation means detects the absolute position of the vehicle based on latitude and longitude, and uses, for example, GPS (
global positioning system) etc. are used. This GPS uses a predetermined artificial satellite (N
avstar) receive multiple radio waves (usually 4),
The current position (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the vehicle is recognized from these propagation times. In addition, as this current position calculation means, dead reckoning navigation, etc., which determines the own vehicle position from the own vehicle's direction (detected by a geomagnetic sensor, for example), travel distance (detected by a normal distance sensor, etc.), etc., is also adopted. be able to. Furthermore, the current position may be determined by information from a beacon installed on the ground, intersection information, etc., or a combination of these may be used.

[0011] The map information storage means stores information about how the roads run, that is, which roads are located at which latitudes and longitudes. In the present embodiment, this map information also includes information about the type of road, such as an expressway, a motorway, a general road, etc., for each road.

The usable area determining means 14 obtains data from the above-mentioned current position calculating means 10 and map information storing means 12, and determines which type of road the current position is on. Then, it is determined whether or not the road (expressway, motorway, etc.) allows a preset control device to operate (follow-up driving is allowed).

The vehicle motion detecting means 20 detects, for example, the vehicle speed, and employs a method in which a magnetically sensitive element is driven by a magnet rotated by a gear of a transmission. The inter-vehicle distance detection means 22 is
It detects the distance to the vehicle in front, and for example, a device that emits an infrared laser pulse forward and detects the time until the pulse returns is adopted. Furthermore, the operation request signal input means 24 is a switch provided on a lever provided near the steering wheel, for example, and is used by the driver to input the signal when the driver wishes to perform follow-up driving.

The vehicle speed control calculating means 26 generates a control signal for setting the vehicle speed to a predetermined value, and calculates a target inter-vehicle distance based on the current vehicle speed from the vehicle movement detecting means 20. . This is performed based on data stored in advance as a map in a ROM or the like. Then, this target inter-vehicle distance is compared with the inter-vehicle distance detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection means 22, and if the inter-vehicle distance is smaller than the target inter-vehicle distance, a deceleration command is sent to the vehicle speed control means 30. Therefore, the vehicle speed control means 30 performs control such as reducing the opening degree of the accelerator in response to this deceleration command, thereby reducing the vehicle speed and controlling the inter-vehicle distance to the target inter-vehicle distance.

Further, when the inter-vehicle distance is larger than the target inter-vehicle distance, the vehicle speed control calculation means 26 compares the preset constant speed running speed with the current speed detected by the vehicle motion detection means 20, and determines the target speed. A control signal is sent to the vehicle control means 30 so that And this vehicle control means 3
0 controls the accelerator opening according to the control signal to maintain the vehicle at the target vehicle speed.

In this embodiment, the vehicle speed control calculating means 26 is supplied with a signal regarding the determination result from the usable area determining means 14. Therefore, the vehicle control calculation means 26 determines whether or not to perform follow-up control and constant speed driving control according to the signal from the usable area determination means 14, and only when the road is usable, the vehicle control calculation means 26 sends the above-mentioned control signal. is supplied to the vehicle speed control means 30.

Such an operation will be explained based on FIG. 2. That is, the usable area determining means 14 first takes in the position coordinates (x, y) from the current position calculating means 10 (S1). Next, the usable area determining means 14 specifies the retrieved position (x, y) and retrieves road information at that position from the map information storage means 12. Then, based on this road information, it is determined whether the current position is a place where constant speed driving or follow-up driving is allowed, such as on an expressway or a motorway (S3).

If the vehicle is within the usable area, follow-up travel is performed (S4); otherwise, follow-up travel is not performed (S5). Therefore, even if constant speed and follow-up driving is commanded by the driver's request, the vehicle control calculation means 20 will
No control signal is sent to the vehicle speed control means 30. Therefore, it is possible to prevent inappropriate control from being performed.

[0019] In the above embodiment, as a control device,
Although a follow-up travel control device is employed, the present invention is not limited to this, and obstacle avoidance control, automatic steering control, inter-vehicle distance warning device, etc. may also be employed.

[0020]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the vehicle control device of the present invention, vehicle control such as following driving can be performed only in situations where this is permissible. It is possible to prevent this from happening.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Current position calculation means 12 Map information storage means 14 Usable area determination means 20 Vehicle motion detection means 22 Inter-vehicle distance detection means 24 Operation request signal input means 26 Vehicle speed control calculation means 30 Vehicle speed control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A road map that stores road information that stores road position information along with identification data of whether the road is usable or unusable by a control device. and determining means for determining whether the control device is currently usable based on the current position obtained by the position detecting means and road information obtained from the road map;
What is claimed is: 1. A vehicle control device comprising: a vehicle control device that operates the control device only when driving on a usable road;