Guidance control system for vehicle driving operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9776636-B2
Application number	US-201514867115-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2015
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A calculation method and apparatus for calculating a starting point for acceleration/deceleration operation of a vehicle with high accuracy using more input values while at the same time keeping calculation cost and time to a minimum is disclosed herein. An ECU making up a system calculates a start point for acceleration/deceleration operation of a vehicle on the basis of traveling condition information that changes as the vehicle travels and vehicle information that changes only slightly as a result of the travel of the vehicle. As a result, if the driver maintains a throttle operator at a given opening angle or more at a point before the start point, an actuator applies a force in the direction of closing a throttle valve to the throttle operator, thereby notifying the driver that the vehicle is close to the start point.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A guidance control system for vehicle driving operation comprising:
a throttle operator which a driver aboard a vehicle operates to control acceleration operation of the vehicle by the driver;
an actuator mechanically connected to the throttle operator; and
an electronic control unit as a controller adapted to calculate a start point for deceleration operation of the vehicle, activate the actuator at a point before the start point along a direction of travel of the vehicle, and apply a force in a direction of closing a throttle from the actuator to the throttle operator so as to notify the driver that the vehicle is close to the start point,
wherein the electronic control unit calculates the start point based on traveling condition information, which is real time information that changes as the vehicle travels, and vehicle information, which is stored in advance,
and wherein the electronic control unit activates the actuator if the driver maintains the throttle operator at a given opening angle or more at the point before the start point.

2. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 1 , wherein the traveling condition information includes
a speed of the vehicle detected by a vehicle speed sensor provided in the vehicle,
road shape information acquired from an external information database or a vehicle-mounted camera provided in the vehicle,
weather information acquired from the external information database, or
position information of a different vehicle or an object present ahead in the direction of travel acquired from the external information database, the vehicle-mounted camera, or a millimeter wave radar provided in the vehicle, and
the vehicle information at least includes
a weight of the vehicle,
a weight of the driver,
a service history of the vehicle, or
tire specifications of the vehicle.

3. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of sensors adapted to detect the traveling condition information; and
a network connection section that can connect to an external network,
wherein the electronic control unit controls the vehicle as a whole by performing given arithmetic operations, and
wherein the actuator, the plurality of sensors, and the network connection section are incorporated in the vehicle and connected to the electronic control unit.

4. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 3 , further comprising a memory section incorporated in the vehicle and connected to the electronic control unit to store at least the vehicle information.

5. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 2 , wherein the electronic control unit acquires the vehicle information from the external information database via the external network and the network connection section and stores the vehicle information in the memory section.

6. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 4 , wherein the vehicle information is stored from an external memory writer to the memory section as the memory writer and the memory section are connected.

7. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 4 , wherein the vehicle information stored in the memory section is transmitted from the memory section to an external information terminal via an external memory reader as the memory reader and the memory section are connected.

8. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 4 , wherein the electronic control unit stores a traveling history of the vehicle in the memory section after an end of travel of the vehicle.

9. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 3 , further comprising an external memory reader that is incorporated in the vehicle and connected to the electronic control unit to acquire the vehicle information stored in an external memory.

10. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 1 , wherein when the driver is not engaging the throttle operator, the electronic control unit does not activate the actuator to apply any force to the throttle operator.

11. The guidance control system for vehicle driving operation of claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit calculates a difference between a driving operation of the driver during travel of the vehicle and a driver's optimal driving operation and presents, to the driver, his or her driving skills based on the difference after an end of travel of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Nakamizo Yamato
• Kudo Tetsuya
• Iwamaru Toraki
• Fukuoka Satoshi
• Fujiwara Takao
• Sato Masatoshi

Classifications

• B62K23/00

  Rider-operated controls specially adapted for cycles, i.e. means for initiating control operations, e.g. levers, grips (specially adapted to cycle brake mechanisms B62L3/00) · CPC title

• B60W2555/20

  Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain · CPC title

• B60W2556/55

  using telemetry · CPC title

• B60W2554/80

  Spatial relation or speed relative to objects · CPC title

• B60W2554/00

  Input parameters relating to objects · CPC title