Vehicle Deceleration Assistance Control on Downhill Slopes
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing driving assistance systems fail to provide comfortable deceleration assistance when a vehicle is traveling down a slope, as they do not account for road grade, leading to discomfort for the driver due to mismatched deceleration timing.
Innovation Solution
A driving assistance apparatus that recognizes the surrounding situation, including road grade, and adjusts the deceleration assistance control timing to match the driver's natural deceleration intentions by delaying the start of deceleration assistance when traveling downhill, ensuring the deceleration aspect aligns with the driver's expectations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If deceleration assistance control is uniformly performed regardless of road grade, then deceleration assistance is provided consistently, but driver discomfort occurs when traveling down slopes
Solution Approach 1:
The deceleration assistance control system dynamically adjusts its operation based on road grade conditions. The controller determines whether the vehicle is traveling on an uphill, flat, or downhill slope and modifies the deceleration assistance accordingly, making the system adaptable rather than static. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliability through consistent assistance while improving ease of operation by preventing discomfort on downhill slopes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of deceleration assistance based on detected road grade. When downhill slope is detected, the controller suppresses or modifies the deceleration assistance control, effectively changing the parameter of assistance application from 'active' to 'suppressed'. This parameter change resolves the technical contradiction by maintaining assistance reliability on appropriate roads while eliminating driver discomfort on downhill slopes.
2Reliability
If deceleration assistance control is activated early to ensure safety, then safety margin is improved, but driver discomfort increases due to mismatched timing with driver's natural deceleration intention
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the timing of deceleration assistance activation based on road grade conditions. On downhill slopes, the controller suppresses early deceleration assistance that would otherwise be activated, thereby adapting the timing to match the driver's natural deceleration intentions while maintaining safety through selective suppression rather than uniform early activation.
3Ease of operation
If deceleration assistance is suppressed on downhill slopes to prevent discomfort, then driver comfort is improved, but deceleration assistance consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different quality of deceleration assistance to different road conditions. Instead of uniform assistance or uniform suppression, the controller provides assistance on uphill and flat roads while suppressing it on downhill slopes. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by maintaining comfort on downhill slopes while preserving assistance consistency on other road types.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller changes the operational parameter of deceleration assistance from 'consistent application' to 'conditional application' based on road grade detection. By introducing road grade as a conditional parameter, the system maintains overall reliability through intelligent selection rather than uniform suppression, resolving the contradiction between comfort and consistency.
Data Source
AI summary
A driving assistance apparatus can execute a deceleration assistance control, when there is a deceleration target ahead, of the vehicle in a course thereof. The driving assistance apparatus is provided with: a recognizer configured to recognize a surrounding situation of the vehicle; and a controller programed to execute the deceleration assistance control when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The controller is programed to suppress execution of the deceleration assistance control if a road as the recognized surrounding situation has a high extent of a downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road has a low extent of the downgrade.