Vehicular adaptive cruise control with enhanced vehicle control

A driving assist system for a vehicle, said driving assist system comprising:

• an image sensor disposed at a vehicle equipped with said driving assist system and having a field of sensing exterior of the equipped vehicle and forward of the equipped vehicle;
• a controller comprising a processor operable to process data sensed by said image sensor;
• wherein said controller controls acceleration of the equipped vehicle at least in part in accordance with a speed setting of an adaptive cruise control system of the equipped vehicle;
• wherein said controller receives, from a driver of the vehicle via a user input, a speed setting;
• wherein said controller, responsive at least in part to processing by said processor of data captured by said image sensor, determines whether another vehicle is present that is travelling slower than the speed setting ahead of the equipped vehicle and in the same traffic lane traveled by the equipped vehicle;
• wherein said controller, responsive to receiving the speed setting, determines an operating mode;
• wherein, when the other vehicle is present, the determined operating mode is a distance mode;
• wherein, when the other vehicle is not present, the determined operating mode is a speed mode;
• wherein said controller determines a target speed, an acceleration profile and a speed profile based on the determined operating mode;
• wherein each phase of the determined acceleration profile comprises a function represented by a curved profile, and wherein at least one of the phases of the determined acceleration profile comprises a function represented by a second order polynomial curve or higher;
• wherein said controller adjusts the speed and the acceleration of the equipped vehicle based on the determined targeted speed, the determined acceleration profile and the determined speed profile;
• and
• wherein adjusting the acceleration of the equipped vehicle based on the determined acceleration profile comprises adjusting the acceleration of the equipped vehicle based on an output of the function of each respective phase of the determined acceleration profile.

A driving assist system for a vehicle, said driving assist system comprising:

• a radar sensor disposed at a vehicle equipped with said driving assist system and having a field of sensing exterior of the equipped vehicle and forward of the equipped vehicle;
• a controller comprising a processor operable to process data sensed by said radar sensor;
• wherein said controller controls acceleration of the equipped vehicle at least in part in accordance with a speed setting of an adaptive cruise control system of the equipped vehicle;
• wherein said controller receives, from a driver of the vehicle via a user input, a speed setting;
• wherein said controller, responsive at least in part to processing by said processor of data captured by said radar sensor, determines whether another vehicle is present that is travelling slower than the speed setting ahead of the equipped vehicle and in the same traffic lane traveled by the equipped vehicle;
• wherein said controller, responsive to receiving the speed setting, determines an operating mode;
• wherein, when the other vehicle is present, the determined operating mode is a distance mode;
• wherein, when the other vehicle is not present, the determined operating mode is a speed mode;
• wherein said controller determines a target speed, an acceleration profile and a speed profile based on the determined operating mode;
• and
• wherein said controller adjusts the speed and the acceleration of the equipped vehicle based on the determined target speed, the determined acceleration profile and the determined speed profile, and wherein each phase of the determined acceleration profile comprises a function represented by a different curved profile, wherein at least one of the phases of the determined acceleration profile comprises a function represented by a second order polynomial curve or higher, and wherein the phases, when combined, provide a non-linear transition to the determined target speed;
• and
• wherein adjusting the acceleration of the equipped vehicle based on the determined acceleration profile comprises adjusting the acceleration of the equipped vehicle based on an output of the function of each respective phase of the determined acceleration profile.