Vehicle Overtaking Controller Failsafe Substitution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic driving systems for vehicles face safety concerns when system failures occur during overtaking control, particularly due to acquisition failures of travel environment information and steering system failures, which can lead to inadequate safety measures during lane changes and overtaking operations.
Innovation Solution
A travel control apparatus that includes a travel environment information acquisition unit, a travel information detector, and an overtaking controller, which activates substitute control using recent travel environment information and vehicle data to ensure safe overtaking and lane changes, even in the event of system failures, by modifying overtaking control to cancel lane changes, execute yaw brake control, and decelerate accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automatic driving control is implemented for overtaking operations, then driving comfort and safety are improved, but system complexity increases and vulnerability to failures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent stores travel environment information (road gradient, curvature, weather, traffic conditions) acquired before the failure occurs in memory. This preliminary storage of data enables the controller to reconstruct and execute substitute control based on historical conditions, allowing the system to maintain safety functions even when real-time sensing fails during complex overtaking operations.
2Reliability
If failsafe control is implemented during overtaking operations, then safety during system failures is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the overtaking control process into distinct phases: lane change phase, acceleration phase, and lane change back phase. Each phase has specific substitute control strategies tailored to its characteristics. This segmentation allows the failsafe control to address each phase's unique safety requirements without requiring a single complex universal control algorithm.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller stores travel environment information acquired before failure occurs in memory, and uses this pre-stored data to execute substitute control. This preliminary action of data preservation enables the system to maintain safety functions during failures without requiring real-time sensor input, reducing the complexity of real-time failure response.
3Reliability
If substitute control is activated using recently acquired travel environment information, then safety during information acquisition failure is improved, but response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously acquires and stores travel environment information (road gradient, curvature, weather, traffic conditions) in memory before failures occur. This preliminary data collection and storage enables the controller to immediately retrieve and use the most recent valid information for substitute control, minimizing the time delay between failure detection and safe response.
Data Source
AI summary
A travel control apparatus for a vehicle includes: a travel environment information acquisition unit that acquires travel environment information on a travel environment where the vehicle travels; a travel information detector that detects travel information on the vehicle; and an overtaking controller that detects an overtaking target vehicle ahead of the vehicle in an identical travel lane on the basis of the travel environment information and the travel information, and overtakes the overtaking target vehicle using automatic driving control. When failures are detected in relation to the travel environment information acquisition and in a steering system of the vehicle during the overtaking control, the overtaking controller modifies the overtaking control by activating required substitute control in accordance with the travel environment information obtained most recently before detecting the travel environment information acquisition failure, information on the overtaking target vehicle, the travel information, and conditions during the overtaking control.