Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Other

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Aisin Seiki K.k.

Keiji Kuzuya

Naoji Nakahara

Kazuya Watanabe

Takayuki Nakasho

Yasuyuki Aoki

Masahiko Sakabe

Masakatsu Nonaka

Sueharu Nagiri

Munenaga Igaki

To maintain a suitable vehicle separation between a driven vehicle and a preceding vehicle, a controller predicts a closest approach distance between the driven vehicle and the preceding vehicle on the assumption that the preceding vehicle decelerates at a deceleration detected by a sensor and that the driven vehicle decelerates at a prescribed assumed deceleration after running at a speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor for an idle running time. The controller predicts the speed at the time of closest approach when the separation between the preceding vehicle and the driven vehicle is the closest approach distance. A suitable vehicle separation is determined based on the predicted speed at the time of closest approach and a previously set length of time, and when the predicted closest approach distance is smaller than the suitable vehicle separation, a warning or braking force is generated.

Collision preventing apparatus for a vehicle

Warning apparatus for an automotive vehicle, operable to generate a warning signal when a distance between the vehicle and an object in front of the vehicle is shorter than a predetermined threshold value, the apparatus including a characteristic-value storage portion which stores at least one characteristic-value relationship between at least two of a plurality of brake operating characteristic values relating to a braking operation by an operator of the vehicle to brake the vehicle, and a threshold-value determining portion operable to determine the threshold value of the distance, on the basis of at least one of an estimated braking state of the vehicle estimated on the basis of the characteristic-value relationship stored in the characteristic-value storage portion, a running-state quantity indicative of a running state of the vehicle, and a moving-state quantity indicative of a moving state of the object.

Vehicle warning apparatus for generating warning signal depending upon operator's brake operating characteristics

An ultrasonic measuring system detecting state informations of a vehicle other than a vehicle speed. An ultrasonic transducer TR1 directly detects the vehicle speed. A second ultrasonic transducer and a third ultrasonic transducer are disposed respectively in front of and at a back of a rotational center of the vehicle and separated from each other at a predetermined distance. They respectively transmit ultrasonic waves at right angles to the running direction of the vehicle and respectively at second and third predefined down-angles relative to the road. A two-dimensional speed of the vehicle can be measured on the basis of the speeds obtained by the transducers TR2 and TR3.

Ultrasonic measuring system

An ultrasonic measuring system for a vehicle is composed of first and second ultrasonic transducing assemblies TR1 and TR2. Each transducing assembly TR1, TR2 has three ultrasonic transducers TR11, TR12, TR13, TR21, TR22, TR23 which are separated from each other at an angle of 120 degrees in a horizontal plane about axis disposed at a front and a rear of the vehicle, respectively. Each transducer transmits ultrasonic waves to a road surface at a predefined down-angle relative to the road surface and receives reflected waves from the road surface. Each of the transducers TR21, TR22, TR23 transmits ultrasonic waves to the road surface and receiving reflected waves from the road surface in an opposite direction to a corresponding one of the transducers TR11, TR12, TR13. A two dimensional speed, a yaw rate and a yawing center are obtained by differences of first three speed vectors in three directions obtained by the first ultrasonic transducing assembly TR1 and second three speed vectors in second three directions, corresponding to the first three directions, obtained by the second ultrasonic transducing assembly TR2.

There are disclosed an apparatus and a method for searching for the optimum route to be followed by a vehicle. The apparatus comprises a memory storing road maps, a keyboard having keys, and a microcomputer. The driver of the vehicle specifies a starting point and a destination in a network of roads displayed on a color CRT. Then, the microcomputer searches the network for a route which connects the starting point to the destination at the shortest distance.

Growing community of inventors

Kariya, Japan

Keiji Kuzuya