Vehicle Behavior Control Using Feature Points for Stable Straight Travel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems struggle to maintain stability when lane boundaries are unclear or meandering, leading to vehicle wobbling due to uncertainty in determining the lane's center position.
Innovation Solution
A behavior control system equipped with an imaging device to extract feature points and a control device that adjusts the vehicle's behavior based on temporal changes in these points, using a reference straight moving state to stabilize the vehicle's orientation and position, even when lane boundaries are not recognizable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the vehicle control device uses lane boundary detection to maintain lane position, then the vehicle can stay within the lane, but the vehicle becomes unstable and wobbles when lane boundaries are unclear or meandering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary reference system (vanishing point and radial lines) that mediates between the unreliable lane boundary detection and the vehicle control. Instead of directly using unstable lane markings, the system uses feature points from stable environmental structures and projects radial lines from the vanishing point to create a stable reference framework for vehicle positioning and orientation control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical reliance on lane boundary markings with an optical-geometric system based on vanishing point detection and radial line projection. This substitution allows the vehicle to determine its position and orientation using perspective geometry of environmental features rather than depending on the physical presence of clear lane markings.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle control device relies on clear lane boundaries for straight travel control, then the vehicle can maintain lane position, but the control system fails when boundaries are not recognizable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal control method that works both when lane boundaries are clear and when they are unclear or absent. The vanishing point-based radial line system serves as a multi-functional reference that can guide vehicle travel in various conditions, replacing the single-function reliance on lane markings with a system that adapts to different environmental conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection and establishment of the vanishing point and radial reference lines before vehicle control is needed. By pre-processing the visual information to create a stable geometric reference framework, the system prepares in advance for vehicle guidance, enabling reliable control even when lane boundaries are not yet visible or are unclear during actual travel.
Data Source
AI summary
A behavior control system includes: a behavior control device for changing a behavior of a moving body; an imaging device for acquiring images ahead of the moving body; and a control device for controlling the behavior of the moving body based on the images acquired by the imaging device. The control device includes: a feature point extraction unit configured to extract feature points from the images acquired by the imaging device; a straight moving state storing unit configured to store, as a reference feature point state, a feature point state when the moving body is in a straight moving state, the feature point state being obtained based on a temporal change of the feature points; and a moving body control unit configured to control the behavior control device when the feature point state obtained based on the temporal change of the feature points differs from the reference feature point state.