Motorcycle Follow-Travel Control Within Lead Vehicle Width
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lane keeping assist systems (LKAS) for motorcycles face challenges when following a four-wheel vehicle, particularly in curved travel lanes, due to reduced forward visibility and delayed obstacle detection, leading to ineffective steering control.
Innovation Solution
A saddle ride type vehicle equipped with a sensing unit to detect a four-wheel vehicle ahead and a control unit that performs follow-travel control, adjusting the vehicle's position to stay within the four-wheel vehicle's width, ensuring safe travel on a reliable road surface and improving steering control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the motorcycle travels following an automobile on a road shoulder side, then the motorcycle can maintain a safe distance from the automobile, but the forward visibility is reduced and obstacle detection is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the automobile as an intermediary reference object. By detecting the automobile's position and using it as a reference, the system can infer road shoulder boundaries and potential obstacles without directly detecting them, thus overcoming the visibility limitation caused by following too closely
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from relying solely on forward visibility (one dimension) to using lateral position information relative to the automobile (adding a spatial dimension). By controlling the motorcycle to travel within a specific lateral range relative to the automobile, the system compensates for reduced forward visibility through positional awareness in the vehicle width direction
2Reliability
If the motorcycle travels on the road shoulder side to avoid obstacles, then it can maintain safety, but the detection of obstacles such as undulations is delayed due to reduced forward visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary positioning by establishing the motorcycle's lateral position relative to the automobile before obstacles become visible. By pre-positioning the motorcycle within a safe lateral range based on the automobile's position, the system prepares for potential obstacles in advance rather than reacting after detection
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the motorcycle's position relative to the automobile and adjusts steering control based on this feedback. This closed-loop control allows the motorcycle to maintain optimal positioning dynamically, compensating for reduced visibility through continuous position correction
3Ease of operation
If the motorcycle performs steering control in the vehicle width direction, then it can maintain lane position, but the control effectiveness is reduced when following an automobile with limited visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the automobile itself as a self-service reference for control. By automatically detecting the automobile's position and using it as the reference frame for steering control, the system eliminates the need for manual lane marking interpretation or complex environmental sensing, thereby maintaining control effectiveness despite limited visibility
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a saddle ride type vehicle including a sensing unit configured to sense a four-wheel vehicle that is present in front of a self-vehicle and is traveling in a travel lane of the self-vehicle, and a control unit configured to, in a case where the four-wheel vehicle is sensed by the sensing unit, perform follow-travel control for causing traveling of the self-vehicle to follow traveling of the four-wheel vehicle, wherein the sensing unit senses a vehicle width of the four-wheel vehicle, and the control unit, in the follow-travel control, controls a travel position in a vehicle width direction of the self-vehicle so that at least a portion of the self-vehicle falls within a region within the vehicle width of the four-wheel vehicle.