Vehicle Merge Speed Control Under Occluded Lane Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In merging scenarios where a lane is shielded by a wall, it is difficult to detect a following vehicle of a diagonally approaching vehicle, leading to rapid deceleration or acceleration, which can cause anxiety for drivers.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control system adjusts the speed of the own vehicle to maintain a shorter inter-vehicle distance with the diagonally approaching vehicle, allowing easier positioning ahead of the following vehicle at the merging point, thereby reducing anxiety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the own vehicle maintains a standard inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle, then the safety margin is adequate, but the own vehicle cannot easily position itself ahead of the following vehicle at the merging point, causing rapid deceleration and driver anxiety
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by predicting the position of the following vehicle before the merging point is reached. By using the motion state (speed, acceleration) of the diagonally approaching vehicle to calculate where the following vehicle will be at the merging point, the system proactively adjusts the own vehicle's speed in advance, avoiding the need for rapid deceleration at the last moment and thereby improving merging ease while maintaining safety
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by counteracting the potential conflict before it occurs. By predicting the following vehicle's position and preemptively adjusting the own vehicle's speed to ensure it reaches the merging point ahead of the following vehicle, the system prevents the anxiety-causing rapid deceleration scenario from happening in the first place
2Reliability
If the own vehicle rapidly decelerates or accelerates to adjust position at the merging point, then the inter-vehicle distance is corrected, but driver anxiety increases due to sudden maneuvers
Solution Approach 1:
By calculating the predicted position of the following vehicle in advance and adjusting speed proactively, the system achieves the necessary inter-vehicle distance adjustment without sudden maneuvers. The speed adjustment begins earlier and proceeds more gradually, maintaining reliability while eliminating the harmful effect of driver anxiety caused by rapid deceleration or acceleration
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the wall shields the merging lane from the main lane, then privacy and safety are improved, but detection of the following vehicle becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the motion state information (speed and acceleration) of the diagonally approaching vehicle as an intermediary to infer the position of the following vehicle. Since the wall prevents direct detection, the system calculates where the following vehicle will be at the merging point based on the approaching vehicle's trajectory and motion characteristics, effectively using available data as a mediator to overcome the detection barrier created by the wall
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical detection system (sensors that physically detect the following vehicle) with a computational prediction system. Instead of relying on direct sensor detection blocked by the wall, the system uses mathematical calculations based on the motion states of visible vehicles to determine the position of obscured vehicles, substituting physical detection with computational inference
Data Source
Figure 1~2B
Figure 3
Figure 4A~4C
AI summary
A vehicle control method causing a controller to execute: processing of determining whether or not a first other vehicle (5) traveling on a second lane (2b), the second lane (2b) merging with a first lane (2a) on which an own vehicle (1) travels in front of the own vehicle (1), is traveling diagonally in front of the own vehicle (1); and processing of, when determining that the first other vehicle (5) is traveling diagonally in front of the own vehicle (1), controlling vehicle speed of the own vehicle in such a way that a front-rear direction distance from a rear-end position of the first other vehicle (5) to a front-end position of the own vehicle (1) in a front-rear direction of the first lane is shorter than a first target inter-vehicle distance (L2) in vehicle speed control to maintain an inter-vehicle distance to a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle (1) on the first lane (2a).