Vehicle maneuvering control device

A control device for maneuvering a vehicle having a navigation system mounted on said vehicle for deriving positional information thereof and for outputting a positional signal, a pair of camera mounted on said vehicle for detecting road conditions in front of said vehicle and for delivering a road width signal, a vehicle speed sensor mounted on said vehicle for detecting a vehicle speed and for producing a vehicle speed signal, a yaw rate sensor for sensing a yaw rate of said vehicle and for outputting a yaw rate signal, a longitudinal acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration amount in a running direction of said vehicle and for outputting a longitudinal acceleration signal, a warning device mounted on said vehicle for generating a warning signal to a driver when said vehicle is going into a dangerous running condition, said control device comprising:

• vehicle speed changing rate calculating means responsive to said vehicle speed signal for deriving a changing rate of said vehicle speed and for producing a vehicle speed changing rate signal;
• road surface coefficient estimating means responsive to said yaw rate signal for predicting a road surface coefficient and for outputting a road surface coefficient signal;
• curving condition deciding means responsive to said positional signal and said road width signal for deriving positional data of a curving point where said vehicle is negotiating and for producing a curving condition signal;
• road inclination estimating means responsive to said longitudinal acceleration signal for calculating an inclination rate of a road where said vehicle is running and for outputting a road inclination signal;
• allowable deceleration setting means responsive to said road surface coefficient signal and said road inclination signal for deciding an optimum deceleration rate so as to safely pass along said road and for generating an allowable deceleration rate signal;
• allowable lateral acceleration setting means responsive to said road surface coefficient signal, said vehicle speed signal, said curving condition signal and said road inclination signal for deciding a lateral acceleration rate so as to safely pass along said road and for generating an allowable lateral acceleration rate signal;
• allowable approaching speed setting means responsive to said curving condition and said allowable lateral acceleration rate signal for deciding an allowable approaching speed into said road on a basis of a curvature radius of said road and for producing an allowable approaching speed signal;
• warning speed calculating means responsive to said allowable deceleration rate signal and said allowable approaching speed signal for calculating a warning speed based upon a distance between said vehicle and said road and for generating a warning speed signal;
• deceleration rate calculating means responsive to said allowable deceleration rate signal and said allowable approaching speed signal for calculating a deceleration rate so as to perform an optimum control to safely and reliably pass said road by sufficiently taking into consideration of said distance;
• and
• deceleration means for decelerating said vehicle speed based on said deceleration rate.