Vehicle driving control system

Abstract

To provide a travel control apparatus which is improved so that the acceleration / deceleration of the own vehicle can be terminated when the adjacent vehicle stops interrupting.SOLUTION: A vehicular travel control apparatus includes: a surrounding information acquisition device which acquires information on targets surrounding an own vehicle; and a control unit (driving support ECU, etc.) configured to execute interruption acceptance control by acceleration / deceleration of the own vehicle (S80) so that an adjacent vehicle can interrupt when it is determined that the adjacent vehicle flashing blinkers is attempting to interrupt to a lane on which the own vehicle travels, based on the information on targets acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device (S30). Therein, when determining, in a situation of performing the interruption acceptance control, that the adjacent vehicle is no more attempting to execute the interruption and has stopped blinking its blinkers (S90, S110), the control unit terminates interruption acceptance control (S50).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a travel control apparatus for vehicles such as automobiles. [Background Art]

[0002] Another vehicle traveling in the same direction as the host vehicle in a lane adjacent to the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling (hereinafter referred to as the "host lane") (hereinafter referred to as an "adjacent vehicle") may cut into the front of the host vehicle by changing lanes. As vehicle travel control for dealing with such a cut-in by an adjacent vehicle, it is known to control acceleration and deceleration of the host vehicle so that the adjacent vehicle can safely perform the cut-in.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 below describes a travel control apparatus configured to, when it is determined that there is a request for a cut-in by an adjacent vehicle into the host lane based on, for example, blinking of a turn signal lamp, control acceleration and deceleration of the host vehicle so that the adjacent vehicle can safely cut in front of the host vehicle. In this travel control apparatus, when the cut-in of the adjacent vehicle is completed, the control of acceleration and deceleration of the host vehicle for the cut-in of the adjacent vehicle is terminated. In the present application, a turn signal lamp is abbreviated as a turn signal. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 06897170 Specification [Summary of the Invention]

[0005] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention] Generally, a driver who intends to change lanes indicates his / her intention to change lanes to surrounding vehicles by blinking the turn signal prior to changing lanes. However, before starting the lane change or in the middle of changing lanes, the driver may withdraw the intention to change lanes and turn off the turn signal.

[0006] The driving control device described in Patent Document 1 above does not anticipate a situation in which the intention to change lanes is withdrawn and the turn signal is turned off before or during a lane change. Therefore, if the turn signal is turned off, it is not possible to properly terminate the control of the vehicle's acceleration and deceleration in order to allow an adjacent vehicle to cut in.

[0007] The present invention provides a driving control device configured to control the acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle so that an adjacent vehicle can safely cut in front of it, and further improved to terminate the acceleration and deceleration control of the vehicle when the adjacent vehicle abandons its attempt to cut in.

[0008] [Means for solving the problem and the effects of the invention] According to the present invention, a vehicle driving control device (100) is provided, which includes an ambient information acquisition device (16) that acquires information about targets around the vehicle (102), and a control unit (such as a driving support ECU 10) configured to perform an interrupt acceptance control by accelerating or decelerating the vehicle to allow the adjacent vehicle to cut in front of the vehicle when it is determined (S30) that an adjacent vehicle (110) traveling in an adjacent lane (108) is flashing its turn signal based on the target information acquired by the ambient information acquisition device, allowing the adjacent vehicle to cut in (S80).

[0009] The control unit is performing interrupt acceptance control (S80), and the adjacent vehicle (110) has not performed an interrupt. (S90) Furthermore, the adjacent vehicle's turn signal The light is off (S120) and the time spent executing interrupt acceptance control is greater than or equal to the reference value. When it is determined that (S130) The system is configured to terminate interrupt acceptance control (S150).

[0010] According to the above configuration, when interrupt acceptance control is being executed, if the adjacent vehicle has not executed an interrupt and the adjacent vehicle has activated its turn signal The lights are off and the time interrupt acceptance control has been running is greater than the specified threshold. If this is determined, the interrupt acceptance control will terminate. Note that if an adjacent vehicle uses its turn signal... Lights offThis determination includes cases where, after determining that an adjacent vehicle has stopped flashing its turn signal, the driver is unable to recognize the adjacent vehicle's turn signal due to the intervention of a following vehicle or other means.

[0011] Therefore, if the intention to change lanes is withdrawn before or during the lane change, and the turn signal is turned off, or if the turn signal becomes unrecognizable after it has been turned off, And when the time spent executing interrupt acceptance control is greater than or equal to a certain value. This allows the cut-in acceptance control for an adjacent vehicle to cut in to be terminated. Furthermore, it allows for a more accurate determination of whether the intention to change lanes has been withdrawn compared to when the cut-in acceptance control is terminated when it is determined that the adjacent vehicle has not cut in or when it is determined that the adjacent vehicle has stopped flashing its turn signal. Furthermore, compared to the case where it is not possible to determine whether the time spent executing the interrupt acceptance control exceeds a certain threshold, it is possible to determine with even greater accuracy whether the intention to change lanes has been withdrawn. Therefore, there is a risk that interrupt acceptance control may be terminated unnecessarily. effectively It can be reduced.

[0014] [Aspects of the Invention] Book invention one In this embodiment, the control unit (such as the driver assistance ECU 10) is configured to execute follow-me distance control (S60) after terminating interrupt acceptance control (S150).

[0015] According to the above configuration, when the interrupt acceptance control is completed, the following distance control is executed. Therefore, since the following distance control is executed when the interrupt acceptance control is completed, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from getting too close to the preceding vehicle even if there is a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle.

[0016] In one embodiment of the present invention, when a control unit (such as a driver assistance ECU 10) has acquired map information and is performing interrupt acceptance control (S80), if it determines that an adjacent vehicle has not performed an interrupt and has stopped flashing its turn signal (S90, S120), if it determines, based on the map information, that the lane in which the adjacent vehicle is traveling merges with the lane in which the vehicle is traveling within a predetermined range in front of the vehicle (S130), Regardless of whether the time spent executing interrupt acceptance control exceeds a certain threshold, The system is configured to continue interrupt acceptance control (S80).

[0017] According to the above embodiment, when interrupt acceptance control is being executed, even if it is determined that the adjacent vehicle has not performed an interrupt and has stopped flashing its turn signal, if it is determined that the lane in which the adjacent vehicle is traveling will merge into the lane in which the vehicle is traveling within a predetermined range in front of the vehicle, Regardless of whether the time spent executing interrupt acceptance control exceeds a certain threshold, Interrupt acceptance control will continue.

[0018] Therefore, compared to the case where the cut-in acceptance control is not maintained, it is possible to safely allow adjacent vehicles to cut in front of the vehicle as they merge into the lane.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, when a control unit (such as a driver assistance ECU 10) determines that an adjacent vehicle is flashing its turn signal and attempting to cut in front of its own vehicle (S30), and determines that the relative speed (Vr) and relative distance (Dr) of the adjacent vehicle with respect to its own vehicle are within a preset interruption tolerance range (80) (S40), Interrupt acceptance It is configured to perform control (S80).

[0020] According to the above embodiment, when it is determined that an adjacent vehicle is flashing its turn signal and attempting to cut in front of the vehicle, and the relative speed and relative distance of the adjacent vehicle to the vehicle are determined to be within a preset allowable cutting range, Interrupt acceptance Control is executed.

[0021] Therefore, compared to a case where it is not determined whether the relative speed and relative distance of an adjacent vehicle to the vehicle in question are within a predetermined allowable range for cutting in, this allows for safer cutting in front of the vehicle in question.

[0022] In one aspect of the present invention, a control unit (such as a driving assistance ECU 10) is configured to determine (S40) that a relative speed (Vr) and a relative distance (Dr) are within a preset interruption allowable range (80) when the relative distance (Dr) is equal to or greater than a reference relative distance (82), wherein the reference relative distance is a positive value when the relative speed is less than a negative reference value (Vrc), is a negative value when the relative speed is equal to or greater than the reference value, and is set to be larger as the relative speed is smaller.

[0023] According to the above aspect, when the relative distance is equal to or greater than the reference relative distance, it is determined that the relative speed and the relative distance are within the preset interruption allowable range. The reference relative distance is a positive value when the relative speed is less than the negative reference value, is a negative value when the relative speed is equal to or greater than the reference value, and is set to be larger as the relative speed is smaller.

[0024] Therefore, when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is higher than the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle and the relative speed is less than the reference value, if the adjacent vehicle is located ahead of the own vehicle and the relative distance is not large, it will not be determined that the relative speed and the relative distance are within the preset interruption allowable range. Accordingly, the adjacent vehicle can safely cut in ahead of the own vehicle.

[0025] Further, when the relative speed is equal to or greater than the reference value, the reference relative distance is set to be larger as the absolute value of the relative speed is larger. Therefore, the larger the difference between the vehicle speed of the own vehicle and the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle, the larger the distance that the adjacent vehicle must be located ahead of the own vehicle. Therefore, for example, compared to a case where the reference relative distance is constant regardless of the magnitude of the difference between the vehicle speed of the own vehicle and the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle, the adjacent vehicle can safely cut in ahead of the own vehicle.

[0026] Furthermore, the reference relative distance is set to be a negative value when the relative speed is above the reference value, and the absolute value increases as the relative speed increases. Therefore, when the vehicle's speed is lower than that of the adjacent vehicle, even if the adjacent vehicle is not positioned ahead of the vehicle, it is determined that the relative speed and relative distance are within the preset interrupt tolerance range. Consequently, if the adjacent vehicle is not positioned ahead of the vehicle, acceleration and deceleration control of the vehicle can be started earlier compared to the case where acceleration and deceleration control of the vehicle is not performed.

[0027] Furthermore, the greater the difference between the speed of your vehicle and the speed of the adjacent vehicle, the greater the distance at which the adjacent vehicle can be positioned behind your vehicle. Therefore, compared to a case where the reference relative distance is constant regardless of the difference between the speed of your vehicle and the adjacent vehicle, the adjacent vehicle can begin preparing to cut in front of your vehicle earlier.

[0028] In this application, the relative speed becomes a negative value when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is lower than the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle, and the relative distance becomes a negative value when the adjacent vehicle is located behind the own vehicle.

[0029] In the above description, to aid in understanding the present invention, the names and / or reference numerals used in the embodiments of the invention corresponding to those embodiments described later are indicated in parentheses. However, the components of the present invention are not limited to the components of the embodiments corresponding to the names and / or reference numerals indicated in parentheses. Other objects, other features and incidental advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the description of embodiments of the present invention, which will be described with reference to the following drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0030] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle driving control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing the driving control routine in the embodiment. [Figure 3]This diagram shows the allowable interruption range for the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr of an adjacent vehicle relative to the vehicle itself. [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates the acceleration and deceleration control of a vehicle when its own vehicle speed Vo is higher than the speed Va of an adjacent vehicle. [Figure 5] This diagram illustrates the acceleration and deceleration control of a vehicle when its own vehicle speed Vo is lower than the vehicle speed Va of an adjacent vehicle. [Figure 6] This diagram illustrates the operation of the embodiment in comparison with the prior art when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is higher than the vehicle speed of an adjacent vehicle. [Figure 7] This diagram illustrates the operation of the embodiment in comparison with the prior art when the vehicle speed of the vehicle itself is lower than the vehicle speed of an adjacent vehicle. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0031] A vehicle driving control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached figures.

[0032] <Structure> As shown in Figure 1, the vehicle driving control device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle 102 and includes a driver assistance ECU 10. The vehicle 102 may be a vehicle capable of autonomous driving and is equipped with a drive ECU 20, a brake ECU 30, an electric power steering ECU 40, and a meter ECU 50. ECU means an electronic control unit that mainly consists of a microcomputer. In the following description, the vehicle 102 will be referred to as "our vehicle 102" as needed to distinguish it from other vehicles, and electric power steering will be referred to as EPS.

[0033] Each ECU's microcomputer includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, read / write non-volatile memory (N / M), and an interface (I / F). The CPU implements various functions by executing instructions (programs, routines) stored in ROM. Furthermore, these ECUs are interconnected via CAN (Controller Area Network) 104, enabling data exchange (communication). Therefore, detection values ​​from sensors (including switches) connected to a specific ECU are transmitted to other ECUs.

[0034] The driver assistance ECU 10 is a central control unit that performs vehicle driving control such as adaptive cruise control and lane keeping control. In this embodiment, the driver assistance ECU 10 works in cooperation with other ECUs to perform vehicle driving control, including adjacent vehicle interrupt acceptance control and adaptive cruise control, as will be described in detail later. In the following description, adaptive cruise control will be referred to as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control).

[0035] The driver assistance ECU 10 is connected to a camera sensor 12 and a radar sensor 14. The camera sensor 12 and radar sensor 14 each include multiple camera devices and multiple radar devices, respectively. The camera sensor 12 and radar sensor 14 function as an ambient information acquisition device 16 that acquires information about targets around the vehicle 102.

[0036] Each camera device of the camera sensor 12, although not shown in the figure, includes a camera unit that photographs the area around the vehicle 102 and a recognition unit that analyzes the image data obtained from the camera unit to recognize road markings, other vehicles, and other objects. The recognition unit supplies information about the recognized objects to the driver assistance ECU 10 at predetermined intervals.

[0037] Each radar device of the radar sensor 14 is equipped with a radar transceiver and a signal processing unit (not shown). The radar transceiver emits millimeter-wave radio waves (hereinafter referred to as "millimeter waves") and receives millimeter waves (i.e., reflected waves) reflected by three-dimensional objects (e.g., other vehicles, bicycles, guardrails, etc.) within the emission range. The signal processing unit acquires information representing the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle and the three-dimensional object, and the relative position (direction) of the three-dimensional object relative to the vehicle, at predetermined intervals based on the phase difference between the emitted millimeter waves and the received reflected waves, the attenuation level of the reflected waves, and the time from the emission of millimeter waves to the reception of reflected waves, and supplies this information to the driver assistance ECU 10. LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) may be used instead of or in addition to the radar sensor 14.

[0038] Furthermore, a setting control 18 is connected to the driver assistance ECU 10, and the setting control 18 is located in a position where it can be operated by the driver. Although not shown in Figure 1, the setting control 18 includes an ACC switch and a setting device for setting the target vehicle speed Vt and target inter-vehicle time Tt of the ACC, which will be described later, and the driver assistance ECU 10 performs vehicle driving control when the ACC switch is turned on.

[0039] The drive ECU 20 is connected to a drive unit 22, which accelerates the vehicle 102 by applying driving force to the drive wheels, which are not shown in Figure 1. Under normal circumstances, the drive ECU 20 controls the drive unit 22 so that the driving force generated by the drive unit 22 changes in accordance with the driver's driving operation, and when it receives a command signal from the driver assistance ECU 10, it controls the drive unit 22 based on the command signal.

[0040] The drive unit 22 may be any drive unit known in the art, such as a combination of an internal combustion engine and a transmission like a gasoline engine, a so-called hybrid system which is a combination of an internal combustion engine and a motor, a so-called plug-in hybrid system, a combination of a fuel cell and a motor, or a motor.

[0041] The braking ECU 30 is connected to a braking device 32 that decelerates the vehicle 102 by applying braking force to the wheels, which are not shown in Figure 1. Under normal circumstances, the braking ECU 30 controls the braking device 32 so that the braking force generated by the braking device 32 changes in accordance with the driver's braking operation. When it receives a command signal from the driver assistance ECU 10, it performs automatic braking by controlling the braking device 32 based on the command signal.

[0042] The EPS / ECU 40 is connected to the EPS device 42. Based on the steering torque Ts and vehicle speed V detected by the driving operation sensor 60 and vehicle condition sensor 70 (described later), the EPS / ECU 40 controls the steering assist torque by controlling the EPS device 42 in a manner known in the art, thereby reducing the driver's steering burden. Furthermore, by controlling the EPS device 42, the EPS / ECU 40 can steer the steering wheels as needed. Therefore, the EPS / ECU 40 and the EPS device 42 function as a steering device that automatically steers the steering wheels as needed.

[0043] A display unit 52 is connected to the meter ECU 50. The display unit 52 may be, for example, a head-up display or a multi-information display that displays meters and various information, or it may be a display for a navigation system.

[0044] The driving operation sensor 60 and the vehicle condition sensor 70 are connected to CAN 104. Information detected by the driving operation sensor 60 and the vehicle condition sensor 70 (referred to as sensor information) is transmitted to CAN 104. The sensor information transmitted to CAN 104 can be used as appropriate by each ECU. Note that the sensor information may be information from a sensor connected to a specific ECU and transmitted to CAN 104 from that specific ECU.

[0045] The driving operation sensor 60 includes a drive operation amount sensor and a brake operation amount sensor. Furthermore, the driving operation sensor 60 includes a steering angle sensor, a steering torque sensor, and the like. The vehicle state sensor 70 includes a vehicle speed sensor, a longitudinal acceleration sensor, a lateral acceleration sensor, and a yaw rate sensor, and the like.

[0046] As is well known, ACC includes two types of control: constant speed driving control and preceding vehicle following control. Constant speed driving control is a control that adjusts the braking and driving force of the vehicle so that the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 102 matches the target vehicle speed (set speed) Vt, without requiring braking and driving operations by the driver. Preceding vehicle following control is a control that makes the vehicle follow the preceding vehicle (the vehicle to be followed) while maintaining the distance D between the vehicle 102 and the preceding vehicle (the vehicle to be followed) at a target distance Dt, without requiring braking and driving operations by the driver. The preceding vehicle is a vehicle traveling in the area in front of the vehicle 102 and directly in front of it.

[0047] Furthermore, the navigation device 80 is also connected to the CAN 104. The navigation device 80 includes a GPS receiver for detecting the position of the vehicle 102, a storage device for storing map information, and a communication device for obtaining the latest map information from an external source. The navigation device 80 functions as a device for acquiring information on the current location of the vehicle 102 and outputs a signal to the driver assistance ECU 10 indicating the vehicle's current location on the map and map information of its surroundings.

[0048] In this embodiment, the ROM of the driver assistance ECU 10 stores a program for vehicle driving control corresponding to the flowchart shown in Figure 2, and the CPU executes the driving control according to this embodiment of the present invention in accordance with the program.

[0049] <Driving control routine in the embodiment> Next, the driving control routine in the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 2. The driving control according to the flowchart shown in Figure 2 is executed by the CPU of the driver assistance ECU 10 when the ACC switch of the setting control unit 18, which is not shown in Figure 1, is ON. In the following description, the driving control will be simply referred to as "this control".

[0050] First, in step S10, the CPU determines whether flag F is 1, that is, whether the vehicle is being controlled to accept an interrupt from an adjacent vehicle. If the CPU determines it to be positive, it proceeds to step S90; if it determines it to be negative, it proceeds to step S20. Flag F is initialized to 0 at the start of this control according to the flowchart shown in Figure 2.

[0051] In step S20, the CPU determines, based on the target information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 16, whether or not there is an adjacent vehicle 110 traveling in the same direction as the vehicle in the lane 108 adjacent to the vehicle's own lane 106, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. If the CPU determines that there is no adjacent vehicle 110, it proceeds to step S50, and if it determines that there is no adjacent vehicle 110, it proceeds to step S30.

[0052] In step S30, the CPU determines whether the turn signal 110A on the side of the adjacent vehicle 110 is flashing, based on the information of the surrounding information acquisition device 16. If the CPU determines it is not flashing, it proceeds to step S50; if it determines it is flashing, it proceeds to step S40.

[0053] In step S40, the CPU calculates the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr of adjacent vehicles relative to the self-vehicle 102 based on the target information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 16, and determines whether the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr are within the interrupt tolerance range shown in Figure 3. If the CPU makes a negative determination, in step S50, it resets flag F to 0, and in step S60, it performs ACC control of the self-vehicle, i.e., constant speed driving control or preceding vehicle following control. Conversely, if the CPU makes an positive determination, in step S70, it sets flag F to 1. When flag F is 0, in step S50, flag F is maintained at 0.

[0054] Therefore, compared to the case where it is not determined whether the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr of an adjacent vehicle to the own vehicle are within the preset interruption tolerance range 80, it is possible to safely allow an adjacent vehicle to cut in front of the own vehicle.

[0055] As shown by the hatching in Figure 3, the interrupt tolerance range 80 is the range where the relative distance Dr is greater than or equal to the reference relative distance 82. The reference relative distance 82 is a positive value when the relative velocity Vr is less than the negative reference value Vrc, and a negative value when the relative velocity Vr is greater than or equal to the reference value Vrc, and is set to be larger as the relative velocity Vr decreases.

[0056] In other words, the reference relative distance 82 is set such that when the relative distance Dr is a positive value, the absolute value of the reference relative distance 82 increases as the absolute value of the relative speed Vr increases, and when the relative speed Vr is a positive value, the absolute value of the reference relative distance 82 increases as the relative speed increases. Furthermore, when both the relative distance Dr and the relative speed Vr are negative values, the reference relative distance 82 is set such that the absolute value of the reference relative distance 82 decreases as the absolute value of the relative speed increases. It is also considered that the greater the relative distance Dr is compared to the reference relative distance 82, and the greater the difference between the relative distance Dr and the reference relative distance 82, the higher the safety when an adjacent vehicle cuts in front of your vehicle.

[0057] Therefore, when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is higher than the speed of the adjacent vehicle, and the relative speed Vr is less than the reference value Vrc, the relative speed and relative distance will not be determined to be within the preset cut-in tolerance range unless the adjacent vehicle is positioned ahead of the own vehicle and the relative distance Dr is not large. Thus, the adjacent vehicle can safely cut in front of the own vehicle.

[0058] Furthermore, the reference relative distance 82 is set to increase as the absolute value of the relative speed Vr increases when the relative speed Vr is a negative value. Therefore, the greater the difference between the speed of your vehicle and the speed of the adjacent vehicle, the greater the distance at which the adjacent vehicle must be positioned ahead of your vehicle. Thus, compared to the case where the reference relative distance is constant regardless of the difference between the speed of your vehicle and the speed of the adjacent vehicle, it is possible to safely allow the adjacent vehicle to cut in front of your vehicle.

[0059] Furthermore, the reference relative distance 82 is set to be a negative value when the relative speed V is greater than or equal to the reference value Vrc, and the absolute value increases as the relative speed increases. Therefore, when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is lower than the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle, it is determined that the relative speed and relative distance are within the preset interrupt tolerance range, even if the adjacent vehicle is not positioned ahead of the own vehicle. Consequently, if the adjacent vehicle is not positioned ahead of the own vehicle, acceleration and deceleration control of the own vehicle can be started earlier compared to the case where acceleration and deceleration control of the own vehicle is not performed.

[0060] Furthermore, the greater the difference between the speed of your vehicle and the speed of the adjacent vehicle, the greater the distance at which the adjacent vehicle can be positioned behind your vehicle. Therefore, compared to a case where the reference relative distance is constant regardless of the difference between the speed of your vehicle and the adjacent vehicle, the adjacent vehicle can begin preparing to cut in front of your vehicle earlier.

[0061] In step S80, the CPU performs interrupt acceptance control by accelerating and decelerating the vehicle itself to accept the interruption of an adjacent vehicle into its lane. For example, as shown in Figure 4, when the vehicle speed Vo of the vehicle 102 is higher than the vehicle speed Va of the adjacent vehicle 110, and the relative speed Vr is a negative value, the vehicle speed Vo is reduced and the relative distance Dr is increased by decelerating the vehicle so that the relative speed Vr becomes a positive value. The degree of reduction in vehicle speed Vo can be smaller as the relative distance Dr is larger.

[0062] In contrast, as shown in Figure 5, when the vehicle speed Vo of the vehicle 102 is lower than the vehicle speed Va of the adjacent vehicle 110, and the relative speed Vr is a positive value, the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle are controlled so that there is enough space (sufficient relative distance Dr) for the adjacent vehicle to safely cut in front of the vehicle.

[0063] In step S90, the CPU determines whether an adjacent vehicle is attempting to cut into the current lane based on the target information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 16. If the CPU determines that the vehicle is not attempting to cut in, it proceeds to step S120; if it determines that the vehicle is not attempting to cut in, it proceeds to step S100.

[0064] In step S100, the CPU determines, based on the target information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 16, whether the adjacent vehicle has completed cutting into the vehicle's lane. If the CPU determines that the adjacent vehicle has completed cutting into the vehicle's lane, it proceeds to step S150; if it determines that the adjacent vehicle has completed cutting into the vehicle's lane, it proceeds to step S110. Note that the CPU may determine that the adjacent vehicle has completed cutting into the vehicle's lane when the adjacent vehicle is traveling within the limits of the vehicle's lane.

[0065] In step S110, the CPU performs lead vehicle follow control, treating the adjacent vehicle that is performing the interrupt as the lead vehicle. Note that the CPU may determine that the adjacent vehicle is performing an interrupt into the current lane when the adjacent vehicle is approaching the center of the current lane.

[0066] In step S120, the CPU determines whether the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle on the side of the own vehicle is turned off based on the target information acquired by the surrounding information acquiring device 16. If the CPU makes a negative determination, the process proceeds to step S40; if the CPU makes an affirmative determination, the process proceeds to step S130. Note that an affirmative determination is also made when the adjacent vehicle cannot be recognized due to the intervention of a following vehicle or the like after it is determined that the adjacent vehicle has stopped flashing (turned off) its turn signal.

[0067] In step S130, the CPU acquires map information from the navigation device 80, and based on the map information, determines whether there is a merging lane where the lane on which the adjacent vehicle travels merges into the own lane on which the own vehicle travels within a predetermined range ahead of the own vehicle. If the CPU makes an affirmative determination, the process proceeds to step S40; if the CPU makes a negative determination, the process proceeds to step S140.

[0068] In step S140, the CPU determines whether an elapsed time from the start of the interruption acceptance control in step S80 is equal to or longer than a reference value, which is a preset positive constant. If the CPU makes a negative determination, the process proceeds to step S40; if the CPU makes an affirmative determination, the flag F is reset to 0 in step S150.

[0069] <Operation of Embodiment> Next, the travel control according to the embodiment will be described for various cases where there is an adjacent vehicle traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle in a lane adjacent to the own lane but the situations are different.

[0070] <A. Case where the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle is not flashing> When the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle on the side of the own vehicle is not flashing, a negative determination is made in step S30. Therefore, the control of the own vehicle by ACC is executed in step S60, and step S80 is not executed. That is, the interruption acceptance control for accepting an interruption of the adjacent vehicle into the own lane is not executed.

[0071] <B. Case where the turn signal of an adjacent vehicle is blinking, but lane cutting-in is not allowed> When the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle on the side of the host vehicle is blinking, but the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr are not within the cut-in allowable range 80 shown in Fig. 3 and lane cutting-in is not allowed, an affirmative determination is made in step S30, while a negative determination is made in step S40. Therefore, similar to the case A described above, control of the host vehicle by ACC is executed in step S60, and cut-in acceptance control (S80) is not executed.

[0072] <C. Case where the turn signal of an adjacent vehicle is blinking and lane cutting-in is allowed> When the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle on the side of the host vehicle is blinking, the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr are within the cut-in allowable range 80, and lane cutting-in is allowed, first a negative determination is made in step S10, and affirmative determinations are made in steps S20 to S40. Therefore, in step S70, the flag F is set to 1, and in step S80, cut-in acceptance control for accepting the cutting-in of the adjacent vehicle into the host lane is executed. Thereafter, an affirmative determination is made in step S10.

[0073] <C1. Case where an adjacent vehicle is in the process of cutting in> An affirmative determination and a negative determination are respectively made in steps S90 and S100, and in step S110, preceding vehicle following control is executed with the adjacent vehicle that is in the process of cutting in treated as the preceding vehicle, whereby control is performed such that the relative distance Dr becomes the set inter-vehicle distance.

[0074] <C2. Case where the adjacent vehicle does not execute cutting-in, and the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle is blinking> Negative determinations are made in steps S90 and S120. Therefore, as long as the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr are within the cut-in allowable range 80 and cutting-in is allowed, cut-in acceptance control for accepting the cutting-in of the adjacent vehicle into the host lane is executed in step S80.

[0075] <C3. When the adjacent vehicle does not cut in and the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle is turned off> A negative determination is made in step S90, and an affirmative determination is made in step S120. Therefore, when the elapsed time from the start of cut-in acceptance control for accepting the cut-in of the adjacent vehicle into the own lane becomes equal to or greater than a reference value, an affirmative determination is made in step S140, and a flag F is reset to 0 in step S150. Accordingly, the cut-in acceptance control ends, and control of the host vehicle by ACC in step S60 is executed.

[0076] Note that even if the adjacent vehicle does not cut in and the turn signal cannot be recognized after the turn signal of the adjacent vehicle is turned off, an affirmative determination is made in steps S120 and S140 when the elapsed time from the start of the cut-in acceptance control becomes equal to or greater than the reference value. Accordingly, the cut-in acceptance control ends. Further, when the adjacent vehicle completes the cut-in, similarly to the case of C3 above, the cut-in acceptance control ends, and control of the host vehicle by ACC in step S60 is executed.

[0077] Next, the operation of the embodiment in the case of C described above, where the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 102 is higher than the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle 110 and where the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 102 is lower than the vehicle speed of the adjacent vehicle 110, will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 in comparison with the case of the conventional technology. In FIGS. 6 and 7, time point t1 indicates the time point when blinking of the turn signal on the host vehicle side of the adjacent vehicle starts, and time point t2 indicates the time point when the adjacent vehicle starts cutting into the host lane.

[0078] FIG. 6 shows changes in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 102 when the vehicle speed Vo of the host vehicle 102 is higher than the vehicle speed Va of the adjacent vehicle 110. The broken line shows the change in the vehicle speed Vo in the case of the conventional technology where the vehicle speed Vo of the host vehicle 102 is reduced at time point t2 when the adjacent vehicle starts cutting into the host lane. As shown in FIG. 4, even if the adjacent vehicle 110 is positioned ahead of the host vehicle 102, the vehicle speed Vo of the host vehicle 102 must be reduced relatively quickly.

[0079] In contrast, according to this embodiment, if it is determined that the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr are within the allowable interruption range at time t1 or a time immediately before or after it, interrupt acceptance control (S80) is initiated to accept the interruption of an adjacent vehicle into the vehicle's lane. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in Figure 6, the decrease in the vehicle speed Vo of the vehicle 102 starts earlier than in the conventional technology, so the vehicle speed Vo only needs to decrease gradually.

[0080] Figure 7 shows the change in vehicle speed of vehicle 102 when its vehicle speed Vo is lower than the vehicle speed Va of the adjacent vehicle 110. The dashed line shows the change in vehicle speed Vo in the case of the conventional technology, where the vehicle speed Vo of vehicle 102 decreases at or immediately before the point t2 when the adjacent vehicle begins to cut into the vehicle's lane. As shown in Figure 5, even if the adjacent vehicle 110 is located ahead of vehicle 102, especially when the relative distance Dr is small, the vehicle speed Vo of vehicle 102 must decrease relatively quickly and significantly, and it will take a long time for the vehicle speed Vo to return to its original speed. This is also true when the relative distance Dr is a negative value.

[0081] In contrast, according to this embodiment, if it is determined that the relative speed Vr and relative distance Dr are within the allowable interrupt range at time t1 or a time before or after it, interrupt acceptance control (S80) is started to accept the interruption of an adjacent vehicle into the vehicle's lane. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in Figure 7, the vehicle speed Vo of the vehicle 102 only needs to decrease gradually, and the amount of decrease does not need to be large, so the vehicle speed Vo returns to the original vehicle speed early.

[0082] As can be seen from the above explanation, according to the embodiment, when interrupt acceptance control (S80) is being performed due to the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 102 (S10), if it is determined that the adjacent vehicle 110 has not performed an interrupt and the adjacent vehicle has stopped flashing its turn signal (S90, S110), the interrupt acceptance control is terminated (S140).

[0083] Therefore, if the intention to change lanes is withdrawn and the turn signal is turned off before the lane change is initiated or while the lane change is in progress, the cut-in acceptance control can be terminated. Furthermore, compared to the case where the cut-in acceptance control is terminated when it is determined that the adjacent vehicle is not attempting to cut in, or when it is determined that the adjacent vehicle has stopped flashing its turn signal, it is possible to determine with greater accuracy that the intention to change lanes has been withdrawn. Thus, the risk of the cut-in acceptance control being terminated unnecessarily can be reduced.

[0084] In particular, according to the embodiment, when interrupt acceptance control (S80) is being performed due to the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 102 (S10), the interrupt acceptance control is terminated (S150) when it is determined that the adjacent vehicle 110 has not performed an interrupt (S90), the adjacent vehicle has turned off its turn signal (S120), and the time spent performing the interrupt acceptance control is equal to or greater than a reference value (S140).

[0085] Therefore, compared to the case where it is not determined whether the time spent executing the interrupt acceptance control exceeds a certain threshold, it is possible to determine with even greater accuracy whether the intention to change lanes has been withdrawn. Consequently, the risk of the interrupt acceptance control being unnecessarily terminated can be further reduced.

[0086] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when the interrupt acceptance control due to acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 102 (S80) is completed (S150), the following distance control is executed (S60). Therefore, when the interrupt acceptance control is completed, the following distance control prevents the vehicle from getting too close to the preceding vehicle.

[0087] Furthermore, according to the embodiment, even if, while interrupt acceptance control is being executed (S10), it is determined that the adjacent vehicle has not performed an interrupt (S90) and that the adjacent vehicle has stopped flashing its turn signal (S120), if it is determined that the lane in which the adjacent vehicle is traveling merges with the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling within a predetermined range in front of the own vehicle (S130), the interrupt acceptance control is continued (S80). Therefore, compared to the case where the interrupt acceptance control is not continued, the adjacent vehicle can safely cut in front of the own vehicle in accordance with the lane merging.

[0088] Although the present invention has been described in detail above with respect to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention.

[0089] For example, in the above embodiment, when the interrupt acceptance control due to acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 102 (S80) is completed (S150), follow-vehicle distance control is performed (S60). However, step S60 may be omitted, and follow-vehicle distance control may not be performed.

[0090] Furthermore, at least one of step S40 and step S140 may be omitted. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0091] 10...Driving assistance ECU, 12...Camera sensor, 14...Radar sensor, 16...Surrounding information acquisition device, 20...Drive ECU, 30...Braking ECU, 40...EPS ECU, 50...Meter ECU, 60...Driving operation sensor, 70...Vehicle status sensor, 80...Navigation device, 100...Vehicle control device, 102...Vehicle (own vehicle), 110...Adjacent vehicle

Claims

1. A vehicle driving control device includes an ambient information acquisition device that acquires information about targets around the vehicle, and a control unit configured to perform an interruption acceptance control by accelerating or decelerating the vehicle to allow the adjacent vehicle to cut in front of the vehicle when it is determined, based on the target information acquired by the ambient information acquisition device, that an adjacent vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane is flashing its turn signal and attempting to cut in front of the vehicle, The control unit is configured to terminate the interrupt acceptance control when it determines that the adjacent vehicle has not performed an interrupt, the adjacent vehicle has turned off its turn signal, and the time the interrupt acceptance control has been performed is equal to or greater than a reference value, while the interrupt acceptance control is being performed.

2. A vehicle driving control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to perform follow-vehicle distance control when it terminates the interrupt acceptance control.

3. A vehicle driving control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit has acquired map information and is performing the interrupt acceptance control, and even if it determines that the adjacent vehicle has not performed an interrupt and has stopped flashing its turn signal, if it determines, based on the map information, that the lane in which the adjacent vehicle is traveling merges with the lane in which the vehicle is traveling within a predetermined range in front of the vehicle, the vehicle driving control device is configured to continue the interrupt acceptance control regardless of whether the time spent performing the interrupt acceptance control is equal to or greater than the reference value.

4. A vehicle driving control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to execute the interrupt acceptance control when it determines that an adjacent vehicle is flashing its turn signal and attempting to cut into the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and when it determines that the relative speed and relative distance of the adjacent vehicle to the vehicle are within a preset interrupt tolerance range.

5. A vehicle driving control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit is configured to determine that the relative speed and the relative distance are within the preset interrupt tolerance range when the relative distance is equal to or greater than a reference relative distance, and the reference relative distance is set to be a positive value when the relative speed is less than a negative reference value, a negative value when the relative speed is equal to or greater than the reference value, and to be larger as the relative speed decreases.

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