Vehicle system, vehicle controller, and method of controlling vehicle
AssigneesDENSO International America, Inc., Denso Corporation
InventorTe-Ping Kang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle includes a plurality of wheels. A vehicle steering controller controls a heading of the vehicle by controlling at least one of the plurality of wheels. A heading sensor detects the heading of the vehicle. A processor is coupled to the vehicle steering controller and the heading sensor, and the processor is programmed to receive a lane change signal that requests a lane change. Then, the processor determines the heading of the vehicle from the heading sensor. Based on this determination, the processor instructs the vehicle steering controller to reduce the heading of the vehicle to prior to executing the requested lane change. As a result, the lane change may be executed from a similar state each time.
Claims19
A vehicle system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle including a plurality of wheels;
- a vehicle steering controller, coupled to the plurality of wheels, that controls a heading of the vehicle by controlling at least one of the plurality of wheels;
- a heading sensor that detects the heading of the vehicle;
- and
- a processor coupled to the vehicle steering controller and the heading sensor, wherein
- the processor is programmed to
- receive a lane change signal that requests a lane change,
- upon receiving the lane change signal, determine the heading of the vehicle from the heading sensor,
- compare an absolute value of the determined heading with a heading threshold, and
- if the absolute value of the determined heading of the vehicle is above the heading threshold, instruct the vehicle steering controller to reduce the absolute value of the heading of the vehicle to below the heading threshold prior to executing the requested lane change, wherein
- the heading is defined as an angle between a travel direction of the vehicle in a lane along which the vehicle is traveling and an imaginary line that extends along the lane, and
- the heading threshold is automatically determined based on a travel speed of the vehicle.
A vehicle controller for controlling a vehicle, comprising:
- a central processing unit,
- a memory coupled to the central processing unit, and
- a vehicle steering controller coupled to the central processing unit that controls a heading of the vehicle, wherein
- the central processing unit is programmed to
- receive a lane change signal that requests a lane change,
- upon receiving the lane change signal, determine the heading of the vehicle from a heading sensor that detects the heading of the vehicle, and
- if the determined heading of the vehicle is has an absolute value above a heading threshold, instruct the vehicle steering controller to reduce the absolute value of the heading of the vehicle to below the heading threshold prior to executing the requested lane change, wherein
- the heading is defined as an angle between a travel direction of the vehicle in a lane along which the vehicle is traveling and an imaginary line that extends along the lane, and
- the heading threshold is automatically determined based on a travel speed of the vehicle.
A method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:
- receiving, with a processor, a lane change signal that requests a lane change;
- upon receiving the lane change signal, determining, with the processor, a heading of the vehicle based on the output of a heading sensor;
- if the determined heading of the vehicle has an absolute value above a heading threshold, instructing, with the processor, a vehicle steering controller to reduce the heading of the vehicle to below the heading threshold;
- and
- after the absolute value of the heading of the vehicle is reduced to below the heading threshold, automatically executing, with the processor, the requested lane change, wherein
- the heading is defined an angle between a travel direction of the vehicle in a lane along which the vehicle is traveling and an imaginary line that extends along the lane, and
- the heading threshold is automatically determined based on a travel speed of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.