Apparatus and method for controlling lane-keeping

A vehicle positioning system, comprising

• an image sensor operable to be disposed on the vehicle so as to have a field of view of an exterior of the vehicle and configured to capture image data;
• a non-image sensor operable to be disposed on the vehicle so as to sense the exterior of the vehicle and configured to capture sensing data;
• a Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) module configured to prevent a lane departure of the vehicle;
• and
• a controller comprising at least one processor configured to process at least one of the image data captured by the image sensor and the sensing data captured by the non-image sensor,
• wherein the vehicle positioning system is configured to:
• recognize lane lines of a driving lane, in which a host vehicle travels, from the image data and sense a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the driving lane or lanes next to the driving lane from the sensing data;
• calculate at least one of one or more first transverse separation distances between the other vehicles present on the same transverse line and a second transverse separation distance between the other vehicles present on the same transverse line as the host vehicle;
• determine an optimum position of the host vehicle within the driving lane by comparing space widths for the calculated first transverse separation distances and the calculated second transverse separation distance;
• and
• output a speed control signal to control a travel speed of the host vehicle so as to have the host vehicle located at the determined optimum position.

A control system for a vehicle, comprising:

• a camera operable to be disposed on the vehicle so as to have a field of view of an exterior of the vehicle and configured to capture image data;
• and
• a processor configured to process the image data captured by the camera,
• wherein the control system is configured to:
• recognize lane lines of a driving lane, in which a host vehicle travels, from the image data and sense a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the driving lane or lanes next to the driving lane from the sensing data;
• calculate at least one of one or more first transverse separation distances between the other vehicles present on the same transverse line and a second transverse separation distance between the other vehicles present on the same transverse line as the host vehicle;
• determine an optimum position of the host vehicle within the driving lane by comparing space widths for the calculated first transverse separation distances and the calculated second transverse separation distance;
• and
• output a speed control signal to control a travel speed of the host vehicle so as to have the host vehicle located at the determined optimum position.

A camera suitable for use for a control system of a vehicle,

• wherein the camera is operable to be disposed on the vehicle so as to have a field of view of an exterior of the vehicle and is configured to capture image data,
• wherein the image data is used to recognize lane lines of a driving lane in which a host vehicle travels and sense a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the driving lane or lanes next to the driving lane,
• wherein at least one of one or more first transverse separation distances between the other vehicles present on the same transverse line and a second transverse separation distance between the other vehicles present on the same transverse line as the host vehicle is calculated,
• wherein an optimum position of the host vehicle is determined within the driving lane by comparing space widths for the calculated first transverse separation distances and the calculated second transverse separation distance, and
• wherein a speed control signal to control a travel speed of the host vehicle is output so as to have the host vehicle located at the determined optimum position.

A method of operating a control system for a vehicle, the method comprising:

• recognizing lane lines of a driving lane in which a host vehicle travels and sensing a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the driving lane or lanes next to the driving lane;
• calculating a first transverse separation distance between the sensed other vehicles or a second transverse separation distance between the host vehicle and the other vehicles;
• determining an optimum position of the host vehicle within the driving lane by comparing space widths for the calculated first transverse separation distance and the calculated second transverse separation distance;
• and
• outputting a speed control signal to control a travel speed of the host vehicle so as to have the host vehicle located at the determined optimum position.