Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Sven Bone

Hermann Winner

Stefan Habenicht

Jan-Christoph Goos

Fabian Regh

Jewgeni Selinski

Provided is a system for predicting a driver's intention to change lanes at a high accuracy involving a minimum amount of time delay. A driver's intention to change lanes is predicted by a prediction unit () by comparing motivators and inhibitors () which may be determined from the speed of the traffic in particular the vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle and the traffic in the adjacent lanes in relation to the traveling speed of the ego vehicle by using an ego vehicle sensor () and an environmental sensor () that may comprise a radio wave, optical or acoustic radar. The criteria for the motivators and inhibitors may be empirically or statistically determined, preferably by conducting a large number of tests on roads. As they can be determined before the vehicle operator starts a lane changing maneuver, the prediction made by the prediction unit may be used on a real time basis in a warning system or steering/acceleration assist system.

System for predicting a driver's intention to change lanes

A lane change assist information visualization system allows a vehicle driver to change lanes with minimum effort and stress by displaying a lane change option that suits the particular lane changing situation in an intuitively understandable manner, and information on the surrounding vehicles adequate for the vehicle driver to make a reasonable decision in changing lanes. The system includes a lane change program computing device () that computes at least (a) a lane change possibility, (b) a time period that has to elapse before a lane change is allowed if a lane change possibility does not currently exists, or a time period in which a lane change should be made if a lane change possibility currently exists, and (c) a need for acceleration or deceleration, and a display unit () for displaying this information.

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Munich, Germany

Sven Bone