Vehicle Controller Selecting Cooperating Vehicles by Relative Speed
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems struggle to effectively suppress traffic jams, particularly due to limitations in recognizing vehicle lanes, leading to deceleration propagation and inaccurate detection of cooperating vehicles, which results in inefficient traffic volume control.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control device that selects cooperating vehicles based on relative speed and position, allowing for control of distance, speed, and relative speed between vehicles to manage traffic volume without relying on accurate lane recognition, enabling cooperation across multiple lanes and improving traffic flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vehicle speed control is switched to inter-vehicle distance control to prevent deceleration propagation, then the inter-vehicle distance can be maintained, but traffic jams occur because the vehicle speed control returns to inter-vehicle distance control at the wrong time
Solution Approach 1:
The control device continuously monitors the inclination change rate and uses this feedback to determine when to switch control modes. By detecting the rate of inclination change rather than just the presence of a sag, the system can distinguish between normal road variations and actual sag conditions, preventing premature mode switching and maintaining appropriate control strategies throughout the sag section.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter from simple inclination detection to inclination change rate detection. This parameter change allows the system to better characterize the road condition dynamics and make more accurate decisions about when to maintain vehicle speed control versus switching to inter-vehicle distance control, thereby preventing deceleration propagation while maintaining traffic flow.
2Ease of operation
If camera-based white line recognition is used to detect lane information, then lane recognition can be achieved, but detection accuracy decreases under adverse weather, time, and road conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses detected vehicles as intermediary references to infer lane information rather than directly detecting lane markings. By identifying vehicles and their positions, the system can determine which lane the host vehicle is in without relying on potentially unreliable camera-based white line detection, thus maintaining accurate lane awareness under all weather and road conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the optical camera-based lane detection mechanism with a radar-based vehicle detection mechanism. Radar waves are not affected by weather, lighting, or road surface conditions in the same way optical signals are, providing more reliable detection data that can be used to infer lane information without the precision problems of camera-based white line recognition.
3Productivity
If radar is used to detect separate vehicles, then detection can be performed, but vehicles without the system cannot be directly detected
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses radar detection in a multi-functional way: it detects both system-equipped vehicles (which respond to radar) and non-system vehicles (which are detected by their radar cross-section). By analyzing the presence and characteristics of detected vehicles regardless of their equipment status, the system can accurately identify potential cooperating vehicles and maintain reliable detection coverage for traffic volume control purposes.
4Loss of information
If GPS is used for position measurement, then absolute position can be obtained, but position accuracy is insufficient for lane recognition
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges GPS absolute position data with radar-detected relative vehicle positions to achieve accurate lane identification. While GPS provides coarse position information with margin of error, combining it with precise relative positioning data from radar allows the system to determine lane membership accurately by comparing the host vehicle's position with the positions of detected vehicles in the same lane, thereby overcoming the precision limitations of GPS alone.
Data Source
AI summary
An ECU of a vehicle control device selects a system-mounted vehicle traveling ahead of a system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle and controls the inter-vehicle distance between the selected system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle, or the like to control the traffic volume of a road in the vicinity of the system-mounted vehicles, such that traffic jams can be prevented effectively as compared with a case where the system-mounted vehicle performs travel control independently. Furthermore, the ECU determines whether or not to select the system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle based on the relative speed of the system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle a regardless of whether or not the system-mounted vehicle that is selected as the cooperating vehicle is traveling in the same lane as the system-mounted vehicle, such that it is possible to select the cooperating system-mounted vehicle without being influenced by the accuracy of recognizing the lane in which the system-mounted vehicle travels.