Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft

Torsten Seyffarth

Walter Kagerer

Marc Walessa

Maria-Christina Laiou

A method of controlling the speed and/or the distance for motor vehicles having distance-controlled cruise control systems is provided in which a sensor unit determines relevant data of a vehicle driving ahead. In the event of a detection of a target object driving ahead, desired acceleration values and/or desired deceleration values for reaching a predetermined desired distance to the target object are determined and outputted. While considering the relevant data of the target object, a swinging-out probability of the target object is determined and, as a function of the determined swinging-out probability, an adaptation of the desired distance to the target object is carried out.

Method of controlling the speed and/or the distance for motor vehicles

For the automatic longitudinal guidance of a motor vehicle having a longitudinally guiding driver assistance system with a stop-and-go function, at least starting from a point-in-time wherein the motor vehicle is stopped, the vehicle apron is continuously monitored for possible obstacles by a monitoring device having a camera which supplies a sequence of individual images of the vehicle apron. For the detection of obstacles in the vehicle apron, characteristic image features are extracted from the individual images and are tracked with respect to time within the sequence of individual images, and an appearance and/or disappearance of one or more characteristic image features taking place in the course of the sequence is determined and evaluated. Additionally or alternatively, a change of a spatial distribution of one or more characteristic image features taking place in the course of the sequence in the respective individual image or in a cutout of the latter is determined and evaluated.

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Munich, Germany

Torsten Seyffarth