# US 11,110,920 B2 · Vehicle travel control apparatus

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- Number: US 11,110,920 B2
- Document ID: US11110920B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/264,436
- Filed: 2019-01-31
- Published: 2019-08-15
- Granted: 2021-09-07
- Earliest claimed: 2018-02-09
- Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Toshiyuki Mizuno; Akira Kito; Yoshiaki Konishi; Takayuki Kishi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11110920B2

## CPC

- B60W 30/165: Automatically following the path of a preceding lead vehicle, e.g. "electronic tow-bar"
- B60W 10/04: including control of propulsion units
- B60W 10/10: including control of change-speed gearings
- B60W 30/182: Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes
- B60W 50/00: Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit {, e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces}
- B60W 60/0051: {from occupants to vehicle}
- B60W 60/0053: {from vehicle to occupant}
- G05D 1/00: Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots (drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00)
- G05D 1/0212: {with means for defining a desired trajectory (involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287)}
- G05D 1/0287: {involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16)}
- B60W 2050/007: {Switching between manual and automatic parameter input, and vice versa}
- B60W 2552/00: Input parameters relating to infrastructure
- B60W 2552/05: Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
- B60W 2552/10: Number of lanes
- B60W 2552/15: Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
- B60W 2552/30: Road curve radius
- B60W 2554/801: Lateral distance
- B60W 2554/802: Longitudinal distance
- B60W 2710/1005: Transmission ratio engaged
- B60W 2720/106: Longitudinal acceleration
- B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES

## Abstract

A vehicle travel control apparatus configured to control an actuator for driving a vehicle with a self-driving capability so that the vehicle follows a forward vehicle in front of the vehicle, and including an electric control unit having a microprocessor and a memory. The microprocessor is configured to perform: recognizing a travel pattern of the forward vehicle; setting a travel mode with an acceleration performance in accordance with the travel pattern recognized in the recognizing; and controlling the actuator so that the vehicle follows the forward vehicle in the travel mode set in the setting.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A vehicle travel control apparatus configured to control an actuator for driving a vehicle with a self-driving capability so that the vehicle follows a forward vehicle in front of the vehicle, the vehicle travel control apparatus comprising:
an electric control unit having a microprocessor and a memory, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform:
calculating a follow-evaluation value expressing a degree of difference between a travel pattern of the vehicle and a travel pattern of the forward vehicle;
setting a travel mode as one of a plurality of predetermined travel modes with an acceleration performance in accordance with the follow-evaluation value calculated in the calculating, wherein the plurality of predetermined travel modes includes a first, second, and third travel mode each corresponding to a respective range of follow-evaluation value where power is prioritized over fuel economy for mode with higher follow-evaluation value; and
controlling the actuator so that the vehicle follows the forward vehicle in the travel mode set in the setting, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to further perform acquiring road data around the vehicle, wherein
the calculating including correcting, when data on a curve is included in the road data acquired in the acquiring, the follow-evaluation value by multiplying the follow-evaluation value by a predetermined coefficient.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising
a first instructing portion configured to instruct a manual drive mode or a self-drive mode; and
a second instructing portion configured to manually instruct one travel mode among an autonomous travel mode and the plurality of predetermined travel modes, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform the setting including setting the travel mode instructed by the second instructing portion,
the autonomous travel mode is a travel mode with the acceleration performance in accordance with the follow-evaluation value calculated in the calculating, and
the plurality of predetermined travel modes includes the first travel mode in which a fuel economy performance is prioritized over a power performance, the second travel mode in which the fuel economy performance and the power performance are balanced, and the third travel mode in which the power performance is prioritized over the fuel economy performance.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform
the setting including setting the travel mode instructed by the second instructing portion when the manual drive mode is instructed by the first instructing portion, and thereafter when switching from the manual drive mode to the self-drive mode is instructed by the first instructing portion, gradually changing from the travel mode instructed in the manual drive mode to the autonomous travel mode.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform
when the self-drive mode is instructed by the first instructing portion and the manual travel mode is instructed by the second instructing portion, the setting including setting the manual travel mode.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising
an informing portion configured to inform a driver that a difference between the acceleration performance in accordance with the follow-evaluation value calculated in the calculating and an acceleration performance prescribed by the manual travel mode instructed by the second instructing portion is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, under a condition that the self-drive mode is instructed by the first instructing portion and the manual travel mode is instructed by the second instructing portion.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the vehicle includes a power source and a transmission changing a speed of a rotation output from the power source,
the actuator includes a shift actuator changing a speed ratio of the transmission, and
the microprocessor is configured to perform
the setting including setting a shift map in accordance with the follow-evaluation value calculated in the calculating, and
the controlling including controlling the shift actuator in accordance with the shift map set in the setting.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising
an inter-vehicle distance detecting portion configured to detect an inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle to the forward vehicle, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to further perform
calculating a distance deviation representing a degree of divergence of the inter-vehicle distance detected by the inter-vehicle detecting portion from a predetermined target inter-vehicle distance,
calculating a time period when an absolute value of the distance deviation stays within a predetermined value and calculating a follow ratio by dividing the time period by a total running time of the vehicle, and
the calculating the follow-evaluation value including calculating the follow-evaluation value so that the follow-evaluation value is higher as the follow ratio is greater.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform
the calculating the follow-evaluation value including correcting, when the data on the curve is included in the road data acquired in the acquiring, the follow-evaluation value by multiplying the follow-evaluation value by the predetermined coefficient greater than 0 and less than 1.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform
calculating a distance deviation representing a degree of divergence of the inter-vehicle distance detected by the inter-vehicle detecting portion from a predetermined target inter-vehicle distance, and
the calculating the follow-evaluation value including calculating, when a frequency of the distance deviation is able to be expressed in normal distribution, the follow-evaluation value so that the follow-evaluation value is higher as a mean value of the distance deviation is greater.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform
the calculating the follow-evaluation value including calculating, when the frequency of the distance deviation is able to be expressed in normal distribution, the follow-evaluation value based on the mean value of the distance deviation and a magnitude of a dispersion of the normal distribution.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform
calculating a mean value of an acceleration magnitude of the forward vehicle, and
the calculating the follow-evaluation value including calculating the follow-evaluation value so that the follow-evaluation value is higher as the mean value is greater.

### Claim 12

A vehicle travel control method controlling an actuator for driving a vehicle with a self-driving capability so that the vehicle follows a forward vehicle in front of the vehicle, the vehicle travel control method comprising:
calculating a follow-evaluation value expressing a degree of difference between a travel pattern of the vehicle and a travel pattern of the forward vehicle;
setting a travel mode as one of a plurality of predetermined travel modes with an acceleration performance in accordance with the follow-evaluation value, wherein the plurality of predetermined travel modes includes a first, second, and third travel mode each corresponding to a respective range of follow-evaluation value where power is prioritized over fuel economy for mode with higher follow-evaluation value;
controlling the actuator so that the vehicle follows the forward vehicle in the travel mode, and
acquiring road data around the vehicle, wherein,
the calculating including correcting, when data on a curve is included in the road data acquired in the acquiring, the follow-evaluation value by multiplying the follow-evaluation value by a predetermined coefficient.