Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Automatic route guidance vehicle
Utility Patent
1998-09-01
2001-01-02
Nguyen, Tan (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Automatic route guidance vehicle
C701S024000, C340S903000
Utility Patent
active
06169940
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic driving system, and more particularly to an automatic driving in a situation where a plurality of vehicles are running together.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
There has been known an automatic driving system for guiding a plurality of vehicles to run as a group along a reference line on a road represented by lane markers such as magnetic nails disposed on the surface of the road. For example, in a system shown in Laid-open Japanese Patent Application No. 8-314541 (1996), a top vehicle among a plurality of vehicles forming a group detects a relative deviation from the vehicle with respect to a reference line, sets a control amount for an automatic navigation based on the relative deviation, and controls the running of itself based on the control amount. Then, the top vehicle transmits the control amount to a subsequent vehicle which sets a modification amount based on the control amount when the subsequent vehicle reaches the position at which the top vehicle has transmitted the control amount thereto, and controls the running of itself based on the modification amount. The subsequent vehicle also transmits the modification amount to its subsequent vehicle, so that each subsequent vehicle controls the running of itself based on a modification amount transmitted thereto from a vehicle which is running immediately in front of itself.
For a solely running vehicle, a vehicle is guided immediately in front of the single vehicle by a base station to form a top vehicle.
In addition, the above-mentioned system detects vehicles to be joined in a group at a junction point of roads, and transmits an increase instruction signal to a subsequent vehicle to increase the distance between itself and a preceding vehicle. Also, the system evaluates a jam condition to transmit a decrease instruction signal to a subsequent vehicle to decrease the distance between itself and a preceding vehicle. As a result, the system enables a control for a group of vehicles.
However, the conventional system as mentioned above is constructed such that drive control signals such as those indicative of the position of a top vehicle, a running trajectory, and a navigation amount are received by a subsequent vehicle, so that the subsequent vehicle follows the same vehicle motions as the top vehicle. Therefore, the subsequent vehicle would follow unstable motions of the top vehicle, if any, due to trouble or the like in a magnetic nail detector equipped in the top vehicle, whereby a group of vehicles would entirely trace an unstable running trajectory.
For example, as illustrated in
FIG. 1
, when magnetic nails
4
arranged along the center of a lane
1
of a road are not positioned on a smooth curved line along the curvature of the lane
1
, a running line
5
on which a vehicle
2
really runs does not draw a smooth curved line in the center of the lane
1
. In other words, although the vehicle
2
is run such that a straight line
6
connecting two adjacent magnetic nails matches with the center axis of the vehicle
2
, if the vehicle
2
is run to follow the magnetic nails
4
which are not correctly positioned at the center of the road as illustrated in
FIG. 1
, a running line
5
becomes winding. A vehicle
3
, which receives a drive control signal from the vehicle
2
and is automatically driven on the basis of the drive control signal, also follows the winding running line
5
, with the result that all of subsequent vehicles will sequentially run along a winding trajectory such as the running line
5
.
In addition, assuming the running on a road having a plurality of lanes, if a running vehicle must deviate from a reference line for changing lanes, taking a branch, or the like, the vehicle runs out of a detectable range of a magnetic nail signal, thereby resulting in a failed automatic control for the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automatic driving system which is capable of achieving appropriate automatic driving for a plurality of vehicles running in a group.
The automatic driving system according to the present invention comprises radar means for detecting an obstacle in front of one vehicle to generate an obstacle detecting signal, imaging means for imaging a road surface in front of the one vehicle to output a video signal, image processing means for generating a vehicle position signal indicative of a position of the one vehicle in a width direction of the road from an image represented by the video signal, a navigation unit for generating road data indicative of the coordinates of a road in front of a current position of the one vehicle, road-to-vehicle communications means for receiving automatic drive traffic information signal, vehicle-to-vehicle communications means for transmitting and receiving a vehicle-to-vehicle running information signal between the one vehicle and at least one different vehicle other than the one vehicle, running instruction generating means for generating a running instruction, running course setting means for setting a running course based on the obstacle detecting signal, the vehicle position signal, the road data, the automatic drive traffic information signal, the vehicle-to-vehicle running information signal and the running instructions, target running trajectory calculating means for calculating a target running trajectory based on the set running course, and vehicle control means for controlling navigation of the one vehicle such that the one vehicle runs following the target running trajectory, wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle communications means transmits a running course signal indicative of the running course, and a running course setting position signal indicative of a running position of the one vehicle at the time the running course is set, thus automatically navigating a plurality of vehicles.
Therefore, the running course signal indicative of a set running course and the running course setting position signal indicative of a running position of the one vehicle at the time the running course is set are transmitted and received between vehicles, and a running target trajectory can be set for each vehicle based on the running course and the running course setting running position from the received signals to carry out automatic navigation. Therefore, subsequent vehicles can maintain smooth navigation suitable therefor even if a preceding vehicle, which has transmitted the signals, is in a running condition in which it is not drawing a smooth curve along a lane.
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patent: 5295551 (1994-03-01), Sukonick
patent: 5331561 (1994-07-01), Barrett et al.
patent: 5467284 (1995-11-01), Yoshioka et al.
patent: 5483453 (1996-01-01), Uemura et al.
patent: 5680122 (1997-10-01), Mio
patent: 5764139 (1998-06-01), Nojima et al.
patent: 5828968 (1998-10-01), Iiboshi et al.
patent: 5913375 (1999-06-01), Nishikawa
patent: 5938707 (1999-08-01), Uehara
Jitsukata Eishi
Kobayashi Sachio
Tamura Kazuya
Arent Fox Kintner & Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Nguyen Tan
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