Collision avoidance system and method of operation thereof

Abstract

A collision avoidance system and method that may be used to prevent, avoid and / or mitigate a collision between a host vehicle and a target vehicle by engaging in autonomous braking once an imminent crash is detected. Unlike other methods that are only capable of autonomous braking according to predetermined and static brake commands, the present method may use dynamic brake commands throughout an autonomous braking event so that the deceleration of the host vehicle can be continuously adjusted such that it concludes at a reasonable distance away from the target vehicle. According to one example, the collision avoidance system maintains a relative distance (Δd) and / or a relative velocity (Δv) between the host and target vehicles during the autonomous braking event.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates generally to vehicle systems and, more particularly, to collision avoidance systems that automatically engage vehicle brakes without driver intervention to avoid and / or mitigate collisions. Background technique [0002] Some current vehicle systems engage automatic or autonomous braking (ie, without driver intervention) when an imminent collision is detected so that the collision can be avoided or its severity minimized. However, if the vehicle system automatically engages the brakes according to a constant predetermined brake setting, it may result in an overly conservative braking event in which the vehicle stops well before hitting the target vehicle ahead or the vehicle decelerates to a much slower speed than the target vehicle . In either case, an overly conservative automatic response of the vehicle system may be undesirable because it could potentially expose the vehicle to a rear-end collision with a trailing vehi...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, if the vehicle system automatically engages the brakes according to a constant predetermined brake setting, it may result in an overly conservative braking event in which the vehicle stops well before hitting the target vehicle ahead or the vehicle decelerates to a much slower speed than the target vehicle

In either case, an overly conservative automatic response of a vehicle system may be undesirable because it could potentially expose the vehicle to a rear-end collision with a trailing vehicle or to some other undesirable situation

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