Vehicle Travel Control for Obstacle Passing Without Side-by-Side Risk
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Solution Overview
Problem
Advanced driver assistance systems may allow vehicles to pass by obstacles without reducing speed, potentially evoking a sense of fear in occupants due to perceived collision risks.
Innovation Solution
A travel control apparatus that includes an obstacle detection unit, passability determination unit, and travel control unit to assess obstacle avoidability and control vehicle speed and steering to prevent side-by-side situations with obstacles and surrounding vehicles, using image analysis, LIDAR, and millimeter-wave radar to determine travelable width and obstacle distances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the vehicle maintains high speed when passing obstacles, then productivity is improved, but object-affected harmful factors increase due to occupant fear
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the travel speed parameter based on the spatial relationship between the vehicle, obstacle, and surrounding vehicles. When the vehicle would become side by side with both the obstacle and a surrounding vehicle, the system reduces speed to prevent the harmful situation, while maintaining higher speeds when safe, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and occupant comfort
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the positions of the vehicle, obstacle, and surrounding vehicles, and adjusts speed based on this feedback. The passability determination unit and travel control unit create a closed-loop control system that responds to real-time conditions, reducing speed only when necessary to prevent side-by-side situations while maintaining efficient travel otherwise
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the vehicle reduces speed to avoid collision risks, then object-affected harmful factors are reduced, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system adjusts the speed parameter dynamically based on calculated passability and surrounding vehicle positions. Speed reduction is applied only when the vehicle would become side by side with both the obstacle and a surrounding vehicle, minimizing the impact on productivity while ensuring safety
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies speed reduction only partially and selectively - not in all obstacle avoidance scenarios, but only when the specific condition of potentially becoming side by side with both obstacle and surrounding vehicle is detected. This partial action approach maintains productivity while addressing safety concerns
Data Source
AI summary
A travel control apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes a passability determination unit and a travel control unit. The passability determination unit performs a determination as to whether or not an obstacle located on a vehicle lane on which the vehicle travels is avoidable within the vehicle lane on which the vehicle is currently traveling. The travel control unit carries out a travel control to allow the vehicle to travel while avoiding the obstacle. On the condition that the passability determination unit determines that the obstacle is avoidable within the vehicle lane on which the vehicle is currently traveling, the travel control unit controls a travel speed of the vehicle to keep the vehicle, any one of surrounding vehicles, and the obstacle from becoming side by side when the vehicle passes by the obstacle.