Vehicle travel control apparatus
AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsYuichi Kato, Yuko Hiratsuka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided is a vehicle travel control apparatus configured to set an operation mode of automatic start control to any one of a first mode, in which the automatic start control is executed, and a second mode, in which the automatic start control is not executed, the vehicle travel control apparatus being further configured to: issue to a driver a notification for inquiring whether the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed when the current travel state of an own vehicle is a specific state; and set the operation mode of the automatic start control to the first mode when the driver has performed a predetermined response operation in response to the notification.
Claims9
A vehicle travel control apparatus, comprising:
- a vehicle controller configured to execute following-travel inter-vehicle-distance control of causing the own vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle traveling immediately ahead of the own vehicle, and to execute automatic start control of causing the own vehicle to automatically start when the preceding vehicle starts after the own vehicle has been stopped;
- and
- a notification device configured to issue to a driver a notification for inquiring whether the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed;
- wherein the vehicle controller is configured to:
- determine, when the own vehicle has stopped in response to the stopping of the preceding vehicle, whether a current travel state of the own vehicle is a specific state, in which there is a probability that the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed;
- determine, whether a second specific state condition is satisfied, the second specific state condition being satisfied upon determination that there is no predetermined stop point within a predetermined distance range ahead of the own vehicle, the predetermined stop point being a point at which the own vehicle is to stop;
- and
- cause the notification device to issue the notification upon determination that the specific state and the second specific state condition are satisfied.
A control method performed by a vehicle travel control apparatus, the control method comprising:
- executing by a computer following-travel inter-vehicle-distance control of causing the own vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle traveling immediately ahead of the own vehicle, and executing automatic start control of causing the own vehicle to automatically start when the preceding vehicle starts after the own vehicle has been stopped;
- issuing by a notification device to a driver a notification for inquiring whether the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed;
- determining by the computer, when the own vehicle has stopped in response to the stopping of the preceding vehicle, whether a current travel state of the own vehicle is a specific state, in which there is a probability that the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed;
- determining by the computer, whether a second specific state condition is satisfied, the second specific state condition being satisfied upon determination that there is no predetermined stop point within a predetermined distance range ahead of the own vehicle, the predetermined stop point being a point at which the own vehicle is to stop;
- and
- causing by the notification device to issue the notification upon determination that the specific state and the second specific state condition are satisfied.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program configured to cause a computer, as a vehicle travel control apparatus, to execute:
- executing following-travel inter-vehicle-distance control of causing the own vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle traveling immediately ahead of the own vehicle, and executing automatic start control of causing the own vehicle to automatically start when the preceding vehicle starts after the own vehicle has been stopped;
- issuing by a notification device to a driver a notification for inquiring whether the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed;
- determining, when the own vehicle has stopped in response to the stopping of the preceding vehicle, whether a current travel state of the own vehicle is a specific state, in which there is a high probability that the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed;
- determining, whether a second specific state condition is satisfied, the second specific state condition being satisfied upon determination that there is no predetermined stop point within a predetermined distance range ahead of the own vehicle, the predetermined stop point being a point at which the own vehicle is to stop;
- and
- causing by the notification device to issue the notification upon determination that that the specific state and the specific state condition are satisfied.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.