Vehicle driving support apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12233971-B2
Application number	US-202318175847-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2023
Priority date	Mar 16, 2022
Publication date	Feb 25, 2025
Grant date	Feb 25, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle driving support apparatus to be applied to a vehicle comprises a running environment recognizer; a preceding vehicle information acquirer that detects a vehicle class and variation in behavior of a preceding vehicle; an amount-of-steering control calculator that calculates an amount of steering control to cause the vehicle to run along a target path of travel set on a lane; a disturbance estimation control calculator that estimates lateral-direction disturbance to calculate an amount of steering against the disturbance based on the estimated disturbance; and a coordination controller that corrects the amount of steering control with the amount of steering. If a rolling direction and a lateral motion direction of the preceding vehicle coincide with each other, the disturbance estimation control calculator determines that the variation in the behavior of the preceding vehicle is caused by the disturbance, and calculates the amount of steering.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle driving support apparatus to be applied to a vehicle, the vehicle driving support apparatus comprising:
a running environment recognizer configured to recognize running environment in front of the vehicle;
a preceding vehicle information acquirer configured to acquire information about a preceding vehicle based on the running environment recognized by the running environment recognizer to detect, from the acquired information about the preceding vehicle, a vehicle class of the preceding vehicle and variation in behavior of the preceding vehicle;
an amount-of-steering control calculator configured to calculate an amount of steering control to cause the vehicle to run along a target path of travel set on a lane;
a disturbance estimation control calculator configured to estimate, based on the vehicle class and the variation in the behavior, lateral-direction disturbance received by the preceding vehicle to calculate an amount of steering against the disturbance based on the estimated disturbance; and
a coordination controller configured to correct the amount of steering control calculated by the amount-of-steering control calculator with the amount of steering calculated by the disturbance estimation control calculator to set a new amount of steering control,
wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
check a rolling direction and a lateral motion direction of the preceding vehicle from the variation in the behavior of the preceding vehicle, and
in a case where the rolling direction coincides with the lateral motion direction, determine that the variation in the behavior of the preceding vehicle is caused by the disturbance, and calculate the amount of steering.

2. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to estimate, based on the vehicle class and the variation in the behavior, a disturbance area where the disturbance occurs, and calculate the amount of steering in the estimated disturbance area.

3. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
detect a roll angle and an amount of lateral motion of the preceding vehicle based on the variation in the behavior and, in a case where the roll angle of a value higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold value continues for a predetermined threshold time period or more calculate the amount of steering.

4. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
detect a roll angle and an amount of lateral motion of the preceding vehicle based on the variation in the behavior and, in a case where the roll angle of a value higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold value continues for a predetermined threshold time period or more calculate the amount of steering.

5. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
calculate a degree of influence of the estimated disturbance on the vehicle and,
in a case where the degree of influence exceeds a predetermined control threshold value, calculates the amount of steering.

6. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
calculate a degree of influence of the estimated disturbance on the vehicle and,
in a case where the degree of influence exceeds a predetermined control threshold value, calculates the amount of steering.

7. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
calculate a degree of influence of the estimated disturbance on the vehicle and,
in a case where the degree of influence exceeds a predetermined control threshold value, calculates the amount of steering.

8. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to
calculate a degree of influence of the estimated disturbance on the vehicle and,
in a case where the degree of influence exceeds a predetermined control threshold value, calculates the amount of steering.

9. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to, in a case where an oncoming vehicle that is passing the preceding vehicle is recognized based on the running environment recognized by the running environment recognizer, set the predetermined control threshold value to a value lower than when the oncoming vehicle is not recognized.

10. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to, in a case where an oncoming vehicle that is passing the preceding vehicle is recognized based on the running environment recognized by the running environment recognizer, set the predetermined control threshold value to a value lower than when the oncoming vehicle is not recognized.

11. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to, in a case where an oncoming vehicle that is passing the preceding vehicle is recognized based on the running environment recognized by the running environment recognizer, set the predetermined control threshold value to a value lower than when the oncoming vehicle is not recognized.

12. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the disturbance estimation control calculator is configured to, in a case where an oncoming vehicle that is passing the preceding vehicle is recognized based on the running environment recognized by the running environment recognizer, set the predetermined control threshold value to a value lower than when the oncoming vehicle is not recognized.

13. A vehicle driving support apparatus to be applied to a vehicle, the vehicle driving support apparatus comprising circuitry configured to
recognize running environment in front of the vehicle,
acquire information about a preceding vehicle based on the recognized running environment to detect, from the acquired information about the preceding vehicle, a vehicle class of the preceding vehicle and variation in behavior of the preceding vehicle,
calculate an amount of steering control to cause the vehicle to run along a target path of travel set on a lane,
estimate, based on the vehicle class and the variation in the behavior, lateral-direction disturbance received by the preceding vehicle to calculate an amount of steering against the disturbance based on the estimated disturbance; and
correct the calculated amount of steering control with the calculated amount of steering to set a new amount of steering control,
wherein the circuitry is configured to
check a rolling direction and a lateral motion direction of the preceding vehicle from the variation in the behavior of the preceding vehicle, and
in a case where the rolling direction coincides with the lateral motion direction, determine that the variation in the behavior of the preceding vehicle is caused by the disturbance, and calculate the amount of steering.

Assignees

• Subaru Corp

Inventors

• Oshima Kensuke
• Nakauchi Makoto
• Sakamoto Masaya
• Yoshida Yuki

Classifications

• B62D7/159

  characterised by computing methods or stabilisation processes or systems, e.g. responding to yaw rate, lateral wind, load, road condition · CPC title

• B62D15/025

  Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation (B62D1/28 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B62D6/003 Primary

  in order to control vehicle yaw movement, i.e. around a vertical axis (B62D6/007 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B62D6/04 Primary

  responsive only to forces disturbing the intended course of the vehicle, e.g. forces acting transversely to the direction of vehicle travel · CPC title