JP3516841B2 - Own lane object detection device and vehicle travel control device provided with the same - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle lane object detection device and a vehicle traveling control device including the vehicle lane object detection device, and more particularly to detection of a vehicle lane object on a curved road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for detecting a preceding vehicle using a laser radar or the like has been known. For example, JP-A-6-
Japanese Patent Publication No. 150195 discloses a technique for increasing the recognition probability by increasing the existence probability of the target if the past target and the target detected this time are the same.

[0003]

On the other hand, it is also very important to detect whether or not the detected target (preceding vehicle) exists on the own lane, and the necessity thereof is great especially on a curved road. This is because the vehicle in the adjacent lane may be erroneously recognized as the preceding vehicle on the own lane or, conversely, the preceding vehicle on the own lane may not be recognized as the target, and the control becomes unstable.

In order to determine whether or not the target detected on the curved road is present in the vehicle lane, for example, the radius of the traveling curve is calculated based on the steering wheel or the vehicle speed, and based on the curve radius. Although it may be possible to make a determination, since an error is also included in the curve radius calculation, it is necessary to perform processing in consideration of this error.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a device capable of surely detecting a preceding vehicle as a target, and using the device, more reliable than ever. It is to realize traveling control.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a vehicle lane object detection apparatus, which detects an object existing in the vehicle lane from an object around the vehicle detected by a radar device. A device, a conversion means for converting the position of the detected object into a position on a straight road, a probability calculation means for calculating the probability of being present in the own lane based on the converted position, and the probability is a predetermined value or more. There, and the distance that the vehicle has to have a determining means and object present in the own lane objects below a predetermined value, the probability calculating means is the conversion
This time the probability is determined according to the position and the previous time
Calculate the own lane existence probability by weighted average with probability,
And the smaller the detected object distance, the more accurate
The weight of the weighted average is set so that the weight of the rate becomes small.
It is characterized by changing .

Here, the predetermined value can be set according to the radius of the curve.

[0008]

Further, the present invention is a vehicle running control device, comprising the above-mentioned vehicle lane object detection device, and a control means for controlling the vehicle speed so as to maintain a distance between the detected vehicle lane object and a predetermined value. It is characterized by having.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following explanation,
"Cruise control" or "cruise function" is set by the driver when the preceding vehicle is present and the vehicle follows the vehicle while maintaining the distance to the preceding vehicle at the target interval. It means traveling at a constant speed at the vehicle speed.

FIG. 1 shows an overall block diagram of the present embodiment. A scan type laser radar 10 is provided on a front bumper of a vehicle, and sends a laser beam forward to measure the distance and direction from the reflected light to a front object.
Detect relative speed. An inter-vehicle control ECU (electronic control unit) 12 is connected to the scan type laser radar 10, determines a vehicle to follow on the basis of the data from the laser radar 10, and sets the distance to the following vehicle to be a target distance. To determine the acceleration (or deceleration). Inter-vehicle control EC
An engine ECU 14 is connected to U12 and realizes a cruise control function based on data from the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 12. Specifically, this engine EC
U14 has electronic throttle actuator 24 and EC
A T (electronically controlled transmission) solenoid 26 is connected to drive an electronic throttle actuator according to the target acceleration supplied from the vehicle distance control ECU 12, or to respond to a downshift request (deceleration request) supplied from the vehicle distance control ECU 12. Change the shift to the low speed side and cause engine braking.

Further, the engine ECU 14 has an ECT mode switch 16, a cruise control switch 18,
A stop lamp switch 20 and a vehicle speed sensor 22 are connected. The cruise control switch 18 is for performing various operations such as turning on / off the cruise function of the engine ECU 14, setting the vehicle speed, accelerating, decelerating, and canceling the control, and the details thereof will be described later. EC
The T-mode switch 16 is a switch for the driver to set an ECT mode (for example, a power mode or a snow mode), and when the driver sets the snow mode (a mode that allows the vehicle to start in the second gear). The engine ECU 14 cancels the cruise function. This is to prevent the cruise control from being performed on a slippery road surface such as a snowy road or an icy road. To cancel the cruise function, the cruise function ON operation is performed by the cruise control switch 18 in addition to the cancellation of the cruise function in operation. It also includes prohibiting the transition to the cruise function even at times. The driver does not operate the ECT mode switch 16 but the engine ECU 14
It detects that the wheels are slipping inside the vehicle based on the wheel speed and the output from the G sensor, determines that it is a low friction road (low μ road), and automatically sets the engine and transmission to the same mode as the snow mode of ECT. Also in the case of control, it is desirable to cancel the cruise function at the same time as the determination. The stop lamp switch 20 is for detecting the brake operation by the driver, and when the driver performs the brake operation, the engine ECU 14 cancels the cruise function.

A VSC (Vehicle Attitude Stabilization Control) -ECU 28 is connected to the engine ECU 14, and VS
A steering sensor 30 and an alarm buzzer 32 are connected to the C-ECU 28. When the VSC-ECU 28 detects that the vehicle is oversteered or understeered based on the detection by the steering sensor 30, the VSC-ECU 28 lowers the output of the engine and applies braking force to the front wheels or the rear wheels to stabilize the turning motion of the vehicle. When the system operates, the warning buzzer 32 is driven to call the driver's attention. However, if the following distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle is too short during the cruise function, the engine ECU 14 causes the VSC- The warning buzzer 32 is driven via the ECU 28 to alert the driver (for example,
A beep sound is emitted, etc.). That is, the alarm buzzer 32 has both the VSC activation alarm and the inter-vehicle alarm during the cruise function. The steering angle detected by the steering sensor 30 is used not only for the VSC but also for the engine ECU 14 to be used especially for the cruise function on a curved road. Further, various devices are connected to the engine ECU 14 via a body multiplex communication system 34, specifically, a tail lamp switch 36, a wiper switch 38, and a meter 40 are connected. The tail lamp switch 36 is for detecting the lighting of the tail lamp, that is, for nighttime running. When the tail lamp switch is in the ON state, the engine ECU 14
Sets the target inter-vehicle distance longer than during the day. A specific setting method will be described later. Also, wiper switch 3
Reference numeral 8 is for detecting the operating state of the wiper, that is, for detecting running in rainy weather. When the wiper switch 38 is in the ON state, the engine ECU 14 cancels the cruise function. The meter display 40 is one of the features of this embodiment, and displays the information specific to the cruise function in addition to the normal speed and engine speed. The information specific to the cruise function includes detection of a preceding vehicle, an inter-vehicle time representing an inter-vehicle distance, a set vehicle speed, a cruise function state, a fail mode, and the like. The inter-vehicle time is a physical quantity expressing the inter-vehicle distance in terms of time, and has a relationship of inter-vehicle time = inter-vehicle distance / vehicle speed.
Therefore, there is a target inter-vehicle time that corresponds to the target inter-vehicle distance that is the target of the follow-up control in a ratio of 1: 1, and in the present embodiment, the inter-vehicle time changeover switch 44 is provided so that the driver can appropriately adjust the target inter-vehicle time. .. The inter-vehicle time changeover switch 44 is connected to the meter display 40, and the inter-vehicle time set by the driver is displayed on the display as it is, and is also supplied to the engine ECU 14 via the body multiplex communication system 34 and used for cruise control. As the inter-vehicle time that can be set by the driver, the following three levels are prepared: long, medium and short.

Long: 2.4 (sec) Medium: 2.0 (sec) Short: 1.8 (sec) When a vehicle is traveling at a speed of 80 km / h, each inter-vehicle time is represented by a distance, The length is about 55m, the inside is about 45m
m, short is about 40 m. These inter-vehicle times are
It is displayed on the display 40 so that it is possible to see at a glance which inter-vehicle time is currently set. In the above, when the tail lamp switch 36 is in the ON state, the inter-vehicle distance is set to be longer than that in the daytime. Specifically, this inter-vehicle time is set to be longer, and α1, α2, and α3 are set as constants during the daytime. The length of 2.4 (sec) is changed to 2.4 + α1 (sec), and 2.0 (se
C) is changed to 2.0 + α2 (sec), and at a short 1.8 (sec) 1.8 + α3 (sec)
Change to. Α depending on the length of the inter-vehicle time setting, medium, short
It is preferable to change each of the above constants so that 1>α2> α3. Further, these α1, α2, and α3 may be selected by the driver in advance.

The structure of the laser radar 10 is shown in FIG. The light emitting circuit 10b pulse-drives the laser diode LD10c based on a command from the CPU 10a. The pulsed laser light from the laser diode LD 10c is shaped by the lens 10d, reflected by the mirror 10e, and incident on the polygon mirror f. The polygon mirror has six faces and rotates about a rotation axis, and the rotation of the polygon mirror 10f scans the pulsed laser light in a horizontal plane (left and right with respect to the traveling direction). Further, each surface of the polygon mirror 10f sequentially has different inclination angles, and the pulse laser light is scanned in the vertical direction with respect to the traveling direction each time the incident surface of the pulse laser light changes.

On the other hand, when there is a preceding vehicle, the pulsed laser light reflected by the preceding vehicle enters the photodiode 10h through the light receiving lens 10g, is converted into an electric signal and is supplied to the light receiving circuit 10i. Then, the light reception pulse signal is further supplied to the time measuring IC 10j to measure the time from when the pulse laser light is transmitted to when it is reflected and received by the preceding vehicle, and is supplied to the CPU 10a to detect the distance to the preceding vehicle. At the same time, the relative speed as the time change is detected. The detected inter-vehicle distance and relative speed are supplied to the CPU 10k, and the CPU 10k supplies these detection data to the inter-vehicle control ECU 12.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a scan range 100 of the laser radar 10. Polygon mirror 10
The pulsed laser light scans in the horizontal direction with respect to the traveling direction in a certain horizontal plane by being reflected in one of the six reflecting surfaces of f. Also, the polygon mirror 10
The light is reflected by the other reflection surface of f to scan in the horizontal direction in different horizontal planes. A total of 6 pulse laser beams in the vertical direction correspond to each of the reflecting surfaces of the polygon mirror.
There are a total of 105 in the left-right direction corresponding to the rotation angle in one reflecting surface. The reachable range of the laser light is about 100 m in fine weather. Therefore, when there is a preceding vehicle within 100 m, there is a preceding vehicle, and when there is more than 100 m, there is no preceding vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a layout diagram of the vicinity of the steering wheel 50 in the vehicle compartment. A lever-shaped cruise control switch 18 is provided on the right side of the steering shaft, and a steering wheel 50 is provided with an inter-vehicle time changeover switch 44. As described above, the cruise control switch 18 has the function of setting the cruise function ON / OFF, the vehicle speed during constant speed traveling (when there is no preceding vehicle) and the upper limit vehicle speed during following traveling, and acceleration / deceleration without using the accelerator pedal. It has a function to perform, a resume function to return from the non-operating state to the operating state, and the inter-vehicle time changeover switch has a function of switching the target inter-vehicle time during follow-up travel (three stages of long, medium, and short in this embodiment). Have.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the cruise control switch 18. The cruise control switch 18 has a lever shape and can be operated in the vertical direction, and a main switch 18a that can be pushed in (in the direction of arrow a in the figure) is provided on the side portion. By pushing in the main switch 18a, the engine ECU 14
Cruise power turns on. The power-on state is a standby state of the cruise function, and the driver shifts to the actual cruise function by setting the cruise function after the set vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle time are set. The cruise function setting (SET) is executed by lowering the cruise control switch 18. As described above, even if the main switch 18a is pushed in, the cruise power supply does not turn on but remains off during the ECT snow mode or wiper operation. If the vehicle speed once set is to be increased, the cruise control switch is kept raised, and if the set vehicle speed is to be reduced, the cruise control switch is kept lowered to keep the engine E running.
These data are supplied to the CU 14. In addition, when the driver operates the brake pedal during the control operation, that is, during the cruise operation, the control non-operation state (cruise function is canceled), but by operating the cruise control switch 18 in this state, Return to the control state of (resume function).

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the inter-vehicle time changeover switch 44. The inter-vehicle time changeover switch 44 includes three switches, and a mode (MODE) switch 44a for switching inter-vehicle time in three stages and a display 4
Function (FUNCTION) switch 44 for switching 0
b and a RESET switch. The inter-vehicle time is always set to long in the initial state of engine ON, and is switched from long to medium to shorter by operating the mode switch 44a. If the operation becomes shorter and further operation is performed, the inter-vehicle time will return to long again. The reason why the inter-vehicle time is uniformly set to be long in the initial state of the engine ON is to ensure the safety in the case of shifting to follow-up running.
The function switch 44b is for switching the cruise state display and other display (for example, an alarm display) on the display 40, and the engine E during cruise control.
The CU 14 displays the control state (presence or absence of a preceding vehicle and set vehicle speed), but when the driver operates the switch 44b, the display changes to a warning display screen or a drive monitor screen. However, for example, when the cruise status changes while displaying the warning display screen (for example, whether or not there is a preceding vehicle detected or the set vehicle speed changes), the display is automatically changed from the warning screen to the cruise status screen. Switch to.

FIG. 7 shows a display example of the meter display 40. Speed is displayed on the left side of the center, engine speed is displayed on the right side of the center, and a cruise state screen 41 is displayed on the lower part. The screen 41 can be composed of liquid crystal, for example. An alarm lamp 42 is provided on the left side of the cruise state screen 41, and a cruise power supply lamp 43 is further provided on the right side.
Is provided. The cruise state screen 41 displays the detected preceding vehicle, the target inter-vehicle time, the host vehicle, and the set vehicle speed. As described above, when the driver operates the function switch 44b of the inter-vehicle time switch 44, this screen is switched to another screen (warning screen or drive monitor screen). Since the adjustment is made so that the inter-vehicle time is increased when the tail lamp is turned on, it is also preferable to notify the driver that the inter-vehicle time is increased and adjusted by setting the screen 41 to a screen color different from that during daytime when the tail lamp is turned on. is there. Further, when the vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle abnormally while following the preceding vehicle, the warning buzzer 32 of the VSC is used to give a warning to the driver. At this time, the engine ECU 4 displays the screen 41 to repeat the reversal of light and dark. It is also preferable to control and visually alert the driver.

The alarm lamp 42 is turned on when an abnormality occurs in the cruise function. In this case, the engine ECU 14 cancels the cruise function and displays the content of the abnormality on the screen 41. Of course, the alarm buzzer 32
It is also possible to notify the driver with a warning sound using. As the warning sound, for example, "pawn" or the like can be considered in order to distinguish it from the warning sound "beep beep" when the preceding vehicle follows.

The configuration of this embodiment is as described above, and its operation will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 8 shows a processing flowchart of cruise control executed by the headway distance control ECU 12 and the engine ECU 14. When the driver sets the cruise function using the cruise control switch 18 (main switch is turned on and switch 18 is lowered), the engine ECU 14 determines whether or not the cruise function has been canceled (S101). If the vehicle has not been canceled, the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 12 next determines whether or not a preceding vehicle has been detected. If there is a preceding vehicle, the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 12 and the engine ECU 14 execute inter-vehicle cruise control, which will be described later (S103). ). If there is no preceding vehicle, the engine ECU 14 compares the current vehicle speed Vn with the set vehicle speed Vm (S104), and Vn <
If it is Vm, the acceleration control is performed to set the vehicle speed (S10
5) If the current vehicle speed Vn is substantially equal to the set vehicle speed Vm, the constant speed cruise control for maintaining the current vehicle speed is executed (S106). If the wiper is activated in rainy weather or EC
If the driver operates the cruise control switch 18 to cancel, the driver operates the brake, or the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined value (for example, 40 km / h), the cruise function is activated. If an abnormality occurs, the determination in S101 is YES, and the engine ECU 14 cancels the cruise function (S107).

FIG. 9 shows a detailed flowchart of the inter-vehicle cruise executed in S103. First, the laser radar 10 detects the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed with respect to the preceding vehicle (S201), and the inter-vehicle control ECU 12 calculates the inter-vehicle deviation between the target inter-vehicle time and the current inter-vehicle time (S202).
Then, the control acceleration (target acceleration) required to make this inter-vehicle deviation zero is calculated (S203), and the engine E
Supply to CU14. The engine ECU 14 uses the electronic throttle actuator 24 to obtain this control acceleration.
Is driven to control the engine output (S204). If the calculated control acceleration has a large negative value, that is, if it is on the large deceleration side, the engine ECU 14 cuts overdrive and downshifts in response to the shift-down request supplied from the inter-vehicle control ECU. Use the brakes to slow down.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the above processing contents. (A) If there is no preceding vehicle (100
Including the case where the vehicle is located further than m. In this case, the vehicle runs at a constant speed at the vehicle speed set by the driver (S106 in FIG. 8).
Constant speed cruise). (B) is a case where a preceding vehicle slower than the set vehicle speed is detected during constant speed traveling, and deceleration control is performed so as not to abnormally approach the preceding vehicle (inter-vehicle cruise in S103 of FIG. 8). (C) is a case of following the preceding vehicle, and acceleration / deceleration control is performed so that the inter-vehicle time with the preceding vehicle becomes the target inter-vehicle time with the set vehicle speed as the upper limit (S103 in FIG. 8).
Inter-vehicle cruise). (D) is a case where the preceding vehicle enters the interchange or the service area and disappears, and in this case, the vehicle gradually accelerates to the set vehicle speed (constant speed cruise in S106 of FIG. 8). In addition, if there is no preceding vehicle, the vehicle gradually accelerates to the set vehicle speed.If the preceding vehicle does not exist because the vehicle entered the interchange or the service area, it is not possible to accelerate rapidly to the set vehicle speed. This is because it is undesirable.

As described above, when the preceding vehicle is present, the inter-vehicle cruise is executed, but as a premise of this, the preceding vehicle present in the own lane must be surely detected. When the vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the scan range and the vehicle lane width are known, so it is possible to determine whether the vehicle detected by the laser radar 10 is a preceding vehicle existing in the vehicle lane. Although it is easy, if the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, it is necessary to determine whether or not the detected vehicle is present in the vehicle lane in consideration of the curve radius and the like.

FIG. 11 shows the positional relationship between the own vehicle 200 and the forward traveling vehicles 300 and 400 when traveling on a curved road. When a predetermined range is scanned by the laser radar 10 mounted on the host vehicle 200, the forward traveling vehicles 300 and 400 and, in some cases, the road sign 500.
Is detected. Of these, the road sign 500 is excluded from the magnitude of the relative speed (when the relative speed is equal to or higher than a certain value, it can be determined as a stationary object), and one of the preceding vehicles 300 and 400 is a preceding vehicle existing in the own lane. It is necessary to decide whether or not (in the case of the figure, the forward traveling vehicle 300 is the preceding vehicle in the own lane). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the preceding vehicle 300 is detected as follows.

First, as shown in FIG. 12, the CPU 10a in the laser radar 10 groups the data considered to be the same object from the obtained data on the direction and the distance to extract the objects 300, 400, 500. Of these, object 5
00 is excluded because it can be determined as a stationary object as described above, and the positions (Xc, Z) of the objects 300 and 400 are excluded.
To detect. Here, the Z axis is set to the traveling direction of the vehicle,
The X axis is set in the direction perpendicular to the Z axis (width direction of the vehicle) in the road plane.

Next, the CPU 10a is an inter-vehicle distance control ECU 12
The estimated curve radius data is received from and the detected object position (Xc, Z) is converted into a position (Xs, Z) on the straight road. Specifically, the inter-vehicle control ECU
12 determines the curve radius R based on the vehicle speed V and the steering angle θ.

## EQU1 ## R = KR (1 + αV ² + βV ³ ) / θ However, KR, α, and β are constants. Then, the CPU 10a of the laser radar 10 determines the position Xs on the straight road based on the estimated curve radius R.

## EQU2 ## Calculated by Xs = Xc-Z ² / 2R. After converting the position of the object on the curved road into the position on the straight road, the probability of existing in the own lane is calculated from the position on the straight road. Probability is calculated based on a probability map created in advance.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the probability map stored in the memory of the CPU 10a. Horizontal axis is X
s, which is indicated as X for simplicity in the figure. The vertical axis is Z
It is an axis. The coordinate origin of the X and Z axes is (0,0),
The position of the vehicle. It is divided into a plurality of areas by straight lines or curves of a to f and a'to f '(a' to
f ′ is a straight line or a curved line in which a to f are symmetrically folded back with respect to the Z axis).

The area surrounded by the curves a and a'is A, the area surrounded by the curves b and b '(excluding the area A) is B, and the area surrounded by the curves c and c' (area A). , Except B)
C, the area surrounded by the curves d and d ′ is D, and the straight lines e and e ′ are
And an area surrounded by a straight line of Z = 60 is E, and the instantaneous own lane probability Poi in each area is determined as follows.

Possibly any area D: Poi = 100% center in area A: Poi = 80% center in area B: Poi = 60% center in area E: Poi = 60% There is a center in the region C: Poi = 30% Have a little region E: Poi = 30% Do not satisfy the regions A to F: Poi = 0% The object is located in any region as described above. By determining whether or not to do so, the instantaneous vehicle lane probability Poi of the object is determined, and the weighted average value is used as the vehicle lane existence probability Pi of the object. That is,

## EQU3 ## Pi = Pi (t-1) .alpha. + Poi.multidot. (1-.alpha.). Here, Pi (t-1) is the previous lane existence probability, and its initial value is 0%. Also, α is a weight,
It is preferable to change the weight according to the distance to the object (Z may be used). Specifically, the smaller the distance to the object, the smaller the setting. As a result, the closer the object is,
The response can be improved by increasing the weight of the detection result Poi of this time.

After determining the own lane existence probability of the object, the CPU 10a of the laser radar 10 extracts an object whose own lane existence probability is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value (for example, 50%). If there is only one extracted object, it is determined that the object is a preceding vehicle to follow, and if there are multiple extracted objects, the one with the shortest distance Z from the own vehicle is selected. Determined as a preceding vehicle to follow. As a result, for example, in the case of FIG. 12, the own lane existence probabilities of the forward traveling vehicles 300 and 400 are 60% and 30%, respectively, and only the forward traveling vehicle 300 is determined to be the preceding vehicle. Even if the third vehicle is present in front of the traveling vehicle and the probability that the vehicle is in its own lane is about 60%, the forward traveling vehicle 300 having the short distance Z is determined to be the preceding vehicle.

Also, as shown in FIG. 14A, when a preceding vehicle a on the own lane exists and a vehicle b is about to enter the lane from the adjacent lane, the respective existence probabilities are ( As in B), they are 90% and 60%, both of which are equal to or greater than the threshold value, and the vehicle b has a shorter distance. Therefore, the vehicle b is recognized as a preceding vehicle to follow. As a result, it is possible to quickly control a more urgent vehicle.

The threshold value for extracting the preceding vehicle is preferably changed according to the curve radius. The reason is that the position of the object uses a value converted from a curved road to a straight road, and the reliability (error) of this converted value depends on the value of the curve radius. Specifically, it is desirable to lower the threshold as the curve radius R becomes smaller. For example, 1000m ≦ R: threshold probability = 50% 500m ≦ R <1000m: threshold probability = 45% R <500m: threshold probability = 40%. As a result, erroneous recognition such as losing sight of the preceding vehicle on an arbitrary curved road can be prevented and the preceding vehicle can be correctly determined.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reliably detect the preceding vehicle that is the target of the control, and thus to ensure the traveling control.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a laser radar according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a scan range of the laser radar according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an arrangement in the vicinity of a steering wheel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the cruise control switch of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the inter-vehicle time changeover switch of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a display according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an overall processing flowchart of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for controlling the headway distance according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing mode of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of radar detection on a curved road according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram (No. 2) of radar detection on a curved road according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a map for calculating the existence probability of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the existence probability at the time of vehicle interruption according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 laser radar, 12 inter-vehicle control ECU, 14 engine ECU, 16 ECT mode switch, 18 cruise control switch (hand operation means), 20 stop lamp switch, 22 vehicle speed sensor, 24 electronic throttle actuator, 26 ECT solenoid,
28 VSC-ECU, 30 steering sensor, 3
2 alarm buzzer, 34 body multiplex communication, 36 tail lamp switch, 38 wiper switch, 40 display, 44 inter-vehicle time change switch.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tsuneo Miyakoshi 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhiko Sato 1-1, Showa Town, Kariya City, Aichi Denso Corporation ( 72) Inventor Eiji Teramura 1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya city, Aichi Prefecture DENSO CORPORATION (56) Reference JP-A-8-279099 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB) Name) G08G 1/16 G01S 13/93 G01S 17/93 B60R 21/00 B60K 31/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device for detecting an object existing in a vehicle lane from an object around the vehicle detected by a radar device, and a conversion means for converting the position of the detected object into a position on a straight road. Probability calculating means for calculating the probability of being in the own lane based on the position, and determining that an object whose probability is a predetermined value or more and whose distance to the own vehicle is a predetermined value or less is an object existing in the own lane possess a judgment unit, wherein the probability calculating means, response to the converted position
The probability of this time, which is determined by
Probability of own lane existence is calculated based on the weighted average and detected
The smaller the distance of the object, the weight of the probability obtained last time
A vehicle lane object detection device characterized in that the weight of the weighted average is changed so as to be smaller . 2. The own lane object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined value is set according to a curve radius. 3. A vehicle comprising the own lane object detection device according to claim 1 , and a control means for controlling the own vehicle speed so as to maintain a distance from the detected own lane object at a predetermined value. Travel control device.