Running control device for a vehicle

A cruise control system for an automotive vehicle, for controlling cruising of own vehicle with maintaining a distance to a preceding vehicle constant, comprising:

• traffic signal characteristics obtaining means including image pick-up means having zooming means, image processing means obtaining traffic signal characteristics by processing an image of said image pick-up means and communication means, for serving as measuring means for obtaining characteristics of a traffic signal ahead;
• road information obtaining means for obtaining intersection information including a distance to an intersection ahead;
• intersection arrival time calculating means for calculating arrival timing of the own vehicle and/or the preceding vehicle on the basis of a distance to the intersection, an own vehicle speed and/or a preceding vehicle traveling condition;
• traffic signal condition estimating means for estimating said condition of the traffic signal on the basis of the traffic signal characteristics and said intersection arrival timing;
• right and left turn control signal generating means for generating operation pattern of the own vehicle from a state of turn signal or a route information to a destination generated by said road information obtaining means to input to said control content modifying means;
• control content modifying means for modifying a content of cruise control of the own vehicle depending upon said estimated traffic signal condition;
• and
• alarm means for generating a corresponding alarm before modifying the content of the cruise control.

A cruise control system for an automotive vehicle, for controlling cruising of a vehicle while maintaining a distance to a preceding vehicle constant, comprising:

• traffic signal characteristics obtaining means for obtaining characteristics of a traffic signal ahead representing switching timing between a green lamp and a red lamp of the traffic signal;
• road information obtaining means for obtaining intersection information including a distance to an intersection;
• intersection arrival time calculating means for calculating arrival timing of the vehicle and/or the preceding vehicle on the basis of a distance to the intersection, a speed of the vehicle and/or a preceding vehicle traveling condition;
• traffic signal condition estimating means for estimating said condition of the traffic signal on the basis of the traffic signal characteristics and said intersection arrival timing;
• and
• control content modifying means for modifying a content of the cruise control of the vehicle depending upon said estimated traffic signal condition.

A method for operating a cruise control system of an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the acts of:

• obtaining characteristics of a traffic signal ahead of the vehicle, said characteristics representing switching times between a green lamp and a red lamp of the traffic signal;
• obtaining intersection information on a road network, including a distance to an upcoming intersection;
• calculating arrival timing of the vehicle and/or a preceding vehicle to the upcoming intersection based on a distance to the intersection, a speed of the vehicle and/or a traveling condition of the preceding vehicle;
• estimating a condition of the traffic signal on the basis of the traffic signal characteristics and the intersection arrival timing;
• and
• modifying operation of the cruise control system of the vehicle depending upon the estimated condition of the traffic signal.