Driving assistance apparatus, recording medium having driving assistance program recorded thereon, and driving assistance method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12394255-B2
Application number	US-202217679393-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2022
Priority date	Mar 31, 2021
Publication date	Aug 19, 2025
Grant date	Aug 19, 2025

Abstract

A driving assistance apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a vehicle acceleration detection unit configured to detect vehicle acceleration including lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration of a vehicle; a calculation unit configured to calculate for each wheel a friction circle, and a lateral force generated at each wheel and a longitudinal force generated at each wheel on the basis of a result of detection by the vehicle acceleration detection unit; and a display unit configured to display an image based on the friction circle, and a magnitude and/or a direction of a resultant force of the lateral force and the longitudinal force generated at each wheel based on a result of calculation by the calculation unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A driving assistance apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the processor:
acquires information on a condition of a vehicle;
calculates a friction circle for each of wheels based on a result of acquisition;
displays an image based on the friction circle for each of the wheels on a display;
detects a vehicle acceleration including lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration;
calculates a tire force and a tire friction direction for each of the wheels on a basis of the vehicle acceleration, the tire force being a magnitude of a resultant force of a lateral force generated at a tire associated with a wheel among the wheels and a longitudinal force generated at the tire associated with the wheel among the wheels;
displays the tire force and the tire friction direction, as a first image on the display;
executes a comparison computation to compare the tire force and a size of the friction circle;
when a predefined first state is determined based on a result of the comparison by the comparison computation, displays a depiction of the first state on the display, the first state being a state in which the tire force is in a range not exceeding the size of the friction circle;
when a predefined second state is determined based on the result of the comparison by the comparison computation, displays a depiction of the second state on the display, the second state being a state in which the tire force exceeds the size of the friction circle;
obtains a location of a center of gravity of the vehicle;
displays the location of the center of gravity of the vehicle and a center-of-gravity path showing changes in path of the center of gravity of the vehicle with time, as a second image on the display; and
the first image and the second image are displayed in different areas on the display so as to correspond to each other.

2. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the processor changes the size of the friction circle.

3. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when the processor displays the second image on the display, the processor displays the second image in a color different from a color of the first image.

4. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when the processor displays the second image, the processor stops displaying the first image on the display after a predefined time elapses from when the processor has displayed the first image.

5. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the processor provides a display setting change mode that enables a user to increase or decrease the size of the friction circle shown on the display and the image showing the tire force and the tire friction direction.

6. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the processor calculates a magnitude of a load exerted on each of the wheels, and
displays the magnitude of the load on the display for each of the wheels.

7. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the processor detects a steering angle of the vehicle,
calculates a steering characteristic of the vehicle on a basis of the vehicle acceleration and the steering angle, and
displays the steering characteristic on the display.

8. A driving assistance method comprising:
a vehicle acceleration detection step of detecting a vehicle acceleration including lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration of a vehicle;
a step of calculating a friction circle, a tire force, and a tire friction direction for each of wheels on a basis of a result of detection at the vehicle acceleration detection step, the tire force being a magnitude of a resultant force of a lateral force generated at a tire associated with a wheel among the wheels and a longitudinal force generated at the tire associated with the wheel among the wheels, the tire friction direction being a direction of the resultant force;
a step of displaying a first image for each of the wheels on a basis of a result of the calculation at the calculation step, the image being based on the friction circle, the tire force and the tire friction direction, with the tire force and the tire friction direction displayed on a display;
a step of executing a comparison computation to compare the tire force and a size of the friction circle;
when a predefined first state is determined based on a result of the comparison by the comparison computation, a step of displaying a depiction of the first state on the display, the first state being a state in which the tire force is in a range not exceeding the size of the friction circle;
when a predefined second state is determined based on the result of the comparison by the comparison computation, a step of displaying a depiction of the second state on the display, the second state being a state in which the tire force exceeds the size of the friction circle;
a step of obtaining a location of a center of gravity of the vehicle; and
a step of displaying the location of the center of gravity of the vehicle and a center-of-gravity path showing change in path of the center of gravity of the vehicle with time, as a second image on the display, wherein the first image and the second image are displayed in different areas on the display so as to correspond to each other.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kakutani Kenta
• Kobayashi Yoshiaki
• Matsuzawa Toshiaki
• Kakinuma Hideki
• Goto Yuya
• Hirashima Ittoku
• Kusaka Kimiyoshi

Classifications

• G06T11/26 Primary

  Drawing of charts or graphs · CPC title

• G06T11/23

  using straight lines or curves · CPC title

• G06T11/10

  Texturing; Colouring; Generation of textures or colours (retouching, inpainting or scratch removal G06T5/77) · CPC title

• B60W2520/125

  Lateral acceleration · CPC title

• B60W2520/105

  Longitudinal acceleration · CPC title