Vehicle control device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device which is capable of traveling up to a target stop position without stopping the own vehicle on the way.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device is a vehicle control device which travels an own vehicle on the basis of target acceleration and includes brake control means which performs brake control on the basis of the target acceleration and control means which stops the own vehicle following a stopped preceding vehicle by brake control in target stop position. The control means restrains the target acceleration when there is satisfied a first condition of conditions that the preceding vehicle stops and road surface gradient on which the own vehicle travels is prescribed value or more and stops the own vehicle in the target stop position by the brake control when there is satisfied a second condition that a difference, between real inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle and distance up to the target stop position of the own vehicle, is below prescribed value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, one of the functions of a vehicle is a cruise control function that allows the vehicle to travel while maintaining a safe distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and one of these is a follow-up driving control function with no lower limit on speed, called Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with all-speed follow-up function. With this all-speed follow-up function, the vehicle follows the preceding vehicle while maintaining a safe distance from the preceding vehicle, and when the preceding vehicle slows down and stops, the vehicle also slows down and stops at a target stopping position that maintains a safe distance from the preceding vehicle, or starts moving again, providing control with no lower limit on speed.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle control technology that detects the distance between the vehicle in front and the vehicle itself, controls the vehicle so that the distance between the vehicles matches a preset target value, and controls the vehicle by reducing the target value for the distance between the vehicles when the vehicle is on an uphill slope. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-294170 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the full-speed tracking function can be activated not only on flat roads but also on uphill roads. When traveling on an uphill slope, such as an uphill road, the vehicle's actual acceleration is smaller than when traveling on a flat road because the vehicle is affected by gravitational acceleration. Therefore, the full-speed tracking function is used to decelerate and stop the vehicle ahead of the preceding vehicle that has stopped on an uphill slope. However, on a steep slope, the vehicle may not reach the target stopping position and may stop short of the target stopping position due to the effect of gravitational acceleration. When the vehicle stops short of the target stopping position, the full-speed tracking function restarts the vehicle to align the vehicle's stopping position with the target stopping position. If the vehicle subsequently stops short of the target stopping position, the control continues to repeatedly stop and restart until the vehicle reaches the target stopping position. As such, on a steep uphill slope, the vehicle must stop once, then restart and stop repeatedly until the vehicle reaches the target stopping position, which may not match the driver's driving experience and may be irritating.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can drive a vehicle to a target stopping position without stopping the vehicle along the way. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the vehicle control device of the present invention is a vehicle control device that drives a vehicle based on a target acceleration, and includes a brake control means that performs brake control based on the target acceleration, and a control means that stops the vehicle following a stopped preceding vehicle at a target stopping position by the brake control, wherein the control means suppresses the target acceleration when a first condition is met, which is that the preceding vehicle has stopped and the road gradient on which the vehicle is traveling is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and stops the vehicle at the target stopping position by the brake control when a second condition is met, which is that the difference between the actual vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the vehicle and the distance to the target stopping position of the vehicle is below a predetermined value. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, the host vehicle can be driven to a target stopping position without stopping along the way. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration in which a vehicle control device according to an embodiment is applied to an ECU. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vehicle before and after stopping when the vehicle is stopped at a target stopping position following a preceding vehicle that has stopped on an uphill gradient of a predetermined value or more. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating brake control of the vehicle shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a stop control flow for the host vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0011] <Embodiment> In the following description, a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device according to the embodiment will be referred to as a host vehicle, and a vehicle traveling ahead of the host vehicle will be referred to as a preceding vehicle, and the vehicles will be described separately. The actual speed of the host vehicle will be referred to as an actual speed, and the actual acceleration of the host vehicle will be referred to as an actual acceleration, which will be distinguished from the target speed and target acceleration of the host vehicle, respectively.

[0012] The vehicle control device according to the embodiment is mounted on a vehicle and has a following running control function that enables following running while maintaining a predetermined distance from a preceding vehicle at a speed of 0 km / h to the legal upper speed limit.

[0013] The following cruise control function performs accelerator control and brake control without the driver operating the accelerator pedal or brake pedal, to follow the preceding vehicle while maintaining a safe distance from the preceding vehicle, and when the preceding vehicle slows down and stops, the vehicle slows down and stops at a target stopping position that maintains a safe distance from the preceding vehicle when stopped. Furthermore, the following cruise control function controls the vehicle to restart based on the preceding vehicle.

[0014] (System Configuration) FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration in which a vehicle control device according to an embodiment is applied to an ECU.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows an ECU 10, an EFI (Electrical Fuel Injection)-ECU 30, and a VSC (Vehicle Stability Control)-ECU 40 as various ECUs (Electronic Control Units) mounted on a vehicle.

[0016] The ECU 10, the EFI-ECU 30, and the VSC-ECU 40 each include a microcontroller unit (microcomputer), which includes, for example, a CPU, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, and a volatile memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM).

[0017] Each ECU is connected to enable two-way communication using the CAN (Controller Area Network) communication protocol.

[0018] The ECUs installed in the vehicle are not limited to these, and other ECUs may be included depending on the system configuration.

[0019] The ECU 10 is an ECU for a stereo camera or an ECU that controls various sensors, and is equipped with a function for performing follow-up cruise control. Note that the application of the follow-up cruise control function is not limited to these ECUs. It may be applied to other ECUs as appropriate depending on the configuration of the ECU.

[0020] Information about the preceding vehicle is recognized, for example, by a stereo camera. The stereo camera is a stereo camera installed on the vehicle so that it can capture images of the area ahead of the vehicle. The stereo camera continuously captures still images at a predetermined frame rate and recognizes information such as the distance to each target in the captured images, the relative speed information of each target, and the acceleration information of each target. Note that the recognition of information about each target is not limited to the stereo camera. Other sensor outputs such as a millimeter wave sensor, laser radar, and sonar may also be used.

[0021] The ECU 10 stores the recognized values ​​recognized by the stereo camera in a memory.

[0022] Furthermore, sensors other than the stereo camera that are used for the following cruise control are connected to the ECU 10. For example, a wheel speed sensor 21 and a G sensor 22 are connected to the ECU 10. If the ECU 10 is not an ECU that supports a stereo camera, a stereo camera or other sensor for recognizing information about each target object is separately connected.

[0023] From the wheel speed sensor 21, a detection signal (wheel speed pulse) corresponding to the wheel speed of the vehicle is acquired.

[0024] The G sensor 22 is, for example, a three-axis (X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis) sensor. Here, the X-axis is the axis in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, the Y-axis is the axis in the left-right direction of the vehicle body, and the Z-axis is the axis in the up-down direction of the vehicle body. A signal corresponding to the acceleration of the vehicle in the up-down direction is acquired from the G sensor 22.

[0025] The ECU 10 acquires the output of the wheel speed sensor 21, the output of the G sensor 22, the speed of the preceding vehicle, the acceleration of the preceding vehicle, or a recognized value indicating a stopped state, and controls the host vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle.

[0026] (Configuration of adaptive cruise control function in ECU 10) The ECU 10 has an accelerator control unit 10-1 that controls the accelerator and a brake control unit 10-2 that controls the brake. Here, the accelerator control unit 10-1 corresponds to the "control means." The brake control unit 10-2 corresponds to the "brake control means."

[0027] The accelerator control unit 10-1 includes, for example, a target acceleration calculation unit 11, a target vehicle speed calculation unit 12, and a target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13.

[0028] The brake control unit 10-2 includes, for example, a target acceleration suppression unit 14 and a brake demand calculation unit 15. It is assumed that a storage unit 16 stores the recognized values.

[0029] The target acceleration calculation unit 11 calculates a target acceleration of the host vehicle for traveling while following the preceding vehicle based on output values ​​of various sensors. As an example, the target acceleration calculation unit 11 calculates the target acceleration of the host vehicle based on the recognized values ​​of the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, and the acceleration of the preceding vehicle. The recognized values ​​are, for example, recognized values ​​of the target (preceding vehicle) acquired by a stereo camera (information on the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, information on the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, and information on the acceleration of the preceding vehicle).

[0030] The target vehicle speed calculation unit 12 calculates a target vehicle speed of the host vehicle so that the host vehicle accelerates in accordance with the target acceleration calculated by the target acceleration calculation unit 11. The target vehicle speed calculation unit 12 calculates the target vehicle speed of the host vehicle from the actual vehicle speed of the host vehicle and the target acceleration of the host vehicle. The actual vehicle speed of the host vehicle is calculated based on wheel speed pulses output by the wheel speed sensor 21.

[0031] Target vehicle speed calculation unit 12 outputs the calculated target vehicle speed to target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13. Target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13 functions when a first condition described below, which is a condition for stopping on an uphill gradient of a predetermined value or more, is met; otherwise, target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13 outputs the target vehicle speed calculated by target vehicle speed calculation unit 12 to EFI-ECU 30. In other words, the accelerator opening is controlled via EFI-ECU 30 so that the target vehicle speed is achieved.

[0032] The target acceleration suppression unit 14 outputs the target acceleration calculated by the target acceleration calculation unit 11 to the brake demand calculation unit 15 and the VSC-ECU 40 .

[0033] The brake request calculation unit 15 compares the target acceleration (negative target acceleration) output from the target acceleration suppression unit 14 with the acceleration (negative acceleration) caused by the braking force of the engine brake generated when the drive unit is slowed down to the target vehicle speed by the EFI-ECU 30, and calculates whether or not a brake request is required. If the target acceleration during deceleration is lower than the acceleration caused by the braking force of the engine brake, that is, if the negative acceleration is insufficient, the brake request calculation unit 15 issues a brake request to the VSC-ECU 40 to turn the brake ON. If a brake request is not issued to the VSC-ECU 40, the brake is OFF.

[0034] (Operation when the first condition is met) The first condition is that the preceding vehicle has stopped and the gradient of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

[0035] It is possible to detect that a preceding vehicle has stopped from recognition values ​​obtained using a stereo camera, etc. For example, it is possible to detect that a preceding vehicle has stopped when the relative speed between the vehicle and a stationary object (a stationary object in the background) matches the relative speed between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, or when the positions of the stationary object and the preceding vehicle do not change over multiple frames.

[0036] On the other hand, whether the road gradient is equal to or greater than a predetermined value can be calculated from the output signal of the G sensor corresponding to the vehicle's vertical acceleration. When the road gradient is gentle, the vehicle can be stopped at the target stopping position without stopping midway even when using flat section control, so the road gradient is set to be equal to or greater than the predetermined value. The predetermined value is set by determining, in advance through experiments or the like, the inclination angle at which the vehicle stops short of the target stopping position when using flat section stop control.

[0037] When the target vehicle speed output by the target vehicle speed calculation unit 12 falls to the lower limit value while the first condition is satisfied, the target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13 outputs the lower limit value of the target vehicle speed to the EFI-ECU 30 so that the vehicle speed does not fall below the lower limit value. The lower limit value is a constant speed value that allows the host vehicle to continue traveling so as not to stop the host vehicle within the target stopping position. Therefore, the lower limit value may be a low speed, or may be a speed at which the host vehicle moves slowly, such as a speed at which the host vehicle moves due to creeping. As an example, the lower limit value will be described as 8 km / h or a value close to that.

[0038] When the first condition is met, the target acceleration suppression unit 14 suppresses the output target acceleration (negative target acceleration) to reduce its absolute value. By suppressing the target acceleration (negative target acceleration), a state in which deceleration is performed by braking force due to speed change is created, so no brake request is made and the brake for the VSC-ECU 40 is turned off. Therefore, by not controlling the brake, the stopping distance can be extended.

[0039] As an example, the target acceleration suppression unit 14 may set the target acceleration to 0 m / s 2 The target acceleration suppression unit 14 suppresses the target acceleration by fixing it to 0 m / s 2 By fixing the value to , no brake request is made, and the brake for the VSC-ECU 40 can be set to brake OFF.

[0040] The host vehicle can continue to travel by controlling the accelerator, and even if the speed is reduced by the braking force of the engine brake, the target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13 maintains the vehicle speed by controlling the accelerator with the EFI-ECU 30 so that it does not fall below the lower limit, so the stopping position of the host vehicle can be extended.

[0041] (Action when the second condition is met) The target acceleration is suppressed by the target acceleration suppression unit 14, and the target vehicle speed is maintained at a lower limit value by the target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13 through accelerator control. The target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13 is released when the second condition is met. Immediately after release, the target acceleration suppression unit 14 outputs the target acceleration (negative acceleration) for which suppression has been released to the brake request calculation unit 15, and the brake request calculation unit 15 issues a brake request, causing the vehicle to stop through brake control.

[0042] The second condition is that the difference between the actual distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle and the distance to the target stopping position of the host vehicle falls below a predetermined value. The predetermined value is set to a value within a range in which the host vehicle will not restart after stopping in order to align the stopping position with the target stopping position.

[0043] (Explanation of accelerator and brake control) The EFI-ECU 30 is an ECU that controls the fuel system of the vehicle. The EFI-ECU 30 calculates the accelerator opening amount in accordance with the target vehicle speed output from the target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13, and controls the accelerator.

[0044] The VSC-ECU 40 limits the rotation of the wheels by a deceleration device on the wheel side through brake control based on the brake request output from the brake request calculation unit 15 and the target acceleration output from the target acceleration suppression unit 14. Specifically, the VSC-ECU 40 controls the brake master cylinder pressure according to the input target acceleration, so that hydraulic pressure is transmitted from the brake master cylinder to the wheel side, and the wheel side deceleration device limits the rotation of the wheels.

[0045] (Description of stop control to stop the vehicle at the target stop position) Next, we will explain the control for stopping the host vehicle at a target stopping position on an uphill gradient of a predetermined value or more. Figure 2 shows the vehicle before (Figure 2(a)) and after (Figure 2(b)) stopping when the host vehicle is stopped at a target stopping position following a stopped preceding vehicle on an uphill gradient of a predetermined value or more.

[0046] As shown in Figure 2(a), when the host vehicle 100 (ECU 10) detects that the preceding vehicle 200 has stopped from the forward image acquired by the stereo camera, it calculates a target stopping position, decelerates by controlling the braking force, and stops at the target stopping position as shown in Figure 2(b).

[0047] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the brake control of the vehicle shown in Figure 2. In Figure 3, (a), (b), (c), and (d), the horizontal axis is the same time axis, and the changes in the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 100 and the preceding vehicle 200, the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100, whether or not a brake request is made by the host vehicle 100, and the target acceleration of the host vehicle 100 are shown side by side.

[0048] The target inter-vehicle distance (dotted line) shown in FIG. 3(a) is the same as the target inter-vehicle distance when the host vehicle 100 stops following the preceding vehicle 200 on a flat section. As shown in FIG. 3(a), the target inter-vehicle distance changes along a curve. When the host vehicle 100 is stopped using the target inter-vehicle distance, negative acceleration is applied to stop the host vehicle 100 to the target stopping position. Therefore, when attempting to stop the host vehicle 100 using the target inter-vehicle distance on an uphill slope of a predetermined value or more, the host vehicle 100 will not reach the target stopping position due to the influence of weight acceleration and will stop short of the target stopping position.

[0049] On the other hand, in the situation shown in FIG. 2(a), the first condition is met from time T1 when the preceding vehicle 200 stops, and so control for when the first condition is met is performed. For example, the control involves turning off the brake, i.e., not using brake control, but instead decelerating using braking force due to speed change (e.g., engine braking force). Furthermore, when the calculated target vehicle speed reaches a lower limit (e.g., 8 km / h), accelerator control is performed to maintain the target vehicle speed at the lower limit so that the vehicle speed does not fall below that limit. Thereafter, on the condition that the difference between the actual inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle 200 and the host vehicle 100 and the distance to the target stopping position of the host vehicle falls below a predetermined value Th1 (corresponding to the second condition), the control for when the first condition is met is released at that point (time T2). In other words, brake control is enabled, and accelerator control for maintaining the target vehicle speed at the lower limit is also released. After the release, braking control is performed to stop the host vehicle 100 at the target stopping position, and since the uphill gradient is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the host vehicle 100 can stop at the target stopping position.

[0050] This series of controls is shown in Figure 3(b), (c), and (d). Figure 3(b) shows the preceding vehicle speed (dash-dotted line), the host vehicle speed (solid line), and the host vehicle's target vehicle speed (dotted line). As shown by the preceding vehicle speed (dash-dotted line), the preceding vehicle 200 decelerates and stops at time T1, when the speed is 0 km / h.

[0051] As shown in (c) of Figure 3, the first condition is not met until time T1, so the brake request is used as appropriate. In (c) of Figure 3, as an example, the target acceleration ((d) of Figure 3) requires a braking force greater than the braking force associated with the speed change, so the request is switched from OFF to ON, but if the braking force associated with the speed change is sufficient, the request may be OFF.

[0052] As shown in Fig. 3(d), the target acceleration output to the target acceleration suppression unit 14 is the target acceleration calculated in the same manner as in the flat section, because the first condition is not satisfied until time T1, and the curve shows a negative target acceleration due to deceleration. From time T1, the first condition is satisfied, and the target acceleration suppression unit 14 outputs a target acceleration of 0 m / s 2Therefore, no braking request is made from time T1 in FIG. 3(d).

[0053] In Figure 3(b), the target vehicle speed (dotted line) of the host vehicle decreases based on the negative target acceleration. Then, at time T1, the target vehicle speed (dotted line) of the host vehicle is fixed at the lower limit speed. The host vehicle speed (solid line) decreases along the target vehicle speed (dotted line) and, when it reaches the lower limit speed, is maintained at the lower limit speed.

[0054] At time T2, when a second condition is met, which is that the difference between the actual inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle 200 and the vehicle 100 and the distance to the target stopping position of the vehicle 100 falls below a predetermined value Th1, the power control means is requested to perform the brake control.

[0055] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a stop control flow for the host vehicle 100. The stop control flow shown in Fig. 4 is a stop control flow that is started when a stop of the preceding vehicle 200 is detected in the main control flow in which the ECU 10 performs follow-up traveling. After the stop control flow ends, the process returns to the main control flow, and when a stop of the preceding vehicle 200 is detected again, the stop control flow is started again.

[0056] 4, the ECU 10 determines whether the stop of the preceding vehicle 200 has been detected (step S1). If the ECU 10 determines that the stop of the preceding vehicle 200 has not been detected (step S1: No determination), the ECU 10 ends the process.

[0057] When the ECU 10 determines that the preceding vehicle 200 has stopped (step S1: Yes), it determines whether the gradient of the road surface on which the host vehicle 100 is traveling is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step S2). The predetermined value corresponds to the inclination angle of the uphill slope. When the gradient is less than the predetermined value (step S2: No), the ECU 10 ends the process.

[0058] If the gradient is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S2: Yes), the ECU 10 sets the target acceleration to 0 m / s 2 (Step S3).

[0059] Furthermore, the ECU 10 performs a lower limit guard process for the target vehicle speed (step S4). The lower limit guard process is a process in which, when the target vehicle speed reaches a lower limit (for example, 8 km / h), accelerator control is performed to maintain the target vehicle speed at the lower limit so that the vehicle speed does not fall below the lower limit.

[0060] Next, the ECU 10 determines whether the difference between the actual inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle 200 and the target inter-vehicle distance is less than a predetermined value Th1 (step S5). If the ECU 10 determines that the difference between the actual inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle 200 and the target inter-vehicle distance is not less than the predetermined value Th1 (step S5: No determination), the ECU 10 repeats the processing from step S1.

[0061] If ECU 10 determines that the difference between the actual inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle 200 and the target inter-vehicle distance is below a predetermined value Th1 (step S5: Yes judgment), it ends this processing, i.e., cancels the settings of steps 3 and S4, and performs the same stopping control as in the flat section in the main control flow.

[0062] In this embodiment, the preceding vehicle is assumed to remain stopped until the host vehicle stops at the target stopping position. However, if the preceding vehicle is detected to start moving again while the host vehicle is performing stopping control to stop at the target stopping position, the host vehicle's stopping control on the steep uphill slope may be released and follow-up driving control on the flat section may be resumed.

[0063] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the G sensor 22 and the like are connected to the ECU 10, but information on various sensors such as the G sensor may be acquired from another ECU.

[0064] The G sensor 22 is an example of a recognition means for recognizing the road surface gradient. Means other than the G sensor 22 may be appropriately adopted as long as they are capable of recognizing the road surface gradient.

[0065] Furthermore, the vehicle control device may include various sensors such as recognition means and the G sensor 22.

[0066] In addition, some or all of the functions of the accelerator control unit 10-1 and the brake control unit 10-2 can be realized as functional units by a microcomputer executing a program stored in memory. Of course, some or all of the functional units may be configured by dedicated hardware.

[0067] Furthermore, although the accelerator control unit 10-1 is shown as an example including the target acceleration calculation unit 11, the target vehicle speed calculation unit 12, and the target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 13, the control means is not limited to these.

[0068] Furthermore, the brake control unit 10-2 is exemplified by the target acceleration suppression unit 14 and the brake demand calculation unit 15, but the brake control means is not limited to these.

[0069] (Effects of the embodiment) In this embodiment, when a preceding vehicle stops on an upslope of a predetermined value or more, the host vehicle suppresses the target acceleration (negative target acceleration) and turns off the brakes. Also, the host vehicle maintains a low vehicle speed by accelerator control by the EFI-ECU 30 so that the vehicle speed does not fall below a lower limit. Therefore, even when the host vehicle is stopped on a steep upslope, the host vehicle continues traveling at a low speed without stopping midway, and can be stopped by applying the brakes at the target stopping position. Also, the host vehicle suppresses the target acceleration (negative target acceleration) to 0 m / s 2 If the vehicle speed is restricted to this value, it is possible to stop the vehicle accurately at the target stopping position even on a steep uphill gradient.

[0070] In addition, various design modifications can be made to the above-described configuration within the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 10 ECU 10-1 Accelerator control unit 10-2 Brake control unit 11 Target acceleration calculation section 12 Target vehicle speed calculation section 13 Target vehicle speed lower limit guard processing unit 14 Target acceleration suppression section 15 Brake demand calculation unit 16 Storage area 21 Wheel speed sensor 22 G sensor 30 EFI-ECU 40 VSC-ECU

Claims

1. A vehicle control device that causes a vehicle to travel based on a target acceleration, brake control means for performing brake control based on the target acceleration; a control means for stopping the vehicle following the stopped preceding vehicle at a target stopping position by the brake control; and The control means suppressing the target acceleration when a first condition is met, the first condition being that the preceding vehicle has stopped and that the gradient of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is equal to or greater than a predetermined value; when a second condition is satisfied, the second condition being that a difference between an actual inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle and a distance to the target stop position of the host vehicle falls below a predetermined value, the host vehicle is stopped at the target stop position by the brake control. Vehicle control device.

2. The control means When the first condition is satisfied, the target acceleration is suppressed and the actual vehicle speed of the host vehicle is maintained so as not to fall below a predetermined value. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 .

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