Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Chumsamutr Rattapon

Hiroaki Kataoka

Katsuhiko Iwazaki

Seiji Kawakami

Satoru Niwa

Yuji Okuda

Quy Hung Nguyen Van

An object of the present invention is to provide a steering assist device which can perform steering assist control having excellent capability to follow up a traveling path by increasing the steering amount in the steering control at a curve entrance. A steering assist device of the present invention is a steering assist devicefor calculating a steering target value based on a shape of a traveling path on which a vehicle travels, and assisting steering according to the steering target value, wherein it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling a curve entrance of the traveling path, and when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling a curve entrance, a change in the steering target value is increased compared with the case of traveling a part of the path other than a curve entrance. As a result, a steering amount to turn the steering wheel can be increased at a curve entrance, and a delay in the turning of the steering wheel at a curve entrance can be suppressed.

Steering support device

In a driving assistance system having an actuator () for steering steered wheels of a vehicle, a positional deviation detecting unit () detects a deviation of a position of the vehicle from a forward travel path of the vehicle based on information around the vehicle. A steering control variable determination unit () determines a steering control variable to cancel the deviation. If a vehicle speed detected by a vehicle speed detecting unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined speed, the steering control variable determined by a steering control variable determination unit () decreases with an increase of the vehicle speed under the condition that the deviation of the position of the vehicle from the forward travel path is same. The driving assistance system can reduce a driver's discomfort caused by the steering control through the actuator () when the vehicle is running at a high speed.

Driving assistance system and driving assistance method

A steering assist system for applying a steering torque reduces the influence of a time-dependent steering control amount on an assist steering torque when a predetermined driving operation by a driver is detected. Thus, the influence of the time-dependent steering control amount on the applied steering torque, which increases when the period of time over which actual moving state deviates from the target moving state increases is reduced when the driver makes the predetermined driving operation. Thus, it is possible to avoid the problem where steering feel degrades because the steering torque increases over time.

Steering assist system and steering assist method

The present invention aims at providing a steering assistance apparatus which can accurately detect a curve exit of a running path and perform steering assistance control with an excellent running path following capability. The steering assistance apparatus of the present invention is a steering assistance apparatusfor providing a steering mechanism with a steering torque such that a vehicle runs along a running path according to an image capturing the running path in front of the vehicle, which estimates a curve direction of the running path by processing the image, estimates a steering direction of a driver of the vehicle according to a steering operation of the driver, and determines that the vehicle is running through a curve exit according to a fact that the estimated curve direction and steering direction do not coincide with each other. This makes it possible to determine the curve exit of the running path accurately and perform appropriate steering assistance control.

In deviation prevention support ECUin driving operation support system, an applied torque by steering torque applieris set based on a vehicle speed of a vehicle. The applied torque is set to increase with increase of the vehicle speed. An upper limit according to the vehicle speed is set for this applied torque. Furthermore, in a Start interval in application of the applied torque, a rate of increasing to reach a maximum is determined according to the maximum of the applied torque. In a close interval, the applied torque is decreased at a rate different from that in the Start interval, and the absolute rate of increasing the torque in the Start interval is set to be larger than the absolute rate of decreasing the torque in the close interval.

Driving operation support system and method

A vehicle speed V is read (step S), V is compared with a first threshold Vth(step S), and, when V is not less than Vth, a warning torque is set smaller with increase in V (step S). When V is less than Vth, V is further compared with a second threshold Vth(step S), and when V is less than Vth, the warning torque is set approximately in proportion to the vehicle speed (step S); when V is not less than Vthand is less than Vth, the warning torque is set at a predetermined constant value (step S).

Vehicle derailing prevention device

A vehicle speed V is compared with a threshold Vth; when V is less than Vth, TLC is set to an initial value t; when V is not less than Vth, TLC is set shorter with increase in V. Then TLC is compared with a predetermined value t th, and when TLC is less than t th, TLC is replaced by t th being a lower limit. This improves compatibility between a reduction in an occurrence frequency of needless warnings and a guarantee of a deviation margin time.

Vehicle deviation preventing control device

A driving control apparatus of the present invention has a driving road keeping device for providing a torque to a steering mechanism so as to keep a vehicle traveling at a predetermined position on a driving road; a driving road departure warning device for issuing a warning of a departure from the driving road on the basis of a position of the vehicle relative to the driving road; and a setting device for setting a need or no need for execution of a control of the driving road keeping device or the driving road departure warning device. Where the setting device sets a need for execution of the control, the control of the driving road keeping device is executed when an activation condition of the driving road keeping device is met and when a cruise control device is active. Where the setting device sets a need for execution of the control, the control of the driving road departure warning device is executed when the activation condition of the driving road keeping device is not met or when the cruise control device is inactive. According to the present invention, a lane departure warning function and a lane-keep assist function are selectively executed in conjunction with activation/deactivation of the cruise control device and the activation condition of the driving road keeping device, whereby, even with an automatic stop of operation of either one of the functions, the other function can prevent the vehicle from departing from the lane.

Driving control apparatus and method having a lane keep function and a lane departure warning function

Lane width information Winf acquired by a traffic lane detector is retrieved (step S); when a value of the lane width information Winf is within a predetermined range of change amount relative to a lane width output Wout_old at a previous time step, i.e., not less than (Wout_old+Wdec) nor more than (Wout_old+Winc), Winf is used directly as the lane width output Wout (steps S&#x2192;S&#x2192;S&#x2192;S); when the value of lane width information Winf is off the predetermined range, i.e., less than (Wout_old+Wdec), (Wout_old+Wdec) is outputted as the lane width output value Wout (steps S&#x2192;S&#x2192;S&#x2192;S); when the value of lane width information Winf exceeds (Wout_old+Winc), (Wout_old+Winc) is outputted as the lane width output Wout (steps S&#x2192;S&#x2192;S).

Vehicle departure detecting device

An apparatus for warning deviation from a lane has a deviation evaluation ECU. The deviation evaluation ECUhas a deviation evaluatorfor performing an evaluation on a deviation by comparing a future position of a host vehicle with a lane future position. Before this deviation evaluation, a mask processordetermines whether a yaw angle of the host vehicle and a lateral position of the vehicle relative to a driving lane exceed their respective thresholds preliminarily determined. When either one or the both are not more than the thresholds, the mask processorperforms a mask process, without performing the deviation evaluation. A deviation evaluatorperforms the deviation evaluation when the yaw angle and the lateral position relative to the driving lane both exceed their respective thresholds.

Apparatus for estimating of deviation from lane, and apparatus for warning of same and method for same

When an integral calculation of a physical quantity representing a state of a controlled system is performed, two integral calculations, that is, a positive-integral calculation and a negative-integral calculation are performed. In this way, differentiated information can be obtained, depending on the control conditions. A selection of which one of the integral value obtained by the positive-integral calculation and the integral value obtained by the negative-integral calculation is used, is made on the basis of an actual control value and a desired control value when control is performed so that a value representing the state of the controlled system becomes equal to the desired control value. In this way, a control parameter which has been judged to include a phase delay is removed. Thus, the phase delay in the overall control can be suppressed, and an appropriate steering assist control can be performed, for example.

Servo controller and control method using the same

A driving control apparatus of the present invention has a driving road keeping device for providing a torque to a steering mechanism so as to keep a vehicle traveling at a predetermined position on a driving road, a setting device for setting a need or no need for execution of a control of the driving road keeping device, and a cruise control device for controlling a driving force or speed of the vehicle so as to keep the vehicle in a predetermined driving state. A need or no need for execution of the control of the driving road keeping device is determined based on a setting state of the setting device and a control state of the cruise control device. A display indicating that the control of the driving road keeping device is ready is presented when the control of the driving road keeping device is in an executable state upon a state change of either the setting state of the setting device or the control state of the cruise control device. Therefore, with the display indicating the ready state, a driver can initiate the control of the driving road keeping device by changing the setting state of the setting device or the control state of the cruise control device in accordance with the content of the display.

Driving control apparatus

In deviation prevention support ECUin driving operation support system, an applied torque by steering torque applieris set based on a vehicle speed of a vehicle. The applied torque is set to increase with increase of the vehicle speed. An upper limit according to the vehicle speed is set for this applied torque. Furthermore, in a Start interval in application of the applied torque, a rate of increasing to reach a maximum is determined according to the maximum of the applied torque. In a Close interval, the applied torque is decreased at a rate different from that in the Start interval, and the absolute rate of increasing the torque in the Start interval is set to be larger than the absolute rate of decreasing the torque in the Close interval.

A driving support system according to the present invention is provided with an actuator for steering steered wheels of a vehicle and is used for supporting driving of the vehicle by making use of steering by means of the actuator. The driving support system has an image taking device for taking a forward image ahead the vehicle, a determiner for determining a controlled variable of the actuator on the basis of the forward image acquired by the image taking device, a limiter for limiting the controlled variable when a time change of the controlled variable of the actuator determined by the determiner is off a predetermined range, and a controller for controlling the actuator. The limiter sets a limit value for limiting the time change of the controlled variable of the actuator so that the limit value at a start (or at an end) of the driving support control is different from the limit value in continuation of the driving support control. In this configuration, the limit value to prevent a driver from sensing discomfort is set at the start (or at the end) of the driving support control, while the limit value suitable for the driving support control is set during continuous execution of the driving support control. This permits the system to achieve suppression of the discomfort at the start (or at the end) of the support control and improvement in performance of the support control in continuation of the control together.

Driving support system and method

Characteristic lines A to D of lateral acceleration G-required torque T in determination of required torque T are used as switched according to increase/decrease of the absolute value of the lateral acceleration, and the direction thereof. The lines A, C used in increase of the absolute value of the lateral acceleration G are so set that the absolute value of required torque T becomes larger at the same lateral acceleration G (G&#x2260;0) than that with the lines B, D used in decrease of the absolute value of the lateral acceleration G. The difference between line A and line B (the difference between line C and line D as well) at the same lateral acceleration G is so set that the difference near the lateral acceleration of 0 is smaller than that in the other regions. Particularly, it is preferable to set the required torque T to 0 at the lateral acceleration G of 0.

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Chumsamutr Rattapon