Driving Assistance Device Merging Vehicle Groups

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Solution Overview

Problem

Drivers often find themselves traveling at speeds that are not desired, particularly when entering roads from parking lots or service areas, and there is a need for assistance in maintaining a desired speed within vehicle groups.

Innovation Solution

A driving assistance device connected to a vehicle and a user terminal, which acquires vehicle speed and position information to search for vehicle groups traveling at the most frequent speed, generating distance information and providing merging assistance to help drivers join these groups at their desired speed.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If a vehicle enters a road from a parking lot or service area, then the vehicle can access the road, but the vehicle cannot travel at the desired speed because there is no assistance system to match speed with vehicle groups

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevehicle speedVSAvoiddriver operation

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The driving assistance device automatically acquires vehicle speed information, searches for suitable vehicle groups, calculates merging timing, and provides guidance without requiring manual driver input for speed matching, enabling the vehicle to self-integrate into vehicle groups at desired speeds

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors vehicle speed, compares it with vehicle group speeds, and provides real-time feedback on merging timing and distance to the driver, allowing speed adjustment to match the desired vehicle group speed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If the driving assistance device provides detailed merging assistance information, then the driver can merge at the desired speed, but the driver may feel burdened with additional information processing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemerging accuracyVSAvoidinformation processing

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the most critical merging assistance information (timing and distance to vehicle groups) from the full set of available data, presenting simplified guidance to the driver while maintaining high merging accuracy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system calculates and notifies the driver of the optimal merging timing in advance, allowing the driver to prepare for merging without needing to process complex real-time calculations during the actual merging maneuver

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11059484B2Driving assistance device, vehicle driving assistance system, control method of driving assistance device, and non-transitory recording medium storing program

Publication Date: 2021.07.13 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK

AI summary

A driving assistance device includes: a vehicle group search unit that acquires a most frequent vehicle speed of the vehicle and to search for one or more vehicle group, the most frequent vehicle speed being a vehicle speed that is most frequent, the vehicle group traveling at one of the most frequent vehicle speed and a speed close to the most frequent vehicle speed; a distance information generation unit that generates the vehicle group searched for by the vehicle group search unit and distance information on a distance between the vehicle group and an information-receiving vehicle that has sent the most frequent vehicle speed; and a merging assistance unit that sends the distance information generated by the distance information generation unit to a user terminal device and assists the vehicle in merging into one of the vehicle groups searched for by the vehicle group search unit.