Driver Assistance Speed Control Using Preceding Vehicle Road Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing driver assistance systems fail to accurately control vehicle speed due to the lack of road surface information from preceding vehicles, leading to inaccurate speed control, especially in hazardous conditions.
Innovation Solution
A driver assistance device that calculates a travel route, identifies danger zones, acquires travel and road surface information from preceding vehicles, determines a safe-travel speed, and controls the vehicle's speed based on this information to ensure safe navigation through hazardous areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If speed control is performed based only on travel information from preceding vehicles, then the control system is simple, but the speed control accuracy deteriorates due to lack of road surface information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines travel information from preceding vehicles with road surface information from map data to achieve accurate speed control. The ECU integrates multiple information sources (travel information acquisition unit, road surface information acquisition unit, and speed determination unit) to determine optimal speed, resolving the contradiction by merging data streams rather than relying on a single source.
2Productivity
If the vehicle travels at higher speed, then productivity is improved, but safety deteriorates when traveling through danger zones
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically adjusts vehicle speed based on real-time conditions by identifying danger zones on the travel route and determining appropriate speed limits for those zones. The system allows higher speeds in safe areas (maintaining productivity) while automatically reducing speed in identified danger zones (ensuring safety), creating a dynamic speed control strategy that adapts to changing conditions.
3Reliability
If the system acquires information from multiple preceding vehicles, then the reliability of speed determination is improved, but the complexity of information processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses map data as a pre-prepared copy or model of road surface conditions, avoiding the need to directly process and analyze raw sensor data from multiple vehicles in real-time. The road surface information is stored in advance in map data, allowing the system to reliably determine safe speeds by comparing travel information against this pre-existing reference data, thereby reducing processing complexity while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A driver assistance device comprises a travel route calculator, a danger zone identifier, an information acquisitor, a speed determiner, and a speed controller. The travel route calculator is configured to calculate a travel route to a destination set by an occupant of a vehicle. The danger zone identifier is configured to identify a danger zone on the travel route. The information acquisitor is configured to acquire, from at least one preceding vehicle traveling ahead on the travel route, travel and road surface information at a time when the preceding vehicle has traveled in the danger zone. The speed determiner is configured to, based on the travel and road surface information, determine a safe-travel speed at which the vehicle can travel in the danger zone safely. The speed controller is configured to control, with the safe-travel speed, a travel speed of the vehicle when the vehicle travels in the danger zone.