Vehicle motion control device

A vehicle motion control device comprising:

• an external environment detection unit for detecting an external environment;
• a risk map creation unit for detecting a position and a type of an obstruction based on the external environment detected by the external environment detection unit and for creating a risk map to predict a current degree of risk based on the position and the type of the obstruction;
• an action prediction database in which data, including data indicating a probability of presence of an obstruction, for predicting behavior of an obstruction is stored;
• a future risk map creation unit for creating a future risk map to predict a degree of risk after a predetermined time based on the current risk map created by the risk map creation unit, and the action prediction database;
• a passage time risk prediction unit for creating a passage time risk map to predict a risk at a passage time, based on a passage time at which the driver's vehicle passes through a shortest trajectory when a shortest avoidance control for moving to a lateral position on the road is executed, having the lateral position on the road as a parameter, and the future risk map;
• and
• a control unit for determining, as the avoidance action, an action for moving to a lateral position on a road that minimizes the risk on the shortest trajectory, based on the passage time risk map and for controlling the driver's vehicle such that the determined avoidance action is carried out.

A vehicle motion control device comprising:

• an external environment detection unit for detecting an external environment;
• a risk map creation unit for detecting a position and a type of an obstruction based on the external environment detected by the external environment detection unit and for creating a risk map to predict a current risk based on the position and the type of the obstruction,
• an action prediction database in which data, including data indicating a probability of presence of an obstruction, for estimating an action of an obstruction is stored,
• a future risk map creation unit for creating a future risk map to predict a risk after a predetermined time based on the current risk map created by the risk map creation unit and the action prediction database,
• a passage time risk map creation unit for creating a passage time risk map to predict a risk at a passage time, based on a passage time at which the driver's vehicle passes through a shortest trajectory when a shortest avoidance control for moving to a lateral position on the road is executed, having the lateral position on the road as a parameter, and the future risk map;
• and
• a control unit for controlling a shift down such that a number of revolutions of an engine of the driver's vehicle is increased when a future risk is equal to or higher than a predetermined value based on the passage time risk map at the time when a pedestrian as an obstruction passes.