Intersection Turn Deceleration Control for Adjacent Vehicle Spacing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Drivers may experience discomfort during deceleration assistance when turning at intersections, especially when adjacent vehicles or large-sized vehicles are present, as existing systems do not consider these factors effectively, leading to inadequate vehicle spacing and visibility issues.

Innovation Solution

A driving assistance device that includes sensors and communication systems to recognize adjacent and preceding vehicles, determine their directions and sizes, and adjust deceleration assistance to maintain safe distances and reduce discomfort by optimizing vehicle spacing based on intersection conditions and driver operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If deceleration assistance is applied uniformly without considering adjacent vehicles, then the system is simple to implement, but driver discomfort increases due to inadequate vehicle spacing

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriver comfortVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary recognition of adjacent vehicles and large-sized vehicles before deceleration assistance is applied. The ECU determines vehicle types and positions in advance, then adjusts deceleration parameters accordingly, ensuring driver comfort while maintaining manageable system complexity through structured advance processing

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies different deceleration assistance characteristics to different spatial zones and vehicle types. Specifically, it increases vehicle-to-vehicle distance when adjacent or large-sized vehicles are detected, creating localized adjustments to the deceleration profile rather than uniform application, thereby improving driver comfort in specific scenarios without overcomplicating the entire system

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Ease of operation

If deceleration assistance increases vehicle-to-vehicle distance to improve comfort, then driver comfort improves, but the time to reach intersection decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriver comfortVSAvoidtime to reach intersection
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies deceleration assistance selectively rather than uniformly. It increases vehicle-to-vehicle distance only when adjacent vehicles or large-sized vehicles are detected, applying partial action where needed while maintaining normal deceleration profiles elsewhere, thus improving comfort in specific situations without unnecessarily extending overall intersection approach time

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts deceleration parameters based on real-time detection of adjacent vehicles and large-sized vehicles. The ECU continuously monitors vehicle positions and types, then adapts the deceleration assistance magnitude and timing accordingly, optimizing the balance between driver comfort and intersection arrival time rather than using fixed parameters

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If the system recognizes adjacent and preceding vehicles with detailed classification, then driving safety improves, but the complexity of detection and measurement increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriving safetyVSAvoidvehicle recognition complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses distinct parameter thresholds to differentiate between vehicle types. It applies different deceleration assistance levels based on whether a vehicle is classified as adjacent, large-sized, or both, using parameter-based classification rather than complex image recognition, thereby improving safety through structured parameter management while keeping detection complexity manageable

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The system segments the detection task into distinct categories: adjacent vehicle detection, large-sized vehicle detection, and their combination. The ECU processes these as separate recognition functions with specific criteria for each category, then integrates the results to determine appropriate deceleration assistance, making the overall detection system more manageable through functional segmentation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4082855B1Driving assistance device
Publication Date: 2024.08.28 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
  • EP4082855B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4082855B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4082855B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A driving assistance device (100; 200) configured to execute deceleration assistance for a driver's vehicle (M) when the driver's vehicle (M) turns right or left at an intersection (T) is configured to recognize, based on a detection result from an external sensor (2) of the driver's vehicle (M), an adjacent vehicle (N1; N3; N4; N5) traveling in an adjacent lane adjacent to a traveling lane of the driver's vehicle (M), determine whether the adjacent vehicle (N1; N3; N4; N5) turns in the same direction of the driver's vehicle (M) at the intersection (T) based on the detection result from the external sensor (2) when the adjacent vehicle (N1; N3; N4; N5) is recognized and the driver's vehicle (M) turns right or left at the intersection (T), and execute the deceleration assistance to cause a vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the driver's vehicle (M) and the adjacent vehicle (N1; N3; N4; N5) to reach a distance equal to or larger than a target driver's vehicle-to-adjacent vehicle distance when the driving assistance device (100; 200) determines that the adjacent vehicle (N1; N3; N4; N5) turns in the same direction.