Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Indication or control of braking – acceleration – or deceleration
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-07
2001-05-15
Chin, Gary (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Indication or control of braking, acceleration, or deceleration
C701S093000, C701S301000, C180S169000, C180S179000, C342S455000, C340S903000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233515
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to adaptive cruise control systems for automotive vehicles, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for headway control.
2. Description of the Related Art
An adaptive cruise control (ACC) system can enhance performance of vehicle speed control, also known as vehicle cruise control, by allowing a vehicle to actively track and follow a target vehicle while maintaining a follow distance that is proportional to the timed headway between the vehicles plus some minimum distance. The speed of the follow vehicle is controlled by controlling the application of acceleration force to the vehicle over a range spanning positive and negative accelerations.
Positive acceleration, sometimes in context simply called acceleration, may be controlled via an electronic-actuated mechanism that exercises control over an engine or motor that propels the vehicle. A vehicle propelled by an internal combustion engine may have an electronic throttle control that controls the amount of engine throttle opening to thereby apply a corresponding acceleration force to the vehicle via a drivetrain of the vehicle.
Negative acceleration, sometimes called deceleration, may be applied to a vehicle via service brakes of the vehicle. In a vehicle that has hydraulic-actuated service brakes at wheels of the vehicle and an ABS system for operating the vehicle's service brakes, an adaptive cruise control may apply deceleration force to the vehicle via the ABS hydraulic system.
Various arrangements for adaptive cruise control are shown in various patents, including one or more of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,053,979; 5,396,426; 5,400,864; 5,454,442; 5,493,302; 5,594,645; and 5,629,851.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One general aspect of the present invention relates to an automotive vehicle comprising: a powertrain comprising an engine having a throttle that is selectively operated to apply an acceleration force to the vehicle via wheels on which the vehicle is supported and propelled along an underlying surface; a vehicle speed control for selectively throttling the engine via the throttle to null discrepancy between actual vehicle speed and preset vehicle speed; range and range rate apparatus for providing range and range rate signals corresponding to range and range rate to an immediately preceding lead vehicle; and a headway controller that acts via the vehicle speed control for nulling discrepancy between range to the lead vehicle obtained by the ranging apparatus and a reference range that varies with timed headway; wherein the range and range rate apparatus and a vehicle speed sensor close feedback loops to the headway controller, the headway controller develops a reference speed signal which provides a command input to the vehicle speed control, and the reference speed signal comprises an algebraic summation of a term that is proportional to the vehicle's own speed as measured by the vehicle speed sensor, of a term that is proportional to range to the lead vehicle as measured by the range signal, and of a term that is proportional to range rate to the lead vehicle as measured by the range rate signal.
Another general aspect relates to an automotive vehicle comprising: a powertrain comprising an engine having a throttle that is selectively operated to apply an acceleration force to the vehicle via wheels on which the vehicle is supported and propelled along an underlying surface; a vehicle speed control for selectively throttling the engine via the throttle to null discrepancy between actual vehicle speed and preset vehicle speed; range and range rate apparatus for providing range and range rate signals corresponding to range and range rate to an immediately preceding lead vehicle; and a headway controller that acts via the vehicle speed control for nulling discrepancy between range to the lead vehicle obtained by the ranging apparatus and a reference range that varies with timed headway; wherein the range and range rate apparatus and a vehicle speed sensor close feedback loops to the headway controller, and the headway controller function for accelerating and decelerating the vehicle is mathematically defined by a plane where range error is along one of two orthogonal axes and range rate is along the other of the axes by a continuous control surface having plural distinct regions, a first region being a maximum acceleration region characterized exclusively by positive values of range rate, a second region being a maximum deceleration region characterized exclusively by negative values of range rate, a third region being a relatively more rigid control region, and a fourth region being a relatively less rigid control region, and wherein the first and second regions are noncontiguous and separated by the third and fourth regions, the third region has an expanse that, for negative values of range error within the third region, includes both positive and negative values of range rate, and for positive values of range error within the third region, includes positive, but excludes negative, values of range rate, and the fourth region has an expanse that, for negative values of range rate within the fourth region, includes both positive and negative values of range error, and for positive values of range rate within the fourth region, includes positive, but excludes negative, values of range error.
Still another general aspect relates to an automotive vehicle comprising: a powertrain comprising an engine having a throttle that is selectively operated to apply an acceleration force to the vehicle via wheels on which the vehicle is supported and propelled along an underlying surface; a vehicle speed control for selectively throttling the engine via the throttle to null discrepancy between actual vehicle speed and preset vehicle speed; range and range rate apparatus for providing range and range rate signals corresponding to range and range rate to an immediately preceding lead vehicle; a headway controller that is operable to different modes including an adaptive cruise control mode, that forms a portion of a closed-loop control wherein the range and range rate signals and a vehicle speed signal corresponding to actual vehicle speed provide closed loop feedback to the headway controller, and that develops a reference speed signal which provides a command signal input to the vehicle speed control for causing the vehicle speed control to null discrepancy between range to the lead vehicle as measured by the range signal and a reference range that varies with timed headway when the adaptive cruise control mode assumes a follow state; and upon losing the track of the lead vehicle while actual vehicle speed is less than preset speed, the headway controller is operable to transition from the follow state of the adaptive cruise control mode to a resume state of the adaptive cruise control mode to return vehicle speed toward preset vehicle speed as a function of lateral acceleration of the vehicle.
Other general and more specific aspects will been set forth in the ensuing description and claims.
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Mayr, Intelligent Cruise Control for Vehicle Based ob Feed-back Linearization, Proceedings of the American Control Conference, US, New York, IEEE, Jun. 29, 1994, pp. 16-20, XP000515245, ISBN:
Barber Philip Alexander
Engelman Gerald H.
King Paul John
Richardson Michael Julian
Chin Gary
Jaguar Car, Limited
Mollon Mark L.
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